Messages

31

Work In Progress / Re: [MAPS] YetMoreUFOs!

« on: September 29, 2014, 01:37:42 am »

Here are some news, good ones I think.

1. The new Harvesters have already been changed to fit the original tileset, and a new tileset has already been prepared, so there is no need for any additional actions. As for now, all this stuff is tested by me, and will be available for anyone very soon. Just wait several days.

2. As I promised, a new (0.3) version of the mod is ready to be downloaded. However, I have not had enough free time to finish with all Large Scouts. Only about one half of their total number is available in the current version. The mod contains 55 UFOs for now. Other 20 Large Scouts are waiting, and will be available with the next version. All other changes - see the readme inside the package.

3. I have edited the tileset UFOL83. A new version is available inside the package. You can safely use it with all other maps that need UFOL83. It is so because the total number of tiles has not changed.

So, what are the changes for?

I must have corrected wrong assignation of some tiles (as ground, wall, object) in order to use them with the corrected maps. But thanks to this, no more patches are needed in the ruleset. Let me know if somebody find more errors...

There were "green screen" tiles in the tileset that duplicated the ones in U_WALL02. I have replaced them by their reflected (mirrored) versions, made by me. I have tried to do all my best. BUT... this is my first serious work in pixel graphics. In my humble opinion, the results are not bad (I have tested them in MapView and in the game). But if anybody can do it better than me, do not even ask, just do it and inform me about it, so that I will use the better version with my mod.

There were two new Alien Habitat bubbling devices in the tileset, looking the same, and only one of them was applied on maps. I have corrected the animation of the bubbling (now it is very fluent), and made a new reflected version as the other tile. Both have already been applied to the maps.

That gfx job has taken me some time (I have little practice...), and this is another reason why not all Large Scouts are present in the current version.

4. Everyone can add the new maps to MapView configuration and learn how they look (I hope it is not too hard). However, you may also want to see the new maps in the game. I have prepared a set of savegames, taken very shortly before landing of an Xcom ship by a landed UFO. The collection may be useful for testing purposes... See the attachment.

5. I have added other tilesets corrected by me as well to the mod. Use them to have jars with foetuses counted as Alien Reproduction and armchairs recognized as Alien Habitat. However, as for now, only the new, corrected version of UFOL93 is really needed for the UFO maps to look very good. All the other files in the terrain folder are facultative replacements/patches.

Wish me luck with the rest of Large Scouts, and they will be ready very soon! The same about Harvesters which are next to be checked.

32

Work In Progress / Re: [MAPS] YetMoreUFOs!

« on: September 25, 2014, 10:32:02 pm »

Me too tried to make it in the past but my few free time crash my wish

In this link you can get the zip with the maps that I collected
(...)

The routes files are to check or to complete

As I have already explained, MapPack2 cannot be taken "as is" - it uses different tilesets than the vanilla maps. I am working on it.

If you want use/complete them I will appreciate a lot and the past efforts were nor spent in vain

The only requirements that I wish it is that you preserve compatibility with Luke's and Solarious's mods

I will check your changes and additions, and add them with pleasure to my mod, so nothing of your efforts will be lost

As I've explained, my mod is not and will not be compatible with Luke's (you cannot install both and expect all will be in order) because it will contain all his UFOs (corrected and under new, unified names), and also because of the convention of naming maps (it is necessary to make more order, and to adjust the mod to contain more UFOs). I will explain it in all details in my readme file (in the version 0.3), you will also find tables of comparison of Luke's names and my names. The most important reason is that Luke's mod uses a new U_DISEC3 tileset which makes new Harvesters incompatible with the genuine one. To tell it in the simplest words: my mod will not allow such an incompatibility with vanilla game UFOs, so it must be incompatible with Luke's, and there is no way to resolve it. However, once again, it will not be necessary since all Luke's UFOs will be present in my mod with no or only very subtle changes in their look (Luke's Harvesters are been tested by me in their new versions now, and will be available soon).

My mod is thought to replace Luke's mod, or to be its new, reworked generation, with many important changes, like making new Harvesters compatible with the original one which is not preserved in Luke's mod.

I will include tnarg's UFOs as well when they are ready. Thanks for the info!

33

Work In Progress / Re: [MAPS] YetMoreUFOs!

« on: September 25, 2014, 09:21:11 pm »

Quick question(s): Does your mod replace Luke's and Solarius' mods? Or does it complement them?

Since they add new UFO types (their fighters, especially) but you claim your mod doesn't, I am confused.

Solarius' mod does add new types; I am preparing a ruleset to make both mods (mine and his) usable side-by-side.

Luke's mod, as for now, does not add new types, only variants of the 8 basic, existing types. All his UFOs will be included in my mod (along with many other variants prepared by me). It is so because they need many corrections in both maps and terrain files. The corrections are necessary for many reasons, see above on one of them (and on the rest in the readme file in future versions of my mod).

I guess in its current version, your mod only adds scout variants so complements the other mods, but you intend later to integrate them so your mod becomes "The one UFO mod"?

My mod will replace Luke's mod completely when all maps (and especially route files) are checked and corrected. You must wait for some time (I hope not too long), though, until it is complete (when the version 1.0 appears). Anyway, one cannot use both mods at the same time (unless you edit the rulesets).

It is quite differently with Solarius' mod (and other similar mods, if any are ready) which add new UFO types. The new types should never cause conflicts betweeen mods.

For this very moment, 16 Large Scouts have already been checked (but only on my computer), and twice as many (or more) of them will be added (and tested...) very soon, as only time allows. I also need some time to repair LUKE83 tileset (which has some inconsistencies in its present shape - Luke has been noticed about them and also waits for results of my work). Just now I am about doing some changes in this file to make his UFOs look and function even better than now (I really appreciate his hard work!).

I hope the next version (with Large Scouts, including all Luke's ones) will be available by the end of this week. It is hard to say when 5 further types are ready as there are larger and need much more time to be examined in all details. Anyway, I will do my best to finish with them as fast as possible. It will remove the problem of possible conflicts with Luke's UFOs.

34

Work In Progress / [MAPS] YetMoreUFOs!

« on: September 24, 2014, 02:13:54 pm »

I would like to announce a new mod... even if partially with already known contents.

As long ago as in 1997, some people created new UFO maps as replacements or variants (chosen by the game randomly) of the well-known types which we all know well from our beloved game. Which is more, the original game creators must also have planned different UFOs set(s), and left their unfinished work in game files (see https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=2911.0). My ultimate aim is to revive results of all that job - make it available for OXC (and for the original game, if somebody would like it too), and thus show respect to them and to their work.

I have also found a number of less or more important flaws in more modern maps, made by Luke83 and published in his ExtraUFOs pack. For example: if you install that mod, you cannot have the original Harvester any longer in your campaign (or it would look very strange). It needn't be so, this is a problem that one can solve (even if with some own efforts, sometimes enough painful).

Having considered all of these, I have decided to make my own mod with a large collection of UFO maps. The most basic premise of mine is NOT TO RESIGN of the original maps (so, Harvester variants will still be usable along with the original, unmodified map). I am planning to include as much of maps known to me as possible, to make the campaign more attractive. The sources of the maps will then be:
- original UFOs that are present in data files but not occurring in the game,
- UFOs from MapPack1 by Robert Di Fiore, of 1997 (https://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/ufo-map-pack-1/),
- UFOs from MapPack2 by Luchian Deurell and Sam Jeffreys, of 2001 (https://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/ufo-map-pack-2/),
- (another) Bird of Prey (provided) by PolynomialRing (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/birdofprey),
- Small Scout by Zombie, of 2008 (https://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/small-scout-mod/),
- Extra UFOs by Luke83 (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/lukes-extra-ufos),
- New UFOs by SolariusScorch (https://www.openxcom.com/mod/solar-039-s-new-ufos).

Now the time for my own contribution. The mod will not be only a compilation of existing maps, created by other people. Less or more important changes are needed in maps and especially in route files. Luke's tilesets (UFOL83 and U_DISEC3) used with his maps will also need some changes (esp. U_DISEC3, to make the original Harvester and his Harvesters usable side by side). Reviving the forgotten UFOs from the game files would need creating special tilesets (even if Luke83 has already made some good job in this point).

Moreover, I am planning to add reflected, turned, etc. extra variants as my contribution, and perhaps several personal creations made from scratch.

All details will be described in the included readme file.

As for now, maps of two UFO types (Small Scout and Medium Scout) are ready to tests: https://www.openxcom.com/mod/yet-more-ufos. Large Scouts are just in preparation and will be available in a few days with a new version of the mod (20-30 variants may be expected).

All so far published maps are UFO variants, not new UFO types, i.e. you will still have the basic 8 types, and no new Ufopedia entries, no new topics for scientists, etc. So, the only change in the game is that you have more various alien vessels in your combat missions. Thanks to this, the game is less schematic. You will never know where is the entrance to the UFO, and what is its floor plan. You must be more flexible in your tactics then.

I am planning to leave this option for as much new maps as possible. As for now, it will be impossible for all maps, though.

MapPack1 is fully applicable here (even if UFOs from the pack do not look like their well-known basic variants). The only problem are false walls, holed floors, etc. - I do not like them, and I will remove them all (in my humble opinion, the game reality is not Hogwart, and the aliens should not be warlocks who walk through solid walls - if you disagree, try the original maps from that mappack). Problems start with MapPack2 whose authors changed tilesets for their UFOs. One of possiblilities is to take:
• their Battle Cruiser and Evader as Abductor variants (and not Harvesters like they planned),
• their Freighter as a Terror Ship variant (and not an Abductor variant),
• their Marauder as a Harvester variant (and not a Terror Ship variant),
• their Warbird as a Supply Ship variant (and not a Battleship variant),
• their Attack Cruiser as an Abductor variant (and not a Supply Ship variant),
and I am doing so.

It is so because the current rules used in rulesets do not allow UFOs with the same name and different tilesets. So, there is an appeal to the game creators then: please change it if possible! Especially that no tricks will help (for now) to survive the forgotten pyramidal UFOs from the game files to be just randomly selected variants of the plain UFOs known to all.

I mean that the game allows this:

Code: [Select]

  - type: STR_LARGE_SCOUT
    size: STR_SMALL
(...)
    battlescapeTerrainData:
      name: UFO_120
      mapDataSets:
        - BLANKS
        - U_EXT02
        - U_WALL02
        - U_BITS
        - UFOL83
      mapBlocks:
        - name: UFO_120
          width: 20
          length: 20
       - name: UFO_121
(...)

and it would be nice if it allowed this (or something similar):

Code: [Select]

  - type: STR_LARGE_SCOUT
    size: STR_SMALL
(...)
    battlescapeTerrainData:
      name: UFO_120
       - mapDataSets:
          - BLANKS
          - U_EXT02
          - U_WALL02
          - U_BITS
          - UFOL83
        mapBlocks:
          - name: UFO_120
            width: 20
            length: 20
          - name: UFO_121
(...)
       - mapDataSets:
          - BLANKS
          - U_EXT02
          - U_WALL02
          - U_BITS
          - UFOL83
          - U_DISEC3
        mapBlocks:
          - name: UFO_122
(...)
(as for now, it does not work).

So, I am also planning another option (and a special, second ruleset for this mod) in the future: adding more UFO types (so you will have more than 8 UFO types in the game, and each of these still in many variants). It would need changes in Alien missions, the research tree, additional interception graphic, so this is a more distant future...

Finally, inform me please if you know other UFO maps aleady made, and want to have them in this mod as well.

35

Open Feedback / Alien Missions vs. Alien Attacks

« on: September 14, 2014, 04:14:07 pm »

Perhaps I have found a solution to a problem once been discussed on Ufopaedia. The problem is of a big importance for the game.

UFO / TFTD game researchers found alien appearence ratios in the game exe file. It appeared that also the Alien Retaliation mission has such ratios set. On the other side, it was said that alien attacks on XCom bases are always responses to XCom activity, occurring with some chance, and it is always the XCom-suffering alien race which responds - so the appearence ratios in the game seemed to be of no use. They were said to be superfluous (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Alien_Appearance_Ratios: "All Retaliation rows are unused. Retaliation missions are generated in response to shooting down enemy craft, with a set probability that is scaled by the difficulty level multiplier.").

It was also observed that (during TFTD playing) Tasoths were able to attack a ship route as early as in April 2040 even if the first appearance of that race should be in June 2040 (see Ufopaedia: https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Alien_Appearance_Ratios_(TFTD)). Contrary to the popular opinion, no flying/floating USO recording used to be done just before the attack. It seemed that the aliens emerged from the deep, not from a USO.

Similarly, it was observed in UFO:EU that some terror attacks may happen very early in the campaign, even in the first week, and no preceding Terror Ship flights were observed even if they should be (e.g. when the terrorized city was not too far from the XCom base).

I think I have solved all the above problems. Namely, according to my observations, there are TWO DIFFERENT general Alien activity types. The first type are the well-known alien missions, each containing several phases of scheduled UFO/USO appearances, and chosen by the game engine in accordance with the alien appearance ratios. The other type are aliens single attacks that are not scheduled, not in accordance with the ratios, and not consisting of any phases (hence "single").

So, it seems that the aliens take a part in both (a) missions and (b) single attacks which are not part of any mission (and thus are not scheduled). Single attacks mean, among others, city terror attacks (in TFTD: shipping route, port and island terror attacks), not recorded before, not preceded by an appearance of any UFO/USO (the aliens attack immediately) and not in agreement with the appearance tables. Hence Ethereals (UFO:EU) or Tasoths (TFTD) may appear as early as in April, hence aliens may terrorize land as early as in the first days of the campaign, without smaller UFOs preceding the attack.

Single terror attacks are frequent in first months, then (exactly when?) they seem to cease. Aliens can still terrorize cities (UFO) or ships, ports and islands (TFTD) but only (mainly?) during their Alien Terror / Alien Surface Attacks missions rather than single attacks. Of course - if such a type of mission has been chosen for a current month. It is also quite probable that shooting down UFOs/USOs during first phases of the mission can stop it, and finally no terror will occur. Or (which one is true?): it will prevent aliens from knowing the localization of the city (port, island, ship route). As the result, the final UFO/USO (Terror Ship in UFO:EU and Battleship in TFTD) will appear but not find its target.

As it seems to me, a similar dual mechanism lies behind alien attacks on XCom bases. Some of the attacks are a result of an alien response to shooting down a UFO / downing a USO (with a chance of occurrence which depends on the game difficulty level). Contrary to single terror attacks, a Battleship (UFO) / Dreadnought (TFTD) always appears then before the attack. The aliens know exactly where the XCom base is located, so nothing can help XCom to avoid the battle, and the UFO/USO moves straight to the base. Appearance ratios are of no use then - it is the same race which responds, as the race whose UFO/USO has been downed by XCom.

These single attacks in response to UFO/USO downing seem to have nothing to do with Alien Retaliation / Floating Base Attack missions. Like other of the 7 mission types altogether, Alien Retaliations / Floating Base Attacks are scheduled and consist of several phases. Such a mission must be chosen for the current month (together with another mission - two missions start a month). It is quite probable (but not confirmed!) that the mission region (chosen at the beginning of a new month) must contain an existing XCom base. Smaller UFOs/USOs happening on the first phases of the mission are scouts which help aliens to locate the base (otherwise unknown, unlike during a single attack). Shooting them down can also stop the occurring of the further phases of the mission, and as a result, no Battleships / Dreadnoughts will appear finally. Alien Appearence Ratios are applied, contrary to what is said in Ufopaedia (so the data are not superfluous). It is also only a chance that the aliens will find the XCom base location (unlike single attacks when the Aliens always know where the base is located, without a preceding reconnaissance).

In UFO and TFTD the aliens start two missions each month. It is known nothing about single attacks: what is the exact number of them, or even if they depends on time at all (perhaps there are moths with no single attacks, and months with several single attacks). However, observations suggest that they stop at a certain moment of the campaign (or become very rare). Anyway, multi-phase missions dominate over single attacks (if any still possible) in later months of the game.

I would like to know if my observations (as it's been seen, partially not in accordance with Ufopaedia) are correct, and if not, how to explain the observed game behaviour.

My second question is how it all works in OXC. Are multi-phase missions and single attacks distinguished? Are the aliens able to terrorize a city as early as, say, on 1st January 1999? Does the number of single attacks (those terror ones and on XCom bases) depend on the current month, and how (e.g. two attack a month, together with two missions starting)? Is there a possibility e.g. for Ethereals to appear as early as in the first month of the campaign (during a single, non-scheduled, city terror attack)? And if appearance ratios / rules exist in the game, what are they like? The above mentioned April Tasoths (and also probably April Ethereals) suggest that they should not be the same appearance ratios as in alien missions.

In the original game, two new Alien missions start each month. Is it hardcoded in OXC, or can be modded? And: is it possible to change the rule of starting alien missions (in a game mod, to make the campaign different that in the original game) that they would start in a day chosen by chance and not the first day of each month?

36

Open Feedback / Re: Savegame converter?

« on: September 14, 2014, 02:50:45 pm »

OXC savegames are enough readible, and they are not a real problem. A savegame OXC <---> UFO:EU converter could help determine if both games behave similarly in the same situation. For example: will a Skyranger catch a UFO or not. Or: for how long should a Supply Ship stay at the alien base. An OXC savegame editor will not help in it at all.

In other words: it could help compare both games (or: whether OXC mimics the original enough well).

37

Programming / Re: [Deadly bug] The game cracks during tactical fight

« on: September 10, 2014, 02:53:27 pm »

Checked, in the newest build all seem to work fine, and there is Alien Habitat (hoorah!), thank you once again

(For curious ones: Alien Habitat is available only after changing some game files into patched ones; I prefer to term it a patch, not a mod, because the original game does not have Alien Habitat due to an error in data files: you can obtain those Alien-Habitat-having partched data files from my mod https://www.openxcom.com/account/manage-mod?ModID=371 - copy all the files, overwriting the existing ones, but if you do not want changes in the research tree, just do not switch the mod on.)

Indeed, the stable release 1.0 does not experience such RMP problems, at least during my 10 tests or so (with an Abducter tactic battle generated again and again).

38

Programming / Re: [Deadly bug] The game cracks during tactical fight

« on: September 10, 2014, 11:58:35 am »

@SupSuper, thanks a lot! And I was scared when saw that: https://openxcom.org/bugs/openxcom/issues/819. It is not a bug, not an issue etc.

Nighlies are to be tested, aren't they? But for curiosity, I wonder if the same bug can occur with the version 1.0 as well when starting a new mission... I'll check it as well, hopefully I have also a save made just before the mission is generated.

39

Programming / Re: [Deadly bug] The game cracks during tactical fight

« on: September 10, 2014, 11:47:14 am »

Same here.  What is it, I don't know.
Mods, new builds (not sure)...

Virus...    

I start a new game (vanilla), and see.

In such situations we should eliminate some possible reasons. First, do other programs crash on your system? If not, it is not a virus that causes crashes. There is no need to restore the system. Second, check the source of game files (those copied from UFO:EU to OXC installation). Third, check if you have applied the patch (Universal Patch) that is really needed to eliminate some bugs. And now learn if OXC crashes during playing an unmodified game. If yes, check it with older builds and with the stable 1.0 version. If not, the problem is surely connected to mods, and not viruses, not to new builds.

Equal Terms mod does not seem to contain new maps or routes. So, your problem looks quite interesting. More info is needed...

40

Programming / Re: [Deadly bug] The game cracks during tactical fight

« on: September 10, 2014, 11:32:51 am »

If you hit bugs in the battlescape and want to get back to the geoscape, set the debug flag in your config file (My Documents\OpenXcom\options.cfg on windows) and then whenever you hit a problem, you can press ^D (to enable debug) and ^K (to kill the aliens).  No need to edit save files each time.

Enabling debugging is useful if you are skillful in C++ programming and can understand the messages, and it does not help you to pass the mission. Killing aliens will help in your playing - but you will not get any information of possible reasons. Editing a save with Notepad++ or a similar tool is really very simple unless you cannot understand the contains of the savefile at all (but then you may not be able to edit options.cfg either). Making aliens not move (by setting their morale to 0) does not stop your campaign, and allows you both to pass the mission and to learn something about possible reasons even without deciphering the debugging information (aliens do not move by themselves => the game does not crash).

Anyway, thanks for the info on debugging .

41

Programming / Re: [Deadly bug] The game cracks during tactical fight

« on: September 10, 2014, 04:43:30 am »

Abductors (Extra UFOs) corrected (as for now, more to come...). The patch will affect new missions only.

42

Programming / Re: [Deadly bug] The game cracks during tactical fight

« on: September 10, 2014, 02:12:46 am »

I have found a possible solution!

The problem has caused most probably by errors in RMP files in non-genuine UFOs.

Some time ago, someone said that distances between nodes in routes maps are not things to worry about. This is not true! I have noticed that if zero is set as the distance between nodes, OXC may crash during an alien move (if this map is loaded). It is because an alien wants to move, and the game cannot count the distance. For some reason, either negative or more than 255 values appear, and this causes the crash.

The original game seemed to be resistant to such errors. Unfortunately, OXC is very sensitive in this point, and our otherwise great coders (many thanks for OXC!) said that they would not deal with it, and delete this problem as a bug. So, it is modders who must repair their maps instead...

What is a solution?

The solution for NOW: If you play a campaign, and just want to finish the battle which constantly crashes, you must edit your save. Find all alien units, and set their morale to 0. Your battle is practically won - but this will prevent crashes. It is so because alien units will not move on their own, only when panicked. If you make several turns, and the game will crashes again, you must edit again the save.

The long-distance solution is to stop playing Luke's Extra UFOs and/or Final Modpack (cause both contain wrong RMP's) until new versions will be ready. I am about editing them and make them work all right but it needs much time... If you cannot wait, use MapView and replace all naught-distances with their true values. MapView 1.12 can make them automatically. It is a very tedious job as you must check each node one by one... So better wait for a patched version of your mod.

Anyway, I have checked that this is a real problem. Parhaps thera are other reasons for game crashes - if you find any, write about them.

43

Programming / [Deadly bug] The game cracks during tactical fight

« on: September 09, 2014, 11:21:31 pm »

Load the game from the attachment, and give move to the aliens. The game will crack.

In  openxcom_git_master_2014_09_09_0725, the message says:

vector::_M_range_check

In the version 1.0 the message is:

invalid vector<T> subscript

44

Work In Progress / Re: How does OpenXcom know where to place Elerium-115 on the battlefield?

« on: September 08, 2014, 06:28:27 pm »

Clear now, thanks

45

Work In Progress / How does OpenXcom know where to place Elerium-115 on the battlefield?

« on: September 07, 2014, 01:15:05 am »

Long ago someone did new UFO variants for the vanilla game + XComUtil. I would like to bring them back to OpenXcom as well. There are two problems about it, however.

1. Various extra UFO maps can use different tilesets, see my other post.
2. UFO Power Source in those new UFOs is, as a rule, in a different place than it is in the basic, well-known UFO variants.

Elerium-115 is an object which should be generated on the battlefield somehow... It's location is not written in any map file, either the terrain or the alien ship, so the game must place it correctly with the help of a built-in procedure. All is right as long as we deal with either original UFOs or their slight modifications (e.g. with moved inner walls). And what if the new UFO has its power source in a different place than the basic variant? Will the game recognize it and place Elerium in the right place?

UFO:EU + XComUtils does not do it correctly, and as a result, Elerium lies on the ground in a different place than the power source is. Or, exactly speaking, it is generated in the place where the power source should be (if the UFO map was default).

I am asking about it because there is an Alien Base map with two power sources, and it is necessary to point the right place for Elerium openly, in the Ruleset. So, what is the algorithm in case of other terrains, those with an alien ship generated on the battlefield?

And another, related question. Let's say I want to make a new UFO variant with 8 power sources but with only 4 Eleriums generated on the battlefield. Is it possible?

The question seems to be important for the future of OpenXcom because in TFTD the number of Zrbite does not always correspond to the number of Ion-Beam Accelerators in the alien ship...