Messages

1

XPiratez / Re: A thread for little questions

« on: November 15, 2024, 12:37:20 pm »

Is it possible to shoot down ninja hoverbikes? I'm pretty sure I did that randomly on my first or second playthrough, but now I'm on my fifth and it doesn't seem to be possible in this game version. 14mm and 25mm weapons blow them to bits every time. I tried mounting a secondary light machinegun to tickle them to death once the shield is knocked out by a bigger weapon, but that didn't work either.

It shouldn't be possible to get a crash site from the ninja jetbikes. They're set to huntBehavior 1, which makes them fight to the death instead of fleeing or crashing at low health. That may have been possible on previous versions of XPiratez or the OXCE engine though. According to the ruleset reference before OXCE v6.5 UFOs on huntBehavior 1 could be shot down instead of fighting to the death, but I can't confirm that personally.

It does seem like you can use a tractor beam to force them to land and attack them like that, if you really wanted to.

2

XPiratez / Re: A thread for little questions

« on: October 30, 2024, 10:25:06 am »

Couple other things I couldn't figure out.

I had a loknarr training in a dojo for several months before it said their training was done. But their melee skill was only 65, the description of the Dojo says it can only train melee up to 100. Is the description just wrong or is something else the cause?

Secondly, I get how camo works but daytime camo seems to be almost useless because even regular humans can see across the entire map. What's the actual sight range for normal humans and gals during daytime?

The training caps listed in the dojo description only apply to Gals. Other soldier types (e.g. Peasant or Lokk'Naar) will generally have their training and max stat caps lower than those numbers. There's not really an easy way to tell in-game what the training caps are, but they're around 70-80% of the Max value listed in the "Soldier: [TYPE]" entries in the "Yer Fightin' Crew" section of the Bootypedia.

Maximum sight range is defined by the maxViewDistance variable in the Piratez_Global file, which would be 40 tiles. That just tells the engine that under no circumstances can any unit see beyond 40 tiles, so you can treat that as the sight range during daylight. So as an example, a gal wearing the guerrilla armour during the day would be visible at (40 - (8 [daytime camo] - X [enemy anticamo] ) ) = 32 tiles. Yes, daytime camo is generally not very helpful. You're better off using smoke for concealment during the day instead.

3

XPiratez / Re: A thread for little questions

« on: October 21, 2024, 03:59:11 pm »

How exactly do Sniper/Spotter traits work? I reread the related articles from Bootypedia every time I reach the moment in my campaign when enemies start consistently shooting/throwing explosives/firing rockets at me out of nowhere, but I am still not sure I get it right. Does it mean that every time a Spotter sees any of my soldiers (or is killed by one of them), all enemies having a "Sniper" trait will see this soldier for the set number of turns and be able to shoot at her wherever she is and wherever she goes? Even if it is night, there is no direct line of sight and she is half a map away in the middle of a cloud of smoke?

There's more detailed discussion elsewhere on the forum, you can use the search function to find that, but the general idea is that when Spotters see or are attacked by any of your units they mark that unit for a certain number of turns (1 to infinite depending on the spotter 'rank', Basic to Master). Snipers have a random chance each turn of deciding to attack any marked unit they have line of fire to with either direct fire guns or thrown grenades, the chance increases with the sniper 'rank', Basic to Master.

Important notes are that directly shooting a spotter WILL ALWAYS mark the attacker, regardless of if the spotter dies or even takes damage. Hitting a spotter with indirect attacks, such as grenade splash damage, may or may not trigger a mark. Testing was inconclusive, but seems to indicate that splash damage from beyond 1 tile of the impact point does not trigger a mark. Snipers DO NOT need vision of a marked unit to attack them, just valid line of fire.

[Spoiler]

4

XPiratez / Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N9.7.7 12-Sep-2024 Second Coming

« on: October 11, 2024, 06:03:03 am »

Is there a different way you're meant to get the

Spoiler:

Syn Soldiers

these days? Because I remember getting them every odd space mission last time I played but now I've gone on about a dozen and none have shown up. Have I just been really unlucky?

To my understanding, there's 4 ways you can get one.

• 33% chance from using a Golden Apple
• 0.16% chance from extracting a junk pile
• 40% chance of one appearing on a space freighter raid (will be held by the only guild team leader)
• 100% chance of appearing in the Lost Spaceship orbital mission, which itself is one of 5 possible orbital missions that can spawn after researching !Zero-G Missions!

5

XPiratez / Re: Bugs & Crash Reports

« on: October 03, 2024, 05:23:32 pm »

Ok, it's the first time I've done this. I have uploaded a sav file with my current game. If I've gotten confused, please let me know.

Figured out the problem. You've got the research topic available, but hidden from the normal list.

You need to open the research projects window, and click on the drop-down button in the bottom left that says "Default". That will expand the list and you can select "Hidden" to see all the topics in that list. Blackmailing Dr. X isn't the only topic you've hidden either. Screenshot attached of the hidden list and what you need to click.

6

The X-Com Files / Re: Fireextinguisher

« on: September 27, 2024, 01:55:10 pm »

No.
The fire extinguisher uses the same damage formula that fire uses, which restricts the damage to 5-10. It also has a 0% health damage modifier and a 60% stun damage modifier, which combined with the 4x multiplier for choke damage on humans means they will take 12-24 stun damage from each attack.

Not terrible at stunning, but with how much TU it costs to attack and the limited range you're better off using it for its intended purpose: extinguishing people that are on fire.

7

XPiratez / Re: XPiratez Information Compilation, Starter Guide & Weapon Spreadsheet

« on: September 27, 2024, 10:12:18 am »

Not according to the programming notes literally in the documentation:Higher spread means more pellets hit same target, choke is merely a % modifier to that initial value.

Admittedly, it does sound counterintuitive, but the numbers also match. The Domestic has a 70 (x0.7) choke, the Police has 110 (x1.1), for example. This is then based on the shells having 15-45 base spread in most cases. (with the shells in that previous example we end up with 25 * 0.7 = 18% chance for each pellet to hit on the Domestic, or 25 * 1.1 = 27.5% on the Police).

A low spread, say 15, plus high choke, say 130, in the documents, just means that the atrocious base spread of the shell is mildly mitigated from 15% to 19.5%.

I'll preface by saying that I don't fully understand how shotgun spread actually works, or whether higher or lower spread results in more pellets hitting the target.

I think that lower spread results in more pellets hitting based mostly off of the XPedia entry for .6g Buckshot (https://xpedia.netlify.app/##STR_BUCKSHOT_HV) suggesting it has a tighter grouping (20 shotgunSpread) compared to the standard .8g buckshot (35 shotgunSpread). There's some discussion in other threads on this forum about it, but I still couldn't fully understand how it works.

Other discussion here:
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=6541.msg102313
and here (I think this is from when the code used in OXCE was being written):
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4834.0.html

And I believe this is the section of code in OXCE that handles the spread calculations:
https://github.com/MeridianOXC/OpenXcom/blob/oxce-plus/src/Battlescape/ProjectileFlyBState.cpp#L783

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XPZ Strategy/Tactics / Re: Extended Piratez general FAQ/Strategy Guide

« on: September 11, 2024, 03:36:06 pm »

But what's the point of the interrogatin menu in the manufacture screen?

And where/how i can get a vibro sword?

The interrogation category in the manufacturing screen is mostly a holdover from previous versions. You used to have to 'break' high-tier enemies like Academy Medics and Espers in the manufacturing screen after researching interrogation techniques in order to get their secrets. The broken enemy would always give the secrets on research. That was changed back in N3 to the current system of locked random reward, so most of the interrogation options were removed as well.

Vibro swords can show up in a few places. The main ways you can find one are: Blood Rituals mission (very small chance of appearing); Siberia Base Investigation (moderate chance of some of the leaders having one); random reward from Iron, Titanium or Tritanium coupons; random reward from mad scribblings; small chance from glamour recruitment; guaranteed from recruiting a damsel of war (she can only show up as a rare random event). There are some other missions they can appear on, but those tend to be in pretty late-game missions and by then you'll probably have the research to make them yourself.

9

XPiratez / Re: A thread for little questions

« on: September 09, 2024, 06:23:24 pm »

1) I just got the Brute armor research, but it will take me some weeks in game to build it. Is it underwater usable like the Harbringer?

2) I checked the research and to get big pew pew lasers I need the Russian files, that from what I searched in forums need a Syberia mission, how do I get this mission?

1. No, the brute armor cannot be used underwater.
2. The Siberia mission is unlocked once you've gotten the GUILD REP'S SECRETS research (https://xpedia.netlify.app/##STR_TRADERS_ARC_KNOWHOW), which is obtained as a random free topic from guild reps after you have already researched Interrogation Techniques.

Hi, got a simple question:
When I research get Interrogation Techniques https://xpedia.netlify.app/##STR_INTERROGATION , and then research captive that has some results locked behind  Interrogation Techniques, will it give that locked result automatically, or is it just added to the pool of dozens of random results that it can give?
FOr example, will Academy engeener https://xpedia.netlify.app/##STR_SECTOID_ENGINEER  give me his Academy engineering right away, or would i have to potentially research them multiple time before RNG gods give me the engeneering?

Researching Interrogation Techniques just unlocks those topics as random rewards from those people. You will have to trust in the RNG to give you the topic you want if there is more than one available from a given person. Most of the random rewards are shared between multiple different enemies, so you can reduce the pool by researching less valuable people and getting their topics out of the way. You can also save just before the research finishes on a new geoscape day (e.g. save at 11:50pm) and reload that save until you get the topic you want, if you're desperate.

10

XPiratez / Re: A thread for little questions

« on: September 07, 2024, 08:34:29 pm »

Where is the excess gear (not equipped) dropped in a Shadowbat? I can't see the pile on the map. Could really use those extra incendiaries I packed as its a sudden zombie mission!

Just checked it, and the pile is in the room on the bottom-left of the ship (one of the two rooms with ladders), next the door to the center room with the stairs. If you're checking from the start of a battle, then press TAB to go to the second soldier in the deployment, and the pile is on the tile next to them.

I've attached a screenshot showing the location. The soldier is standing on the pile.

11

XPiratez / Re: A thread for little questions

« on: August 26, 2024, 05:33:57 am »

ah, but I've been able to do that plenty of times. I haven't been able to get a star gods smuggler yet, but I've come across plenty of solo captains.

no, i was talking about a ground base, like mercenaries or rims

They don't quite have bases like that. If you keep interrogating captured smugglers you'll eventually discover they are connected to the Technocracy in an optronics smuggling scheme (https://xpedia.netlify.app/##STR_SMUGGLED_ELECTRONICS).

After you get some disruptive transmissions later on as part of another storyline, you can start investigating this more deeply, and that will lead to you attacking secret smuggler lairs in city sewer networks. Then you can progress to their full hideouts where you can find the golden statue.

12

XPiratez / Re: A thread for little questions

« on: August 21, 2024, 07:32:44 am »

the Light Force.

so I have to find a Golden Statue i presume

thanks for the tips

If you're looking for rare and exotic items, especially of the gold variety, the smugglers are a good place to start.

They probably have the really good stuff hidden away in their strongholds, and it won't be for sale, but that shouldn't be a problem.

13

XPiratez / Re: A thread for little questions

« on: June 19, 2024, 03:09:05 pm »

Is there a way to get wrecked cyberdisc? I got one somehow, but can't get another one, beacons they explode everytime. The only way is to smash it with melee weapon, right?

You need to down them using a damage type that prevents the death explosion. Piratin' Tip #105 has a list of them, you can find it here: https://xpedia.netlify.app/##STR_PINUP_105

The general idea is that most melee weapons work, with the exception of electric damage (e.g. stun rod, prod) and stabbing damage (e.g. rapier). I believe EMP is the only ranged damage type that works on cyberdiscs. I have been caught out before by using a prod to stun a cyberdisc, and the stunned cyberdisc then immediately exploding in my face.

After checking the rulesets a bit, laser stars, throwing hammers and throwing axes will also work as ranged options.

14

XPiratez / Re: A thread for little questions

« on: April 11, 2024, 04:56:40 pm »

I'm playing as dumbass captain and he wants to build luxury spa which is quite a huge building. Do i need to build it on any base or only the main base counts?

Building it anywhere is fine. The check the game does for having a specific building only considers if you have one at all, it doesn't care where the building is located. I would recommend building it somewhere that has decent manufacturing capacity since you can use the luxury spa to upgrade courtesans and gladiatrixes into exotic dancers later on, but it's not necessary.

I am amused by the idea of having all of the CBT training facilities scattered across the world and the captain having to constantly fly between different continents to get all of her training done.

Can someone please tell me what's wrong with my ammo mod?

I think the issue is that you haven't declared that your edit is to the items: category in the rulesets. I've put that in and it now works on my end. I've attached it below.

Also, some advice. It's not good practice to copy over the entire entry for an item into a submod if you're only changing part of it. It adds bloat, hurts compatibility and most importantly, makes it harder to remember what exactly you changed.

15

XPiratez / Re: Bugs & Crash Reports

« on: April 01, 2024, 10:52:06 am »

Hi everyone,

I'm experiencing a crash to desktop while in Geoscape and just passing time. Can't make sense of the message error: " fatal error has occurred: vector::_M_range_check: __n (which is 7) >= this->size() (which is 5)".

Latest save & log file in attachment.

Thanks to all the people involved in the development of this brilliant Mod!

I've had this happen to me once before as well. I don't know why it happened, but I do have a solution:

Open up the save in a text editor and search for "missionSiteZone: 7". There's only one instance of it in this save. Replace it with "missionSiteZone: 4".

That fixed the issue when I tried it on this save and prevented the crash.