Messages

1

Work In Progress / Re: [HWP/BETA] X-COM Enforcer

« on: March 19, 2014, 06:48:03 am »

Really nice! Much better looking than mine.

2

Released Mods / Re: [ENEMY][MISSION] Cultist Mod

« on: March 19, 2014, 06:46:34 am »

I tried to use this, I'm using v0.9 so maybe that's the problem but it will crash at startup and read: "line 2854, column 9 illegal map value"

FWIW.

Sorry about the late reply! If you want to use mods you'll need one of the nightly builds. I'd suggest the latest one.

3

Work In Progress / Re: Antagonist organization (Men in Black sorta): possible?

« on: February 24, 2014, 05:23:28 am »

Code: [Select]

items:
  - type: STR_MIB0_CORPSE
    name: STR_CORPSE
    weight: 24
    bigSprite: 64
    floorSprite: 77
    invWidth: 2
    invHeight: 3
    armor: 30
    recover: false
armors:
  - type: STR_NONE_UC
    spriteSheet: MIB_0
    spriteInv: MIB0
    corpseBattle:
      - STR_MIB0_CORPSE
extraSprites:
  - type: MIB_0
    width: 32
    height: 40
    files:
      0: Resources/men_in_black/MIB_0/
  - type: MIB0
    singleImage: true
    files:
      0: Resources/men_in_black/inventory/MIB0.gif
  - type: BIGOBS.PCK
    files:
      64: Resources/men_in_black/bigobs_MIB0_CORPSE.gif
  - type: FLOOROB.PCK
    files:
      77: Resources/men_in_black/floorob_MIB0_CORPSE.gif

This should work for the images so long as you don't use any mods that use 64 in FLOOROB.pck and 77 in BIGOBS.pck. Your problem might be the lack of damage modifiers and armour ratings on the custom armour. It probably doesn't help that you've made MIB armour replace the standard jumpsuit so all standard X-Com soldiers look like MIBs. Have you done that for testing purposes?

4

Work In Progress / Re: Antagonist organization (Men in Black sorta): possible?

« on: February 23, 2014, 04:49:54 am »

Code: [Select]

items:
  - type: STR_MIB0_CORPSE
    name: STR_CORPSE
    weight: 24
    bigSprite: 64
    floorSprite: 77
    invWidth: 2
    invHeight: 3
    armor: 30
    recover: false
armors:
  - type: STR_NONE_UC
    spriteSheet: MIB_0.PCK
    spriteInv: MIB0
    corpseBattle:
      - STR_MIB0_CORPSE
extraSprites:
  - type: MIB_0.PCK
    width: 32
    height: 40
    files:
      0: Resources/men_in_black/MIB_0/
  - type: MIB0
    singleImage: true
    files:
      0: Resources/men_in_black/inventory_MIB0.gif
  - type: BIGOBS.PCK
    files:
      0: Resources/men_in_black/bigobs_MIB0_CORPSE.gif
  - type: FLOOROB.PCK
    files:
      0: Resources/men_in_black/floorob_MIB0_CORPSE.gif

The number before the image path is important. Where you have "0: <file path>" the image is replacing image 0 in the standard set or type. This isn't a problem for the first two images as they are in their own types. In addition, BigSprite and FloorSprite should reference the number of the desired image in BIGOBS.pck and FLOOROBS.pck respectively. You are referencing images 64 (BIGOBS) and 77 (FLOOROBS) for your corpse item when you should use 0 and 0 according to your ExtraSprite definition. You should change your ExtraSprites definition first though.

5

Work In Progress / Re: Doable? Laser Weapon internal power supply (not clips)

« on: February 23, 2014, 04:39:31 am »

You couldn't do this with ruleset modding. You could have a weapon that is recharged when you return to base but not one which is slightly recharged every turn.

6

Suggestions / Re: Final battle too easy

« on: February 20, 2014, 02:16:59 pm »

I'm not sure how it actually works in OXC, but it sounds like beefing up the final mission is prime mod material. More and nastier aliens, harder tactical positioning, a number of innovative high-technology devices a-la "closed door" to prevent people from blaster-bombing their way through, and of course the Master Brain should probably be given a whole lot of psionic potential.

At the moment the Brain is just a set of scenery pieces put together. You can mod extra aliens with better weapons in by editing the deployment definitions in the ruleset but changing the map blocks requires a program like Mapview and would also affect standard alien bases. The final mission is randomly made anyway so tactical positioning wouldn't change much but you could increase the size of the map (deployment and/or mission definitions) to make it harder.

You only thing you couldn't really do with ruleset modding is making the Brain do something.

Hope this helps you with the mod. 

7

Suggestions / Re: Final battle too easy

« on: February 19, 2014, 10:50:10 am »

A cool idea but the point of OpenXcom is to emulate the original while fixing a lot of the bugs and limitations.

8

Work In Progress / Re: Antagonist organization (Men in Black sorta): possible?

« on: February 19, 2014, 02:28:12 am »

AS far as I'm aware, you wouldn't be able to do this perfectly with ruleset editting. You could add a MIB race (Or one for each alien race) which has its own UFOs, add in standard aliens with the agents and name the race after the applicable alien race. You could also change the definitions of each alien race and add in some MIB agents here and there, but they would be guaranteed to be on most missions.

I'd suggest looking at my cult mod and trying to emulate the race definitions with your own agents. Adding them into the mission definitions in a different proportion to the standard race they are based off would be a good way to fake having a chance to meet MIB agents on a standard mission.

This explanation might be a bit confusing. Please tell me if you need me to elaborate. 

9

Suggestions / Re: A few ideas

« on: February 18, 2014, 02:58:32 am »

Looking at the default ruleset, Snakemen only get above a 20% chance to appear for alien base and terror missions. They actually disappear from some mission types in mid-game though they should still show up in late-game in bases, on terror missions and in the odd research mission.

So yes, if you see a Snakeman there's probably a Chrysalid as well. 

10

Suggestions / Re: Alien Bleeding

« on: February 18, 2014, 02:18:22 am »

I may be wrong, but i do remember unstunning an alien using a medkit.  May not heal wounds, but I do think it can heal morale and stun.

You can only heal a unit with a medkit if it has a wound. If you can use one of the other functions, you can probably heal the alien if it is wounded.

11

Work In Progress / Re: Points for Ship shot down by Base Defense.

« on: February 18, 2014, 01:56:45 am »

I decided I wanted to start modding this game to make a unique campaign for it eventually, but for now I want to start a little small so I understand the basics of modding the game....because I can find no actual instructions on how to start teaching myself this stuff anywhere.

I've decided to make an improvement to the base defense modules mod that has 3 steps.

Step 1: Disabling the check box when one is shot down. 
Step 2: Points received for shooting down battleships (eventually other ships) with base defenses.
Step 3: Allow base defenses to attack ships that come within a certain radius of the base, even if they are not on retaliation missions.

Any suggestions on how one would proceed with these mods?

3 is probably the only one that would require massive changes to how the geoscape works. I'd be surprised if 1 hasn't been fixed already.

X-com doesn't have a campaign so much as it has randomly generated skirmishes and a less random finale. Modding in specific missions requires you to tie them to a UFO (like my cult mod) or alter the existing special missions (the finale). You do have a bit of choice in how these missions work as you can choose to always use a mapset or base the terrain on where the UFO went down and you can customise the deployment/mission data to use the enemies you want.

Multiple-stage missions like those in TFTD are impossible though. It just won't start the second part (from a UFO mission at least).

12

Work In Progress / [Strategic Choices] - Armour Balance

« on: February 17, 2014, 05:36:20 am »

I prefer to play X-com with a ruleset that makes most of the items in the game useful by giving them their own niche. I'm thinking of doing this for the vanilla armours and, knowing that I'm not the best at balancing, I'd like some feedback on how OP/UP I've made them.

I'm interested in suggestions on the stat modifications, resistances and armour values though I've only touched the stat modifications in the attached ruleset. What do you think needs to be changed?

13

Released Mods / Re: [ENEMY][MISSION] Cultist Mod

« on: February 17, 2014, 04:37:42 am »

May I suggest you clean up your ruleset? I had to manually sift through and clean up all the unnecessary stuff. For example, in 'regions', all that you need is this for any given region:

Code: [Select]

regions:
  - type: STR_NORTH_AMERICA
    missionWeights:
      STR_ALIEN_CULT: 18
But you have it cluttered with a bunch of other stuff which I assume is the result of directly copying from Xcom1Ruleset.rul.

Thanks for pointing that out. Good timing as well, I'd just thought about doing a bit more openxcom modding. I've stuck a cleaned version in the first post.

How far must you be for the Cultists to appear? And will the hyperwave decoder detect UFOs as "Cultist"? (Similar to how it detects the species of aliens inside a UFO?)

Cultists can come at any time and your first mission could be a cult mission. They should appear as "Cult Supply" missions in a "Cult" UFO. The race listed will be Sectoid or Ethereal and there will be high-ranking aliens of those species on the mission.

14

Released Mods / Re: [ENEMY][MISSION] Cultist Mod

« on: December 22, 2013, 03:41:20 pm »

Hi Svanh,

Can't get this mod working - I've put the files directly into the relevant folders with other files and also tried putting them in the initial openxcom directory as well. My option.cfg file has been updated to include the ruleset, so unsure why it won't work for me - any ideas? I have several of the mods working in parallel, could it be conflicting with another?

Great concept, thanks for sharing!

Really sorry for the late reply. Is the game crashing on start-up or are the missions/ufos not appearing in the game? You can check if it's working by going to "New Battle" and selecting the "Cult" Ufo. If you can select that, the city terrain("City") or the base terrain ("Base"), it's loaded in fine (Sorry if you know this/have done this, I'm just trying to find out as much as possible).

15

Suggestions / Re: New types of alien bases - manufacturing bases and all

« on: November 28, 2013, 01:43:13 am »

How about TFTD-style 2-parter bases, with 3-parter Cydonia, for those who want a challenge?

On the other hand. TFTD itself could use 1-parter lower-risk lower-reward "outposts" for a change of pace.

A good idea. I'd love to be able to mod in more complex deployments than "crash UFO, loot crash site".

If you make some more base map tiles and add them to the ruleset you should be able to get a bit more variety in alien bases.