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[Spoiler]

1

The X-Com Files / Re: [submod] X-Com Files Medical Rework

« on: February 11, 2022, 05:10:50 am »

I love this submod - I too feel that the current medical situation is a bit insanely hardcore.

I did however use Medical Bags all the time, more than I ever did use Med packs. A weight of 8 for 2 fatal wounds is decent (4w\fatalwound)
First aid kits were a bit worse, a weight of 5 for 1 fatal wound.
Medpacks were kind of crap in my opinion, I'd always just bring more medical bags.

Unecessarily long

Spoiler:

A very important thing is how many TU's one expend on healing per turn. Medical Bags were light and affordable "heal and drop" items that no other item in the early game could beat. I found myself constantly barely scrapping together enough heals to keep my guys alive between taking cover, running and gunning down enemy combatants who came too close - this would not have been possile to do with the MedPack as easily. Medical Bags have 15% time cost and MedPacks have 20%. That is an extra 10% for two heals. It might not seem much, but it has been the difference between barely surviving and becoming a KIA for me dozens of times. With the more affordable cost of Medical Bags, one could drop them for 2 time units and not worry as much. That is a significant operational advantage as I can equip more guys with enough heals that can easily be ditched in emergencies without affecting my running costs too much.  With the reduced weight I can take more grenades\ammo or bigger weapons. Medical Bags were always better than MedPacks. Fight me.

First aid kits were used very rarely by me as well, although I have used them in scenarios where I simply could not take medical bags with me for some reason.

All in all, the number of heals provided by weight was too low for me to ever consider venturing too far away from my deployment vehicle. MedPacks were placed on the heli\car\craft and Medical Bags were what I used on "trips".

I think you are onto something. The new gauze item should be very welcome to allow agents to venture further and toy with other equipments. First aid kits having two uses is good (makes them not useless), medical bags having three is okay. MedPacks being removed is okay, but honestly I think you could just make MedPack into the TraumaKit and make the TraumaKit better.

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The X-Com Files / Re: 1.8 Feedback

« on: April 10, 2021, 05:06:05 am »

Well, Sectoids have 20 basic Strength. Their Melee is a whopping 12. Their only advantage in close combat is good Reactions of 63.

If that's too strong for your agents, then maybe it's gym time?

I don't know if that is the full picture. They have very accurate weapons and if I am not mistaken they have the spotting\spotter ability? Correct me if I am wrong here, but I do feel like if I am putting shots into sectoids they can pin-point wherever you are and simply rely on their super-accurate weapons to kill your elite snipers. 63 react + spotter\sniper + thermal + accurate weapons is no joke. They also have psi-shields so you need to put some extra rounds in their way. In a world where direct fire is suicide, grenade launchers are king.

I am partially conflicted on where I stand on sectoids. I love how they are actually a huge threat and whenever I see one I start sweating (unless I have disposable rats + grenade launchers). As an alien force that is supposed to be a massive threat, sectoids make up a big "oh shit" factor for me in the early phase.

On the other hand, sectoids -for me- does not fit -my- ideal theme. For me, a sectoid is not a reaction-fire god, but a cheap and sufficient genetic experiment suited for reconnaisance, abductions, diplomacy and other non-combat tasks. Obviously equipped for self-defense with whatever weaponry the Alien Overlords deem fitting for such tasks, but again not necessarily excelling in combat. Being a genetically altered species, a species could have their stats go up through genetic augmentation (reactions, eyesight, strength, armor...), but I also think it fits having some stats decrease. It goes to show how the Alien Overlords have abused genetic experimentation and their degeneracy in controlling and manipulating other species for their own purposes without empathy. A possible grim fate for humanity, having our flesh surrendered and possibly ending up as another degenerate genetic abomination, forever doomed separated from our pure natural origins.

I do think sending sectoids down a notch or two on the "threat-ladder" gives a more fleshed out thematic feel for the alien roster. The primary way for the player to experience (not read ufopedia articles) the contrast between different aliens is how they behave in different gameplay mechanics, such as reaction fire, armor, accuracy, sounds+graphics, speed - but losing an agent to 360 noscope aimbot alien hits harder, and perhaps that should be reserved for the bigger\better toys the aliens will bring on your little planet

If I would have my way off the top of my head, I would slightly reduce the reaction stat of sectoids to around the 40-50 mark and possibly tweak the spotting\sniper thingy. I would probably not even argue if their reaction fire was put down to around 20, but that might be seriously overkill. Interested in hearing what other people think, I'm not sure if this is the way to go.

Disclaimer - I love the mod and I'm just putting in my two cents. I love how sectoids are a threat, but I also think their behavior could better reflect their role, at least what role I personally am envisioning them in. Cheers!

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The X-Com Files / Re: Bugs, crashes, typos & bad taste

« on: March 22, 2021, 05:55:39 am »

What? Is that even a thing? Please tell me!

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The X-Com Files / Re: Melee AI

« on: February 03, 2021, 03:17:40 pm »

Oh, I've always played with Sneaky AI on actually. I will definitely turn that off from now on, quite curious on how ranged-enemies fare after I turn this off.

I think you should not force disable the option if there is some improvement to keeping it on for certain missions. More freedom is better, even though a natural outcome is misunderstandings like these (which is probably 100% my fault). I turned it on mostly because I like the idea of having aliens and cultists take care NOT to stand in the open, but I'd rather not have that in detriment to the creatures being even MORE suicidal.

[Spoiler]

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 1.7: Market Corrections

« on: February 03, 2021, 03:08:21 pm »

Warning wall of text incoming - TL;DR: Add new mode to polearms & similar items that allow melee attacks from range.

How does having melee weapons with "reach" sound? Similar to the

Spoiler:

Big ugly Frog

with it's

Spoiler:

Ranged attack tongue that deals stun

one could have melee weapons and creatures with "melee" capabilities.

Each melee weapon could then have a "ranged" attack in addition to it's melee. A pitchfork for instance would be able to reach out one tile and also attack in melee normally. Halberds, Pikes, Spears could have a range of 2, while Whips and similar items could have a range of 3. Explosive-tipped lances (1concussive ammo attack, no battlescape reload)?

Utilizing spears on creatures to avoid reaction melees (I can finally utilize those pitchforks?) might be a thing. Having a wall of pikes brace against an incoming charging reaper (hopefully without the weird stealthy ai behaviour) would be pretty cool. Engaging Black Lotus with pitchforks sounds stupid so there is that, discounting throwing knives and guns of course. In addition, also discounting their poison-tipped Nakinata-wielders (wound stat +++). Deep One Spears would also benefit.

Weapons with reach will also dissuade you or the enemy from taking a step back and simply firing their guns if you give the ranged attack a "snap" mode.

Weapons with reach is obviously very powerful compared to those without, as history shows as well. In game I believe that the close 1-tile melee attack ought to be less accurate\powerful where there are reach attacks to create an "optimal" range. Get close to enemies with reach if you only have short-range melee weapons or stay at a distance if vice versa.

Now why all this? I think it adds a bit of extra flavor to melee, possibly making both strange creature missions more interesting as well as opening up a new dimension for melee combat. I don't know how feasible this is so if something can't be done or there is a good reasoning for why this can't or shouldn't be then I would not know about it.

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The X-Com Files / Re: Suggestions for a Superhuman Ironman Youtube Playthrough

« on: February 03, 2021, 02:18:05 pm »

Thanks for some great advice! I think I want to throw up a prototype recording of me doing a beeline to promotion 2 and get some more feedback before I delve into the long haul.

I might skimp on doing a voice alltogether just because I find myself often just shutting up, but if my voice is tolerable the first time around I might "keep it around" for further recordings.

I'll see if I can't record a small run today, edit it and throw it up here for some lovely scrutiny.

A full run might wait for the full release of 1.8, if it's not too far away...

[Spoiler]

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The X-Com Files / Suggestions for a Superhuman Ironman Youtube Playthrough

« on: January 28, 2021, 02:06:38 pm »

I've been recording myself playing a couple of games, all in superhuman. I've done pretty well I suppose in most of them, but restarted at points in which I technically could return from a major loss, but I felt more enthusiasm to restart from all the things I learned.
I've been playing until tritanium vests and the osprey, fighting post-outpost cultists,

Spoiler:

MIB, stuff from the deep and ghosts

- everything after that will be a blind journey.

Spoiler: How my first serious run ended:

Spoiler:

My first major loss which ended my playthrough was fighting the black lotus avatar, 14 of my elite crew, 1 rat and an AI died to bring me the simple information that indeed, the shield CAN be broken, but not through several turns of fire, but high alpha damage.

I made this thread because I want to know what would make a good viewing experience. Should I zoom out the battlescape view? Turn off music? Walk speed to slow (as so the viewer can see what is happening) or fast (as to speed up gameplay)?
Do people want the full unedited version or condensed highlights?

I have plans for a full playthrough or until I lose the run. Please let me know how I could best make something worthwhile watching

I have plans to start this or next week.

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 1.7: Market Corrections

« on: January 20, 2021, 02:54:40 am »

The thing is, how you deal with the ambush is part of the game.

Yep, I agree - choosing the humvee over the heli because of that big gun could be one way you would deal with the (potential) ambush, not to mention the cool factor. It's not like you deal with ambushes without preparing for them anyway, smokes and pre-primed grenades are just another tool akin to the gunnery of the humvee imho. I am not advocating for this feature because I think landings are hard, but because it sounds cool and adds some extra considerations to which craft you want to pick. It coincidentally mitigates the disadvantage for bad landings, allowing you to consider staying in missions you'd normally take off instantly - and might serve as a natural power-stop to essentially always win against super-low-tier stuff. Making the humvee stand out from other crafts, such as the van (ok I know the van gets -1 guy) and rover (ok the rover gets +1 guy and is covert) would be cool too. I personally think it fits the entire "war" feel and sounds awesome.

There are further considerations such as anti-creature operations, special missions in which the difficulty must be maintained (alien hunt, military downed alien etc), what happens when the vehicle is in smoke (what is the no LOS penalty?), can the vehicle\weapon be targeted\damaged\destroyed? Is the weapon free of use or does it come with some cost associated with it?

I don't know how it works in 40k - If there is an obvious reason as to why it should not be implemented then I probably don't know enough to know about it yet

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 1.7: Market Corrections

« on: January 19, 2021, 08:35:37 pm »

How about either of the following?

-New transormation that is unlocked earlier than XCOM one, cheaper in cost (require Storm instead) and less powerful. Also fewer stat requirements. Increase research requirement for regular XCOM-transformation?

-Make XCOM enhancement need Storm (automatic\abstracted refinement\modification for safe utilization by XCOM agents), but make Storm like Durathread and\or Alloys. You can reproduce it AFTER you understand how to USE it, so that in time you will be able to not worry too much about having it, but still go through the early phase of wanting Storm for transformations for your top guys.

No matter how you decide to do it, I am mostly looking for the game-wise mechanic of simply having more stuff to micromanage in a high scarcity environment.


Not to spam suggestions, but I've always thought the guns on the APCs from 40k (the actual XCOM crafts) would be a PERFECT fit for either the mudranger or the humvee. Thoughts on implementing such a functionality? Having a heavy gun like that would go a long way towards making some landing sites more manageable, and perhaps even sensible considering every xcom craft mission landing is borderline suicidal

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The X-Com Files / Re: Purpose of grenades

« on: January 19, 2021, 08:19:24 pm »

Flashbangs are the most OP and reliable item you'll get for a looong time. They are an essential tool for almost every conventional mission that you can take them on. Flashbangs are super useful for, among a lot of other things, abduction attempts.

Grenades do guaranteed 50% damage, great way to deal damage whilst avoiding reaction fire (as long as you are not seen).

Incendiary grenades are fantastic against enemies that you normally cannot deal with effectively using guns or explosives (good vs armored targets).
The morale damage they impose is significant against enemies you may not have the raw damage to deal with immediately.
You can lay down fire in a given spot for a turn or two to dissuade people from ending their turn in the fire and\or moving through.
In night missions, you can utilize incendiary grenades to create temporary lighting. Useful if the permanence of flares can pose a problem.
Clearing vegetation
Smoke secondary effect

Smoke grenades provide cover, but both ways. Choke damage is situational. You can smoke enemies instead of yourself to avoid dangerous enemies that may take advantage of your own screen. Black Lotus Warriors thrive in smoke screens and if you have deployed smoke in your direct vicinity, they can and will walk all the way up to your agents undetected. A smoke-free perimiter around your formation can help, but might leave you exposed against enemies which employ range.

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 1.7: Market Corrections

« on: January 19, 2021, 07:47:37 pm »

Indeed Storm is useless. The Doctor can make better stuff once she gets the idea how, so you have no need for the Storm, as it's a cheap knockoff.

Thanks for the info, although I personally find this somewhat disappointing actually. I love the idea of juggling different non-reproducible resources from missions\raids, at least for a limited time until XCOM can research something they can reproduce. I think there is a mission called Storm Raid or something which I thought would be super cool to have for a sort of scavenger approach. Perhaps you could consider making a use of Storm? Just a suggestion

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 1.7: Market Corrections

« on: January 19, 2021, 02:39:33 pm »

Is Storm used for anything except it's own research? I was stockpiling a lot of Storm, but the Enhancement for X-COM personnel apparently does not need it. The wiki says that Storm is not used for anything - is this intentional or am I mistaken?

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The X-Com Files / Re: Question: Damage model 50-150?

« on: December 28, 2020, 05:28:26 am »

I was originally going to post something really long then I remembered that I don't really know objectively what is the best range. I like 50-150 because of I can personally plan around it more pretty much and always lean on that sweet minimum 50% damage whilst not being too afraid from enemy reaction fire. It's also probably a lot of what I am used to. I came here from Hardmode Expansion with TFTD enabled.

I can post some results when I have played some more about what I feel works\does not work versus the two models. For now I am still playing 0-200 for a bit. Getting tired of blasting giant rants with led to no avail and losing my guys to high crit 180-reaction fire (after my own low rolls), but that is pretty much it.

Great mod and I hope I won't screw myself over lategame if I shift to TFTD model.

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The X-Com Files / Re: Want to help?

« on: December 23, 2020, 01:05:48 pm »

Hi guys, thank you for such a great modification, i am playing now for few days in row and i am having a blast

I have a few questions and i hope its not of topic here:

• What does the white dot at gun slot in combat mean (i can toggle it by right mouse button on the slot)
• Can i block interrupts? I have a problem with it when the character has unspent points he sometimes interrupts and cause friendly fire. I would like to block it if i know i dont want him interrupting.

Probably wrong thread but:
1. I don't think that does anything at all, but take it from someone else if I am mistaken.
2. You can expend all time units to make reaction fire impossible. There is a hotkey (delete?) or you can right-click on the option (big tall button) that says so. It is next to the other buttons such as kneel or reserve TUs.

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The X-Com Files / Re: Question: Damage model 50-150?

« on: December 22, 2020, 03:06:43 pm »

Thank you a lot for the assistance, exactly what I needed!

I'll share and upload my changes and fully expect support for me and every other random forum hotshot for when things inevitably go wrong
-except I won't

Merry Christmas