Messages

1

Released Mods / Re: [TFTD] [Expansion] TWoTS+ Release (v.2.16)

« on: August 17, 2018, 11:01:28 am »

1. What device am I supposed to destroy in laboratory and tsunami center?
I searched all the lab and did not find synonium device? Or I am supposed to kill all the enemies in this hellish places. Why I cannot choose not to split the team on two parts in tsunami center or alien colony? Am I general commander or not? 2. In tsuname generator mission I failed to capture jellyman ruler. Am I supposed to capture him alive? 3. I've noticed that some research topics happen to appear twice. For example, after researching naga warrior topic, it appeared again. Same with gillman techinician topic. 4. How to differentiate cyborg from the list of simple aquanauts? Cyborgs cannot raise their physical parameters by training? 5. In Twots 2.15 this bug was not present.  Quote

1. The center of the base, then you have to leave (I don't remember how to identify it.. The issue of the teams is already like this in tftd so don't expect any change as it is rather a feature of the game itself.
2. It will probably spawn again this mission, do not worry you will have more attempts
3. Research topics can be researched several times, giving additional information until you exhaust all researchable contents of the element. I.e. medics give you random alien races information. Use middle click on the topic to have additional information.

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Released Mods / Re: [TFTD] [Expansion] TWoTS+ Release (v.2.15)

« on: July 29, 2018, 12:11:42 pm »

If you're planning to dumb down the difficulty to barbie-level, at least keep some older download link alive so that the majority of us can still enjoy xcom that doesn't feel like tictactoe.

Meridian, is not about difficulty, its about quantity. For me is no issue of having four morray with kraken missiles blasting 100 ufos a month and 2 squads recovering the pieces. But from gameplay perpective the geoscape becomes frozen. Research takes forever and base building  slows to much. Ignoring that brings you easily into negative.

@Nord I am still unfamiliar with the resources of openxcom regarding aliens. Said that more than the quantity of missions I would adjust the pods inside. Maybe some mix of species could help in that matter (i.e. a lobster or two in big aquatoid ships, terror units, etc).

In an overall geoscape needs a notch down, battlescape maybe a little up and the point where difficulty should kick in.

P.D: love the "side" missions, the infested ufo batteship is very nice.

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Released Mods / Re: [TFTD] [Expansion] TWoTS+ Release (v.2.15)

« on: July 28, 2018, 08:31:00 am »

In my defense, this item was unused in TFTD itself.  I'm still unsure where in this mod I can recover one of these.

And to butt into the conversation about difficulty and USO spawn rates. The lack of USO missios on beginner is NOT a thing in this particular mod. In fact, USOs still overspawn like crazy even after the infiltration tweak. The problem is there is absolutely no insentive to do any USO missions, since they don't provide anything of value. Money are plentiful and can't buy anything good anyway, and training is better done in the pools. All the valuable tech is locked behind bottlenecks of special missions, that sometimes can take ages to spawn.
I'm currently 14 game months in and I haven't seen a single mindworm mission yet. Given how all MC stuff is locked behind it, the mission should NOT be randomly generated. Same for the examination room, I guess. None of the missions I've done so far provided me with one, so I'm assuming you can only get it in one specific mission type that spawns with a low probability. Right now I'm stuck with no research topics and 40+ USOs per month, that I don't even bother dealing with because it's a complete waste of effort. Alien bases spread like crazy, and I still can't do them, because both MC and sonic weapons are locked behind seemingly random events that I wasn't lucky enough to get. My last playthrough attempt had 2 worm missions 10 months in, for reference. This randomness is better used for special bonus stuff, when essential research you need to survive is locked like this it's just very frustrating and not fun. At this point the game is a chore - no new things to play with and an evergrowing score quota to fill doing the same boring small USOs.

This is a very good synthesis of the issue. Another thing is the ratio of the species you find. In my case aquatoids are very much ahead of the curve with very few spawns of gillman, naga and so. I am curious also to know the tech wall after Naga temples and cities ( which I believe I froze because I didn't research the alien key). I can use sonic tech and hybrid armor but I cannot progress further. MC is unlocked but thats's it. I find some Jellymen but nothing big enough to have a "next step" with them.

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Released Mods / Re: [TFTD] [Expansion] TWoTS+ Release (v.2.14)

« on: July 15, 2018, 12:31:28 am »

Halt my game until the next version.

Good experience overall but I have to say that the USO spawning is problematic and makes a turbulent game experience. I have reached the bionic laboratory and runned through two months to see how the tech progressed. I believe I hit the wall tech until "Naga city".

In my current game I have more or less world coverage, sitting on 60-80 Millions. Several barracudas with Ajax torpedos/gauss and some morels with kraken/gauss (I can tackle up to large). Gauss and heavy aquaplastics weaponry gives me the firepower to tackle more or less what I encounter.

The problem of USO overspawning (like 50 a month) gives the following issues (taking out of the picture the balance/difficulty topic, which you can solve if you play safe):
- Frozen tech: Because you require several hours of combat to finish each month, you fight again and again with the same tools and the game seems to slow down incredibly.
- Repetitive missions: While the custom missions are excellent in terms of diversity, playthrough and lore, they become buried in the USO landing and crashsite missions you do during the month (also, these missions spawn only in the first week of the month and the rest of the month are USOs). The fresh air these missions bring is blocked by the quantity of USO missions.
- Static enemies: After the first Naga terror mission, I've seen like 250 USOs before ecountering them again. This is somewhat problematic if progression is heavily blocked by it.
- Tons of unused money: Considering the tech progression is slowed, most of the recovered items go directly into the black market due to store overflow. This generates a ton of money that you can use to push a lot the world coverage and base building, which is ok but seems "unbalanced" as money do not becomes an issues quite fast.

Sincerely, seing the nice custom missions the mod has, I would suggest to encourage more activity on this behalf rather than invigorating the USO spawning, for a more round experience in terms of gameplay.

Then I would suggest a revision on the magnetic navigation costs to Gauss weapons (such as manufacturing batches of weapons, i.e. 1 magnetic navigation = 4 pistols = 3 rifles = etc) or to be able to craft it using mollecular components. The single unit for everything makes it very restrictive to use this technology (for example, I have two tritons, several interceptors and several bases with defences that requried a lot of USOs to cover their needs).

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XPiratez / Re: No Donation - No Salvation! Also: Future Plans!

« on: July 15, 2018, 12:04:14 am »

Hello Dioxine,

Made some donation this week. Did it arrive ok?

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Released Mods / Re: [TFTD] [Expansion] TWoTS+ Release (v.2.14)

« on: July 14, 2018, 03:37:27 am »

Can compare now XPirates with this:
Both mods are brilliant. But Pirates seems balanced. You can slowly explore the world and get to know its richness. Like that.

XPirates spawns more "terror/incident"-missions.

LuoisdeFuines, will all the respects I would avoid comments like this. It is unfair to compare one mod with the other. Mainly because it is quite clear the difference of hours of effort given in each one of them (and also because both modders are still supporting them). The refinement level of both is quite different and also because the experience they aim to provide can be completely different (and sometimes difficult to leverage between difficulty levels).

In addition, because I am assuming you are scratching the surface of Xpiratez, I believe is the reason you are making this statement. The mod is a completely different beast with plenty supports in the early game and plenty of missions and enemies to keep you off balance in the later. If you complain about the balance of TWoTS+ wait to meet the mercenaries, the tough aquatic missions, the mansions, etc.

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Released Mods / Re: [TFTD] [Expansion] TWoTS+ Release (v.2.14)

« on: July 10, 2018, 08:42:42 pm »

Yeah, you seem to be better then me in the mod. But me, I`m just casual. Want to have on "beginner" a beginner experience

Then don't play in Ironman! (At least it what you told before).

I would advise not to play in this manner until you are familiar with all the game mechanics (such as multiple interceptors and the armament typologies you were unfamiliar with).

Also I cannot stress enough the advantages of the gas cannon with explosive ammunition. Is extremely OP in open spaces due to accuracy, damage, range and TU usage. three guys with that can blast most of the stuff you may uncover with your "explorers". this technology is already available afterwards the Jet Harpoons so you can rely on them until Gauss.

Why do you lose your men? By default only ship will be lost, and passengers will return to your base after some time (when escape pods will be founded by sea rescue )
And by the way, you can build Moray, not only Barracudas.

Didn't know this was a thing! Nice to know and very nice compensation.

Then I believe there are serious issues in the balance department in terms of manufacturing. The costs in terms of USO components are unreal, specially with the volatility of aircrafts and weapons (280 aquaplastics for a slight better transport and 1 magnetic navigation for each Gauss weapon is kind of overkill, specially when there is no difference between a pistol and a heavy Gauss and the amount of aquaplastics and navigations to field a full squad requires a heavy quantity of USOs to achieve).

Edit: Dreaghnouts do not have magnetic navigation?

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Released Mods / Re: [TFTD] [Expansion] TWoTS+ Release (v.2.14)

« on: July 09, 2018, 11:00:28 pm »

Playing on 2.13 (I will do the update today to the latest).

Concerning my game, I was able to balance in positive points by assaulting a landed dreadnought with sectoids. Up to now I am able to buzz over the USOs with three barracudas and two tritons (with that the interceptions are quite manageable). I am quite surprised of the high costs of aqua-plastics of both the Morays and the upgraded triton but as you can basically recycle most of the alien stuff I cannot pronounce on its balance. Despite all, the USO storm does not let me go farther in the game (one week is like 3-4 missions and several interceptions). I'll apply the fix and see how it goes.

From the weapon standpoint the sharkmans seems to be the muton-equivalent for the jet harpoon weapons: pretty resilient. I am about to unlock gauss so seems legit.

Concerning bugs and QoL stuff:

Graphics issue, but this one crashes the game.
(Simply MC a mindworm and switch to him. Haven't tried locust though)

1.- I can confirm it is something with the graphics of weapons or one sprite in the inventory, I have the same issue when middle-clicking on the locust to check what it was.

2.- Then I have issues with the sprite of the hazmat suit. In some cases the head is replaced by the dead body sprite (not sure if this bug was already traced).

QoL-1: It would be nice to have color coded ammunitions for the harpoon weapons. I go nuts every time I have to check if I am firing stun harpoons or SC ones (attached some files edited with Aseprite. I don't know if they are valid for the color palette  ).

QoL-2: The sectoid commander has an "empty" tech tree w.r.t. the squad leader. I would be nice if he was more useful in this matter (either research or "manufacturing").

Said this I am having fun, the mind worm and the locust is a nice move (fortunately I mix laser and X-rifles  ).

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Released Mods / Re: [TFTD] [Expansion] TWoTS+ Release (v.2.14)

« on: July 07, 2018, 12:54:58 am »

I've been playing a bit and effectively, and as far as I saw:

- By the end of the third month one country leaves and an alien base spawns on a know position on the map (at least that what happened in my last two games, I assume is intended like this).
- By the fourth month you reach negative points and have to finish my fifth but it seems it would likely be the same.

The reason seems (thankfully for the radar coverage) is that the mission "rulette" has heavy weights in supply and influence aliens mission. There was a point on by my radar coverage where USOs congregated like bees. One interceptor and several medium, huge and very huge ships congregating on the same spot (which I believe is the second base yet-to-be-found). Of course even if doing the rest of the accessible missions your rating suffers drastically from this behavior.

The problem here seems not on the difficulty but rather on the unbalance of mission weights, providing much more uso missions that you can't tackle yet instead of providing other missions more accessibles.

So that would explain why @LouisedeFuines was having troubles with interceptors and big USOs. @Nord if you can check this behavior as it will probably be the issue they are complaining. How often are these missions USO missions from the alien base generated?

I hope this helps to solve the problem they are experiencing.

[Spoiler]

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Released Mods / Re: [TFTD] [Expansion] TWoTS+ Release (v.2.13)

« on: July 03, 2018, 12:47:53 am »

Bughunt mode shows the location of enemy on minimap. Very useful in bases.
About low rating - are your radar coverage full enough?
Also, there is one major difference from vanilla in this part:
Alien bases generate infiltration missions (when some country conclude a pact with aliens). So no alien bases - is a key to victory.

Spoiler:

You got 3 bases and 6 infiltrations in progress.

How hard are the bases (quantity of aliens)? Last game I missed the opportunity to take one as the uso interceptors were later upgraded and I hadn't had the opportunity to assault due to subpar air combat :/. If I knew they were so critical I would have striked immediately.

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Released Mods / Re: [TFTD] [Expansion] TWoTS+ Release (v.2.13)

« on: July 03, 2018, 12:42:53 am »

Does the bughunt mode only activate on retialation missions?


I think I found a bug: I can`t arm my Cormorant ship. I`ve got 2 Ajax torpedo launchers and can`t equip them. They are definitively available:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lCoUuZSCh4-h0R6v-85R3ogsfs6X8ti8/view?usp=sharing (savegame)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/179N_YTw8dNa9y0lcfwJqJSH1evN8GsGc/view?usp=sharing (Pic)

I`m on july and alien activities spam like hell!
I can`t take all that missions and avoid a bad rating. I think, this is a balancing problem.


And about my radar cover:
I got only one!, since I progress slowly. But even if the world would be covered full. At this point of the game I would never have interceptors in each base.

Ok more stuff that you may find helpful. First you need radar coverage, not interceptors. The Cormorant is slow and it won't catch anything bigger than small usos. The radar coverage enables you to see where they land and to intercept them on ground. Then, the game is quite longer than vainilla so start selling alien stuff (keeping one) to access fresh cash and expand relatively quickly (at least with radars).

Then, concerning interceptions, each enemy base has its own radius of interception. By building several bases in the globe with tritons you can avoid this radius and still arrive to the mission (don't try to outmaneuver as the triton comes back to base in a straight line). Also you can use the initial transport for troops as it can carry weapons to fend usos (haven't tested if it can win against an interceptor uso though).

Then I agree that the beginner difficulty is quite over the curve in terms of difficulty (rather fast evolution of difficulty) but this is a mod and not the base game  . I have too much xpiratez on my veins to complain about difficulty or world coverage. In any case reading is always advised and some failed games should provide insight on the tech tree to know where to push first (weapons with cavitation are capable enough, armor is not critical (it will save you sometimes but death is the most common outcome). Focus on the means to control the globe if you can (I have to retake the game but the creator suggested to follow the trail of the old organisation to improve the air combat).

And then as vainilla try to capture live aliens when possible as they are key to some tech breakthroughs.

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Released Mods / Re: [TFTD] [Expansion] TWoTS+ Release (v.2.13)

« on: July 01, 2018, 10:13:02 pm »

When the Usos can now attack my subs too? What defense against this is meant to be?

Lost 2 Tritons to this great "feature". A lone Triton seems helpless...

And to the bad rating:
It remains a mystery. I have "good" months, but the game gives me bad ratings...
Or is OXCE+ harder then vanilla?

You can provide escorts such as it was done in xenonauts (they'll fight instead of the triton). Bear in mind the comorant can tackle the first type of interceptors but afterwards to later usos he can't. Asign an interceptor to the triton once it has taken off the base.

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Released Mods / Re: [TFTD] [Expansion] TWoTS+ Release (v.2.12)

« on: June 11, 2018, 08:07:01 pm »

Ok, dropped the current game until next patch .

Feedback so far is that is a very nice mod. There are quite a few addition that refreshes the game (both in terms of equipment and mission-wise).

Stuff that may be worth considering.
- I was not able to get yet the new "interceptor" after the cormorant, which I assume became a blocking point for evolving the air in general. From the tech tree I understand it is linked to part of the story driven mission so I assume I am arriving late at the mission due to lack of focusing the research to unlock it (I assume it starts from the databank from the church of syrius). This is somewhat problematic as the lack varied interceptors make research in the air department uneven, potentially leaving unused air weapons and having severe issues in the geoscape (lack of interceptions, incapacity to tackle enemy bases). Maybe more slower small usos could give the cormorant some better use. Also some hints on the fact that you need that tech could be given to encourage the research earlier.

- Starting equipment serves only for the first mission, commercial underwater weapons are deprecated extremely quickly (due to the lack of research options). I don't know if it is intended. Also the "commercial" grenade launcher is quite bad in comparison with the gas cannon that follows. I consider it is a pity to "throw" so fast these new weapons, but just my opinion.

- It would be nice to have "surface" armors as lesser counterparts to the researched ones. I understand that aqua plastics are cool but it is also coherent to use kevlar, alien alloys and whatever you want on land. I think more detachment from water and land is nice as it could be player by having independent teams for each activity (such in the way the ocean team is in xpiratez).

Nevertheless really enjoyed the mod and looking forward to the next release to tackle it again

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Released Mods / Re: [TFTD] [Expansion] TWoTS+ Release (v.2.11)

« on: June 05, 2018, 08:43:42 pm »

Been playing a little yesterday.

Potential bugs:

- Vibro knife already present in the wikipedia at the start of the game.
- Self-propelled munition seems to unlock the usopedia for the heavy weapons too.

Said this, the mod gives very good vibes. I am not very fond of TFTD due to its steep difficulty and tech itself. It' nice to have mild starting missions with some lore and tech development (the tech options for the moment are quite legit). Just to know, coastal activity is proclined to US shores? I did my base in australia and I missed like 3-4 missions at the moment.

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XPiratez / Re: Thoughts & feedback so far

« on: December 31, 2016, 11:18:49 pm »

I'm going to take the opportunity to ask about the organ traffickers and the raid into mansion.

For the first one I was quite unprepared for the acid rain, So I basically grab the two ghouls I shooted down and their equipment before bailing out. I assume you need some advanced armor (or at least night-ops ) to have a small chance of surviving the encounter (it's amazing how with chem ammunitions the domestic shotgun becomes a nightmare).

For the second one I have three ladies and a pachyderm (the rest of the 20+ are on the infirmary playing cards, sickbay is on the way). I want to do also a grab & go but I've seen also that is a night mission. Any advice?