Messages

1

Offtopic / Re: What do you think of...

« on: August 27, 2019, 01:13:38 pm »

you get only one Skyranger, thus no several simultaneous missions, and for a good reason: the game typically offers up 3 abduction missions at any given time, each with a different reward on completion (and varying difficulty at times).

And this is highly unrealistic Any commander will use this justification to get extra transports and troops to be ready for the next set of simultaneous strikes. And the council will support him.

You are deciding which one to engage based on the reward that lures you the most, suffering the repercussions of neglecting the remaining 2 missions (increasing panic -> reduced funds from those regions). This system is less sandboxy than that is of the original's, but it also means it's more streamlined, elegant and elaborate.

It's there solely to increase "replayability". Creating situations where following all paths is not an option. Doing it from the start by resource shortage would've been OK for me. Their way just shows the lack of creativity.

2

Offtopic / Re: What do you think of...

« on: August 19, 2019, 03:59:19 am »

UFO: Aftermath is built around some interesting ideas. The whole mating of giant organisms, creation of monsters out of human bodies, pilot rescue missions, "see every monster" missions, aliens stranded on Earth and joining my forces to fight the traitors... However, it was buggy and I find the engine inferior to the original UFO:
the operatives cannot enter buildings,
there is only one level,
the terrain is indestructible,
the ability to zoom in turned out to be useless — once you've seen each monster, there's nothing to look at closely.
What broke my patience, was the inability to research plasma weapons — looked like a bug to me. After that I dialed the difficulty to the lowest, played until the end with invulnerability cheat codes and didn't bother replaying the game or trying sequels. Turns out, I missed a few things.

I tried UFO: AI about 10 years ago. The AI was nonexistent, models were ugly, purchasing weapons required a lot of micromanagement, and I decided to wait a few years before trying it again. I haven't played it since then.

Xenonauts so far is a nice game. I loved the idea of detecting UFOs by "sightings" and "strafes", but it wasn't used much, at least on the lowest difficulty. The movement mechanics takes time to get used to, but is more realistic. So far the most unpleasant part was waiting several months without any UFOs. I fired scientists to save money, but did it too late and lost more from re-hiring. Then I accidentally wiped the disk and haven't restored the backup yet. Another problem is that there seems to be no technical support anymore — there are multiple crash reports on their site, but no answers; usually, I had to start over with saves from a few game days earlier.

I tried playing the 2012 XCOM game when it was released, got as far as the first Cryssalid, but Steam version kept crashing at certain points if the network was connected. This bug has probably been fixed, but I haven't revisited the series. What I hated about the game, was inability to build more bases and inability to send several teams to several simultaneous missions (did DLCs fix that too?).

3

The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 0.9.9e2: Summertime Lovin'

« on: August 16, 2019, 01:47:31 am »

Krautbend mission despawn times are random so in order to do that he would have to make the average like double the desired minimum.

Is it possible to simply set terror despawn time and conditions the same as in vanilla game? What's the point of altering them?

4

Playthroughs / Re: Let's play The X-COM Files, shall we?

« on: August 15, 2019, 12:59:33 pm »

Friday, February 28.

791. Medicine research finished, chief medic reporting.

I'll follow this path later.

795, 794. Monster hunt in Brazil. I'll send the Vancouver team again.



796.

And thus ends the February of 1997. Not very eventful, compared to the UFOs of January.

5

Playthroughs / Re: Let's play The X-COM Files, shall we?

« on: August 15, 2019, 12:57:44 pm »

Wednesday, February 19.

779.
A regular crop circles mission, capturing a single farmer in 10 turns.

I'll keep Glocks on belts.

Turn 1.

780. 2 houses, 4 rookies.

Hedegaard and Bos go right and Silva and Lambert go left.

781. Lambert has found the farmer. Silva didn't see him, because he walked along the house wall.


782. And he's got a shotgun.

Better not stay in the open.

Turn 3.

785. Better save taser clips and use just clubs.


786. Only Lambert got any practice.


787.

And this is one of many "quality of life" improvements in OXCE engine. If a base has no prison/storage, the prisoner/loot can be sold or transferred to another base. Right now only Volgograd base has a prison.

789. Transfer isn't free, of course.

6

Playthroughs / Re: Let's play The X-COM Files, shall we?

« on: August 15, 2019, 12:52:22 pm »

Wednesday, February 19.

772. Brainwashed farmer revealed stats of female farmers.


774. In other news, Sten research was finished.



Thursday, February 20.

776. Double-barrelled shotgun.

As all cheap shotguns, it's useless against serious armor and thick hides.

777. Crop circles, in America, close to the base Vancover.

7

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

« on: August 15, 2019, 03:30:58 am »

EDIT4:
MIB bases/mission sites (connected to alien embassies?) show up as UFOs, not as ground mission sites. They also have associated briefings.

Last time I reported that, Solarius said it's a leftover from when missions couldn't start without UFOs. Promised to fix it, when he gets to overhaul MiB.

EDIT7:
I recently encountered Shamblers in the caves/underdark. I haven't had a look at the spawn list, but what exactely are shamblers - who are manufactered by the Syndicate iirc and home to cold climates - doing in the caves?

The "Hidden Caves" article says that the hidden caves were found by studying migration of spider and shamblers. Average temperature of RL caves varies from ≲+10C to ~+15C, with +5C uncommon, but possible. I think, +10C is fine for polar sloths.

8

Playthroughs / Re: Let's play The X-COM Files, shall we?

« on: August 15, 2019, 01:09:23 am »

756. Capture a lone Dagon follower in Paris.


Turn 1.

757. Yet another modern port city.

Team: Chan, Shaman, Mukhtar, Bagheri.

758. Spread out. The suspect is unlikely to have good weapon or aim.


Turn 3.

759. There he is. Bagheri wounded him with a reaction shot.


760. He's got a crossbow.

That's unfortunate. Run for cover!

Turn 4.

762. Bagheri and Chan are too close to the walls. They can't see the suspect and he can't see them. Mukhtar watches from safe distance.

Stepping back and shooting the suspect with Glocks would be easy. But that would be too far for tasers.

763. I'd rather let Mukhtar practice. Can he stun him?

If he runs, he can shoot the taser once. If he misses, Bagheri and Chan will mop it up.

766. Success. Captured him alive and let 2 agents practice.


767. After all the new hires, the first 4 agents were promoted.

9

Playthroughs / Re: Let's play The X-COM Files, shall we?

« on: August 15, 2019, 12:50:21 am »

Next Friday, February 14.

735. Intelligence Center is ready.

$750 thousand apiece.

736. New agents have arrived to the new bases.


Saturday, February 15.

738.  Ramshackle weapon box has been researched.

Now I can open them a workshop to get random weapons. Hangars double as workshops, but I still need to hire an engineer.

742. Ditto ammo box for random ammo.


745. And simple explosives crate.


739. New research. Let's get rid of simplest 1-day projects.


Sunday, February 16.

748. A wooden club.

Weak, but concealable stun weapon.

And then the quiet ended:

750. Another Dagon follower, in Paris.

I've finished the research that closes such operations, but in the old versions those would continue until the month ends.

Monday, February 17.

754. Kukri

As far as I know, no melee weapons in this mod can cut inanimate objects, despite this description. Or did anything change? EDIT: yes it did! Like melee weapons in Piratez, Kukri is effectively a firearm with range 1.

10

Playthroughs / Re: Let's play The X-COM Files, shall we?

« on: August 15, 2019, 12:36:32 am »

1529, 1530. Here is Mukhtar von Kleine, from Germany, as requested by Leupold_cat at linux.org.ru. I forgot he was hired on February 1st. He arrived to the base too late to go to Madagascar or Japan.



Those two missions were followed by a quiet week.

7th of February, 1997.

723. EXALT infiltrator research is ready.

Main occupations: selling and abusing Psiclone.

724. Extra information: flashlights for $2000 apiece are way too expensive. Even if they double as clubs.


728. Black Lotus follower is ready.

Just Oriental monks that know kung fu. Supposedly, their melee proficiency attracted attention.

729. Extra information: X-COM quartermaster uses grenades to question prisoners.


730. 4 cults unlock Intelligence center.


732. Researching a hunting license picked from a hunter gives hunter combat analysis.

Nothing unusual.

726. Also researched money briefcase. Just to get maximum research percentage.


733. Next topic — intelligence center. It will double the number of scientists on the main base. Or let the other bases research humans and simple trophy weapons. And double UFO detection probability.

11

Playthroughs / Re: Let's play The X-COM Files, shall we?

« on: August 14, 2019, 08:49:16 pm »

Turn 5.

709. Hiding...


710. It worked, they did come closer.


712. I haven't seen this disciple before.


713. The wounded crossbowman has gone berserk. Too bad he only has 1 shot.


Turn 6.

718. The last one?


719. No prisoners


720. No reaction practice.


721. 2 money briefcases is nice. The rest costs only a few thousand dollars.

12

Playthroughs / Re: Let's play The X-COM Files, shall we?

« on: August 14, 2019, 08:45:14 pm »

Turn 2.

697. Only 2 enemies are visible from here, and the hill covers them partially. Looks like the house is really empty.


698. Found 2 more.


700. Too far to aim well. The agents managed to kill only 1 more.


After the turn ended, I heard the door. Skjolsvold stayed on this side of the van and Okoth watched the house.

Turn 3.

701. This time Skjolsvold didn't hide, but they missed him.


702. The cultist with kukri wasn't an immediate threat, he just was the only target they didn't miss.


Turn 4.

703. 705. And here's the man from the house. He shouldn't be a problem for Okoth.



707. Other enemies are too far for Skjolsvold. He only managed to wound the crossbowman.


At the end of the turn I hid Skjolsvold behind the van, hoping to lure enemies closer.

13

Playthroughs / Re: Let's play The X-COM Files, shall we?

« on: August 14, 2019, 08:39:50 pm »

Skjolsvold and Okoth against cultists.

Turn 1.

686. The no longer safe house is in the left corner. I hope, this crowd is all they are going to encounter, nobody stayed in the house.

This looks like a lot, and there may be more in the far corner and behind the hill, but low-ranking cultists tend to have poor aim.

687.

One disciple down.

688, 689, 690, 691, 692, 693. What are they armed with?






SMGs, a double-barrelled shotgun, a kukri knife, a crossbow, a Beretta pistol, a pump-action shotgun. Shotguns and SMGs are good for friendly fire

695. 2 more disciples down,

time to hide behind the van.

14

Playthroughs / Re: Let's play The X-COM Files, shall we?

« on: August 14, 2019, 12:23:07 pm »

680, 681, 682, 683. Meanwhile, a Red Dawn ganger confessed.




Just a reminder to check Ufopaedia texts now and then


This is interesting, but I'll finish different researches for now.

685. And the van has reached Madagascar.

15

The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 0.9.9e2: Summertime Lovin'

« on: August 14, 2019, 03:31:06 am »

What benefit is there aside from little writing snippets for researching the same things multiple times? Generally things like Hunting License, and captured alive things?

It varies. Among those dossiers and jokes there may be several important items. Cultists usually give weapons and some information about their cult. Alien medics and Syndicate scientists give information about alien species and monsters. Alien engineers and Cyberweb unlock technologies. If you are not afraid of spoilers, middle-click the researchable item to find out. (You may need to allow research tree spoilers in options.)

By the way, several dossiers unlock unique missions with expensive prizes.