Messages

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 3.0: Beyond Human

« on: August 13, 2023, 01:56:24 am »

I guess I'll be putting ghosts off for a bit until I get energy weapons. The despawn penalty is only 50. Hope it doesn't snowball into something that potentially borks my game. 

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 3.0: Beyond Human

« on: August 12, 2023, 08:05:23 am »

Update: Wiped out all 11 manors, researching lasers from a crashed UFO, and just cleared a Black Lotus forward base (Thank you Scout Drones!).

edit: How are you guys fighting the ranged ghosts in the early game?

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 3.0: Beyond Human

« on: August 08, 2023, 03:02:47 pm »

Sorry, now I remember that manors were supposed to be dependant on successful cult missions, but never managed to get it working. So they're just random.

Nevertheless, I think the entire issue is severely overblown. If you stall, accept the consequences. If you don't, you are unlikely to be swamped.

I am not a fan of putting too much pressure on the player either, but this is how the mod is designed and I can't do much, short of scrapping the whole mission system and rebuilding from scratch. And I don't think it's so bad as is.

I guess this highlights the procedural way in which an x-com game progresses.

Anyway I'm almost done with a Black Lotus manor after a little reloading to get an optimal starting position. Considering they're the worst of the bunch and I used a sub-par team for the assault, I should be able to clear the other six. Before they get bigger? Idk.

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 3.0: Beyond Human

« on: August 08, 2023, 03:50:00 am »

Nevertheless, I think the entire issue is severely overblown.

I may have overstated my point, but I still agree with myself

If you stall, accept the consequences. If you don't, you are unlikely to be swamped.

I think my overall complaint is the confluence of the number of missions and the reinforcements. If not for the reinforcements, I would be able to clear the remaining 7 manors without pulling my hair out.

And I don't think it's so bad as is.

No, it isn't that bad, just a bug/feature that can get out of hand and ruin an otherwise perfectly pragmatic and (successful) game.

Fixed that for you.

I waited a while to do the "operations" research, and haven't had the chance to see how rng treats me here. So part of it is my fault. 11 manors just seems excessive when I've been wiping out all other cult activity. And the "elite soldier" reinforcements within seconds of the battle starting ruin my "suspension of disbelief." Just a nuisance of a mechanic that feels forced.

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 3.0: Beyond Human

« on: August 07, 2023, 06:37:40 am »

Some others have brought up the same issue (would rather play slowly instead of progressing the research/mission tree). You've chosen a strategy that is unsuitable for XCF or at least makes it excessively difficult, because cults keep expanding when you don't go quickly after the root problem.

This is what I mean by min/max and/or rushing strat. There is a ton of stuff to research at this stage of the game, enough that 50+ scientists can't even hope to keep up. Making the "cult operations" a priority means ignoring a massive pile of other research topics. My intent is to research sufficient gear to be able to handle the consequences of "affects game progression" techs. This is not playing slowly. Maybe instead of "affects game progression" it should read "absolutely necessary at the expense of all other techs unless you want the game to take a giant shit on you."

edit: anyway I've cleared 4 "baby" manors and now have 7 at stage 2 or whatever. Like I said I may be leaving them indefinitely, or until much later when I'm OP. What's the highest evolution of a manor? Turrets? Blaster launchers? Psionics? Chrysalids?

edit 2: I still love the mod. I just have a personal distaste for forced rushing of specific techs, min/maxing, punishing of cautious strategies, etc. Also not a fan of techs gated behind rng. But that's another rant.

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 3.0: Beyond Human

« on: August 07, 2023, 01:34:01 am »

No, the entire godamn point of manors is that they are preventable. That's why they were added. They appear when your anti-cult activity in the region is insufficient.

My anti-cult activity in all regions is impeccable. The manors spawned regardless.

Well, it is almost the highest... I certainly wouldn't pick it for a game I don't know very well.

I do not play X-com on anything less than SH. The only thing forcing me down to Genius is intrepid mod makers who never think the game is difficult enough. *cough* Dioxine *cough*

Honestly though; this and xpiratez are great mods. I just think that sometimes they're geared towards min-maxing and rushing strategies that can take a lot of fun out of the game. It isn't that I think they should be easier. I just don't think they should be as punishing against players using realistic and conservative strategies like bounding overwatch and base of fire that are used by modern militaries around the world. It seems like there's nothing mod makers hate more than players taking their time to win a battle.

"Elite soldiers" appearing behind my lines after no more than 120 sec (10 turns) in a firefight with a scummy alien religious cult just isn't realistic at all. I guess the mod maker can decide what's "realistic" but it just makes no sense outside of a forced rush mechanic.

The manor battles are difficult enough without them.

This may all become moot after I get bigger squads with better gear, but 11 manors is just spam. I kill every single mission, so "insufficient" anti-cult activities is not the problem.

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 3.0: Beyond Human

« on: August 06, 2023, 02:45:25 am »

I'm following a game Dioxine plays right now, cults are mostly finished, and I haven't seen a SINGLE manor in the whole campaign. I have no idea how people get so many (when I played last, I got 3 or 4).

What difficulty are you playing on? And what month is it?

Genius difficulty. As of Sept 1998 I have cleared 3 "baby" manors, leaving at least 8 large manors active. Those are impossible to assail due to the 10-round ~FU~ reinforcements. Timed missions = FU missions. Nonsensical in terms of "game time" and no fun at all to play. I'm wondering if I can just ignore them, like... forever. I hate them. Maybe around endgame when we're all in PA with BLs or whatever XCF's equivalents are. /shrug

edit: I should add that I have put off the Cult "Operations" tree and the Osprey up until now, as this is my first playthrough and I tend to hold off on "Affects Progression" techs until I've cleared up to a certain point. I'm well past that point now and should have Ospreys online soon. So I'll be fielding more troops etc. but in the meantime I have no interest in trying to clean up 8+ timed missions with 60+ enemies each. Just ugly blips that will be on my globe for months if not years to come.

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 3.0: Beyond Human

« on: August 03, 2023, 09:19:45 am »

Well, I finished the manor with nothing but Galils and BO pistols while hiding behind two little houses. Took 23 turns but all I did was hold the position until everything was dead. Galils are great as far as grunt rifles go. Those and pistols killed everything in one or two shots. Two or three for Gillmen. No reinforcements appeared whatsoever. Barely had to venture out for the last Gillman. Maybe Dagon doesn't get the reinforcements? Anyway, one manor down, ten to go. I may focus on Dagon for now if they don't get the reinforcements. I'll save EXALT and Lotus for later.

Speaking of which, how do you handle Assassins?

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 3.0: Beyond Human

« on: August 03, 2023, 07:28:31 am »

My bad, 200 is effectively unlimited in X-com though. And I haven't run into the 40 tile range problem yet. At any rate, I'm currently trying a manor while waiting for sniper rifles to arrive. I noticed those sniper rifles have the 50-200% damage range instead of the usual 0-200. This makes a huge difference when dealing with armor because the minimum damage is around 20-25 ignoring low level armors. However I'm currently running a manor using my old setup (8 rifles +  2 launchers, with minimal thrown) and I'm up to about 35 kills and climbing. Use of cover negates their spotter-sniper mechanic. The problem is that in one turn the "Elite (WTF) Soldiers" will appear at random locations, including behind my cover, and I don't have the snipers yet to guarantee one hit kills. So I'm going to pop smoke on this turn and hope I can take out the rest with focused fire. If not, I'll reload and wait on the snipers. /shrug

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 3.0: Beyond Human

« on: August 03, 2023, 07:07:16 am »

Aimed shots don't have any dropoff. Snap shots do. This correlates to making a fast shot where less time is spent aiming. Makes sense to me. I can snipe dudes with plain old assault rifles on the opposite side of the map because of this. It makes sense that quickly aiming for a snap shot would have an accuracy dropoff. We aren't talking about bullets falling or losing momentum. We're talking about the soldier's accuracy being lower due to the speed of the attack. Versus taking the time to aim at something at range. Rifle range is unlimited in X-com.

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 3.0: Beyond Human

« on: August 03, 2023, 02:38:40 am »

And then your shopping malls and cinemas and apartment blocks also fit into a 30x30 or maybe 50x50 m square at most, assault rifles don't shoot much further than 30-50 m, and nobody sees beyond 40-50m for some reason.

Building scaling is a little weird but not hundreds of meters weird.

Rifles shoot all the way across the map. Most of them don't even lose accuracy before the bullet goes beyond the edge. The ranges given are only for accuracy dropoff. In reality a pistol has an "effective" range of about 50 meters according to multiple sources. So some of the weapons' accuracy dropoff is a little inaccurate, but not by hundreds of meters. I figure the length of a turn according to what a soldier can do. Fire three snap shots, run 20 meters, prime and throw a grenade, etc. These things take a few seconds.

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 3.0: Beyond Human

« on: August 02, 2023, 10:02:52 am »

Eh, I think that's been something no-one has reached a particular consensus on. From one point of view, you can run several hundred meters (in full gear, no less) in a turn. From another, pressing the trigger half a dozen times should take a few seconds at most.

A square in X-com can't be much more than a meter. With 60 TUs you can run 20 squares. So not several hundred. Just saying.

I'll give the sniper rifles a try though. They don't weigh any more than the FAL which I was using until I got the Galil. Aside from the lack of sniper cheesiness they both make great standard infantry rifles.

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 3.0: Beyond Human

« on: August 02, 2023, 09:45:44 am »

You don't go to manors with 10 people. You'll need Osprey (16 seats)

I think my biggest issue with the Osprey was range. I've been running almost every mission with the Skyraider. I run 2 fire teams of 5 each with 3 infantry, 1 medic and 1 heavy in each fire team. It works great even for large numbers as long as there aren't 10 or so in the open. I could have done the manor using cover and smoke if not for the reinforcements and their free turn. They rendered the map impossible. This was in an uncluttered map.

So 20-30 preprimed smoke grenades should be enough (I usually give each agent either 2 or 3).

When you have killed most of them using grenades, dynamites and hi-ex (pre-prime at least some of them)

Where are you getting the strength to carry all this stuff? Do you carry medical, extra clips, flash bangs, motion sensors, stun clubs?
Enough explosives for 60-70+ enemies? How?

Infantry: Rifle, 2-3 clips, stun club, first aid or healing spray, smoke, frag, flashbang, motion sensor.
Medic: Rifle, 3 clips, stun club, medipak or healing spray, smoke, flashbang.
Heavy: Grenade launcher with 5 HE, pistol with 3 clips, stun club, smoke, flashbang.

I think you're behind the tech curve if you use Galils. You'll want BO sniper rifles or auto-sniper rifles.

I have access to both BO snipers but I like the 4 attacks per turn the Galil affords. The 105% aimed shot is enough for a trained soldier to hit 100%+. I get lots of kills with it including in the manor. Of course the damage is only around 35-37 so it won't work as well against armor.

Most of the times the battle is over in 10-15 turns.

I'm not a huge fan of forced rushing of battles. In reality a turn would be several seconds. 10-15 rounds is realistically a minute and a half. There's no reason to expect reinforcements to arrive that quickly. I do feel the same way about the "stress" system in xpiratez.

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 3.0: Beyond Human

« on: August 02, 2023, 08:38:44 am »

My ground game is fine even in unfavorable conditions (surrounded with no cover) until the reinforcements arrive. The difficulty until then is in the sheer volume, which I am fine with. The reinforcements just seem like an extra FU in a map that's already difficult as is. And it doesn't matter if they spawn 10+ squares away when they get a free turn. You know, with firearms. Also, they spawned in all 4 corners of the map, specifically surrounding my troops. And if the turn they spawn on isn't predictable, how am I supposed to know when to pop smoke? This are rhetorical questions; the answer is you don't; you either keep all your troops crammed in smoke the whole fight (how many s'nades do you expect me to carry?) thus inviting frags every single round or you just don't use smoke and die. This is another case where it's made out to be easier than it actually is because you may be operating with better tech, more troops, etc. I am running 10 agents with Galils and Liquidators. (Why would I use up a seat for a drone or a dog, honestly? I want actual firepower. Humans can carry guns, bombs, medical, and motion sensors. I'll pay for the agents.)

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XPiratez / Re: A thread for little questions

« on: August 02, 2023, 03:04:28 am »

Is there a way to sent where your troops are standing in the dropship during deployment. Doing a 40k imp guard playthrough and I want all the recruits at the front to take the opening fire.

Equip Craft -> Crew -> Preview