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Playthroughs / Re: X-Com Files Mod The Hardest by Fomka (Superman, Ironman, Handicaps)

« on: October 08, 2022, 12:26:40 pm »

Plans didn't go well. It is very interesting time we live in. I'm placing my unfinished playthrough files here. Anyone can do anything with them.

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Playthroughs / Re: X-Com Files Mod The Hardest by Fomka (Superman, Ironman, Handicaps)

« on: August 12, 2022, 05:09:44 am »

I'll continue the play through around the 15th of September 2022, if my plans go well.

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The X-Com Files / New Battle doesn't work well for Cult Safehouses in X-Com Files

« on: July 17, 2022, 11:42:52 am »

I have a question on "New Battle" option in Open X-Com with X-Com Files mod.

The game offers a possibility to play any type of battlescape mission right from the first menu -- with the "New Battle" button. This message describes how to quickly find needed mission type -- https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,9510.msg137189.html#msg137189

I'm trying to play STR_CULT_INVESTIGATION_ZSRR "Cult safehouse" mission with STR_ZSRR "Red Dawn" faction. Sometimes new battle crashes before equip screen, sometimes not. In the latter cases the terrain is not OK -- it is Moon. Moreover, unit placement is strange: big group of them is placed outside of safehouses.

Is it possible to train that Red Dawn's safehouses via New Battle just like they appear during normal play?

I'm on X-Com Files v2.4.

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Playthroughs / Re: X-Com Files Mod The Hardest by Fomka (Superman, Ironman, Handicaps)

« on: July 16, 2022, 05:48:24 am »

I see that you're still not using the Q/E/numbers hotkeys.

I tried the hotkeys but found it confusing to use right now, moreover in Ironman mode. Need more ingame time for adaptation and I lack that time. However, I will do some training via "New Battle".

The Bottleneck
I admit that the capture of 2nd level cultists will be the bottleneck in beeline for Promotion II. They reside in safehouses which are rare and hard to secure. According to the plan I need the cultists by the middle of July. It is the middle of June outside, must hurry up.

The first Red Dawn safehouse attack in this playthrough was performed by only 1 agent (with 2 dogs), other operatives were in hospital.

It was the 2nd safehouse overall. The 1st was cleared by a squad of four agents. Need more agents!

Considering all that I'm investing $135k into three more agents (with kevlar vests) for Asia base. Asia is the main source of possibilities to capture Red Dawn lads and Black Lotus footmen.

Undercover operations are secondary sources of that cultists.

Playthrough continues
16th of June
Crop circles mission pops up in Pakistan and an Asian van is heading there.
Rookies arrive: one at Europe, three at Asia.
Crop circles mission is about to begin on the 17th of June...

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Playthroughs / Re: X-Com Files Mod The Hardest by Fomka (Superman, Ironman, Handicaps)

« on: July 15, 2022, 01:08:55 am »

Battlescape time!
A Red Dawn Apprehension mission pops up at 23:00 on the 12th of June 1997 in the Russian city of Saratov. Van from Chechia arrives at the place 21 hour later (very fast for the real life, by the way, with all that weapons).

See the story on the pictures, including moving GIFs. The most exciting moment is captured on the last GIF!

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 2.5: Silent Run

« on: July 11, 2022, 04:02:23 pm »

Maybe by turning the bite into a gunbutt weapon? Not sure, but I think you'll lose reaction biting that way.
Otherwise, I don't think so. The dogs are already laden with built-in weapons.
Maybe just give them a belt or backpack slot.

Thanks for the hint about possible loss of reaction bite.

I'm currently playing 2.5 and my dogs have pockets? They just have to be wearing dog combat gear. Unless I've been hallucinating furry guided missiles carrying hi-ex payloads for the last hundred missions or so.

Dog combat gear are the right words. Sorry for the confusion, I actually forgot about that. Dogs are pocketable with right gear.

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 2.5: Silent Run

« on: July 09, 2022, 01:21:40 pm »

When I say "Tank" I mean higher health relative to the regular dogs, not in comparison to a literal tank. Especially in the early game the wolves can take quite a few hits from small-arms. I would imagine as an upgraded dog having stronger bite/bark and sensor ability would keep them relevant in their own way.

I wasn't impressed by Fenrir wolves, but yes, they can be relevant - if clad in cyber armor.

I also tend to use the regular dogs as a way to rapidly transport equipment across the map, and having an upgraded dog able to carry more equipment would serve a purpose the armored vehicles simply do not. Strapping on some spare rockets, medpacks, ammunition, or whatever else your crew needs will go a long way to transforming your seemingly limited melee unit into a versatile logistical support unit. With armor that gave the wolf a "backpack" I can also easily imagine getting a ton of use simply having it carry wounded/stunned units back to the ship.

Dogs have pockets removed in 2.4 version (or earlier?). I used them to carry some things before, but now it is not possible: they have no backpack, no belt, no pockets and both "hand" slots are occupied. What version do you use?

A dog carrying wounded agent for evacuation will be a nice feature to have. Or a dog that can run into a cult's safehouse, grab a money briefcase and go back for evac...

I'm thinking on make dogs with one free "hand" slot. This way a dog can carry one thing of any size, simulating dog's mouth-grab. Investigation on whether the Bark and the Bite can be assigned to one slot is needed. Can someone answer the question - is it possible to combine dog's bark and dog's bite into one weapon item with two use modes?

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Playthroughs / Re: X-Com Files Mod The Hardest by Fomka (Superman, Ironman, Handicaps)

« on: July 07, 2022, 01:29:02 am »

From the 6th of June 1997 till the 11th:
1. Minus 150 score because of some Zombie reports from Port Said in Egypt.
2. Deep One corpse and spear acquired from some Sacrificial Ring.
3. Werecat research completed on the 11th of June, just as planned (so the 5 day advantage from early finish of previous topic is vanished). Mutant Physiology is the next topic.
4. Big sale of corpses and stuff occurred in the Europe base on the 11th of June. Freed 38,8 units of storage space (out of 150) and got $873k of cash. That was a half year crop of corpses.
5. The planned goal "Earn $450k to hire 5 scientists to fill the new Intelligence Center" is achieved on the 11th of June instead of the 18th of June.
6. Sent three vans to patrol distant areas: two vans from the Europe base are to patrol USA and Brazil and a van from the Asia base is patrolling Australia. Each of the bases has one van ready inside.

The plan I'm referring to was described here.

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Playthroughs / Re: X-Com Files Mod The Hardest by Fomka (Superman, Ironman, Handicaps)

« on: July 07, 2022, 12:56:55 am »

The 4th of June, 1997: an ordinary Crop Circles mission in Madagascar turns out to be the first Men in Black encounter!
The mission pops up at 05:00 on the 4th of June, X-Com arrives at 15:07 on the 6th of June, 58 hours later.
Lucky placement (van in a corner, agents spread out of it and do not worry for their backs, the only civilian is near, no enemies are visible) and some tactical moves yields +100 score, no casualties and nice loot (2 BlackOps SMGs and a CAWS).

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Playthroughs / Re: X-Com Files Mod The Hardest by Fomka (Superman, Ironman, Handicaps)

« on: July 06, 2022, 11:50:28 pm »

That's just begging to be sniped against anything but the weakest cultists. Except Red Dawn. Red Dawn are all sniper.

You are right, the designated snipers will shoot. I hope to hide an exposed agent to survive the upcoming sniping. Or I'd rather say "sniping", because there was only 1 hit out of 12 attempts in the recent Safehouse mission, see a gif I've added there. Anyway, sniping or not sniping, attacking an enemy once and going somewhere after that is a way to lure enemies to that somewhere, which can be favorable to me.

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Playthroughs / Re: X-Com Files Mod The Hardest by Fomka (Superman, Ironman, Handicaps)

« on: July 04, 2022, 06:32:04 pm »

EXALT in Fortaleza, Brazil
Cult activity was detected at 01:00 on the 2nd of June. A van returning to Europe base will be on the track in about 10 hours. The squad is not full: they are returning from unsuccessful Muckstar case, where agent Carlos Fraga was killed. No rest at base, they'll sleep on their way across the Atlantic and in airport queues.

Two agents and a dogs vs EXALT cultists in Fortaleza, Brazil
Agents returns at the Europe base from Mexico and almost immediately are sent to Brazil. They arrive at 21:03 on 4th of June (68 hours since mission detection at 01:00 on 2nd of June) and quickly close the case there: since the commander gave green light on shooting without warnings and pleas for freeze, cultists were attacked at a glance and their disposition allowed picking them off one by one.

A new tactical move was born
If you see only one enemy, flashbang him from dark and wait 1 turn while his teammates come closer to investigate. You know, any X-Com agent become visible to every enemy unit every time he/she hit one of them. Battle recordings do not show why, but I think that X-Commers have a bad habit of shouting something like "Come over, I'm right here!" on every hit. Maybe they even ignite small fireworks to celebrate.

Outcome
No casualties, loot worth $5k (including one Infiltrator), 22 score. The latter is the main profit. It's better that way than minus 200 in case I've ignored that mission.

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Playthroughs / Re: X-Com Files Mod The Hardest by Fomka (Superman, Ironman, Handicaps)

« on: July 04, 2022, 05:52:34 pm »

...that Kamchatka Safehouse of Red Dawn...

One agent plus two dogs vs Red Dawn gangers at their Safehouse
Only one agent, Yngvar, is ready for that mission, others are wounded. So he takes all the dogs he can with him and go off for the Kamchatka. There will be no less than 10 opponents. It will be a big luck to capture a 2nd level cultist and retreat without casualties.

So, dog master's van arrives at the sceen at 11:04 on the 4th of June 1997, 60 hours since the mission start at 23:00 on the 1st of June.

Turn 1
A ganger is looking straight at the van. Yngvar flashbangs him and Kabang (71 reactions) finishes him off from his back. Lookaround. One ganger is wandering near, not a problem. The Safehouse is near, it's good luck!
The Plan is: loot the Safehouse and retreat.  The problem is a spotted Pioneer inside the Safehouse. If there are more cultists inside the Plan must be revised.

Cultists shoot at Yngvar and his dog who became visible to the attackers until the next turn because X-Commers hit their teammate (with a flashbang and a dog bite). 12 bullets have been fired, only one of them hits Yngvar at the front of his vest but inflicts a fatal wound. The hit takes 13 health points out of 30. In addition a pair of gangers emerges from the fog of war near the Safehouse.

Turn 2
So, there are more cultists near the Safehouse and the only agent is bleeding. The plan has been revised and now sounds as RETREAT!

Outcome
No casualties, no loot, one person is going to a hospital for 17 days. Earned almost minus 100 points of score. It's better than minus 150 if I've ignored that mission. Sufficient performance.

It was the 2nd safehouse overall. The 1st was cleared by a squad of four agents. Need more agents!

PS. Added a gif showing how Red Dawn shoot at the agent that was exposed to them after hitting their teammate.

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Playthroughs / Re: X-Com Files Mod, Superman, Ironman-ish

« on: July 04, 2022, 10:56:07 am »

Good luck in using Osprey in big missions, tarkalak!

Can you please explain a little?

Is the DAKKA helicopter (AH-6 Little Bird, I think) the best choice that you have now for scouting out cult bases (you call them mansions, I don't know the right name)? Can a van be used instead? Are those cult bases protected by some cult aircrafts?

What was the deal with three screenshots of purchases where cost was striked through? You were considering different options and made a final choice of 2 Blackops sniper rifles, right?

Why do you prefer club and iron pipe to tonfas? What do zeroes mean in the agents' names, the fact that they are from original 8-men team?

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Suggestions / Re: Proper instastly primed granades

« on: July 03, 2022, 02:10:06 pm »

Currently granades that primed instantly are technically shots: see screenshot.

Suggestion: add prime+throw single action (without priming screen).

Currently flashbang grenade in X-Com Files mod work this way: you issue a single command and it goes off after a throw. Did you see that?

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 2.5: Silent Run

« on: July 03, 2022, 02:01:20 pm »

Edit: Mecascorpion round table. Wonder what the topics for the panel discussions are?

The first topic: Why did the chicken cross the road?
The second: Why should they cross the road?