Messages

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XPiratez / Re: A thread for little questions

« on: December 27, 2023, 08:11:07 pm »

The borders shown in the geoscape are not a perfect match with the actual ingame regions, so if you place it on the edge, you might end up getting a different bonus. Country/continent bonuses are still mostly the same as in older version with a few important differences: Settling in the Cali Republic gets you eight captive catgirls, who become recruitable after some research. Take good care of them, they are fast and skilled, but fragile. The Theban Hive start got a big nerf, you'll start getting govt retaliations at May '01, to compensate for how much more it gives you. The Turan money drain is more severe in the first month when you build your hideout there. Romanica, and to a lesser degree, Ghostgates, has a hidden bonus mission that gives you a chance to test out the nun outfit's special weapon. Red Revolution gives you peasants revolutionaries, compared to standard peasants they already have decent firing skill and ritual of rebirth done. Central Asia start got a buff: Although you get 777 capitatory taxes dumped on you, you are given a guaranteed Krazy Hassan leaflet in March '01 if you have a hideout in Central Asia. This is incredibly valuable, because as of version N7, researching it lets you buy weapons from Hassan - in the form of random lootboxes. The contents vary from gun emporium to Krazy Hanna tier, but whatever you get is much cheaper than buying it normally.

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XPiratez / Re: very serious problem in Cats 4 Life in version N6.0.1

« on: October 16, 2023, 12:20:04 am »

Recently updates have been a lot of bugfixing discovered through active testing. I highly recommend updating to the newest version if any problems occur.

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XPZ Strategy/Tactics / Re: The Chaos Saint: How Codex choice can affect your game

« on: September 17, 2023, 10:29:15 am »

There are no special no codex missions per se, however you will deal with gnome-related much earlier due to getting a bunch of them via event. By the time you get them, the best move is probably converting most of them into brainers, to give you an edge in tech and research hellerium powered craft to make up for not having shadowmaster craft to fall back on. Rumors say we might see a special new ending exclusive to those who reject the power, but I can neither confirm nor deny that.

Which captain is best for a no codex run, I cannot say, just choose whichever you are most comfortable with. Jackass is high intensity by design which runs counter to no codex lowering pressure a little (ninjas do not attack your hideouts directly until you are crowned or declare war), dumbass negates some of the research advantage of more brainer gnomes and fewer esoteric topics to research, but it all comes down to preference.

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XPZ Strategy/Tactics / Re: Captain Who? Choosing a captain personality that suits you.

« on: September 17, 2023, 10:18:10 am »

Yes, if you reject the initial batch of choices, you get up to two new batches of options across the next few months, first one aspect and two ideas, then one idea. They are, in my opinion, less interesting since the only consequence is getting fewer random events and options, but it is worth mentioning that if you reject the first batch of choices, you get access to Double Suites (jails with double capacity but negative crew recovery, imagine the smell!) as long as Might is one of your ideas (can be conservative, cunning or bold), and regardless of ideas, you can get Ultimate Vaults, a 3x3 building with a withering 3000 storage space.

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XPiratez / Re: A thread for little questions

« on: September 17, 2023, 10:09:09 am »

That's what it looks like.

Since there is no forewarning to this: Unless you know what you're doing, DO NOT BUILD YOUR FIRST HIDEOUT IN TURAN OR THE THEBAN HIVE.

When starting bonuses were first added, core players quickly found out that two starting countries are significantly better choices than others: The Theban Hive, for providing twelve elite peasants and gear and situationally useful armor from month one onward, and Turan, for three extra warrior gals and having a bunch of technologies available much earlier, most notably hyenas and raiding parties.

To compensate for the generous signup bonus, harsher punishment/challenge events were added - If you cozy up to the Thebans, they'll want you to deal with their enemies in return, and the Turanians have a very loose attitude towards private property. If you have some experience with Piratez, you can use - the loot from a failed assault on your hideouts is top notch, if you can survive. As for Turanians, the major money theft is thankfully a one-time deal and all you can do is adjust your budget accordingly, and in future months you only have to deal with minor thefts of 100k once per month. To compensate for the losses, I suggest taking every opportunity for loot - every mission, every necropirate patrol, and research bounties and monster hunting ASAP.

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XPiratez / Re: WTF is "Capture Aurora" mission?

« on: August 17, 2023, 03:23:55 am »

Say hello to the grandest story mission currently implemented. Buckle and bring time, because this one is long and one you only want to do once per run, but the rewards are well worth it. This one is not something you should tackle without lategame tier equipment and crew. Because of how it is gated behind the ability to consistently shoot down and recover Aurora's ships as well as significant tech requirements, you should not.

Manpower (galpower?) is paramount for success. I recommend a full complement of 24 of your best, whether by convoy or thunderhorse. A leviathan with 36  Since vehicles cannot be used effectively for most parts of the mission, the arguably harder ones, I would not recommend them, power armor will serve you better for heavy firepower needs. Do your best to avoid casaulties - silence the field guns ASAP. The soldiers' equipment is rather mid but their anti-tank equipment can still be dangerous. Assault armor serves as more than adequate protection, but this runs the risk of running out of freshness. In terms of tech level, you should be around school graduation level with access to at guardian armor, preferably better. Harbinger suits are expensive to produce, but well worth it.

A few hints from my experience with the mission, some spoilers follow:
-Silence the enemy gun enplacements early, ideally with mortar fire. Remember that you can always ditch equipment and switch to something more suitable for corridor fighting when the need for artillery expires. Don't bring anything fragile that might fall victim to a stray shell if you can help it, be it personnel or materiel.
-Make sure you have countermeasures to enemy power armor as well as robotic adversaries. On that note, gal-made power suits are quite resistant to electricity.
-As the soldiers are govt forces, killing them will net you -score but stunning them. Whether you want to demoralize them through slaughter or disable them is up to you - the rank-and-file have no armor and any weapon will work, but do not expect surrender until the general and princess are accounted for.
-There are freshness potions scattered across the mansion to refill tired gals, look for blue shimmers. If that is not enough, the time-honored combination of cigs and apples can recharge freshness.
-Need help finding stragglers indoors? Aye-Phones and SENSE are not restricted by obstacles such as walls or ceilings, though the latter will not help you with robots.

Hopefully, you can overcome the challenge and reap the rewards. The tome you find is incredibly useful to make your best troops even better.

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XPiratez / Re: Stuff I'd love to see in XPiratez!

« on: June 22, 2023, 06:37:45 pm »

The Advanced Launcher says its quicker than most to use, but it actually isnt. So id like to see it faster for what you invest in building one. Something like 75/40 percent TUs.

LASS may not have a limited range but its accuracy sucks, which basically means its worse than the panzerfaust on two counts. Panzerfaust has top attack so its alot easier to hit with. The Lass is pretty much crap


My request:

H.Ext: Uber Wheat (0.02)
...one bag of uber wheat == 1 hellerium.

also

D/A Ship Engine
... because midgame I end up with a ton of ship engines and nothing to do with them, since hangars limit how many ships you can make and power stations honestly aren't turning a profit for a long long time. Id much rather pry the optronics and heavy couplings out of them like ret. engines. Like seriously I may have 40+ ship engines taking up inventory and cant do much with them. They're a super huge gold brick waiting to be sold.

There is one thing you can do with ship engines over than storing them, build a complex of power stations in a hideout with some free space. This is a good way to stash them until your time of need when you're done researching better planes, it'll break even after a few months

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The X-Com Files / Re: X-Com of the XCF, good or bad

« on: June 18, 2023, 06:00:28 pm »

It's moral dilemmas like these that make me prefer roleplaying in Piratez instead of Files. The pirates never had a clean slate, bootlegging, abduction, thralldom and of course rampant piracy are all parts of their existence, but they also fight against imperialist tyranny and for the downtrodden masses. Better a criminal than answering to a suit who believes the world citizen should resemble the average Redditor, and is paying fat stacks of cash to make it so.

Then again, perhaps you, as X-Com, are the only true defender humanity has left, and if you fail, a future of subjugation by aliens, rampant diseases, poverty, death and widespread radiation awaits. Yes, the imperialist action of Shogg was nasty. But before you pass judgment, remember this:

The human race has practiced true, full-fledged imperialism, as defined by satisfying the interests of nation-states at the expensive of the weaker, for a few thousand years at best. For the invaders from beyond the stars, this is but the blink of an eye. They have been pursuing imperialist ambitions for countless aeons, bent worlds beyond counting to their will. They have been playing this game long before the first caveman discovered fire, and Earth is their next target. Make no mistake, you have more in common with the nascent Zulu Nation than the British Empire, you do not get a nation addicted to Opium so Londoners can have their tea, you fight for the right to exist as a free people, and occasionally, that means engaging in brutal savagery because yours is the weaker hand, you are technologically inferior to your enemy and less experienced, and sometimes, the only way to compensate for this weakness is a mixture of grit, grim perseverance and a willingness to debase yourself more than the other.

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XPiratez / Re: Why am so addictive to XPiratez?

« on: June 18, 2023, 05:23:06 pm »

There were attempts at making one, but it was so sprawling and convoluted it lacked any informational value. The developer intent was making research an adventure of discovery, in which you just research whatever feels right and see where it leads you. In practice, the only reliable guide to XPZ research is experiencing it yourself.

With that in mind, the consensus for early-midgame research priorities is as follow:
-Unlock any new missions you can handle. The sooner you can get bounty hunting and monster hunting, the better, as these give good payoffs and are usually doable with six gals. This is particularly true when your interception capabilities are nonexistant and generated missions are your only opportunity for booty unless you luck into a landed small ship next door.

-The pirate culture and its cornerstones a high priority, particularly Violence because it leads to bounty hunts, and because it leads to the tiny drill, which offers huge benefits as soon as the unlocking event is complete. It's slightly delayed now, but gold and red give massive signup packages, not to mention access to shadowcraft.

-In general, as soon as you can afford it, increase the number of brainers. There is a lot of ground to cover, and assigning extra brains to the task is the best way to make gains.

-Contact: Krazy Hanna gives you access to machines guns and more importantly, high explosives and RPGs. Though costly, the ability to delete a large swath of enemies with a bang is valuable both as a panic button if you find 5+ enemies camping outside your craft and for dealing with trespassers invading your hideouts. Not to mention that RPG HEAT warheads are your first reliable ranged option to deal with heavily armored targets.

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XPiratez / Re: Why am so addictive to XPiratez?

« on: June 16, 2023, 06:02:53 pm »

The alternate inventory, or "apoc mode", being based on X-Com Apocalypse's way of equipping with gear tied to soldiers instead of craft, is an acquired taste. I've found it highly useful for the high equipment turnover of lategame mission and for preventing craft pile bloat, but I'll be the first to admit it requires some getting used to.

If it's not to your liking, you can always turn it off, as previously suggested.

Regarding inventory management, there's a few tools with limited documentation you might find helpful:

-A useful tool to migrate to a new transport, or to quickly load and unload craft equipment for missions that limit available gear, like mansions, is craft save/load. Press F5 in the craft equipment screen to save your stashed gear to up to 10 different templates, F9 to load. This is a good way to switch from and to diving or space gear. In Apoc mode, this is mostly useful for setting up a stockpile of backup gear and supplies.
-If you have a preferred loadout for a specific soldier, you can save a personal loadout to S, and L to load it. Personal loadout includes both armor and equipment. Another useful thing to switch back your gals to their normal gear after an undersea adventure
-You can also use up to 20 preconfigured templates, F5 to save and F9 to load in the soldier inventory screen, to quickly switch to a pre-selected choice of gear, and optionally, armor. The 1-0 keys can quickly load templates 1 through 10, press 1-10 twice to access templates 11 through 20

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XPiratez / Re: need help fighting Ninja medics!!! Can only beat them with mortart right now

« on: April 30, 2023, 08:41:36 pm »

Although you should have at least 120% accuracy to melee any ninja more advanced than the basic newbie, they have significant melee dodge and reduced dodge if attacked from behind. If you don't, there's always the option to unload a blunderbuss with chem rounds at close range, her shields won't protect for them that.

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XPZ Strategy/Tactics / Re: Girls or Boyz? Which path is better?

« on: April 30, 2023, 08:39:04 pm »

And now we have a third option. With that in mind, here's the skinny on your choices:

Gals are Superior - This is the default path. It has a variety of strong privileges: you get to just buy new uber gals, access to the shakeup to make freshly recruited hands better, or at least braver, and finally the option to put slave soliders in humiliating but potentially useful superhero costumes, culminating in comics-inspired flying power armor for gals. If you haven't won Piratez yet, this is the best choice.

We need Male Touch - This is the challenge path. Instead of hiring gals you get slave soldiers who are cheaper and have no morale decrease, but weaker stats than ubers overall. You can only get new uber through missions, so take good care of the gals you have. Comes with a few slave soldier centric perks, such as sergeant training to enhance improve slave soldiers of boss rank or above, trucks that can carry 12 people and protect your landing zone with a gatling gun turret and iron warrior training to further enhance strong and brave slave soldiers, at the cost of voodoo skill - leave witchcraft to the witches.

Peasant Revolution - An interesting choice. Strong early geoscape advantages, but no additional hiring options. Core features include some new mostly good random events that occasionally get you more recruits and loot, the revolutionary ceremony to improve freshly recruited peasants and slave soldiers, and two very strong features: The revolutionary HQ, a 3x3 building that offers affordable housing and training for a mass army, and the Harvester, which lets you transport a mass army into battle a bit faster than a convoy could. Probably the strongest path if you can keep your ubers alive throughout the early game.

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The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 2.8: The Lunar Protocol

« on: March 29, 2023, 07:50:43 pm »

Currently one game year in, made it to Promotion II. Can't comment much about lategame, have not gotten to it yet. Compared to the other mods I've played, Files is a lot more chill, not much happens in the earlygame so you can just set the geoscapee to 1 hour or even 24 hours and wait.

I have no idea how to best deal with early UFOs largely because I've never seen one. As for manors, those are your typical Solarius mission, bring the best of the best. I've done three so far with 6-8 agents and prom II gear. There were some napalm and gas grenades in looted crates, put them to use in manors. Use your UFO activity charts - if there's constant activity in a region, odds are there's a manor somewhere, use something undetectable to locate it.

One of the big early game tricks: Learn to use your grenades. Initially you only get smokes, those are great for concealment. When you are outnumbered (i.e. all the time) having fewer gunmen shooting at you is good. Flashbangs make approaching for a stun with taser or club much safer. Once you loot some damage grenades (i.e. grenade, incendiary grenade, dynamite), you can use those for crowd control. Though give the latter only to strong agents, the weight makes throwing it hard.

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The X-Com Files / Re: The Martian pyramids of Trinidad

« on: March 29, 2023, 07:39:00 pm »

I've seen the same issue before in X-Piratez, with UFOs landing on Hawaii.

Unfortunately I don't remember how exactly he fixed it.

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XPZ Strategy/Tactics / Re: Extended Piratez general FAQ/Strategy Guide

« on: March 29, 2023, 07:32:35 pm »

To nobody's great surprise, Cali Republic turns out to be full of illegal aliens.