Messages

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XPiratez / Re: Regarding early game interceptors and their weapons (new player)

« on: October 14, 2024, 11:23:35 am »

No, you definitely want to get guns in the air fast, and that is even more true this version than before. "Fast" meaning February if you go straight for little bird.

From my experience on John Silver-Gals path-Reject The Power-Lazy Captain on august patch of current year:

I started my current playthrough in august this year. After a year of game time I do not see a lot of use for my fighter crafts. I mean it is a net positive to have an interceptor on every base, but more like additional income rather than anything else. I got piranhas from prizes and guns for them from contact research. With 4th base on the way and 8k rating, it looks like it is possible to skip interceptors entirely. I also don't see much critical stuff they can shoot down. Little Bird is(was) 3-4 shots from hitting the ground, it also phisically can not kill anything, rarely can chase down things.

Maybe I need tips or warnings, that is why I am writing this. But maybe it is good enough to go industry and research before interceptors.

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XPiratez / Re: Regarding early game interceptors and their weapons (new player)

« on: October 14, 2024, 07:32:28 am »

It is worth mentioning that you may not go for interceptors for quite a while. It is fair at least for default difficulty. You may want to research missions  - "!" marked studies.

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XPiratez / Re: A new player looking for some help.

« on: September 18, 2024, 08:47:27 pm »

How do you deal with better armored enemies like the Ninja Gals and Osiron Security? The weaker shotguns seem to bounce right off them.

The first turn is when enemy have all of their AP intact, while later on they move, shoot, etc on their turn - so no AP left. If you absolutely want to face retaliation fire ready enemy, you can deal with such by carefully moving your soldiers while in danger of retaliation - every time  you get a snap shot from them - change the control from one soldier to another one. They can not retailiate all the time. Also, you will get transports with a lot of space pretty early, so just a firing line armed with anything is good enough to pick one after another during a mission. Or rather a bunch of soldiers hiding behind a solid cover will do. Out of visual range shots and throws also do the job. I believe even the worst of shotguns can scratch or wound them a bit, so, again, 0% shots will do the job. Just be carefull with blobbing - you may get grenaded if your  peasants spotted standing together.

As for codex choice - I like red for few goofy hard hitting things, but you do not really need them at all - Reject The Power is an option. Also, codex mostly affect the early game, not the late game - with gear and some quests. But you still get a LOT of stuff without them.

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XPiratez / Re: A new player looking for some help.

« on: September 17, 2024, 10:43:51 pm »

I did complete the game once on lower difficulty, so I want to share some thoughts and hints:

My preferable playstyle is just give everyone the harder hitting short range weapon and human-wave everything. So, It is obviously not the best, but rather best-enough point of view.

So, my very personal hint: you may pre-stun your troops by various ways, so they drop before they die.

Gal to Peasant ratio?
If you have patience and discipline you can go 100% Peasants. Just explore the game, find all the options it gives, try all the damage types, etc. It is probably the most strategically and economically comfortable way, cause peasants are cheap and low upkeep and are capable to do anything sooner or later. Yet, I personally did 100% Gals because melee everything-throw bombs are fun. And there is no shame in being poor.

Best early pistol/SMG/Rifle, especially for peasants:
I believe pistols pistols are bad because you can not reliably down an enemy short range in one shot, while smg or small shotguns are great at it. Also at longer ranges you better fire a volley of fire with 0% to hit rather than a "precise" shot with average peasant accuracy, cause 0% to hit is actually like 5%. So I really like to use the Uzi-looking thing or small shotguns as sidearm/main weapon for peasants.

Best early SMG/Rifle?
Pretty much any rifle I have from loot, preferably harder hitting - If I have time and patience I will form a line with peasant not-so-snipers to shoot anything from out of visual range with World War I weapons. Any short to midrange situation is for sidearm shotguns/smgs/axes/dogs. I really hate UAC-carbines - it is like the lowest damage output option in the game.

Best early Throwable bomb?
I believe, for peasants there is no really good throwable option, because peasants are weak and clumsy - they can not throw far, precise or survive friendly fire. I would reccomend try bows or primed grenade personal delivery instead.
Black powder bombs are great early game, but they are not so great against an armored opponent. Molotovs are good for making them panick. I really love to make axe-centric compositions, so those two are my favourite skirmishing weapons early on, when my Gals can not get close and personal in one turn.

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XPZ Strategy/Tactics / Noob question: Do I loose if my whole team panics?

« on: September 17, 2024, 08:48:17 pm »

I am pretty sure once I achieved defeat in mission when my whole team panicked. But at this point I just wonder if it is actually possible or is it just my imagination.

6

Playthroughs / Re: Disastrous base defense

« on: September 17, 2024, 08:43:29 pm »

I once played Xpiratez. My base defense consisted of people armed with RPGs. Like 20 of rookies and some Gal-vets. the enemy  was some decently armored folks, mercenaries or something who used muton recolored sprites. So. a peasant missed a shot at the very start of the defense. The rocket explodes few metres away from the shooter. The shooter and a couple of her buddies dies. Everyone else starts blasting each other next turn. Around the fifth turn I realised I have no RPG vielders left and I cannot take down an enemy brute in power armor with the pesky side arms I gave to my team.

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Offtopic / Re: Ai generated images.

« on: July 16, 2023, 09:39:32 am »

I like how it uses big phallic buildings as analogy for the manparts and the street-lamps and other people as nails.

Now it is suddenly deep.
Nice dogs, by the way.

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Tools / Any modding guide suggestion?

« on: July 16, 2023, 09:27:56 am »

So, I want to make a submod to Xpiratez, or vanilla. I want it to have:

1. New Techtree:
2. New armor
3. New vehichle
4. New weapons
5. New enemy

I failed to use Unisprite studio - it crashes on start for me on Windows 7x64. Links for How-to looks dead. I completely do npt know where to start at this point. Please, help.   

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XPiratez / Re: What is the border between plagiarism and inspiration?

« on: April 24, 2023, 12:53:22 am »

@Interdictor By any chance "Враг Неведом"(Enemy Unknown) by Vladimir Vasylyev?

I believe, you still can do such things in Russia, and probably in Japan. In Russia because in Soviet Union they pay writers for words in text, so copyright law was and probably is still weird in Russia. While I don't know why it works in Japan, but third party artists can go pretty far with definitly copyprotectable material.

In Western ethics it must be different. 

EDIT: P.S.: There was SO much stuff that was just faithfull fan fiction in Russian in 90s. I remember a decent fantasy writer just made Middle-earth part of his multiverse. He just wrote LOTR 4,5 and 6 and later on included it in his further books. There was Master Of Orion novelization, and so on and so forth.

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Fan-Stuff / Re: The odyssey of chaos

« on: April 24, 2023, 12:40:46 am »

While thinking about possible "politically incorrect" stuff I thought about how unequall the same amount of money can be for different people. Like 10k a month salary for a rookie makes him live almost not poor in the US while making him as good as a multimillionaire in post-soviet space in 1990s. 

The post reminded me of an old book I have read in Russian which was straight up called "Enemy Unknown" and was just a fan-fiction xcom novel published by somewhat copyright-careless publisher. A good one, really. I hope to see yours translated one day too.

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Fan-Stuff / Re: Some X-com fanart I made

« on: April 24, 2023, 12:16:34 am »

AI generated for Xpiratez

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Offtopic / Re: Ai generated images.

« on: April 24, 2023, 12:05:55 am »

Can you stick a banana to the wall with a duct tape? Can you draw a square and paint it black? Would you ever be able to nail your real life manparts to the Red Square? Do you think AI can do this? Do we even understand what is "this" until we see it? Are those who call themself artists doing "this", or do they just craftsmen? Anyway, I just asked AI to nail it manparts the Red Square. After it failed to do The Black Square. I'm attaching the result now. Yes, today is a good day to change the avatar. 

So, I really dont know why do people bother so much about it: AI-generated art is just like a super brush. A support for bigger, grander pieces of art made by human mind. This elf of yours is not an art, its just a picture of an elf. The meaning of its look, the idea behind the whole picture is what makes it an art. more precisely, the idea which raises in the minds of the beholders.

So, its not artists who'll lose their jobs, but rather some craftsmen will lose their jobs, but that's it

With all of this in mind, lets just call people who anyhow produces interesting pieces of art artists, and people who will lose their jobs craftsmen as they should be called since forever.

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XPiratez / What is the border between plagiarism and inspiration?

« on: April 23, 2023, 11:09:35 pm »

If I want to make a story about postapoc post alien invasion post alien leaving world with hot mutant super babes as a separate nation, what is plagiarism and what is "inspired by" would it be for you. In case you stumble upon such game at Steam or other such places?

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Released Mods / Re: What is the most carefree mod now?

« on: October 21, 2022, 01:36:56 pm »

Thanks for recommending. It was quite fine.

UNEXCOM is a bit too much micromanagement and too flat learning curve - everything is a bit too good from the start. But still, I wish it was among the Released mods section, it feels pretty much completed.

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XPiratez / Re: I want to find what music plays

« on: September 20, 2022, 10:14:23 am »

Thanks. I want to mention that I didn't expect AC:AH soundtrack was so fine.