Messages

1

The X-Com Files / Re: Rationalising my Fleet

« on: December 20, 2022, 11:50:42 pm »

Ok... so the Rover is the same as the sports car, only slightly slower with a higher capacity, and has a global range... and a transfer time of one hour... using its flux capacitor???

Car are supposed to be stationed at strategic places around the world, not in your base, so it's not the car which is traveling that fast. If you use a car, what is really supposed to happen, is that you fly by private jet to the location, and while you were flying, a locally rented car has already been prepared for you to drive from the airport to the mission location. (yes, there are some issues with that, if the location is in a jungle or the North Pole, and the game engine also has its limitations).

2

The X-Com Files / Re: Enemy visible to the soldiers but not to the player

« on: June 03, 2022, 09:16:04 pm »

Press and hold Alt.

Thank you! Somehow I completely overlooked this feature.

3

The X-Com Files / Enemy visible to the soldiers but not to the player

« on: May 29, 2022, 10:46:16 pm »

Sometimes an enemy is detected by my soldiers while the tile the enemy stands on, is not. In such case everything is completely black, and I can only find the enemy by moving the cursor around until it changes color. Yes, I can also click on the red number in the lower right to center the screen on the enemy, but even then it's often a hassle to pinpoint the target.

Can this be solved in the mod, or is it an OXCE problem?

4

The X-Com Files / Re: [submod] XCom Files Arsenal Additions (ver 0.8 Anarchic Anachronism)

« on: April 15, 2022, 12:42:41 pm »

I haven't ignored both of your replies, but I've been extremely busy lately.

Hey, I appreciate your work and dedication, you don't have to feel bad about being slow, you don't owe us anything
BTW my point was that I liked the current balance in the weapons, and except for the pistol attachments, there is a use for basically almost any weapon. Maybe some of the earliest pistols are superfluous because they are very similar to each other, but they add flavor.

One thing comes to my mind which I almost forgot: there seems to be an inconsistency in which types of firearms are concealable. I thought the spypistol should be concealable but it isn't, yet there are some bigger ones which are concealable.

5

The X-Com Files / Re: Xcom Files: Why so many UFOs?

« on: April 15, 2022, 12:34:05 pm »

Are you sure they are real alien UFOs and not just some cultist vehicles? Research the Little Bird (one of the first craft you can equip with weapons) and engage them. You'll see they are mostly pickup trucks with machineguns, easily defeated by your own machinegun-equipped helicopters. Later they spawn their own helicopters which are a bit tougher, but you can still defeat them with a Little Bird equipped with four miniguns.

6

The X-Com Files / Re: [submod] XCom Files Arsenal Additions (ver 0.8 Anarchic Anachronism)

« on: April 04, 2022, 10:25:18 pm »

While blackops rifles are good and I use a couple of them, they aren't superior in every way. Their biggest disadvantage is that their damage doesn't benefit from skill. 30 damage isn't bad, but for many better armored humans I roll zero damage all too often. By the time I can field them, I use them for a couple of my good-but-not-great guys. The beginners get the 130-140 accuracy guns to train with otherwise they would miss all too often, the elites get guns with good damage scaling so that every hit guarantees a penetration (and often, a kill), and a few in the middle get blackops rifles to cover the rest with the quick and accurate snap shots. Tritanium ammo will improve the damage, but it comes only later, and even by then many +0.2/skill guns out-damage them (+20 extra damage for a 100 accuracy guy is better than the flat +10 for the tritanium ammo).

The mp5 sounds nice, but I found that I don't tend to use it much. Not bad stats, but at the time of the game it's common, I usually need something more specialized. Either for accuracy, or for damage. And the damage is just too low, gets often defeated by almost any armored enemy.

The only gun category I never found a use for, is the pistols equipped with stocks and scopes and other gadgets. Far too big of a speed penalty for the small accuracy gain, I'd better use a rifle if I need that accuracy or range boost.

7

The X-Com Files / Re: What is a position marker for?

« on: April 04, 2022, 10:12:55 pm »

They can be very useful against cult safehouses in the early game where you can only send two agents most of the time. Deploying one marker each, you'll have twice the number of targets for the enemy to shoot at. And they can cover your blind spots too.

8

The X-Com Files / Re: [submod] XCom Files Arsenal Additions (ver 0.7.9 REDACTED)

« on: March 20, 2022, 10:01:33 pm »

I left the game running for a long while, ignoring all missions, and at last an Exalt safehouse mission spawned. Until now, I met Exalt on special Exalt-related missions, but not their safehouses or outposts. (meanwhile dozens of such missions spawned for other cults)

So it means it was just extraordinarily bad luck!

9

The X-Com Files / Re: [submod] XCom Files Arsenal Additions (ver 0.7.9 REDACTED)

« on: March 20, 2022, 08:03:00 pm »

Does Exalt have a new chain, compared to the base mod?
For every other cult I have the Apprehension -> safehouse -> outpost chain, but none of these spawn for Exalt. I need a brainer to unlock "Exalt Operations", and I need that to unlock the HQ, and that is where the brainer is. Did I miss something?

10

The X-Com Files / Re: How to progress with Exalt?

« on: March 20, 2022, 08:01:04 pm »

But to get the HQ, I need the "Exalt Operations", and I need the brainer for that.
Hm, it might be because I have the Arsenal Additions...

11

The X-Com Files / How to progress with Exalt?

« on: March 20, 2022, 04:56:36 pm »

Unlocking the HQ is is straightforward for every other cult. Apprehension -> safehouse -> outpost, at each one capture the highest ranking member alive (and with so many of these missions spawning, one will capture them alive even if not really trying). However, Exalt doesn't seem to have the apprehension/safehouse/outpost chain.
I looked up the "Exalt Operations" research, it requires a "brainer". However, I never found any of them on any special missions featuring Exalt. What did I miss?

12

The X-Com Files / Re: Balancing the Osprey?

« on: February 20, 2022, 01:39:39 pm »

Yes, I understand that for gameplay purposes we can't (and shouldn't) be focusing on complete realism. What I meant is comparative realism.

For example, if guns have different ranges altogether than in real life, it's completely acceptable. Assault rifles generally have effective ranges of 200-300 meters, and one tile in the game doesn't seem to be larger than 1 meter, but it would be silly for pistols to almost always hit up to 30 tiles and rifles to almost always hit up to 200 tiles, as maps aren't that large, and if they were, gameplay would be too slow. We understand that it's an abstraction for gameplay purposes. Yet if pistols and submachineguns had the exact same range and accuracy as sniper rifles, that would break immersion, as sniper rifles are specifically designed to have much bigger ranges, and they have disadvantages in other areas because they had do sacrifice speed, weight, etc. for that added range. This is what I mean with arguing that an aircraft which was specifically designed to have longer ranges than helicopters, should have at least somewhat longer range than helicopters.

Speaking of logistics, I understand that cars for example are not meant to be driven from the base to the mission, yet they still occupy hangar space, which is fine both because of engine limitations and balance reasons. (although it would be fine if cars took up much less hangar space, but that's a different story). And if road vehicles are meant to be leased on-site, the fact that vans are so much slower is also a bit unrealistic, because their speed would only be a factor for the last small portion of the trip, yet this is still an acceptable game-play element, as vans are comparatively slower than sport cars.

13

The X-Com Files / Re: Are Black Lotus ninjas even more invisible now?

« on: February 19, 2022, 05:07:14 pm »

Hm, it might be luck then, I'll keep going. I don't remember the exact distances, so I might have been wrong about the 8-10 tiles, yet it was definitely easier to counter them back then.

14

The X-Com Files / Balancing the Osprey?

« on: February 19, 2022, 03:31:56 pm »

The Osprey is one of the most useful pre-invasion craft after unlocked, and can be used for secondary bases and minor missions for a long time. It is better than the standard helicopter with a much needed larger capacity at that stage of the game, and by providing a protection for the troops during the first turn.

Yet, there is something very unrealistic about it: it's a tiltrotor craft, specifically designed to have a greater range than traditional helicopters. In real life, it has about 4x the range of helicopters of the same size category. This is why it's so much more complex and expensive, because it can turn into a traditional airplane mid-flight, to achieve a much better fuel economy compared to traditional helicopters.
Yet, in the game, it has the exact same range as the standard helicopter.
However, if I edit its range to make it larger, it will be even more overpowered. One way to compensate it is to make it more expensive, both to purchase and to maintain. Any other thoughts about making both the Osprey and the helicopter viable options, with more varied advantages and disadvantages?

15

The X-Com Files / Are Black Lotus ninjas even more invisible now?

« on: February 19, 2022, 03:18:46 pm »

Are Black Lotus ninjas even more invisible now?
Having played this mod in the 1.8 days, the Black Lotus ninjas were quite dangerous, especially early game. Yet I could spot them from about 8 or 10 squares.
Now, having started a 2.3 game, they just slaughter me, not giving even a single chance of spotting them. Often one of my agents is killed in the middle of the group, and no one notices the ninja, even after I run them all around the body. Did I miss something, and are those ninjas not even more difficult to spot than they used to be? If so, is there a way to help my troops spot them easier? Is there a research, a stat, or a tool which helps against them?