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1

Offtopic / Re: I found the Heavy Cannon

« on: November 30, 2022, 07:56:18 pm »

It probably would be closer to this:

Even that would be rough.   There are 20mm anti-material rifles for example but they often require a prone posture and bracing to work.  Even .50mm BMG or other heavy machine gun rounds can have that issue.

the closest IRL would be some sort of man portable automatic grenade launcher - something like this

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/06/21/belarusian-30mm-handheld-full-auto-grenade-launcher/

Spoiler"for huge image":

Only imagine something twice the diameter. Grenade launchers have been made experimentally up to 70mm so its possible...  the line between mortar and grenade launcher overlap a lot.   

Even then its probably something that your biggest strongest guys carry.   Like the gatling gunner in the intro of the first game.

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XPiratez / Re: Whats the inteded way to handle wounded troops?

« on: October 04, 2022, 09:25:29 pm »

It's also worth remembering that X-P like some mods are designed so that some missions are meant to be hard to win at early levels and part of the strategy is knowing when to cut your losses.   This is a mistake I made in the first few times I played because I have certain compulsive habits that took time to break (that was one) - once you get used to judging cost/benefit things can get easier.

That said, this game always offers you different strategies and approaches to handling problems so if one thing doesn't work, try something else.  Part of the fun is experimentation (that was another habit that needed changing.)

If all else fails, consider to reduce the difficulty level - again the mod is intended to be difficult because many of hte people who have played X-com (or it) are veterans and enjoy a challenge, so there's no harm in reducing difficulty (I myself still don't play above the middle tiers of difficulty.)    It's also worth remembering that when you start a game RNG will sometimes be against you even from the start.   I've had games I started that I had an easy beginning, whereas with others I crashed and burned early.   That's just part of the experience, too.   If the opening months of the game you seem to struggle it could be RNG and you might consider re-starting and hoping for a different outcome.

My personal experience is missions that give you castaways (the 'save a sister' missions Solarius Scorch spoke of) occur earlier in the game most often (There's even one that always appears featuring necropirates that will give you several castaways) and that has always helped me to bulk up the early ranks as long as I am careful.    You can also always go the 'Gals are superior' route which makes it easier to obtain.    If you're lucky at gambling (or just save scum) you can save up glamour to obtain veterans (Slow but they come quite skilled.)

Any mission that features mutants (aircar race, Mutant Pogroms, etc.) can always feature young ubers that you can 'claim' as a reward.  Young Ubers aren't as good as castaways (especially the escaped lunatics) but with time and patience you can develop them (of course you can do this with slave soldiers and peasants too.)

There can be a surprising number of ways to get gals of varying quality if you keep at it, but those are OTOH the early ones.  Its been awhile since I kept up and I'm still a few versions behind.

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The X-Com Files / Re: [submod] XCom Files Arsenal Additions (ver 0.7.2 The Hand Of Dagon)

« on: December 13, 2021, 10:12:44 pm »

Wow you beat me to the punch on some of those ideas (I was toying with flechette and FRAG-12 ammo for shotguns, as well as under barrel shotguns).  I'll be interested to see how those work out.

4

The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 2.1: Swarm Tactics

« on: December 13, 2021, 10:10:18 pm »

I have a layman's knowledge/interest in firearms including some of the technical aspects (primarily internal and terminal ballistics) but I try not to talk about it because of how easy I can get carried away.   If anyone has a question I can *try* to answer it and/or suggest sources to look at.

As far as 'accurizing' goes it apparently is a thing according to wikipedia FWIW.   It suggests some ways you could do it and I can think of others that may or may not work (some of them might be more hypothetical but would still be interesting.)   One of the things I'm semi-interested in since I started to dabble with modding pertains to firearms (including some energy weapons.)   There's lots of interesting features in the game engine to explore but I'm still thinking over how they might be implemented, and possibly some existing ideas in mods like X-com Files or X-Piratez might be taken further.

Illegal Trade in The X-Com Files
I have an idea:
I think the governments should sniff out that you are dealing on the black market with [highly] illegal goods. Then the governments should organize a raid on the XCOM-base citing laws forbidding illegal combat-drug/weapon/stuff trade.
An initially inconspicuous government gunship appears on radar: it does a few turns as if searching for something, then heads to your base to carry out a full raid. Your base location was easily spotted by the government using GPS trackers placed into those illegal shipments, which dealings of yours undercover investigators were following for some time..

Eh, what Solarius Scorch said makes sense and is simpler.  I just should have read it more closely the first time.   

And not really sure X-com need another possible rival out of the gate to come down on them given they already have so many challenges they face.  And I would imagine some on the council might turn a blind eye to smuggling since it helps X-com do their job.  Not everyone is against them.   I mean its not that the idea of 'Government attacks X-com' is necessarily a bad idea (I brought it up in the 'no advent' thread) but I think it is a matter of implementation.

One thing that did occur to me out of thinking about ammo lootboxes though:  Wouldn't it make more sense for the various pro-alien factions (Dagon, Red Dawn, Exalt, etc) to have ammo boxes suited to the weapons they use?  EG EXALT and Dagon use weapons that use 5.56 ammo so that might be more favored in their loot boxes.    REd Dawn would have 5.45/7.62 WP ammo, etc.   I haven't started 2.1 yet and what I did with lootboxes in 2.0 was still doing the random thing, but its just a thought.

5

The X-Com Files / Re: No Advent in 1.91

« on: December 13, 2021, 09:57:54 pm »

I think that kinda depends on how you define the factions in question.  I mean since we aren't going to be talking about the strict/literal interpretation of a faction like Advent, there's alot of wiggle room in how you apply it in a 'modified' form.  And alot of the existing factions could incorporate one facet or another (we know Exalt originally toyed around with Gene-modding for example, so it strikes me that 'alien Hybrids' is just another step in THAT direction.)   But the Dagon cult ALSO makes changes to some of its adherents so there's an element of that same potential for a different approach to 'hybrids.'

It might leave other aspects like 'Government fights X-com' but that could still be handled in other ways too if desired.   Again it comes down to how you fit the ideas together.

But this is pretty much what the MiBs are. They are rather underused right now, and I'm working on that, but we don't need to duplicate their role.

Well then that just makes my ideas even more redundant!    Which is okay, I'll be curious to see how the MIB evolve (My first encounter with them was.. interesting to say the least.  I decided to wait til turn 10 of the 'crop circles' mission and see what happened.)

6

The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 2.1: Swarm Tactics

« on: December 11, 2021, 06:46:34 pm »

The thing with illegal purchases is that I'm not sure how you would differentiate that from 'legal' purchases, since it would still be purchased through the same menu in theory.    There also should be some potentail risks/downsides with that approach since its not as reliable as the 'proper' channels.

Perhaps 'illegal ammo purchases' could be put in as a form of loot boxes.   You have to research the connections (so it might be tied to certain promotions - the military adviser who has those connections is a good choice) and this adds a number of purchase option for the 'loot boxes.'   But they're not labeled as 'loot boxes' but somethign else - 'Smuggled Ammo shipment - NATO' or 'Smuggled Ammo shipment - Warsaw Pact.'     They might be more expensive than the 'normal' purchase would be, it probably takes longer too.    And there would be a element of randomness/risk to it.    There's a chance you might not get any ammo at all, or perhaps only part of the shipment.   Or you might not even get the ammo you wanted (maybe supplies were limited or the order got screwed up, or someone deceived you.   Lots of people who sell Ammo online or at gun conventions in America can and will deceive buyers and lie about their wares.) - which is all things I believe that 'ammo-based' loot boxes can kinda do (you get a certain kind of ammo as is).

Smuggled ammunition in a sense becomes 'ammo boxes' that you can buy and have less randomness to them.     I'm assuming this won't be easily broken (XCF funding is still pretty tightly constrained so you might have to juggle acquriing illegal ammo with, say, hiring more recruits or expanding your base for example.  The costs should at least reflect that sort of tradeoff.)

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The X-Com Files / Re: No Advent in 1.91

« on: December 11, 2021, 06:37:00 pm »

ADVENT wouldn't work because it would have to substitute the existing governmental structure that formed X-Com to begin with (it would be hard to see ADVENT maintaining X-com if it controlled the world!) so there indeed would be no way to include the 'actual' ADVENT as depicted. 

You could have an organization like ADVENT perhaps.  Say ADVENT is sort of the opposite of X-Com and the Council -  the 'public' representative of nations that signed deals with the Aliens.  It could come into being after a certain number of nations leave.   They could become adversaries X-Com faced (they might have their own army and gear supplied by the aliens, they could collect funding the same way X-com does, etc.)   From the 'Alien/ADVENT' pov they might be considered a counter-terrorism force or something similar.     Maybe there would be a small chance of some missions having ADVENT show up instead of the intended force (like Zombies sometimes do) or perhaps they might launch random base attacks or efforts to disrupt X-com efforts.

And in theory if you had enough nations abandon you you would have an X-Com that in a sense operates as a rogue agency (minus your own mobile base).   
Part of me thinks it would be kind of interesting that an X-Com could still survive/function as a 'guerilla/terrorist' organization even if most/all of its funding left.   But another part of me thinks this starts borrowing more ideas from X-Piratez and I'm not sure how you could avoid that.   And of course it does involve more time and effort for someone. 

So you could say it might be done, but I could still see an argument that even that could fall under 'doesn't fit with X-Com Files since its more X-Piratez.'

8

Suggestions / Re: hit angle and armor side

« on: November 18, 2021, 02:11:06 am »

So I assume that means whether top or bottom armor gets hit will always depend on facing (Front, sides or rear) like it would with shots happening in the same plane.   If so, that makes sense.

This makes me wonder  - if there's a special facing for grenades and such would it be possible (now or in the future) to make more such facings or is that one constrained by limits to the engine?   Not sure if it would even have a use (resistances being a thing) but I'm curious all the same)

9

The X-Com Files / Re: How to cheat Kitsune back?

« on: November 14, 2021, 10:08:10 pm »

the save lists item sections not just for all the bases you have, but all the craft you have.    If you added the Kitsune under the inventory of another craft (say a public Van) then it probably wouldn't happen.

Also you always want to make sure you enter the right name.   The 'ingame' title is often not what the item is called in (for example) the rulesets.   You can check under 'ID' in ufopedia and usually find out the name but that's not a 100% guarantee either.

I'm not sure whether it needs to be in alphabetical order or not but I have noticed the lists in the save tend towards that so I tend to put them in the order the save wants just in case.

10

The X-Com Files / Re: Bugs, crashes, typos & bad taste

« on: November 14, 2021, 12:36:29 am »

But that's just it.  Like its fine if you think it's an issue - you're free to express your opinion like anyone else - but there's a difference between 'me' problem and 'game' problem.   Because 'internal logic' often overlaps with perceived realism (it's more about what a person *personally* thinks makes sense after all, and not everyone always agrees with that) but this also runs up against game abstraction (just because it doesn't make sense to me doesn't mean there is no reason.)    If anything divorcing in-universe logic from realism makes it easier because you can engage in alot more handwaving (technological differences, superscience, etc) than realism would permit.   And there's still internal 'game mechanics' reasons (balance issues).

In the end the only person who could really answer it is the author if they deign to do so, and there's not much point in me dragging this out.  Apologies if it seems overly harsh or nitpicky I was only confused as to why something that seemed obvious to me (at least) was a persistent issue.   And by that inadvertently prolonging needless debate.

11

The X-Com Files / Re: How to cheat Kitsune back?

« on: November 14, 2021, 12:30:08 am »

Probably, but it might also mess things up. A safer alternative woudl be to add a moth-balled Kitsune to one of your base inventories. Open your save, search for the base name. Scroll down until you get to the item list (might take a while, depending on how many soldiers you have at the base):

Code: [Select]

    items:
You can also directly search for "    items:" (with four preceeding spaces).

add the entry

Code: [Select]

STR_MOTHBALLED_KITSUNE: 1
to that list. Make sure the preceeding spaces match the other entries, otherwise the save will not load. As FireStarTracer already stated, you might want to use separate save for this or maek a backup first.

That's a good idea, and one I didn't think of.  I was thinking of just modding in the Kitsune wreck to build from scratch and re-building it, but again I'm not sure how that would work with one-offs.

Also wouldn't having a mothballed Kitsune require having either an open hangar slot for it to be usable?   It's something I've never tried before but I know its an issue when dealing with other issues (eg troop capacity and deployment)

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The X-Com Files / Re: Bugs, crashes, typos & bad taste

« on: November 13, 2021, 10:05:12 pm »

That's not an issue of 'realism' or suspension of disbelief though, that's more a 'game mechanics' optimization style reason.    My original post is about justifying the in-universe logic for those things, not whether it is competitive with other features.   

If we're talking about optimized game mechanics stuff that is an entirely different matter and part of a larger discussion I've seen pertaining to other issues (like the sheer number/options of weapons in the game as in the gyrojet thread.)  Solarius Scorch probably has their reasons why that is, and I'm not really that upset over it that I feel it needs to be questioned TBH.   Especially as if you know enough about the OXCE and the mod you can 'fix' those things to suit your purposes anyhow (as krautbernd mentioned earlier.)   

edit:  And if we still want to be pedantic 'bulky' can mean alot of things.  It can refer to mass or volume, and both can be an inhibition to reflexes/response time depending on a bunch of factors (how you wear it, etc.)   It may not even be a mass/volume issue but one of peripheral vision (depending on design or features - is it monocular or binocular?  Is it active or passive night vision, etc.)   So you can still rationalize it, especially if you consider alot of things that are added are there for aesthetics or flavor (EG that same argument can apply to the problem with the sheer quantity of vaguely similar guns mentioned elsewhere.  It can add to the aesthetics or perceived 'realism' of the game without actually contributing real mechanical benefit or any benefit beyond 'what a person prefers to use.'  Maybe a player doesn't want to equip their agents with M16s but would rather use AKs.   Or maybe its a balancing issue Solarius Scorch intends to get to but is busy with other things.   It is a big mod after all.)   From a purely 'mechanics' perspective the balance issue can go the other way too - the difference in pluses or minuses is part of how the author perceives the balance.   You'll get cases where not everyone agrees, which is again where krautbernd's earlier point becomes once again relevant.)

Like, you can still bring it up (that's the purpose of this thread) I'm just not sure it's a big enough issue it warrants a change to the game itself, rather than you simply tweaking it so it suits the way you feel it should be handled.   I've had similar feelings about such in XCF and XP myself, but it's more about me than about the games.   In other words, I see it as a 'me' problem, not a 'game' problem.

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The X-Com Files / Re: Weapon Suggestion: Gyrojets?

« on: November 13, 2021, 07:40:03 pm »

You could design it to be sort of a shotgun/GL at short range (shotgun and grenade loads at shorter ranges) whilst the 'gyrojet' ammo gives it long range advantages (guided shells, AP sniping rounds, etc.) meaning its sort of a hybrid Shotgun, 20mm grenade launcher, and sniper/antimaterial rifle.  I still think you'd run into problems with what sort of niche it would fill.  Possibly some sort of multi-role sniping weapon.   I still feel like some sort of 'pocket GL to Flash gordon rocket pistol/rifle' is probably better than trying to muck around making it a gyrojet.   It might also tenatively be useful in zero gee missions but I'm not sure it would be better than lasers or other energy weapons. 

This thread has tenatively gotten me interested in creating new weapons for XCF since I'm still playing that.   My first efforts have so far yielded an X-com version of the Halo MA5 and the Aliens pulse rifle.  They're not remotely well-balanced, there are still some (non fatal) bugs, and the sprites are crude and ugly for the pulse rifle (I borrowed for the MA5 and that went quicker)  but as small sub-mods they kinda worked.   They'll need more polish, but I'm tempted to try other ideas in the meantime.  For example, I'd like to replicate some US experimental weapons like from the ACR program or the ongoing NGSW even though those would just be more 'gimmicky' weapons.   A more ambitious attempt might be to try to replicate the concepts that lead to US 'moon base' or space travel efforts like Project Orion (nuclear propelled large spacecraft - used as an anti-alien weapon in the novel 'Footfall') and Project Horizon (Space soldiers on a lunar moon base, complete with exotic weapons and more nukes.)   Some of that might be better for the IDT mods than XCF though since that's more their flavor, but part of me likes the idea of X-com reviving Orion as their crude attempt at spacecraft before alien tech gives them more options.   But I'm a LONG way from creating new craft I think.

Depending on time, mood and how well some of the lesser experiments go I may try to make a 'grenade pistol' or 'grenade rifle' like I described above, too.  I've also got some tenative ideas (based on stuff used in x-Piratez and off the Doom content like the UAC rifle) where you can develop 'multiplex' ammo (Basically a cartridge that has multiple smaller bullets stacked on top  - turning a pistol, rifle, or machine in a sense into a shotgun because it fires multiple bullets with a single 'shot')   That was part of alot of past US weapons improvement efforts (see Project SALVO) but it also produced even odder versions (see Salvo-Squeezebore)

I'd also like to toy around with the 40K mod and try tweaking things, including some more weapon/ammo options for the Guard (Basically add stuff from 40k lore I always liked like from the Fantasy Flight Games RPGs) so I might start splitting time between OCF and that.

14

The X-Com Files / Re: How to cheat Kitsune back?

« on: November 13, 2021, 07:13:28 pm »

1.)  I wouldn't go messing about with your save file without saving it first because thats a good way to screw it up and lose your game.    That goes for pretty much any file you mess with in OXCE, but especially save games.    And some of those variables for the Kitsune in the save I am willing to bet are tied to the research aspect given its seemingly unique nature.

2.) yes you could do it.   I know its possible in theory to change what craft are in your hangar via the saves if you know enough about what to change and what to change it to.   I kinda know through trial and error, but I'm not sure I could simply explain it so it would work for you over the internet, nor do I know what your skill level is in editing such files, so either my explanation or something you dont know could cause it not to work.   

Beyond that its only something I did temporarily (partly to see if it would work, and mostly when messing around during my own modding experiments) and I never used it on a permanent save and I've only used it with vehicles easily purchased (EG no unusual or unique craft) so I dont know if doing that would have unintended consequences (some changes you can make to OXCE files including save files may require changes be made elsewhere, and unless you know what to change it means that - at best - what you try doesn't work.  At worst, it can mean it's an error that will crash your game.)

And I've done enough modding so far to know that sometimes errors don't happen right away (I've been playing around with creating new weapons for my own game for example, and I've had the game run fine until it runs into an error I made and then crash, later.)    That sort of thing can increase the chances of you losing your save, plus any progress you make up to that point.

The safest/easist thing might be to revert to a save when it was destroyed.

15

Suggestions / Re: hit angle and armor side

« on: November 10, 2021, 09:50:54 pm »

Does under armor get hit if the target is on a lift/elevator above the unit firing (like in a UFO) or if they have an outfit capable of flight (which could include underwater situations like in TFTD?)  I'd assume logically you could hit under armor even with ranged weapons (but not melee) and not just explosives.

Likewise, what armor value gets used if the target is BELOW the firing unit (same reasons as above) and they are firing into the top of the target?