Messages

1

The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 2.9: The Empire Strikes Back

« on: June 13, 2023, 09:54:29 am »

In certain caves missions (noticed this with Chtonite Minibase Assault), the staircases appear to be destructible. A staircase was misshot by an alien, and as a result over half of my team was stranded in a dead-end part of the caves, so I had to complete the mission with other agents. I couldn't think of a way I could have gotten out of there. Maybe something to think about, for example should the stairs be made indestructible or at least more difficult to damage.

I think, tactically, it's the same consideration as e.g. the issue of dead ends and walls in the cyberweb levels.  The solution is to exercise better tactical prowess of your own.

There are always multiple stairs available on the underground cave base levels, so it only makes sense to separate the squad into smaller groups, and approach multiple entrances.  Just think about the risks involved with lumping everyone together, when alien explosives are involved.

2

The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 2.7: Spectral Entities

« on: June 13, 2023, 09:51:19 am »

Btw, is there some kind of comprehensive summary/explanation of all wiki listed parameters? Some I did figure out, but others like aforementioned "Radius Effectiveness" are elusive. That would be much appreciated.

I don't think so, the ruleset reference is your best bet.

There actually a missing piece with the explanation of RadiusEffectiveness parameter.  It is stated that it is a part of calculations of the blast radius, but there is no formula that reveals its role.  Even as a coefficient, a parameter would influence the outcomes in very different ways, depending on its placement in the formula.

I would appreciate some explanation on this parameter, and perhaps a few examples would be appropriate.

I was surprised to see that its value is pretty low, e.g. 0.05 for stun and HE, and 0.03 for incendiary.  Why is that so?  Does the linear increase in the parameter result in the linear increase in the effective radius?

3

OXCE Support / The interaction between damageModifier, ArmorEffectiveness, and shields.

« on: May 31, 2023, 01:31:07 am »

I would like to get a more precise understanding on how the damageModifier on armor and ArmorEffectiveness on a weapon interact.  The full picture would ideally include the understanding of how shields work in this setting.

I see that in XCF shields are implemented as scripts that modify the damage, and perhaps the issue of shields is not a part of the OXCE mechanics proper.  Currently it appears that shields are just scripts that run as hooks whenever an incoming damage arrives.  One of their outputs is the amount of damage to pass through to the armor.  Is that a precise perspective?

Is there a general consensus on how shields should operate?  The question of particular interest is whether their resistances (the reductions, like e.g. 0.5 HE for gold shield) should be applying to whatever damage they encounter after the shield itself is depleted?

Another question is whether the damageModifier set on an armor applies to a weapon damage with an ArmorEffectiveness not equal to 1.0?  Would the damageModifier be applied only while the armor itself is non-zero?  Would the damageModifier apply if the ArmoreEffectiveness is set to 0.0?

Let's consider a more specific example.  What would be the fraction of damage passing through the armor in the following situations:

ArmoreEffectivess = 0.0 , damageModifier = 1.0 (my guess: 100%; none of the damage would need to interact with armor)
ArmoreEffectivess = 1.0 , damageModifier = 1.0 (my guess: 0%; all of the damage would need to interact with armor)
ArmoreEffectivess = 0.0 , damageModifier = 0.0 (my guess: 0%, i.e. completely blocked)
ArmoreEffectivess = 1.0 , damageModifier = 0.0 (my guess: 0%, i.e. completely blocked)
ArmoreEffectivess = 0.5 , damageModifier = 0.5 (my guess: 25%, while the remaining 75% would need to interact with armor)

4

Released Mods / Re: [FACILITY] Improved Living Quarters + Large Stores (updated 2.0)

« on: May 30, 2023, 12:34:58 am »

Is there a way to mod this out of the Final Mod Pack?

I feel like it changes the design too fundamentally.

What is affected in your case?  Could we discuss some specific scenarios?

It should be possible to override the numbers for the 2x2 facility in a small addon mod of your own, if it's the numbers that affect the design balance primarily for you.

5

Released Mods / Re: [FACILITY] Improved Living Quarters - Now With Pictures

« on: May 30, 2023, 12:31:22 am »

yes please big stores and posablt 2x1 labs and workshops ?

Lab complex could be 2x2.  The caveat is that the labs are usually built incrementally.
The complex could even be 3x3, and accommodate 200 scientists.  Along with adequate defense and containment facilities, the base would 3 extra cells.

Should HQ be a part of the 3x3 lab complex?  Advanced Intelligence Lab?

6

Released Mods / Re: [FACILITY] Improved Living Quarters - Now With Pictures

« on: May 30, 2023, 12:23:22 am »

I agree with the Mars Attack craft... should contain creature comforts, bridge et al, but be not very good to use on Earth.

Meanwhile, I've made sort of template for drawing new 2x2 facilities, with spaces for all 8 potential doors left. Little gray pixels mark cutoff points.

If the craft in question is a military attack craft (which Avenger really is), then it needs not large accommodations.  In terms of lore, it might as well have very comfortable grav-seats if the flight takes more than a day (which it does not necessarily need to, given its use of alien propulsion tech).  In general, the military attack crafts are well packed.  A modern military transport airplane or with paratroopers or a helicopter with a squad of troops is an example.

7

OXCE Suggestions DONE / Re: [DONE][Suggestion] Access to object counters within Arc/Mission/Event scripts

« on: April 23, 2023, 06:50:02 pm »

I don't fully grasp counters. Are there examples of them implemented?
I'm thinking of using them to simulate alien infiltration level of human factions, but I need to understand better how they work.

They're global variables, operated by triggers at designated points, specified by constructs like increaseCounter and decreaseCounter in the config.

8

OXCE Suggestions DONE / Re: [DONE] Sharing tag defintions between multiple ruleset files

« on: April 23, 2023, 06:44:10 pm »

In OXCE 7.8.9 I added option to share tags definition between files:

Code: [Select]

extended:
  tagsFile: Ruleset/OtherFile.rul

this effective copy `tags` from other file and insert them in current file.

Thank you for including this functionality.  Could you please provide more details on how this works?  Currently, there's nothing in the Nightly Ruleset Reference.

I also would like to inquire, how did you overcome a limitation of YAML, that requires every data item to be present explicitly somewhere in the graph corresponding to the parsed file.  Did you define a special naming convention?

9

OXCE Suggestions DONE / Re: [DONE][Suggestion] Additional item trigger for mission scripts

« on: April 23, 2023, 06:41:04 pm »

It's AND.

None of your options is correct.

The example above means "STR_FACILITY1 is present somewhere among all bases AND STR_FACILITY2 is not present in any base".

Thank you for clarifying this.

I wonder, if it could be possible to check by the BaseFunc type?  E.g. if I had two types of psi labs, how could I depend on e.g. an ADVPSILAB?  I know that I could in principle for each event (scripted ones, through configuration only, without invoking a script engine) provide two entries, each checking for a specific building type.  However, is there a better solution?  Checking by BaseFunc would be much more streamlined and would avoid duplication of entries (which is not optimal in general, even with anchors, etc., especially in extension points).

10

OXCE Suggestions DONE / Re: [DONE][Suggestion] Additional item trigger for mission scripts

« on: April 23, 2023, 10:19:38 am »

Added one more attribute (in OXCE v6.5).
Similar to research and item triggers, there are base facility triggers.

Code: [Select]

missionScripts:
  - type: xxx
...
    facilityTriggers:
       STR_FACILITY1: true
       STR_FACILITY2: false

Facilities from all bases are considered.

What is the conditional in the facility triggers?  Is it AND or an OR?  In other words, do STR_FACILITY1 and STR_FACILITY2 need to be both present somewhere among all bases?  Or, perhaps, the interpretation is that either of STR_FACILITY1 and STR_FACILITY2 needs to be present somewhere among all bases?

11

OXCE Support / Re: [Solved] Manufactured soldier names issue

« on: April 20, 2023, 05:17:09 pm »

No

Ok.  Thank you for sharing this.

If I wanted to spawn multiple characters, do I need to launch several events?  Could I spawn them in separate events, all happening in the same day, and ideally simultaneously?

12

OXCE Support / Re: [BUG] Manufactured soldier names

« on: April 20, 2023, 03:31:10 am »

Define the name under:

Code: [Select]

spawnedPersonName:

instead of

Code: [Select]

spawnedSoldier:


For example:

Code: [Select]

manufacture:
  - name: STR_THEBAN_ASSAULT_CLONE
    spawnedPersonName: Клон-штурмовик
    spawnedSoldier:
        nationality: 20
        rank: 1
        armor: STR_PEASANT_ARMOR_BIOAQUA_EVA_UC
        initialStats:
          tu: 70
          stamina: 100
          health: 45
          bravery: 90
...


Is it possible to spawn more than one soldier this way, all within a single event, and to supply each with an individual name?

13

Released Mods / Re: UFOpaedia-friendly Celatid [UNIT] [OXCE]

« on: April 11, 2023, 06:43:41 pm »

Stunned celatid clone unit cannot be recovered alive, because the corresponding geoscape item is missing.

You can fix the mod by adding an item like this:

Code: [Select]

  - type: STR_CELATID_CLONE
    size: 0.0
    recover: true
    liveAlien: true
    costSell: 40000


Is there a way for me as a modder to know which specific frames in a given pck are missing?  Currently, the debug message states only that some frames are missing, but does not say which.

14

OXCE Suggestions DONE / Re: Starting conditions (was: Enviros)

« on: April 10, 2023, 10:40:51 am »

INFO: There will be a breaking change in the next version.

Default armor will be a weighted list, instead of just a single entry:

Old syntax:

Code: [Select]

    defaultArmor:
      STR_SOLDIER: STR_SPACE_SUIT_UC

New syntax:

Code: [Select]

    defaultArmor:
      STR_SOLDIER:
        STR_SPACE_SUIT_UC: 50 # 50% space suit
        STR_ANNIHILATOR_ARMOR_UC: 25 # 25% annihilator suit
        noChange: 25 # 25% to keep whatever you have on


Is there a way to have an agent removed if a desired armor type is not available for him in the inventory?  A possible case is to require diving suits to be in inventory before they could be used in an underwater mission.

15

OXCE Support / Re: Best mods for OXCE 2023?

« on: April 01, 2023, 01:26:38 am »

The quoted list are just my personal top 3, it's nothing official.
XcomFiles is not there, because I don't like it.
Many other people like it, and it could even be on place 1 for some people.

XCF loosely contains FMP, but it's a completely different experience than playing just FMP.

Than you for sharing this.  I am looking for a good mod to play-through and to have even better experience than with XCF.

Could you please suggest which mods have all of the following?

• Highly devious, smart, and sneaky, extremely evil AI.
• Advanced intermediate crafts like Thunderstorm fro XCF.
• Advanced armors like Shock Armor and Juggernaut Armor from XCF.
• Ideally both land and oceanic bases.
• Sophisticated, well developed story in which both cyborg and psi lines are included.
• Tactically, have shields available that work on top of armor (like e.g. Ethereal's Grand Master in XCF).
• Large tactical maps.