Topics

1

Work In Progress / Mini-terrors - debugging help needed

« on: December 23, 2015, 12:47:28 am »

Hey everyone - I was wondering if I could pick the brains of more knowledgeable folks to help me figure this out.

Short version, I want to have mini-terrors about once a week, with the premise of "an alien force wades out of the ocean". Gameplay-wise, a hybrid of ocean liners {no UFOs} and regular terrors.

But, the game crashes whenever it {presumably} tries to spawn. Having it as a new battle loads the battlescape normally, so presumably it's the missionsite spawning that makes things go bonk. Also, this is just proof-of-concept, I'll do actual gameplay balancing once things actually work.

So, without further ado, the code.

Code: [Select]

missionScripts:
  - type: coastalRaid
    conditionals: [-1]
    label: 8
    missionWeights:
      0:
        STR_ALIEN_COASTAL_RAID: 100
    regionWeights:
      0:
        ALIEN_COASTAL_RAIDS: 100
    avoidRepeats: 5
    varName: coastalRaids
    useTable: true
    firstMonth: 1
    executionOdds: 100
    startDelay: 0

regions:
  - type: ALIEN_COASTAL_RAIDS
    missionZones:
      -
        - [285.067, -36.592, 285.067, -36.592, -5, STR_A]
        - [303.819, -46.465, 303.819, -46.465, -5, STR_B]

alienMissions:
  - type: STR_ALIEN_COASTAL_RAID
    points: 0
    objective: 3
    spawnZone: 3 #Mission zone for terror missions
    raceWeights:
      0:
        STR_AQUATOID: 20
        STR_GILLMAN: 20
        STR_MIXED_CREW: 20
        STR_LOBSTERMAN: 20
        STR_TASOTH: 20
    waves:
      - ufo: dummy #don't spawn a ufo, we only want the site
        count: 4
        trajectory: P10
        timer: 43200
        objective: true

alienDeployments:
  - type: ALIEN_COASTAL_RAIDS
    data:
      - alienRank: 5
        lowQty: 4
        highQty: 6
        dQty: 1
        percentageOutsideUfo: 70
        itemSets:
          -
            - STR_SONIC_PISTOL
            - STR_PISTOL_POWER_CLIP
            - STR_PISTOL_POWER_CLIP
          -
            - STR_SONIC_BLASTA_RIFLE
            - STR_BLASTA_POWER_CLIP
            - STR_BLASTA_POWER_CLIP
            - STR_SONIC_PULSER
          -
            - STR_SONIC_CANNON
            - STR_CANNON_POWER_CLIP
            - STR_CANNON_POWER_CLIP
            - STR_CANNON_POWER_CLIP
            - STR_SONIC_PULSER
      - alienRank: 4
        lowQty: 1
        highQty: 2
        dQty: 0
        percentageOutsideUfo: 20
        itemSets:
          -
            - STR_SONIC_PISTOL
            - STR_PISTOL_POWER_CLIP
            - STR_PISTOL_POWER_CLIP
            - STR_SONIC_PULSER
          -
            - STR_THERMAL_SHOK_LAUNCHER
            - STR_THERMAL_SHOK_BOMB
            - STR_THERMAL_SHOK_BOMB
            - STR_THERMAL_SHOK_BOMB
            - STR_THERMAL_SHOK_BOMB
          -
            - STR_SONIC_CANNON
            - STR_CANNON_POWER_CLIP
            - STR_CANNON_POWER_CLIP
            - STR_SONIC_PULSER
            - STR_MC_READER
    width: 50
    length: 50
    height: 4
    civilians: 16
    terrains:
      - PORT
    script: PORT_TERROR
    briefing:
      palette: 4
      music: GMISPOSH
    alert: STR_ALIENS_LAUNCH_PORT_TERROR
    alertBackground: BACK03.SCR
    markerName: STR_TERROR_SITE
    duration: [4, 10]
    despawnPenalty: 1000
globe:
  textures:
    - id: -5
      deployments:
        STR_ALIEN_COASTAL_RAID: 100

2

Work In Progress / [TFTD] Can someone figure out this crash for me?

« on: September 17, 2015, 06:48:36 am »

Link

Whenever I try to fire this up, I crash with an error that it can't find the hull charge sprite. However, if I put in the full path* in the ruleset, the sprite loads fine.

Any ideas?



* C:\Users\thequ\Documents\OpenXcom\Mods\Second Alien War\Resources\Sprites\hull_breach_charge_bigob.png

3

Work In Progress / [TFTD] Second Alien War {current stage: leaving the starting line}

« on: August 26, 2015, 05:06:19 am »

Edit: The mod now has a portal page!
Backup link.

Hi folks. I'm thinking of creating a large mod for TFTD - gradually - and I figured I should probably put out a thread to bounce ideas off y'all.

The idea is similar to Solarius' FMP mod - gradual expansion of weapons, alien races, deployment sites, etc. More graduated research, more value to capturing aliens and so on. A lot of rewrites too, just for the sake of setting, which is where I am now.

Some ideas I have for now -

Shaped charges - rework the proximity mines to have higher damage, but only one square damage radius {making it possible for aliens to step out of range, depending on the placement} and hullbuster charges, likewise with one square radius, high weight {i.e. a rookie would have to drag it along, nevermind throwing} and size and enough power to break through ship walls for alternative entrances.

Also, the usuals, like sniper rifles and shotguns.

One pivotal concept I'm uncertain about is accuracy - it's possible to snipe enemies from one end of the map to another, but it's also possible to miss a point-blank shot. What I'm considering is cranking up the accuracy for all weapons into triple digits, but also forcing much shorter ranges {depending on the weapon role}, which would make close-quarters combat a lot more initiative-based, but also nerf long-range sniping with inappropriate weapons. Thoughts?

4

Work In Progress / Dumb questions from a would-be modder

« on: August 21, 2015, 07:23:38 am »

Question the first - is there a FAQ for creating and changing rulesets, especially following the mod reorganization following TFTD going live?

What folder do I put the files in?
What's required for a workable mod?
Is there a way to selectively delete/override vanilla rules, such as research or ufopaedia entries?

More newbie questions to come.

5

Open Feedback / Disabling window animations?

« on: March 17, 2015, 06:27:45 pm »

Just a quick question, does anyone know of a way or workaround to skip window animations? I.e. having all windows and popups appear immediately, rather than folding open?

6

Open Feedback / UFOextender accuracy drop and reaction fire

« on: December 05, 2014, 08:52:45 pm »

Just a question - does the accuracy dropoff option affect reaction fire or not? For that matter, how does reaction fire work in general - which shot option does it use? Snap, aimed, something else entirely?

7

Work In Progress / FMP Ranks - a side mod {WIP}

« on: December 05, 2014, 09:44:15 am »

To help with target identification in the FMP mod, I've been cobbling together a mod to color-code aliens according to their ranks. It's a companion mod to FMP, because not everyone wants that kind of a visual giveaway. It's also a work in progress - not all races have been converted, and only the main battlescape sprites have been taken care of, for now. Still, I'm gradually plugging away at it, so we'll see how that goes.

The overall coloring scheme is thus - regular colors for the regular soldiers, blue for navigators, white/gray for medics, green for engineers, red for leaders and gold for commanders. That said, some of them deviate from that color scheme, depending on their original colors.

Current list of recolors consists of Chtonites, Floaters, Mutons, Reptoids, Sectoids and Snakemen. Anthropods don't have any notable ranks, so they're out of the running unless that changes.

If anyone wants to test it out, let me know your experiences.

The download link is here. I'm linking it rather than using an attachment, since this way I can update the archive to the newest version through the same link without fiddling with attachments all the time.

8

Playthroughs / Recording Xcom with OBS?

« on: December 05, 2014, 09:17:26 am »

Just wondering, if anyone's used OBS to record or stream X-COM, what settings did you use? I fiddle and tweak, but I keep pulling up a blank screen in the recordings.

9

Work In Progress / Ruleset troubleshooting {FMP recolor side-project}

« on: November 28, 2014, 09:26:06 pm »

I'm working on a companion mod for the Final Mod Pack, but I'm hitting a snag - when I kill a Reptoid, one of the added alien races, the game CTDs. The same happens when I load a crashed UFO with a dead unit, leading me to believe that I may have a resource missing or misdefined, but I can't figure out what. The vanilla races act fine, both pre and post-mortem.

Any idea what I'm missing?

10

Work In Progress / needItem confusion

« on: November 23, 2014, 07:25:25 am »

I'm doing some experimental tweaking with the Final Mod Pack, but I'm a bit stumped.

Short version, in the research tree of the ruleset, I have a bunch of hidden prerequisite technologies that aren't unlocked by anything, but are granted by several getOneFree triggers*. For example;

  - name: STR_DART_RIFLE_CLIP_B_PRE1_MASTER
    points: 0
    needitem: true

In theory, I think, it should not be actually available for research, due to its needItem tag. But it, as well as all others of its kind, are showing up in the research window even as soon as a new game is started. A different example would be -

  - name: STR_HYBRID_MEETING
    points: 50
    needItem: true

- which is not available for research, and is likewise granted by a getOneFree from a different research.

What am I doing wrong?

*unless I'm overthinking this and there is actually a way to "OR" research dependencies.

11

Programming / Palettes?

« on: October 19, 2014, 08:12:52 am »

Hi! I'm no programmer or much of a modder or anything. I do have a question, though - if openXcom code is rebuilt from scratch, rather than adapted from the original, how come there are still the original palette limitations?

This isn't criticism - like I said, not much by way of coding knowledge - I'm just curious, in case anyone has a layman-friendly explanation.

12

Offtopic / Base placement and other mechanic nitty-gritties

« on: October 16, 2014, 06:18:05 pm »

What is the best kind of location to put your initial base? I always put it in Siberia because that allows me best landmass coverage - however, this assumes that alien activity is even across the globe, i.e. the UFOs always pick a random {dry} spot to conduct their operations. Is that the case, or are different regions differently weighted for alien activity?

13

Work In Progress / Modding guides?

« on: October 10, 2014, 07:51:08 pm »

Just wondering, are there any guides or tutorials out there for modding openXcom? I'm mainly interested in the ability to add new assets to the game, like alien races, weapons, equipment, etc.

14

Work In Progress / Sprite modifications - color palettes?

« on: September 25, 2014, 09:14:44 pm »

I'm doing some basic recoloring work for the FMP and I'm a little confused - what are the restrictions, if any, when it comes to color palettes? The original Xcom had some pretty tight rules to accommodate the tight hardware, but I'm seeing PNGs being liberally used, not to mention the leaps and bounds technology has made. Thus, my question is, are battlescape sprites restricted to battlescape color palette, or do I have the full range of colors to choose from?

15

Work In Progress / Recommended mods?

« on: July 30, 2014, 08:43:08 pm »

Hey folks, new to openXcom {loving the remake, awesome job to the devs~!} and I'm looking into mods and wondering what might be good ones to go with. I'm partial to changes that increase complexity and give me {and aliens, presumably} more options to work with, and my pet peeves are the Skyranger ramp and overpowered PSI {both for me and aliens}.

Any suggestions?