Topics

1

Work In Progress / Muton Commander mod or optional feature?

« on: May 18, 2017, 05:41:03 am »

I see there's a Muton Commander mod:

http://www.openxcom.com/mod/muton-commander

However, it was released in 2014, and there's been a lot of water under the bridge since then.   I'm curious if it works with the latest nighlies, and if not, could someone release a new mod for the current version of the game?

I really think Mr. Angry Red Suit should be in the game...

2

Offtopic / Does 2nd mission to a terror site reuse the old map & casualties?

« on: April 01, 2017, 03:25:30 am »

If there's a terror site, I send a first assault team, it gets killed or must evac, so I send a second assault team, does the 2nd mission reuse the map generated for the first, with all the battle damage, dead aliens & civilians etc., or is it like doing a completely new terror mission?

3

Open Feedback / Recommended explosion height?

« on: December 24, 2016, 03:32:57 am »

I tried googling this and only found a couple threads that sort of discussed it -- rather than necro one of them I decided to start a new one.

I was looking at the "explosion height" option and trying to figure out the best choice -- I found this documentation:

battleExplosionHeight:   
A coefficient that controls how much vertical power explosions have.
0 = Explosions are completely flat, as per the original game.
1 = -30 damage units per level (this penalty is in addition to the horizontal penalty of -10 damage per tile).
2 = -10 damage units per level.
3 = -5 damage units per level.

The "flat" explosions of the original game always seemed very unrealistic and silly.   But since tiles are apparently twice as high as they are wide, it doesn't make much sense to pick options 2 or 3 either, since those would allow explosions to propagate more vertically than horizontally.   Hence option 1 would seem to be the remaining choice.   But it does make me wonder, wouldn't the most realistic solution be to make -20 damage units per level, since levels are at least twice as tall as tiles are wide?

4

Suggestions / Separate "Prime Grenade" into "Set Delay" and "Pull Pin"

« on: December 19, 2016, 08:42:17 pm »

One thing that frustrates me about X-COM is how many TU's are required to use grenades.   Yes, options have been added for pre-priming grenades at the start of a mission, but this adds the danger of downed soldiers blowing up themselves and those nearby.   It seems to me a good option for the game (or mod) would be to separate the "Prime Grenade" action into two separate actions -- "Set Delay" and "Pull Pin".   Every grenade would have a default delay of 0 set (unless modified in the pre-battle screen), and the "Set Delay" action would bring up the "Prime Grenade" interface to modify the delay setting for a grenade in the soldier's hand.   "Pull Pin" would then set the fuse to start if the grenade is thrown of dropped.   The TU's for "Pull Pin" would be relatively short, allowing a soldier to attack with a grenade in a (realistically) shorter period of time.   The combo of Set Delay + Pull Pin would be about the same as Prime Grenade by itself.   Another thing to consider is making the Set Delay take longer if the other hand is not empty.

5

Offtopic / Do aliens spend TU's to prime grenades?

« on: December 19, 2016, 08:07:19 pm »

Since aliens don't throw grenades that are set for a delay, I'm curious if the game requires them to waste TU's to prime grenades?

6

Open Feedback / What features will 2.0 have vs. 1.0? (besides TFTD support)?

« on: December 11, 2016, 08:28:04 pm »

I never much liked TFTD, since it was just a rehash of the first game with an underwater theme, and its main added "feature" was larger maps, that took forever to clear and slowed down gameplay.

I know OpenXcom 2.0 will add support for TFTD, but after doing my best to look around the openxcom.org website, I can't find any sort of definitive list of what the goals are for 2.0, and which features are currently implemented in the nightlies -- the changelog doesn't help me see the big picture.

Or put another way, why should I run the nightlies instead of 1.0 if I'm only interested in playing the first game (with options that improve gameplay) in the series?

7

Offtopic / Ideas on recruiting, screening, training, promoting, assigning soldiers?

« on: December 10, 2016, 02:55:27 am »

I'm curious if there is any consensus or schools of thought on the best approaches to take for dealing with soldiers?   Specifically, their recruitment, screening (including psi-testing), skills training, promoting (and sacking of officers), and assignment to bases and transports.   I'll outline my own thinking and people can comment or outline their own schemes.

My thinking is to start with one "combat" base with a transport, then build six radar/interceptor bases, then a second combat base on the other side of the planet, and eventually have two transports and two combat teams at each combat base.

Avenger combat teams would be 18 soldiers (with at least one top officer) and two HWP's.   I figure two HWP's would facilitate simultaneously assaulting both entrances to a Terror Ship, or the central lift of a Battleship.   So, combat bases would eventually have a max of 50 soldiers, with 38 assigned to Avengers and the remainder on garrison duty and/or new recruits being psi-screened.   The combat base would have four Psi-Labs for training existing soldiers and screening recruits.

The interceptor bases would have 10 soldiers (at least one officer) and 4 HWP's for base defense missions.   The interceptor base would have one Psi-Lab.

What I'm not sure of is how to process new recruits -- should I hire them at combat bases and then send those that pass psi-screening to interceptor bases, or the other way around?

I am thinking I should use the highest-ranking officers for combat teams and assign the next-highest ranks to interceptor bases.   In combat, the officers would stay behind cover and use Motion Scanners, Psi-Amps, and Blaster Bombs.

8

Suggestions / Option for Energy Recovery based on total TU’s, not recruit TU’s.

« on: December 10, 2016, 12:54:50 am »

According to the wiki, the game determines a soldier's Energy Recovery rate based on their TU's when they were recruited, so the recovery rate is fixed.   It seems logical to me for the rate to reflect the improved TU's instead.   I'd like it to be an option in the game settings.

9

Suggestions / Audio option to mute game in background

« on: November 24, 2016, 04:02:58 am »

It seems there is no option to mute the game (or even suspend/pause it outright) when it is not the focus.   It's a bit annoying to not be able to switch away to my desktop to do other things, and still have the music playing endlessly.

10

Open Feedback / Does OpenXcom give full ammo to HWP's for Base Defense missions?

« on: November 23, 2016, 12:35:23 am »

I'm not sure if it is considered a bug or what, but I know the original X-COM game on Base Defense missions would give HWP's a full load of ammo, regardless of whether there was ammo available in the base's stores.   I'm curious has this behavior been changed in OpenXcom -- do HWP's get less than a full load of ammo if there isn't enough in the base's stores?

11

Work In Progress / Mod to allow thwarting Infiltration Missions and to fail Cydonia?

« on: November 22, 2016, 09:05:48 am »

I'd like either an option added to the nightlies, or a mod, that makes it possible to thwart alien Infiltration Missions and to fail at the Cydonia mission without losing the game.

Currently, once the Infiltration Mission sequence starts, there is absolutely nothing that can be done to stop the target country from defecting.   I've read speculation that this was a game design decision, to give a sense of urgency to players, when they lose funding.   However, I see two problems with that speculation.   First, my understanding is that Russia will never defect, because of an apparent bug in the game that prevents the mission sequence from working properly.   Second, it is possible to survive without government funding, because there is more cash to be made from the loot gained in missions and from workshops producing items for profit.   So, there is no real urgency to win the game anyway.

Obviously, the change would be, that the Infiltration is thwarted if both Battleships are shot down.

Regarding the Cydonia mission, I assume this was also a game design decision that's intended to REDUCE the sense of urgency, by deterring players from trying to win the game before they have overwhelming force available.   Again, I disagree with this game design decision.   What I'd like to see instead is some sort of horrific consequences for failing the Cydonia mission and the Avenger being captured, such as the aliens simultaneously launching Terror Missions against every allied country in the world at the same time Base Defense missions are launched against every X-COM base -- no scouting would be necessary because of the intel captured from the Avenger.   Basically, the aliens announce, "we know where you live, and we will hunt you down."

12

Open Feedback / Does intercepting/damaging a Terror Ship reduce the aliens at the Terror Site?

« on: November 22, 2016, 12:47:50 am »

Assuming I intercept and do some damage to a Terror Ship before it succeeds in landing at a Terror Site, does the damage do anything to reduce the number of living aliens on the Terror Mission and thus reduce the chances of them killing civilians and my soldiers?

What about considerations for maximizing score?   Is it best to shoot it down, or damage it, or let it land unscathed and kill them on the ground?

13

Open Feedback / Is there a penalty for using the Psi-Amp one-handed?

« on: November 22, 2016, 12:43:04 am »

The wiki for the original game says the Psi-Amp is a two-handed weapon, but it is unsure if the normal penalty applies for using a two-handed weapon with one hand -- the talk section has some discussion of testing it out, but there's no results listed.   So I have two questions:

1)   Does anyone know if the original game had a penalty for using the Psi-Amp one-handed?

2)   Does anyone know if OpenXCOM has a penalty for using the Psi-Amp one-handed?

14

Suggestions / Limit tilting Geoscape up/down to prevent going upside-down

« on: November 22, 2016, 12:16:59 am »

Please add an option for the Geoscape controls so that up/down will only tilt the globe to the north/south poles respectively, so the Geoscape never tilts upside-down.