Topics

1

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?

2

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?

3

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?

4

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?

5

The X-Com Files / How to start the game earlier?

« on: January 16, 2022, 06:34:07 pm »

I like to play a pseudo-ironman style. Not true ironman, becasue I don't want to start a long game from the beginning after a crash or a major screwup, but I do prefer to not reload after suboptimal missions and even larger losses. And I like to play blindly, not knowing what to expect. This is how I played this mod halfway (when it was 1.8 ), on an easy difficulty setting, and then ran out of time when the invasion begun, with almost all cult missions unfinished.
This is why I had to edit my save file at the end of 1998 to get a few extra months to prepare.
The problem with easier difficulty modes is that events don't happen as often, so there are fewer occasions for gathering crucial loot and crucial prisoners. Especially if I don't reload if I failed to capture a cult leader alive, and have to wait ages until such a mission appears again.

Therefore it would be nice to have a way to start the game earlier. Maybe even a whole custom difficulty setting, but I think the latter is mainly the job of OXCE and not of the mod.

It's easy to turn back time in a savegame, just edit the date and the "monthsPassed" at the beginning of the save file. But as monthsPassed starts with 0, I don't know how to reliably start the game earlier instead of just turning back time after x months.

6

The X-Com Files / Could it made be possible for cars to not occupy as much hangar space?

« on: October 03, 2021, 02:25:00 pm »

With so many new facility types, space in a base is always at a premium. And even when we have our own Skyranger-sized craft, it can be useful to still have a car, to go for smaller missions like eradicating spiders and other low-threat creatures.
Yet although they are small cars, they require a giant hangar each.
Could it be possible to have a 1x1 building as a garage, which would only accept cars?
Even better, some cars are described in the lore as not even being inside the base. Our agents go by plane to the destination and then rent a car there. So there is no need to have space for the car inside our base!
Is it a technical game engine limitation to require a 2x2 hangar for every vehicle, to not be able to create different "hangars" for different vehicle types, or to have multiple vehicles per "hangar", or specific types of vehicles which don't require hangars?

7

The X-Com Files / How safe are non-combat hideouts?

« on: June 04, 2021, 06:25:33 pm »

As the number of facilities is really huge, it's even more sensible to have some bases dedicated only for storage/research/manufacturing. They won't launch any interceptors, and maybe won't even launch troop carriers.
However, how safe are these from enemy retaliation?
Are there significant differences from vanilla, where enemy retaliation always targeted bases which launched a fighter which shot down a UFO, but had a random chance to target another base instead. (strangely, on lower difficulties the chance to target a different base was higher, so research-only bases were more risky at low difficulty levels)