Messages

1

XPiratez / Re: Newbe questions

« on: September 20, 2018, 11:51:40 am »

Not counting mental disorders, the main culprit behind such behavior is, in my opinion, modern game design.
I can understand how, for someone used to dumbed down, or streamlined if you will, games such "black magic" logic behind LOF might seem unacceptable. For an old timer like me it is just another quirk that games of old used to have plenty of.

2

XPiratez / Re: Victory conditions

« on: April 10, 2018, 01:04:13 pm »

I can say for sure that the ability to flee is not available at all right now, and will require new engine code. Maybe we could see it start happening early next year.

I wasn't actually even considering a possibility to see enemies flee, although it would be great thing to add one day. What I thought of, at least for now is just capturing all stunned enemies and only about 70%, or 1/3 to round things easier, of panicked enemies that are as of now considered surrendered at the end of a mission to model possibility of them fleeing successfully.

And why is that?

If my employer expected me to defend an Excavator with a Shovel against Gals with Powerarmor and Plasma Weapons I would not be slightly worried. I would not be there at all.

All depends on the exact balance of such mechanic. With great difference in power I agree it should be almost instant (like require shooting a fireball launcher in general proximity of enemies) if not actually instant.

3

XPiratez / Re: Victory conditions

« on: April 09, 2018, 11:57:26 pm »

The rank of your gals is based almost entirely on crew size. I just can't see a well-armed crew surrendering to a bunch of poorly armed, unskilled gals.

Hmm.. I though it has some other requirements for ranks to be awarded other than just number of hands, well never had too many hands before some of them were almost maxed out.

If that is the case then the most logical, but not sure if possible, solution would be to rely on commendations your hands earn, like enemy might not be too keen to face hand know as Scourge of Europe, Bane of Academy and Master of Sledgehammer. With various base points for each title (Person of Mass Destruction being scarier than Patient) multiplied by rank - sum it up and compare to enemy level for encounter or somehow sum ranks of individual enemies to account for how many there are. This seems to me as most logical way to check "reputation" and its potential effect on the enemy.

Instant surrender seems a bit OP, but lowering starting morale by up to, lets say, 50% of its original value for side being in disadvantage could result in fast cleanup operations, or on the receiving side, taking cover for a few turns and slowly advancing to let morale regen

4

XPiratez / Re: Victory conditions

« on: April 09, 2018, 08:53:09 am »

There is morale system already in place, so maybe just use it instead. The way it could be implemented is to compare highest rank of your and the enemy crew. As far as i know it does have some effect now, all we need is to extend it.

If your high ranking gal drops by on some unlucky sods mining for minerals expect enemy to break as soon as firefight starts and first casualties pile up. On the other hand if there happens to be somewhat competent officer on the enemy side he will most likely motivate (Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard style if need be) his subordinates to stand and fight regardless.
This would make your run of the mill training field trips relatively harmless in term of morale hit, but on the other hand will pose a risk of things going south for you if your gals don't motivate themselves by killing fast enough.

The alternative is to add up ranks of all the hands present and calculate the final morale boost/penalty based on that, as it would allow us to take 1-2 more experienced "instructors" on training trips, as well as tip the scales even more toward the enemy of higher difficulties as a result of higher enemy count.

EDIT: Just realized that making enemy crew break the way it is implemented now will generate high amounts of prisoners and might turn easy missions into instant cash-in situations. About the only way to fix this would be to count panicked enemies separately from stunned ones, so that panicked enemy would have at least 70% chance of running away from AO and not turning into captive. That said I don't know if it is possible as of now to separate panicked and stunned enemies.

5

XPiratez / Re: A thread for little questions

« on: March 27, 2018, 01:10:29 pm »

Since I don't believe it is possible to add different types of researchers without rewriting whole research code the closest probably possible modification would be somehow checking daily for number or monkeys in possession to calculate chance of getting random free tech from a weighted list. Should be pretty close to what infinite number of monkeys (or large number of mutated monkeys) would work like.

Please note that above is just my estimate of what is possible and what not based on current scope of modifications already present in game and my limited understanding of OpenXcom project so I might be completely wrong.

6

XPiratez / Re: Feedback 0.99I1

« on: February 26, 2018, 09:18:49 am »

For me, as of now melee is a solid choice for face-to-face situations, like assaulting downed ships. Was like that pretty much since CQC patch added a defensive mechanism give your melee gals a chance to survive in case reaction swing was not enough.
That said, for melee to see any use during action in more open terrain an ample suply of smoke and fire throwables is pretty much a must and assault cannon support with pyrotechnic and explosive ammo to flush out flankers and clear the path is well advised.

While mildly bothersome in most situations melee is a must to asure capture of VIPs without reliance on bleed lottery or save scumming.
I usually bring 2 melee gals for missions, and if conditions are unfavorable they end up sitting in craft untill it's time for direct assault.

EDIT: typos

7

XPiratez / Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - 0.99I1 - 26 Dec - Spirit of Christmas

« on: February 21, 2018, 08:40:25 am »

On the subject of damage feedback, I feel examining the enemy for how badly banged up he is is only good on paper. Sure you can see if some unlucky G.O. standing 1,5m in front of you is just scratched of if his guts are about to spill out so it would work in this situation, but consider an enemy in heavy combat gear or even power armor taking cover 50m away. Galls might have a good eyesight, but they are no psyhics in general, on the other hand Alliance Advisor or any psychic gal with mind probe is a reasonable source of info on enemy.

Only QOL change i would want is predicted lethality display when taking shots at the enemy next to hit chance. It might display categories of potential damage like none-light-medium-high-lethal calculated of 50%-150% weapon damage (I consider anything less than 50 or more than 150 as enemy luck or critical hits) and show up only if you have research on both your weapon and enemy armor/species. Damage clasification would be based on enemy max hp, not current hp.
So in practice aiming some kind of pistol at Osiron Security from the front would show lethality at none-light, but the same weapon aimed at his bottom armor or back would show light-medium or higher.
However as mentioned it is only QOL as players learn to estimate such things from experience while playing, so it really serves just to shave off some frustration of newer or returning players.

8

XPiratez / Re: A thread for little questions

« on: February 19, 2018, 02:46:32 pm »

I think ramjet cannon is enough to take it.

I bet you are reffering to standard freighter. Heavy one is a hard nut to crack mid-late game even on standard difficulty, as you will surely find out once you make The Guild ramp up their efforts.
Either that or you are a priseworthy masochist. (although I envy your determination if that's the case)