Messages

1

The X-Com Files / Re: Best way to manually find a cult manor?

« on: August 11, 2022, 07:37:03 pm »

All the enemy interceptors should spawn directly on top of the base before moving after you so if you look at where they are coming from then send a craft with detection chance to that area so its circle overlaps it then you should discover it.

2

The X-Com Files / Re: Is "farming" cults worth doing?

« on: August 04, 2022, 09:30:54 am »

(Do you know that each cult spawns it's own version of helicopters?)

Considering I never even end up fighting them due to just being able to fly past and attack their base, that is quite funny to know. The cults really think their helicopters will stop your skyrangers...

3

The X-Com Files / Re: Considerations for the THUNDERSTORM craft configuration options.

« on: August 04, 2022, 09:19:24 am »

I personally loved DRAGONFLY and used it all the time once I had it available until getting SKYRANGER. It took me a few months after getting promotion 3 until I got Kitsune so I made good use of SKRANGER until then.

When it comes to "useless" craft, for me any interceptors before RAVEN never got any use. I tried using the freebie CF105-ARROW but it barely caught up with small UFO and even with savescumming only managed to shoot down 1 UFO with it before invasion. I then ignored making the other early game interceptors as I had no use for them. I skipped INTERCEPTOR and went right for RAVEN before finally making those in preperation for the invasion.

I had my RAVEN squad ready about a month before invasion then used those for most of the game until getting TORMENATOR, STARFIGHTER and FIRESTORM (preferring plasma beam over missiles myself) I am sure if I struggled on research I could have made do with INTERCEPTOR or maybe even MiG if unable to research RAVEN in time for invasion, but since I was able to rush to RAVEN I just ignored all previous interceptors until then.

As for armament, outside of wishing for plasma beam on everything as I just love me some plasma beam. I tended to use STINGRAY missiles the most either in light or heavy form. I tried using PIKE / STORMLANCE but felt they ran through my alloy / elerium supply too quickly while the STINGRAY was good enough to handle most small ships and the GAUSS CANNON handled most other stuff. Money was no longer an issue during the invasion so I would much prefer to waste it all on STINGRAY / GAUSS instead of eating into precious supplies.

4

The X-Com Files / Re: Cult missions re-enabled?

« on: July 21, 2022, 04:08:34 pm »

When it comes to the left over cults / hybrids being dumb, most of the bases I found was unintentional as was flying past on my skyranger on an unrelated mission and they decided to send interceptors that couldn't even catch up with the skyranger alerting me to their base and getting themselves killed. Without their leadership they really are dumb.

5

The X-Com Files / Re: Pintle-Mounted Gun for Humvee

« on: July 21, 2022, 07:19:40 am »

https://xcf.trigramreactor.net/master/article/STR_HUMMER

Both the Humvee and AH-6 Little Bird use agent weapons not craft weapons. The machine guns, miniguns and rocket launchers can be attached.

For a full list of the things that can be attached to the HUMVEE are: PKM, M-60, MG-3, FN Minimi, Stoner LMG, BlackOps Assault LMG, BlackOps  LMG, Heavy Machine Gun, BlackOps Light Minigun, BlackOps Minigun, Scatter Turbolaser, M.A.G.M.A. Pulse LMG, RPG Rocket Launcher, UAC Rocket Launcher, Rocket Launcher, Advanced Rocket Launcher, Recoiless Gun

Realistically though I wouldn't recommend arming the Humvee or AH-6 Little Bird as you don't need to intercept anything until you have actual interceptors. The only thing the humvee could be used for would be to take down manor defenders but by the time you have manors your landing craft should be able to bypass them anyway due to their speed, and failing that just bait them to leave the manor then return to it undefended.

6

The X-Com Files / Re: ADS assault rifle

« on: July 21, 2022, 07:08:53 am »

Thanks for the clarifications. And how can initiate flights to the moon?

The moon missions are random / monthy missions similar to HQ missions, if you have already done all the research towards getting them then they should appear into the next month or so, if unsure if missing anything then be sure to use the wiki to find out what specifically you still need to do.

[Spoiler]

7

The X-Com Files / Re: ADS assault rifle

« on: July 20, 2022, 04:33:12 am »

Does the game even have an ending? It is already the year 2000, and for about half a year there is nothing new, no research and progress. Just fighting off UFOs and doing rescue missions...

Yes, there are a couple of cutscenes for finishing storylines and the final vanilla ending of Cydonia which ends the game. In this mod reaching Cydonia still requires Cydonia or Bust and the Avenger but there are extra steps to research Cydonia or Bust, without spoilers focus on space travel technology and capture Ethereals (should be appearing now in 2000) to unlock the final series of missions. Waiting on the Ethereals to appear was the most tedious part for me as I had to wait until around 2000s myself too before I could get one.

For more spoiler filled direction

Spoiler:

You need to beat the orbital space station to autopsy the brain and research an ethereal (you can't research a keeper from the station before researching another one or researching reptoid from final zombie mission) this on top of other research should allow you to create a satellite facility and launch a manufactured satellite into orbit. Once you have the satellite in orbit you should unlock the moon missions once a month like HQ missions. Finishing the final moon mission and capturing the Ethereal Grand Master (white robe with red tabard) from the final moon mission. This should give access to Cydonia.

8

The X-Com Files / Re: ADS assault rifle

« on: July 19, 2022, 09:27:31 pm »

According to the wiki the ADS research is available from researching a VIP as a random topic he gives which is likely how you got it, but the research itself is locked behind Amphibious Weapons and promotion 3. The wiki does say you can buy the ADS if you have the ADS researched but I think you still do need amphibious weapons to actually buy it as the wiki lists the ADS purchase being given by Amphibious Weapons. Similar to how you can't buy some weapons despite owning them until you have researched their acquisistion.

If you do already have Promotion 3 and Amphibious Weapons, then I have no idea whats wrong sorry as I was able to buy it after that research.

9

The X-Com Files / Re: Cult missions re-enabled?

« on: July 19, 2022, 09:20:52 pm »

I could have sworn i terminated the black lotus, but after doing so i discovered one of their bases. Fair enough, it probably spawned before terminating. But then their missions (outpost investigation) started popping up after destroying the base. I went to check the research tree, and i guess i didn't terminate them after all...but then i saw an assassination attempt mission from red dawn, and i DID terminate red dawn many months ago, and double checked in the research tree. Is this a bug?

By Red Dawn assassination do you mean Natasha Morozova's Hideout? It mentions she is planning an assassination in the mission briefing so this might be what you are referring to? If so this mission triggers regardless of if you have terminated Red Dawn as a one time mission (either you go to it or it expires and won't show up again) as long as you have researched her dossier, there's a similar mission with Black Lotus for Lo Wo's Refuge, again this happens regardless of if Black Lotus is terminated as long as you have researched his dossier.

For Black Lotus there is an extra mission which can spawn only once they are terminated but it is not like the usual Black Lotus missions and the briefing mentions them being terminated so if you see that one after terminating them don't worry about something going wrong.

[Spoiler]

10

The X-Com Files / Re: Is "farming" cults worth doing?

« on: July 19, 2022, 06:11:46 am »

I actually tried to farm cult mansions. Not for loot, but for experience. It was very interesting endeavor. One of cult mansions popped up just next to my main base, so I decided to try this out.
The tactics is simple. Attack during night to minimize risk. Stay next to evacuation zone. Shoot everyone you see (after throwing some light sources) trying to involve every your agent. After CTRL+E shows empty screen evacuate. If you managed to kill around 10 cultist, then you will end up with a positive score (-100 for evacuation). Relatively safe routine. But occasionally an explosive will get throne in the middle of your agents and a stockpile, so be warned...

I've never thought of doing alien base hit and run tactics for rookie training / stats / medal gains before.  I've always just thought of them as elerium / commander missions. Not sure when the bases replenish their interceptors but suppose you could also get some pilot training off those if you wanted.

As for exploding your Skyranger pile, this mod really, REALLY loves doing that, a lot of my reloads have been because they throw a grenade near the pile or other explosive thing decies to happen.

Spoiler:

There was one mission I had when cybermites that explode on death dropped down onto my skyranger supply from above and my agent reaction fired it, that...took me some time to regain my composure.

11

The X-Com Files / Re: Bugs, crashes, typos & bad taste

« on: July 17, 2022, 01:14:43 am »

FFS, it's not a bug nor it requires reloading... Just dig. It can happen in many underground locations, by the way.

Oh I was used to missions briefing mentioning if digging might be needed like cyberweb sewers, I tried using a blaster bomb but it just dented the outer wall without digging through so I thought these thick walls were not possible to dig through. I had the follow up map where an enemy was locked behind a wall and used the plasma cutter tool a few times to crack into the wall but I just assumed first one was like the walls in a base defence mission. Sorry for listing it as a bug if it wasn't one.

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The X-Com Files / Re: How am I supposed to get an etherial?

« on: July 17, 2022, 12:59:58 am »

I had this same issue, there are a few options I found.
1: If you haven't finished the Zombie storyline yet, try to capture the boss of the final mission alive as it has Ethereals as a bonus topic (I missed this chance myself but would have saved me a few months)
2: can wait until Ethereal missions, I personally did this but it took a long time, I had Ethereals base retaliate against me and I let them find me so I could capture them.
3: can gamble on the mixed alien crew missions, I found some ethereals are joining some random UFOs in 2000 not sure at what date they begin to appear.

And yeah the Keepers do require Ethereal topic already researched before they can be interrogated, not sure if that is intended or not as it did seem to give me a major roadblock for a few months. This time went past quickly IRL since I was at the point I could just intercept and do a few missions to keep score positive as I finished the other storylines and didn't need money anymore. So at least you can use that time to finish up loose ends as you wait.

13

The X-Com Files / Re: Bugs, crashes, typos & bad taste

« on: July 12, 2022, 10:47:40 pm »

We've made a few fixes to this map, but apparently not enough.
Still, it's rather hard to pinpoint the problems without a save...

Ah sorry didn't know a save of the map would help, not sure at what point being saved is best but will add a save during mission I still have. (new to the bug reporting stuff sorry)

Had another buggy level generation in Beyond the Doom Portal map which locked me into the starting area. But since this was the start of the map it was easy to fix by re-loading geomap and activing save scumming to get a new level generation which worked fine the second time, but thought would mention it anyway just incase it helps to know.

14

The X-Com Files / Re: How do you manage missions with special requirements?

« on: July 12, 2022, 09:47:08 pm »

I don't know if I just got lucky but with the Dragonfly I was able to reach most big missions with it from my Europe base, built it on the mountain next to Budapest. I only had Black Lotus and Red Dawn HQ missions before upgrading to the Skyraider so maybe those HQ areas just happened to be within range. Wasn't pretty doing it with just 8 people so in hind sight was definitely worth bigger craft with less coverage in the different bases instead, probably a team in America and Asia since those two areas seem to cover a lot of ground together as that's where my interceptors are in my current game during alien invasion and they can reach anything that appears quickly.

I had the Humvee during Dragonfly for the global coverage and in the early game just ran with 2 cars and a van as the van kept failing to reach distant missions in time so I only used that for closer ones and just hoped the 2 people could deal with the further stuff. I guess putting vans in America and Asia would probably be safer than sending just cars for the start too so might do that in my next run. While I had just 2 people I relied heavily on the hunting rifles so would run to the edge / cover and just snipe things as best I could.

I found using the cars tended to always reach stuff before it despawned I think only a couple of times it failed especially with the private cars. But there were a few missions like Reptoid assassination which depsawned in like 1-2 hours so pretty much nothing that could be done about those, I had to hire a private car from a nearby base and send it before the mission spawned thanks to an autosave and it still only just reached it in time. But fortunately those were rare.

On the note of the special weapons compared to small arms, I did find even with tritanium ammo the spypistol was very weak, I liked it as it could be sent on most concealable missions and having something long ranged was better than nothing, but I can definitely see specialty weapons like the sports stuff could be better even if still weak.

15

The X-Com Files / Re: Bugs, crashes, typos & bad taste

« on: July 11, 2022, 11:24:59 pm »

I had a problematic map in the Vampire Castle for multiple reasons. It seemed unwinnable but with heavy explosives and re-loading to mitigate sanity drain penalty it was beatable.

First this tomb spawned where I couldn't enter it on foot at the courner of the map, luckily the enemy inside did come out when I was close enough and ended turn, I also had flying suits.

Second and most problematic this enemy spawned in an inaccessible area beneath one of the large staircases, there was 2 layers of tunnels but even those didn't reach it.

Blasting through the staircases to reach the enemy took 2-3 large rockets from a rocket launcher with knowing where it was thanks to bug hunt, alien grenades and laser weapons didn't scatch the terrain.

Finally I sent this agent down to a tunnel network to kill the enemies inside, but they were stuck down here unable to get back up and the tunnel didn't lead anywhere (might be unclear due to the isometric view but the section with the gallows is higher than the area the agent is at). So if I was on Ironman and had to abandon the mission I would have lost them, fortunately I wasn't.

Edit: oh I did some searching and it seems others mentioned problems with the Vampire Castle before so guess its already known but will leave it up anyway incase helpful. That'll teach me for not searching before taking the time to compile pictures about it.