Topics

31

Open Feedback / Mission Zones, UFOTrajectories and Rulesets - How it works?

« on: October 03, 2014, 11:26:13 pm »

I'm having problems understanding a bit how the values on the ruleset are related/used regarding the actual missionZones/UFOTrajectories. Maybe the issue is how it is explained on the wiki (or the lack of precise explanation).

The Ruleset Reference on the wiki states this regarding UFOTrajectory:

List of waypoints for the UFO to traverse, defined as [zone, altitude, speed].
zone: Globe zone where the waypoint is located.
altitude: UFO altitude after reaching this waypoint:
0 - Ground
1 - Very Low
2 - Low
3 - High
4 - Very High
speed: UFO speed after reaching this waypoint, as a percentage (0-100%) of its maximum speed.

So, to figure it out, I've given my initial base a Hyperwave Decoder, increased its detection range to cover the entire globe and took pics as a Large Scout appeared headed towards Europe on a Terror Mission, with a P1 UFOTrajectory. This is what I saw:



For comparison I'll list the waypoints for the P1 UFOTrajectory listed on the XCom1ruleset and comment using the image above and Falko's Worldeditor that shows the different missionZones.

Code: [Select]

  - id: P1
    groundTimer: 4000
    waypoints:
      - [5, 4, 100]
First issue is that the UFO has appeared over the Pacific while the MissionZone (MZ) 5 areas defined for Europe (use Falko's editor to check) are located in Africa. At this moment I'm guessing the game simply picks a random MZ 5 to generate the UFO, regardless of the MZ being assigned to a specific location or not, since the UFO was generated on a MZ 5 assigned to Antarctica.
 

Code: [Select]

      - [0, 2, 76]
      - [0, 2, 20]
 I couldn't take a pic of the [0, 2, 76]  waypoint but the 2nd is shown on image #2 above, where the UFO reaches MZ 0 over the British Isles and then slows down.

Code: [Select]

      - [1, 1, 44]
      - [0, 0, 20]
Image #3 and 4 - UFO accelerates to 44% maximum speed and heads for a random MZ 1, on this case located in Spain, where it lands. The MZ 0 location for the landing doesn't appear to be used, my guess is that the game lands the UFO on the location reached on the last waypoint, rather than a random location on MZ 0.

Code: [Select]

      - [0, 2, 32]
      - [2, 1, 65]
Image #5 and 6 - I couldn't take a pic of the [0, 2, 32] waypoint, my guess is that this waypoint is simply for the UFO to lift off before heading towards the next random waypoint, located on MZ 2, on this case on Iceland.

Code: [Select]

      - [5, 0, 100]
Images #7 and 8 - UFO takes off and heads towards South Africa before disappearing. Here the actual MZs 5 assigned to Europe are used.

So, to try to conclude what I've seen:
* When the UFO is first generated, it appears over any MZ 5, regardless of being assigned or not.
* UFOs landing locations are not those on the waypoint where the 0 (Landed) value appears but on the MZ defined on the previous waypoint.
* It seems that the explanation on the wiki is wrong regarding speeds and altitudes. It refers not to their altitude/speed after reaching the waypoint, but when it starts heading towards the next waypoint. This is most evident on image #3 where the UFO is heading towards MZ 1 in Spain with a Very Low altitude and 44% speed and on image #6 where it is headed towards MZ 2 on Iceland.
* The wiki also wrongly explains "zone" on an incomplete way. It is defined as "Globe zone where the waypoint is located." The issue is that is value is used in different ways. When a UFO is initially generated, it uses the MZ 5 value on the 1st UFO trajectory, but afterwards the region where it is headed is defined by the 2nd UFOtrajectory (MZ 0).
* The last waypoint defines the exit area and the specific MZs assigned to regions are used, unlike when they are generated. But there's missing info since there's no way to define the altitude as the UFO heads away (on image #8 it appears with a Very Low altitude).

So, how to explain all of this?

32

Released Mods / [WEAPON] Smoke Rocket

« on: August 06, 2014, 07:31:50 pm »

This mod adds a new item, the Smoke Rocket, which can be purchased from the beginning and fired by standard Rocket Launchers to create a large cloud of smoke to conceal friendly units. It can be downloaded at the mod portal.

Stats:

* Cost: 450

* Weight: 5

* Power: 175 (Smoke)

33

Open Feedback / Is it possible for the game to randomly choose terrains for Base Defense?

« on: August 02, 2014, 07:58:16 pm »

While it seems that it is possible to add additional terrains to be randomly chosen for Base Defense:

Code: [Select]

alienDeployments:
  - type: STR_BASE_DEFENSE
    terrains:
      - XBASE
      - MILITARYBASE

The issue afterwards is how to assign map blocks to base modules since the code seems limited to only allowing 1 map block for each module, meaning that only 1 terrain/map block can be defined for each module:

Code: [Select]

facilities:
  - type: STR_ACCESS_LIFT
    mapName: XBASE_00
Despite my testing I can't seem to find a way to have both XBASE_00 and MILITARYBASE00 as the Access Lift, depending on the terrain. Any pointers on this issue?

34

Troubleshooting / Texture and Hemisphere settings issues

« on: August 01, 2014, 02:40:29 am »

I'm trying to add several new terrains and I've ran into some issues.

Previously I had:

Code: [Select]

  - name: CULTA
    hemisphere: -1
  - name: NATIVEURBAN
    textures: [1, 2, 3, 4]
    hemisphere: 1

Which worked great, Farm is chosen for missions on textures 1-4 on the northern hemisphere, while Native is used for the same textures on the southern hemisphere.

But now I'm trying this:

Code: [Select]

  - name: CULTA
    textures: [1]
    hemisphere: -1
  - name: URBAN
    textures: [2]
    hemisphere: -1
  - name: CULTAFARM
    textures: [3]
    hemisphere: -1
  - name: MADURBAN
    textures: [4]
    hemisphere: -1
  - name: PORTURBAN
    textures: [1]
    hemisphere: 1
  - name: NATIVEURBAN
    textures: [2]
    hemisphere: 1
  - name: INDUSTRIALURBAN
    textures: [3]
    hemisphere: 1
  - name: RAILYARDURBAN
    textures: [4]
    hemisphere: 1

But this simply isn't working - everytime I start a new battle and choose CULTA as a terrain, I get PORTURBAN instead and the rest of the northern hemisphere terrains are replaced by the southern ones.

What am I doing wrong? I can't seem to figure out the logic behind this.

35

Suggestions / New Alien Species: Elvis

« on: July 29, 2014, 04:40:07 pm »

 

36

Suggestions / [Suggestion] - XComUtil's Research help from captured aliens

« on: July 18, 2014, 07:19:52 am »

This option is not present in OpenXcom and I always used it. Quoting from XcomUtil:

This option greatly changes the way alien research is performed.  First, the amount of time required to complete all alien research projects is greatly increased.  To compensate for this, the amount of time remaining on your active research projects will be reduced by a percentage based on the rank of each alien captured.  The net effect is to make captures VERY important, unlike it is today.  This option only effects new games.  For more information, see the Research Help from Captured Aliens section below.

This new feature is achieved by adding a table to XCOMUTIL.CFG that lists the contribution made by each rank of alien versus each research project. If you have multiple projects under development, the alien will contribute help to the project which would receive the most benefit.  Each rank of alien will reduce the remaining work on a given project by a fixed percentage.  For example, a captured alien engineer reduces the remaining time required to research UFO construction by 50%.  Thus, if you have 1000 scientist/days of work left on the project, one engineer will reduce it from 1000 to 500, while then next one will reduce it another 50% from 500 to 250.  The remaining time will never be reduced below 1 scientist/day. This allows all research to be completed normally by the game.

These are the actual reductions in research projects that can be gained through capturing aliens.

ResearchHelp

https:// Day Mul Cmd Ldr Eng Med Nav Sol

    50  10   0   0   0   0   0   0 https://  0 Laser Weapons
   180  50   0   0  50   0  50   0 https://  1 Motion Scanner
   210 100   0   0   0  80   0   0 https://  2 Medi-kit
   500 100  50  25   0  80   0   0 https://  3 Psi-Amp

   800 100  20  20  50   0  20  10 https://  4 Heavy Plasma
   400 100  20  20  50   0  20  40 https://  5 Heavy Plasma Clip
   700 100  20  20  50   0  20  10 https://  6 Plasma Rifle
   400 100  20  20  50   0  20  40 https://  7 Plasma Rifle Clip
   600 100  20  20  50   0  20  10 https://  8 Plasma Pistol
   400 100  20  20  50   0  20  40 https://  9 Plasma Pistol Clip
   900 100  80  60  70   0   0   0 https:// 10 Blaster Launcher
   300 100  25  20  70   0   0   0 https:// 11 Blaster Bomb
   550 100  20  20  20  80   0   0 https:// 12 Small Launcher
   180 100  20  20  20  80   0   0 https:// 13 Stun Bomb
   200 100   0   0  50   0   0  50 https:// 14 Alien Grenade
   450 100  25  20  50   0   0   0 https:// 15 Elerium-115
   600 100   0   0   0  80   0   0 https:// 16 Mind Probe

   450 100   0   0  50   0  25   0 https:// 17 UFO Propulsion
   450 100   0   0   0   0  80   0 https:// 18 UFO Navigation
   450 100   0   0  50   0  25   0 https:// 19 UFO Construction
   150 100   0   0   0  80   0   0 https:// 20 Alien Food
   150 100   0   0   0  50   0   0 https:// 21 Reproduction Chamber
   150 100   0   0   0   0  50  50 https:// 22 Alien Entertainment
   150 100   0   0   0  80   0   0 https:// 23 Alien Surgery
   150 100  80  80   0  80   0   0 https:// 24 Alien Abduction
   400 100  25  20  50   0  40   0 https:// 25 Alien Alloys

   600 100  20  10  30   0  20   0 https:// 26 Firestorm
   700 100  20  10  30   0  20   0 https:// 27 Lightning
   900 100  20  10  30   0  20   0 https:// 28 Avenger

   100  10   0   0   0   0   0   0 https:// 29 Laser Pistol
   300  10   0   0   0   0   0   0 https:// 30 Laser Rifle
   460  10   0   0   0   0   0   0 https:// 31 Heavy Laser

   420  10   0   0   0   0   0   0 https:// 32 Laser Cannon
   660 100  20  20  50   0  20   0 https:// 33 Plasma Cannon
   880 100  20  20  50   0  20   0 https:// 34 Fusion Ball Launcher

   510  10   0   0   0   0   0   0 https:// 35 Laser Defense
   620 100   0   0  50   0   0   0 https:// 36 Plasma Defense
   800 100   0   0  50   0   0   0 https:// 37 Fusion Defense
   930 100   0   0  50   0  40   0 https:// 38 Grav Shield
   360 100   0   0   0  80   0   0 https:// 39 Mind Shield
   420 100   0   0   0  80   0   0 https:// 40 Psi-Lab
   670 100   0   0   0   0  80   0 https:// 41 Hyperwave Decoder

   250  10   0   0   0   0   0   0 https:// 42 Laser Tank
   430 100  20  20  50   0  20   0 https:// 43 Plasma Hovertank
   690 100  20  20  50   0  20   0 https:// 44 Launcher Hovertank

   180  10   0   0   0   0   0   0 https:// 45 Sectoid corpse
   180  10   0   0   0   0   0   0 https:// 46 Snakeman corpse
   180  10   0   0   0   0   0   0 https:// 47 Ethereal corpse
   180  10   0   0   0   0   0   0 https:// 48 Muton corpse
   180  10   0   0   0   0   0   0 https:// 49 Floater corpse
   180  10   0   0   0   0   0   0 https:// 50 Celatid corpse
   180  10   0   0   0   0   0   0 https:// 51 Silacoid corpse
   180  10   0   0   0   0   0   0 https:// 52 Chryssalid corpse
   180  10   0   0   0   0   0   0 https:// 53 Reaper corpse
   180  10   0   0   0   0   0   0 https:// 54 Sectopod corpse
   180  10   0   0   0   0   0   0 https:// 55 Cyberdisc corpse

   300 100  70  50  20  20  35  20 https:// 56 Alien Origins
   500 100  60  30  10  10  25  10 https:// 57 Alien Origins - Leader
   600 100  50  20   0   0  15   0 https:// 58 Alien Origins - Commander

   180  50  25  20  50   0   0  50 https:// 59 Personal Armor
   205 100  25  20  50   0  15  25 https:// 60 Power Suit
   330 100  25  20  50   0  30   0 https:// 61 Flying Suit

37

Troubleshooting / How to disable the option to prime grenades before the mission?

« on: July 15, 2014, 05:02:50 pm »

I thought it was the Save pre-primed grenades option but it doesn't have any effect.

38

Released Mods / [AI] Alien Remix

« on: July 09, 2014, 02:59:34 am »

Latest version is 0.4, available at the Mod Portal

EDIT: This mod is dead and I don't have the .zip file anymore - I deleted my account at the mod portal months ago and I can't find a copy on my computer files.

This mod adds mixed races to all of the regular missions in the game. There are 36 possible new alien crews:
* The original races combined in pairs (eg. Sectoid/Floater)
* The primary race with a different terror race (eg. Sectoid/Chryssalid)
* Multi race mixed crews with more than two primary races

In addition the information displayed on the Hyperwave Decoder will be less precise: only one of the primary races in the pairs will be displayed and the terror race will never be revealed. Multi-race crews will be described as Mixed.

This mod uses the Muton Commander mod, created by Phaedris.

39

Open Feedback / Chryssalid reaction melee?

« on: July 08, 2014, 04:24:34 am »

I just had a Terror Site where one of my soldiers walks out of the Skyranger on the first turn, moves next to a Chryssalid and the alien reaction attacks my soldier and turns him into a zombie.

Is this normal? I have saves of the game before the soldier moves and after he got zombified.

40

Suggestions / [SUGGESTION] Geoscape News Ticker

« on: June 29, 2014, 08:55:53 pm »

What if it was possible to add somewhere on the Geoscape view a news ticker?

The news would be related with ingame events such as aerial fights, cattle abductions in North America, etc. It could also give to the player indications about completed alien missions. And also add some tabloid news like "Elvis seen inside UFO" or "The End Of The World Is Near".

41

Suggestions / [SUGGESTION] UFOs can chase and attack airborne XCOM craft

« on: June 29, 2014, 01:02:10 am »

The idea would be that the UFOs would also have a detection range and would attack the closest XCOM craft airborne and act as escorts for other UFOs.

This can add a lot of interesting additions like having to send Interceptors ahead and engage the airborne UFO escorts to allow the Skyranger to assault a landed craft.

42

Tools / PCK View issues

« on: June 24, 2014, 08:19:36 pm »

I'm getting a lot of error messages using PCKView. At first I thought it had something to do with the graphics using the wrong palette but now I'm more and more convinced that there may be something wrong. Essentially everytime I add additional BMPs or replace existing ones I get the error message attached below. And it actually seems cumulative. Today I rebuilt a PCK file from one of the original files and at first I was getting no errors but now after 150 images replaced I can't seem to do anything. Sometimes the same image will be properly saved and I can load the PCK file afterwards, other times I'll use the image to replace another one and after saving I can't reload it.

If anyone could look into PCKView and try to find out what's happening I would appreciate it. I'm wasting a lot of time with these trial and error experiments since I'm pretty sure I eliminated the possibilities that my .bmps are causing the problem.

43

Offtopic / Falling Skies new season started yesterday

« on: June 24, 2014, 12:32:04 am »

Season 4 of Earth's fight against the alien invaders just started. Anyone watching it?

44

Released Mods / XCOM Terrain Pack General Discussion

« on: June 21, 2014, 05:41:50 pm »

XCOM Terrain Pack 1.0.0 - Released (January 28th, 2022)

Open source terrain mod packs for the original UFO: Enemy Unknown/XCom: UFO Defense game that contains 70+ new terrains and an expanded globe. Plus all the necessary tools for creating terrains. Requires OpenXCom, UFO2000 or the original game to be played.

Version 1.0.0 has a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

Requires latest OXCE. OXC only not currently supported.

Mod Portal https://openxcom.mod.io/terrain-pack

Official repository: https://github.com/Hobbes74/XCOM-Terrain-Pack

XCOM Terrain Pack Discord channel - https://discord.com/invite/5f2KRVjqBN



List of Features (OpenXCom)
UFO Assault/Recovery terrains
* CULTAFARM (new Farm map blocks)
* DESERT (variations of Grassland, Polar, Savanna, Steppe, Taiga and Tundra biomes)
* DESERT MOUNT (combined DESERT and MOUNT terrains)
* FOREST (variations of Grassland, Savanna, Steppe, Taiga and Tundra biomes)
* FOREST MOUNT (combined FOREST and MOUNT terrains)
* INDUSTRIAL UFO (INDUSTRIAL with landed UFOs)
* MADCITY UFO (new URBAN map blocks with landed UFOs)
* NATIVE UFO (NATIVE with landed UFOs)
* JUNGLE POLAR (FOREST swamp with variants for Grassland, Polar, Savanna, Steppe, Taiga and Tundra biomes)
* JUNGLE MOUNT (combined JUNGLE and MOUNT terrains)
* MOUNT (combined POLAR and TUNDRA variants)
* TFTD ATLANT DESERT (adapted ATLANT TFTD terrain)
* TFTD PLANE DESERT (adapted crashed PLANE TFTD terrain, with Taiga and Polar variants)
* TFTD MU JUNGLE (Original JUNGLE + MU TFTD terrain)

Terror Site terrains:
* AIRFIELD
* APARTMENT (original version released for XCOM)
* AREA 51 (original version released for XCOM)
* COLD ISLE (Polar research station)
* COMMERCIAL (expansion of APARTMENT)
* DAWN CITY (original XCOM version and two OXC variants)
* DOWNTOWN
* EXPANDED TERROR
* INDUSTRIAL
* MAD CITY (new map blocks for UFO Urban terrain + Snow variant)
* NATIVE (Tropical Terror Site)
* POLIS (four 60x60 buildings for URBAN)
* RAILYARD
* SLUM (with highway pass)
* STORM MOUNTAIN (Underground base)
* TFTD CARGOSHIP (TFTD terrain, 1st stage mission only)
* TFTD CARGOSHIP PORT (CARGOSHIP + PORT)
* TFTD PORT INDUSTRIAL (PORT + INDUSTRIAL)
* TFTD ISLAND (vanilla TFTD terrain)
* TFTD LINER (1st stage mission only)
* TFTD LINER PORT (LINER + PORT terrain)
* TFTD PORT (vanilla TFTD terrain)
* TFTD PORT URBAN (new map blocks TFTD PORT terrain)

Alien Base terrains:
* ALIEN COLONY
* ALIEN HIVE

Other OpenXCom Features:
* Reworked Geoscape, including several new textures and cities.
* Country Zones have been redesigned to reflect better the countries' geography.
* Terrain of terror sites will match geographical locations (large city terrains only appear at some cities, etc.).
* North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans can now have Alien Terror, Alien Base & Alien Research missions assigned.
* Several new countries added.

45

Work In Progress / [WIP MISSION/MAPS] - Alien Raid

« on: June 20, 2014, 12:27:06 am »

EDIT: this mission is now a part of the Terrain/Mission Pack.

Hey all. After some research (kudos for robin and his MiB mod) and some testing, I've decided to create a new mission type called 'Alien Raid', which essentially consists of the aliens deploying a special crew to raid targets on Earth that are essential for the war effort.

Mission Briefing:
* The mission consists of a special UFO type (Raider Ship) which will approach its target location very fast and carry out its mission in a limited time window.
* The ground assault mission starts outside a large facility that has been evacuated of human personnel. XCOM's job is to clear the facility of all aliens - there is no UFO to assault.
* The facility is an HWP factory, an old map that I designed using the Area 51 tileset. Later there will around 6-8 facilities available and 1 will be chosen randomly for the mission.
* The aliens will deploy a Special Crew that will consist of several species. Be prepared!
* This mission can only happen on the 2nd month - I've adjusted the settings for testing so that it has a very high probability of appearing on Geoscape (but your radars still have to detect the UFO). This will be changed when the mod is released to give it the same probability as other missions!
* Failing or not detecting this mission will result on a high score penalty for XCOM
* To install the mod, unzip the contents of the attached file to the /data folder.
* Currently there are no UFOPaedia entries both for the mission and the Raider craft but those will be added later (and can be gained through interrogating a Navigator/Engineer).

Good luck commander, and let me know what you think about it