Messages

301

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

« on: February 22, 2019, 01:39:02 am »

So the AI looks for the shortest route to get down to you, and this shortest route is obviously jumping down the elevator shaft.

What I found in my previous campaign is the AI units panicking, shooting at random, and eventually breaking the glass windows. Then they were jumping from the nth floor on to the street and engaging my team from behind. I had to leave behind a small guard to deal with them, while my main team was clearing the rooms floor by floor.

I knew about that locked room. By the second mission, I had some soldiers with pick axles opening these walls. In some cases there were enemy soldiers trapped inside. I imagined in previous missions, they just surrendered while still locked in.

Potentially yes, but the game doesn't go that deeply into storytelling. You can assume so if you want.

I want to believe.   Plus seriously, that is the reason I thought one of the cover Syndicate mission allowed the DragonFly, just because it's one of their crafts. Now I see this was a coincidence.

Well there are no restrictions on that mission anyway.

I don't know if you have enabled craft missions to the Cults specifically (subs not counting), and if you have specific crafts in mind for each of these cults.

302

Resources / Re: [WIP] Mi-24 Hind Craft

« on: February 21, 2019, 10:05:25 pm »

The XCOM voxel is (2x16)x24 (or x40 if the whole height is considered). The ISO view is 1/2 V/H incline. Thus the side of the tile is sqrt ( (2x16/2)^2 + (1/2 x 2x16/2)^2 ) = sqrt ( 16^2+8^2 ) = sqrt(320) = 17.89 "pixels".

So in real world, roughly, what is the size of a battlescape tile? I estimated it to be around 1.2 m, or about 17.89 pixels wide. This means the height is 24/17.89x1.2 = 1.342x1.2 = 1.61 m. A bit too short.

This is so the SketchUp model I'm using can be escalated properly. I'm considering re-doing the Mi-24 to better accommodate the units inside, now I can do it faster. But then the soldiers look like midgets next to the craft. Completely different when compared to real life photos of people and the craft.

Then there is the issue of the ground starting tile that if offset (for realism), would leave an empty black diamond on the ground. In my previews, I masked them with white, for now. I'm thinking into just putting the classic green glowing tiles so to indicate these are starting tiles. I hope the player doesn't mind. 

303

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

« on: February 20, 2019, 10:38:41 pm »

Then why isn't it included in STR_WINTERSPORTS_GEAR or STR_BEACH_GEAR? Those also allow Helicopters. People take helicopters and jets to winter resorts/beach locations all the time (well, extremely rich people that is) - if the Dragonfly is not more unusual than other private air vehicles, why can't we take it on those missions?

If I'm not mistaken the Syndicate operates also Dragonflies, thus I assumed that if one uses one of them, their security team could potentially mistaken them by one of theirs. Like SW:ROTJ and their Lambda Shuttle.

I'm even thinking, if Solarius agrees, when the Mi-25 craft map is done, that a similar approach can be used on the Red Dawn HQ mission (or some other mission). Talk about massacres. 

304

Resources / Re: [WIP] Mi-24 Hind Craft

« on: February 20, 2019, 09:20:39 pm »

- minimap needs some work obviously
 - UB-32 are typically of light metal color, not dark/black
 - Four of them are too much I think. A pair should maybe be swapped for fuel tanks, see here
 - a logo, if any, is I think best placed in front of the door (or behind the wing as was usually done)
edit: it also never had aerial refueling. the thing that sticks out of the nose is the pitot tube
edit2: also while it is theoretically possible to press 8 people into Mi-24 cabin, in practice that was never done.
so just make it 6.  and maybe make the walls a bit fluffier, they look too flat and this might help with armors poking out

Thanks for the feedback!
- Yes the minimap is still a very WIP. The objects placement, I realized, were not in perfect symmetry. I may need to add "fake" walkable objects just to fix that. 
- The pod rocket color and fuel tank. Good observation. I didn't modify that from the original SketchUp model. I'll check later if it isn't too late to change it.
- There is a logo where the left door is, which doesn't show as the door is in the open position. The previous post shows the whole thing rendered as imported into my Image Editor.
- It was a Pitot tube. LOL. I thought it was an extendable fuel probe. Indeed it's too small for this. I certainly don't know enough about the Mi-24. I only flew as a passenger in a Mi-8 way back. I can rework the UFOPaedia entry to avoid this and just saying that "... can land to refuel anywhere".
- Yes, the interior walls still need work. I could make two spots on the outside for the two pilots to be "exposed", as they access the craft from a door or hatch on the side (front left and rear right) and not through the cabin.

By the way, someone knows about transport helicopter, suitable for 12-14 people?
I have thinked about mi-26, but it is too large to fit 10x10 or even 20x10.

This map is on a 20 long x 10 wide. The blades barely fit. I had to skip a couple of tiles for the west-most rotor blade. If you find a model, you may need to make the craft map 20x20.

305

Resources / Re: [WIP] Mi-24 Hind Craft

« on: February 20, 2019, 11:55:20 am »

Whoa, good luck man. And thanks for your dedication. This shit is hard.

Yes. It's. It's hard to assemble the puzzle of the PCKs to give the illusion to the player that there is such vehicle.
There is also the issue of X-Com units not being proportional. Thus if I make the craft 2x4, so it can carry 8 troops, the if keeping the proportions the craft is unrealistically large (it's not the Mi-8 !  The downside is soldiers in huge armors kind of poke through the walls.

The floor tile is still an issue. Also some sprites need to be reworked to allow for a better interior rendering and looks. The plan view still looks ugly. But at least it plays (doesn't crash).
See the WIP screenshots.

Feedback is appreciated.

306

Resources / Re: [WIP] Mi-24 Hind Craft

« on: February 18, 2019, 10:58:01 pm »

Polish camo it is. Let's see if our Polish forum members do approve of it.

I'm also adding the X-Com logo and some nose art, because how dare you not having a craft without nose art! 

The transformation is slower than I expected. Assembling the PCK parts is a real puzzle.

307

Resources / Re: [WIP] Mi-24 Hind Craft

« on: February 17, 2019, 09:27:24 am »

Look also at this

Nice one. Is that an actual model?
I tried to load the Sprite palette and got weird colours matches. I'm afraid these RGBs are not on the palette.

308

Resources / [CRAFT] Mi-24 Hind Craft

« on: February 17, 2019, 08:41:21 am »

EDIT: Version 1.00 of the Mi-24 Hind is available for download at the end of this post. The ruleset integrates with XCF. Screenshots are attached.

So, while I kill some personal time, I'm trying to learn to create craft maps, using MapView and MCEdit. I'm also learning how to use SketchUp.

Then I decided, as usual "go big or go broke" and pick my favorite attack helicopter: The Mil Mi-24.

Luckly some fantastic modeller created a Mi-24 model in SketchUp, which I further modified to suit the game needs.

So, before I begin the tedious process of extracting the sprites, I ask which camouflage pattern or overall paint is the most popular for an X-Com mod. The options are attached. Other options can be considered by acclamation. The selected option was Camo Polish.

(Thanks to Solarius and BulletDesigner for these fantastic tips.)

Please also somebody confirm the correct palette is being used.

309

Help / Re: vertical offset of ground tiles question

« on: February 17, 2019, 04:52:52 am »

So changing the way the engine treats the battlescape data is not trivial, therefore that approach is a no-go.

I even tried a weird approach where the entry tile is on the second floor, but the whole thing is offset by 16 pixels down, so it appears to be on the ground. It rendered, the unit spawned but idid wanted to walk back in. So that approach is also a no-go.

I guess the only way is to fill the gap with something. I'm planning to add some kind of debris in the most neutral colour possible (greyscale) to mask the gap between the ground and the entry tile.

310

Help / Re: vertical offset of ground tiles question

« on: February 16, 2019, 11:54:01 pm »

So it's an engine rendering issue, perhaps.

The solution sounds simple, on paper. Just telling the game to render the texture of all ground tiles that are used by starting points, then render the starting points themselves. But I have no idea how complicated this may be. It's likely this may not make into the Developers' list of things to implement.

311

Help / vertical offset of ground tiles question

« on: February 16, 2019, 09:38:30 pm »

I'm trying my hand into create new craft maps, and also learning MapView and MCEdit. For the test, I'm using the COPTER map (from X-COM Files) and OXCE. And I have a problem. See attached screenshot.

My idea is to have a ground starting tile that is offset by a bit. The offset cannot be more than 8 pixels or else the unit won't step back in. I used MCEdit to offset the tile up (8 pixels), it certainly does (green offset in the pic). I also manually drawn the tile by said offset and it also does it (purple offset in the pic). Yet when the game renders the tile, there is a black diamond or void where the ground texture should be. The tile needs to be made a floor tile in MapView, else (wall or object tile) the unit may not spawn on the tile.

I could try to make a wall tile that also occupy the same spot left by the void, but this color may contrast with the original ground tile if the craft lands on a different source map (example forest patch landing on desert).

Is it possible to have such starting ground tiles hovering slightly over the ground without the black rendering of the void ? Any workarounds other people may have used?

312

OXCE Suggestions OK / Re: [WIP] [Suggestion] [Feedback] Make more than one hangar size possible

« on: February 15, 2019, 11:57:54 pm »

Storing multiple craft in one hangar is already possible. But only one is displayed in the base view.

Indeed.
However, one may want to add "realism" by determining craft sizes. This is to avoid large crafts taking slots of what would me smaller crafts. Example: If the code says 4 crafts fit on a 2x2 hangar, then 4 Conquerors (from Piratez) can fit as well as 4 Aircars.

313

XPiratez / Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - J11 - 27 Jan - Slaves, or Soldiers?

« on: February 13, 2019, 03:15:27 am »

If you want a Galil AR, you can have a Galil (shameless self-promotion  )

314

OXCE Suggestions OK / Re: [WIP] [Suggestion] [Feedback] Make more than one hangar size possible

« on: February 13, 2019, 03:01:19 am »

I think i missed something, but why not make like with prisons ("prisontype")?

I'm not familiar with prison type, but does that allows for a type of prisoner to be at potentially different types?
Like for crafts: One large hangar can fit several smaller crafts or one larger one.

In any case, another approach could be that the craft count is like the base storage number (with fractions). Example:
Craft size:
Tiny = 0.05 size
Small = 0.25 size
Normal = 1 size
Large = 2 size
Huge = 4 size.

Storage provided:
1x1 hangar = 0.25
2x2 hangar = 1
3x3 hangar = 4

The only drawback is an additional check would need to be performed to ensure that a base containing 4 - 1x1 hangars suddenly cannot fit a Normal craft size.

315

The X-Com Files / Re: Galil AR image stuff

« on: February 12, 2019, 11:33:21 am »

Sure, I can add it. I just need to review, since it's one more profile for a weapon using the same ammo.

Thanks. If you think it needs improvement, please let me know.

By the way, there can't be enough guns that use the same ammo!  (AK, FAL, M16)
There are minute differences with the accuracy and speed of the guns.
At the end, everyone uses CAWS and Arasaka3000s until the Heavy Plasma becomes available. 

Now, I'll try to teach myself on how to do maps. More specifically new X-Com crafts. Too bad the most recent mapview build upsets my antivirus program.