Messages

31

Offtopic / Re: What did you like in Xenonauts?

« on: May 30, 2015, 03:05:49 am »

You know, while I used to agree with that (I loved having Avengers full of troops to just blanket a map with!), I've come to accept and even enjoy the smaller squads.  Most of the X-COM clones out there do it that way, and I've been playing them all for so long that I got used to it.  Even in OXC I only use up to 10-man squads for bigger jobs, and only about 5 for smaller ships.  I've found it's just much more fun that way.

It was one of, if not my biggest, complaint about the new X-COM game from Firaxis.  Maximum of 6 soldiers?  What?  But after a while, you realize it makes sense for that game.  Each soldier you have is a freaking wrecking ball, especially once they cap out their talent trees, and the missions are just smaller and more intimate.  There's just no need for anything more.  I've been playing this game with The Long War mod, and they allow yup up to like 10 or 12 soldiers on certain missions, and I just feel like a lot of them are superfluous.  At least half of them never even get a shot off.

That's the issue with bigger squads in OXC I'm finding.  For a lot of missions, 4-6 squaddies will sit in the back of the bus the whole mission and never take an action, because I just didn't need them.  So I shrank down to 5-10 total, and now every soldier is worth their weight in ammo.

The same goes for Xeno.  I've actually modded the game to allow for bigger squads, and it's just not worth it.  I guess if you've been playing with 20+ troops in Avengers for the past few decades, then I can see how it would be a shock.  But you get used to it after a while.  It's because you're trying to project X-COM onto Xeno, and they simply aren't the same games.  It's a clone for sure, and a damned good one, but there are several dynamic differences that mean you have to play it differently.

32

Work In Progress / Re: Increasing aliens per combat?

« on: May 14, 2015, 10:31:07 pm »

The only way to add more enemies per mission modwise is going throu the ruleset files.

For example:

Code: [Select]

alienDeployments:
  - type: STR_MEDIUM_SCOUT
    data:
      - alienRank: 5
        lowQty: 2
        highQty: 7
        dQty: 2
        percentageOutsideUfo: 60
        itemSets:
          -
            - STR_PLASMA_PISTOL
            - STR_PLASMA_PISTOL_CLIP
            - STR_PLASMA_PISTOL_CLIP
          -
            - STR_PLASMA_RIFLE
            - STR_PLASMA_RIFLE_CLIP
            - STR_PLASMA_RIFLE_CLIP
          -
            - STR_HEAVY_PLASMA
            - STR_HEAVY_PLASMA_CLIP
            - STR_ALIEN_GRENADE
      - alienRank: 4
        lowQty: 1
        highQty: 2
        dQty: 1
        percentageOutsideUfo: 20
        itemSets:
          -
            - STR_PLASMA_PISTOL
            - STR_PLASMA_PISTOL_CLIP
            - STR_PLASMA_PISTOL_CLIP
          -
            - STR_PLASMA_RIFLE
            - STR_PLASMA_RIFLE_CLIP
            - STR_PLASMA_RIFLE_CLIP
          -
            - STR_HEAVY_PLASMA
            - STR_HEAVY_PLASMA_CLIP
            - STR_HEAVY_PLASMA_CLIP
            - STR_ALIEN_GRENADE
    width: 40
    length: 40
    height: 4

This increases the number of alien you will encounter on this UFO from 9 to 11 enemies on Superhuman difficulty.

Yeah, I was really hoping there was an easier way of doing that lol.  Having to do that for every ship is a pain.  But thanks for the info guys!

33

Work In Progress / Increasing aliens per combat?

« on: May 13, 2015, 10:03:32 pm »

Is there a way to add more aliens to each mission?  And is there a way to make it happen over time, so the longer the game goes, the more aliens are there?  The second part isn't as big of an issue, I'd just like to see more aliens per mission.

Is it as time consuming as adding a new alien entry per alien to every single ship/mission?  Good lord that would take me forever.

34

Released Mods / Re: [STAT TRACKING] Soldier Diaries 1.0

« on: February 13, 2015, 07:37:30 am »

On a whim I installed this mod from the Steam Workshop last night, oh man, I'm in love with this lol.  Such an amazing job, and the detail it goes into is great!  Favorite weapon, number of types killed, so many stats <3

35

Open Feedback / Re: What will happen in OpenXcom in 2015?

« on: January 25, 2015, 04:19:27 am »

We have FMP. Other than no way to disable or enable anything, especially not nearly as much as Bman's mods, I would certainly call it a community pack.

And just because Xenonauts calls it the community edition does not mean that you guys need to start throwing that phrase around. It works for them, it doesn't anywhere else. The main point being that the CE in Xeno is the only way that game will ever get updates since Chris has moved on, whereas OXC is still regularly being updated with the nightlies.

36

Open Feedback / Re: Recommend me a bunch of stable mods for a new play thru

« on: January 25, 2015, 04:14:11 am »

I would say Final Mod Pack, but I guess the map part of it is having issues currently. Otherwise a great combination of a lot of good mods.

37

Playthroughs / Re: heh. well then, back to xcom school I go!

« on: December 19, 2014, 11:43:05 pm »

I like EW a lot more than EU, but I still don't really consider the game to be a true successor to X-COM.  Just like The Bureau: XCOM Declassified.  They're in the same universe, but really have not a lot in common.  But I do enjoy playing through EW on occasion, my current game is in...I want to say year 6 lol.  My soldiers all have over 800 missions and at least that in kills.  I like long games :-)  But like I said, I completed it on the hardest difficulty the first day it released; it's just not a challenge.  Some of the mods people have come up with really add to it, like more/larger alien spawning pods, I get large UFOs that have crews of like 60 lol.  Love it.

But it just doesn't beat the awesome feel of the original (Or OpenXcom in this case).  One of the things that absolutely drives me up the fucking wall in EU/EW is that sometimes aliens will 'teleport' from where they originally spawned and end up behind you.  This is most noticeable on Battleships.  Work your way to the command center, kill everything along the way, kill the final guy...and find out there's now a squad behind you.

And to go along with that, Aliens don't actually exist in the game until you can SEE them.  For example, and I know this has to do with the EU/EW engine that just doesn't allow such a thing, but in OpenXcom, when you miss the alien you're shooting at, the bullet will continue to travel, and if there happens to be an alien somewhere along its path, even if you can't SEE it, you can hit it.  Not so in EW.  The aliens just don't exist on the map until you uncover their spawn locations, or they move into view.  I also don't think the engine allows stray shots to hit other aliens (or XCOM soldiers, if the aliens miss).

In other words, in OpenXcom, the aliens are on the map at the start of the game, and it is entirely possible to hit and even kill them without even knowing they are there.  in EW, I could launch a fusion missile into a UFO (outside of my viewing range) and it will annihilate all the doodads, but not a single alien will take damage.  Then move the UFO into range, and aliens scatter.  You launch a blaster bomb into a UFO in OpenXcom, there's a good chance you're going to take out a few aliens.

However, Xcom/OpenXcom isn't without it's...well, I call them flaws, but it's just how the game was done.  It is IMPOSSIBLE to have all of your base slots filled with, well, actual BASES, because everything just costs so damned much.  You can make them 'interceptor' bases, add a hyperwave relay, and that's about it.  We are talking about a defense force tasked with defending the WORLD from aliens; having one 'main' base seems like a seriously bad design flaw.  If that base goes down, what then?  There should be independent bases the world round that can function perfectly fine if your original base goes down.  Redundancy.  I have spent almost all of the time I've been modding OpenXcom just trying to find a happy balance of monthly expenditures so that I can actually have a good base setup.  I still have farm UFOs, sell parts, etc, it isn't a cakewalk, but at least I'm not going -20 million every month.

I like the fact in EU/EW (and Xenonauts) that there's a chance to get back a soldier who was 'killed' on the field.  There's nothing I hate more than having to constantly replace good soldiers.  Again, I know this is just how OpenXcom is designed, it's just that I've gotten used to the more upgraded side of things.  And along with that, seemingly no way to reduce hospital time?  You'd think out of all the alien tech we research, they'd find a way to make humans heal faster.  They do it in other games, why not this one?

Something that annoys me about pretty much all of them (although UFO: ET really made me nerdgasm) is the whole "Ballistics -> Lasers -> Plasma" and that's it.  Three tiers of weapons.  It's like this in almost every single X-COM clone out there.  Same with armors.  You get maybe one more tier of armor than you do weapons, but it's basically just "jumpsuit -> Flimsy armor made of new alien materials -> ultimate armor".  I just want MORE.  in UFO: ET, with the Mod that comes with the Steam version (and possibly part or in whole, the base game, I have never played it without the mod so I don't know), there are probably 10 or more tiers of weapons, and close to that for armors.  There are more tiers of aliens, too.  You also research things like personal shields, or mind shields, etc.  Yes, I know we have mods that DO a lot of this, I use the Final Mod Pack myself for this reason, and it really extends the game.  But it's fan-made, I want something officially supported.

The original X-COM (actually TFTD) is my absolute favorite, the structure and playstyle of the game just has no competition.  But there are so many other 'upgrades' that have been introduced along the way by clones that would really do some awesome things for the original game.  I know a lot of it simply isn't possible because of the file and code structure of the antiquated game, but I just wish someone would make a FAITHFUL remake of X-COM, just...more modernized.  Not this "re-imagined" bullshit that they did with EU/EW.  Great games, but not what we've been looking for.  Xenonauts is the closest thing I can find to a more updated version of X-COM while still remaining almost completely faithful to the original, but it was coded on a shitty engine and has lots of behind-the-scenes issues and limitations.

I love OpenXcom, because it brings back the nostalgia and allows for easy modding, so you can change and add things so it's really never the same game twice.  But nostalgia can only be ridden out for so long.

38

Playthroughs / Re: heh. well then, back to xcom school I go!

« on: December 17, 2014, 05:30:00 am »

You got lucky, floaters and reapers are the easiest. I've noticed that first-month terror sites are usually floaters, might be for this reason. Or maybe on Superhuman they would throw sectoids at you for a first month terror mission.


Am I the only one who feels that Xcom EU was a lot more difficult than old Xcom?

EU and EW are a joke. Once I got the hang of the new system and the different classes, I just stopped losing people completely. Once EW came out, I beat it on Impossible Ironman within the first day.

39

Suggestions / Re: two hands weapons vs one hand weapons

« on: December 07, 2014, 08:56:36 am »

thanks for detailed explanation.

But what is the purpose to use pistol (balistic, laser, plasma) if you have rifle of the same type ? And often heavy version is too bulky leaving more or less half of weapons that actually matters.

For aliens it is defined in list of item levels but for human player ?

Well, I do it for...I guess role-playing purposes.  It's perfectly possible to carry a rifle or something in your bags as well as whatever you have in-hand, as long as you have the strength for it.  Sure, there is probably one 'uber' weapon per tier that all your guys should be using at all times, but people like to vary it up a bit.  And some people like using 'heavies' - rocket launchers, that sort of thing.

All your guys have strength.  Carrying more stuff will increase said strength.  Eventually your guys will be the equivalent to the Hulk and can carry freaking EVERYTHING.  It's just a matter of getting them there.  Some guys start with insanely low STR, so it's more efficient to stick them to pistols.  Pistols don't way much, take fewer time units to fire.  So you can get in closer (if you go over your STR in weight, it starts to eat up your time units, so your guys have fewer to use...or maybe it's energy, either way, they get tired and aren't efficient) and then have a better chance to hit since you're closer.  If you stuck a rifle on someone with low STR, there's a good chance it'll cap out or go over the STR, and that causes problems.  So start the weak guys out on pistols, upgrade them to rifles when you can, and just work your way up and around like that.

The plus side to pistols is (and I'm not sure how this works in OpenXcom) you CAN carry something in your off-hand without a penalty.  Obviously functions that way in real life, too.  So you could make, say, a medic that carries a medkit in one hand, and pistol in the other, rather than having to fumble around with rifles and such.

Really, it's all about how YOU want to play.  There really is no RIGHT or WRONG way to gear your guys.  Although obviously pistols do less damage, heavier weapons do more, but there are other balance issues (aiming penalties, more or less time units to fire, etc) for and against each weapon type, you just have to figure out which  you like the best.

Me personally, I'm using the Final Mod Pack, and each tier, I stick my guys with Sniper Rifles.  Takes a ridiculous amount of TUs to fire, I can't move very much each turn, but they're accurate and they do a hefty amount of damage.  I also have guys who carry stun weapons exclusively.  Tazers are the start, then dart guns, then stun bomb launchers.  That's how all of my crew are.  Most snipers, the rest stunners.  I don't use explosives or heavies.

40

Suggestions / Re: two hands weapons vs one hand weapons

« on: December 02, 2014, 04:28:22 am »

In scenario one, you're assuming to have the guy hold a two-handed weapon in an "at the ready" position, while still throwing a grenade. I can tell you from personal experience, it is entirely possible to hold a rifle in one hand and still throw a grenade, accurately, with the other. In other words, while the grenade is being used and thrown, the gun is just being held by the other hand.

Also, holding a grenade in your off hand does not really hamper the usage or accuracy of a rifle. The off hand is typically used just to stabilize the gun. You have four fingers and an opposable thumb. Again, coming from experience.

Holding something like a med kit would be even easier, since they seem to have an actual handle on them. It isn't a problem until you start trying to hold two weapons in each hand and attempt to fire the bigger one. Like, say holding a rifle main hand and a pistol off hand, the pistol would really get in the way.

While not possible in xcom, it is also perfectly possible to fire a two-handed rifle from each hand, although at an obviously severe lack of accuracy.

I'm just not really sure where people get this idea that holding certain things in your off hand will make something like a rifle have suddenly terrible accuracy.

I've actually tested this sort of thing extensively when I was in Iraq. I play a lot of games that give penalties for doing things like that. So why not test it? My accuracy was more or less the same while holding things like grenades, clips, flares, canteens, and anything with a strap that didn't weigh too much. Holding anything heavy, awkward, or basically any other gun made it really hard to fire accurately, because you don't have even a decent grip on the front of the rifle, so it just goes where it wants.

41

Work In Progress / Re: World.dat by Bladum

« on: November 27, 2014, 06:52:57 am »

That is simply lovely :-)  SO much more detailed than default!

42

Programming / Re: OpenTFTD Question

« on: November 27, 2014, 06:51:04 am »

There will be no more "rare Triscene" or "rare Xarquid"

OpenTFTD will make vanilla tftd feels as easy as ufo:eu.

Isn't it a nightmare?

That gave me wood.

43

Released Mods / Re: [COMPILATION][RESEARCH] FMP Core/Tech Tree part

« on: November 27, 2014, 06:49:37 am »

Now that I'm starting to hit battleships, I'm running across all sorts of map problems.  I keep getting CTDs with an error message "Something is wrong in your map definitions, craft/ufo map too tall?"  And on other UFOs, particularly larger ones (and sometimes including battleships) my Ironfist or Avenger will appear stuck inside the terrain as well as the UFO.  Like, all three of them are connected.  Some missions I've had to abort because a wall from a building or the UFO was completely obstructing the offramp, and I had no way of getting out.

Again, FMP is still the only major mod I'm running.  My personal mod has no affect on anything of this nature.  Running 9.7.1 on current (11/26) nightly.

44

Work In Progress / Re: World.dat by Bladum

« on: November 26, 2014, 10:23:17 pm »

Is there somewhere we can compare this to the original?  Or can you screenshot the original like this?

From what I can tell, yours looks to be pretty spot on as far as how the world really is.  I will definitely give it a try!

45

Released Mods / Re: [COMPILATION][RESEARCH] FMP Core/Tech Tree part

« on: November 26, 2014, 10:20:12 pm »

Although it's cool to have variety in the colors, going by rank may be the wrong way. Need to capture a leader? That's the blue one! An engineer? Red one! No more waiting for the Mind Probe squad to Id your targets before picking which weapon to shoot it with.

Our military forces have learned about a century ago that it was a bad idea to highlight your officers by giving them big hats and stuff, because it just makes them easier to snipe out. Why would the aliens not know this?

In some cases it can be interesting (reproducing the muton commander from the intro, having an extra tough "muton black guard" or "darth vader floaters") but I think a blanket application turns it into smarties easy mode.

Who uses a mind probe?  I just run in and stun EVERYTHING.  Let the scientists sort them out, and sell the ones I don't need.

Also, you're trying to bring real life into a game.  STAHP.  This mod requires you to capture specific ranks, and having them colored makes things easier.  It does not make it cheese-level easy.  The problem is, there is no true hierarchy, per se, amongst the aliens.  You'd think Engineers would stay near the engine room, Leaders/Commanders in the command room, etc, but a lot of the time they're all out fighting with the soldiers.  How many times have you found engies and squad leaders and such running around outside the ship?  I do all the time.  Commanders, obviously, less so.  Point being, having to sacrifice a gun slot in order to take a mind probe, or just stunning everything like I do, isn't as challenging as trying to find that one specific alien you need, and make sure you get him back alive.

I think this mod should be a separate rule set though.  Obviously there will be some people who want to use the mod, but not this particular type, and being able to turn it on or off would make things a lot easier.