Messages

16

XPiratez / Re: A few ideas on kidnapping and interrogation

« on: November 09, 2016, 06:47:07 pm »

Warning: Whips can kill people.

on 2: The rope would be the obvious item for such a functionality and is available from the start. To avoid exploitation, it does not need to do stun damage, just prevent recovery from stun. Maybe something can be done with Yankes scripts.

Love that.

Also, how do you use the rope? Is it just a melee weapon that causes chocking damage (which I assume works only on lightly armored, breathing enemies)?

17

XPiratez / Re: A few ideas on kidnapping and interrogation

« on: November 09, 2016, 06:21:13 pm »

1) Won't fly since it'd both spoil the game and clutter the workshop with 30 or more strange projects from day 1;

True, but I'm still early in the game and my workshop screen is already cluttered to the point that I have to rely on the two filters (supply=OK and category) or the search function.
As for the spoiler part I don't know... I still don't see why wouldn't the gals strip people of their armor by the default before throwing them in the brig.

I'm not complaining btw, also I understand some things would be rather difficult given how the code works.

Meriiiiidiaaaaaan  Could you, in your infinite awesomness, make it so that the workshop is set on the filter supply=ok by default? (also throwing live enemies pretty please!)

PS. oh yeah you can shoot enemies on the ground with rubber bullets, or whip them to incur heavy stun damage. Or smoke them. So there is no lack of options.

Oh my Star Gods! You can whip stunned people on the ground?!? 

- runs off to equip whips...

18

Playthroughs / Re: Tips for the first serie?

« on: November 09, 2016, 04:46:03 pm »

Cooper's smoke and improved handobs, added to the list thanks! 

I was also considering using OXCE as the executable as I understand it includes some of Meridian improvements, but when I try to use that I get an error (also I weren't able to download from the official mod download page, only from the forum page).
Is there any chance I can use OXCE or OXCE+ for a more or less vanilla game?

19

XPiratez / A few ideas on kidnapping and interrogation

« on: November 09, 2016, 04:37:52 pm »

First of all, the more I play this mod the more I enjoy it. 
The progression feels nice, the difficulty feels adequate, the amount of items and armors keeps it fresh and interesting.

A few ideas to enhance the kidnapping / interrogating part of the game (sorry if you heard them already):

1) Using up researched items is ok but when it comes to people not so much.
A good pirate doesn't need to know a lot about someone's work and mentality to be able to rob them... they just bonk them on the head and take away every "visible" item (Maybe after research you get an advanced robbery? I don't want to know where the gals will be looking for those extra items  ).

The "rob" option could be unlocked from the start for every "person" type (not animals and stranger creatures), and the researchable version of the person could be among the results of the robbery. This if we assume interrogation is fatal to the subject, alternatively the result of the workshop robbery could include an additional item (ie "sharp guy interrogation log") to research.

2) A pirate bent on kidnapping people would bring mancles and other kinds of bonds to ensure their victims stay put.
The necessity of this is somewhat reduced by the surrender option but it could also help dealing with enemies that you want alive but got wounded: tie first, then heal. Could just be a consumable that deals a ton on stun damage (reduced by the subject strength maybe?) to a creature on the ground at the cost of basically a whole turn (75-85% TUs).

3) Being able to grab someone while they're still on their feet and throw them at someone else causing stun damage to both, because that's awesome 

20

XPiratez / Re: Bootypedia (aka the wiki)

« on: November 09, 2016, 03:41:15 pm »

https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Tactics_(Piratez)

040 || Using a two-handed weapon single-handedly usually incurs a 33% accuracy penalty. However, some weapons (indicated by the red 2-handeness marker) are either too heavy, too intricate or otherwise impossible to use when your off-hand is empty.

Shouldn't it be "...impossible to use when your off-hand isn't empty."?
(or alternatively "...impossible to use when you're holding something else in your off-hand.")

21

XPiratez / Re: RND in research time

« on: November 04, 2016, 07:53:15 pm »

Stepbystep, right, why not... But then again, research is so fast that I'm not sure there's enough space for such sub-projects. Or it would require an even more revolutionary system, where... everything works differently

...and we would end up creating mods for crying out loud! 

(sorry I couldn't resist  )

22

OXCE Wishlists / Re: Solar's wishlist

« on: November 04, 2016, 07:40:59 pm »

How about not creating such projects in the first place.
I don't feel the need to clean up your mess to be honest... keep it simple (one of very important rules of game design) or suffer the consequences.

I second this.

If the reason is adding complexity, then there is no point in automating it as that would remove the complexity and invalidate the effort made to implement the manufactoring process.

If the reason is supporting the concept of "equipment upgrade" a solution could be having all equipment be manufactured from materials and also possible to brake apart into a fraction of the materials used to build it.
So to buld an upgraded armor you would have to either:
- build a new item from raw materials.
- disassemble old armors for components and thne assemble upgraded armors from those materials plus something else.

This way you need to execute (as a player) a multi-step process only when really upgrading your current gear (the original concept is still there) but you don't have to if you are rich and can build from just raw materials.
Also assembly and disassembly lines could run at the same time if correctly timed as the raw materials extracted from disassembled items feeds the upgraded items assembly line.

23

XPiratez / Re: RND in research time

« on: November 04, 2016, 07:22:48 pm »

What if from time to time the research team asked for money to buy a specific piece of equipment, or maybe items to disassemble and examine during research. You could then grant or deny the scientists request. Granting money / item requests gives the project a randomized boost.

For example:
Researching Plasma Granade, 20% scientist-hours through.
Lab request window pops up asking 1x plasma pistol clip and 1x plasma rifle clip to disassemble in order to gain some insight on plasma containment.
You partially grant the request (have no plasma rifle clip).
Get a +5% chance of immedately completing the project for 2 days.  (instead of the 10% you would get for a complete grant)
Or, alternatively, you get a flat (randomized)% advancement on the project.

Every project would have a list of possible requests, let's say plasma granade research can request:
- $25k "Modified lab equipment", 5% to 20% boost
- 15x HE Granade "We need parts to use as detonators and primers in experiments", 5% to 30% boost
- 2x Plasma Pistol Clip "We need to compare with parts using similar technology", 10% to 45% boost
- etc...

Maybe have the frequency of requests increase with the number of scientists assigned, representing the will to solve the problem by throwing money at it.

24

Fan-Stuff / Re: Haiku

« on: November 04, 2016, 04:49:58 pm »

Gray sectoid
Green spear of light
Red mist

25

Playthroughs / Re: Tips for the first serie?

« on: November 04, 2016, 01:07:43 pm »

Those seem all really great tips!
Will try to implement for sure.

Thanks for the links for music and art. I had a deviantart account for a very long time but didn't realize most artists include some kind license with their works and some of them might be usable just like that!

I installed OBS and tried the hotkeys and it looks like a really useful tool. I think I will make a couple of test runs to get the hang of "cutting" in the proper places.

Thanks a bunch guys! 


Anything on the "unobtrusive-enhancement-mod" side?
I'm interested in things that are missing in the base game but "would make sense" like:

• Combat knife (will put that in for sure)
• Some kind of low-tech medikit, like the bandages from piratez
• A melee demolition weapon, like the handheld ram some military and police forces use to assault buildings
• Other military equipment that would make sense for a special response team to have in 1999...

26

Offtopic / Re: First Exposure

« on: November 04, 2016, 12:46:55 pm »

I don't exactly remember the year but I remember a friend of mine from elementary school gave me a floppy disk saying something like "try this one, you have type UFO.exe to launch it". I was probably 11 years old or so and it was a TFTD copy actually. I had extremely basic english reading skills at the time but that didn't stop me from playing "UFO" over and over again. Starting new games over and over again I should say  I don't remember ever winning a terror mission from that period.
I took it again some years later and started playing it more seriously... maybe... I was also a very sore loser at the time so all my soldiers were blessed with save-reload immortality. It took soooo much time but I had fun.

And then I discovered openxcom and I find it brilliant!
I'm planning on recording my first lets play on it and I might even take a stab at modding at some point.

27

XPiratez / Re: Ideas for better aircombat?

« on: November 03, 2016, 07:31:34 pm »

It would make for an interesting mission though.

+1 to this.

[EDIT] I've found the same basic idea already listed in Solar's wishlist, yay!  (...also I'm a noob for not checking first  )

I have no idea if it can even be done but I really like the idea of player crafts having a chance to crash to the ground instead of being completely destroyed when losing air combat. It could spawn a mission site with:

• the damaged craft and part of the items that were inside, maybe with the ability to scavenge survived parts
• friendly units in various health conditions
• a second landed enemy craft with enemies hunting the crash-landed (that would bump the count to 3 which I realize seems a bit of a stretch, but then again the whole idea already is so I'm going wild)
• alternatively hostile creatures like in the monster hunts

28

Playthroughs / Re: Tips for the first serie?

« on: November 03, 2016, 03:32:52 pm »

Thanks for the suggestion Starving Poet, I remember listening to a few of those tracks a while ago but will surely take some time to dive a bit deeper.

A topic that I forgot to mention previously is mods:
I would like to include a few as long as they don't change the original feel too much, things like the combat knife, incendiary granade and the like, also the bandages would be nice to use from the start. I'm not sure about the little scout cars I've seen on both Meridian and Ivan's lets plays as they seem to provide a very big advantage compared to the original game.
Do you have suggestions on some small items / changes that can enhance the gameplay without changing the feel too much?

I'm also really interested in ways to obtain art for splash screens and such, do you guys make those yourselves or do you ask actual artists for permission to use their cg paintings?

Thanks a bunch!

29

Playthroughs / Tips for the first serie?

« on: November 02, 2016, 06:39:19 pm »

Hello everyone,
I wanted to make a youtube serie for a long time, thought about it a lot but never did.

Having recently rediscovered xcom thanks to openxcom I'm getting really excited at the idea of starting an openxcom serie.

The serie would be in italian. A classic playthrough, leaning a bit on the tutorial for the first episodes. I still don't know how much effort I'll be willing to put into editing but I'm toying with the idea of cutting a lot of the "planning" and maintenance phases and comment the tactical decisions on camera just before executing them... and blame it all on the rng afterwards, obviously 

I would appreaciate any kind of tips/tricks/suggestions on topics such as:

How/where to find music
How/where to find, select, employ additional art (I have basic skills in ps/gimp and a pinterest account)
How to properly address attribution and the legal stuff in general, I'm really scared of receiving a cease and desist because I used the wrong image or mp3.

Also resolution, video length, pacing, whatever.


I've seen some awesome series coming from you guys and I'm looking forward to hearing from the masters!
Thanks in advance.

30

Offtopic / Re: Introduce yourself

« on: November 01, 2016, 01:57:00 pm »

Hi everyone!
I'm new to the forum but not to the xcom series.
I recently discovered openxcom and I'm enjoying both the nightly and the xpiratez convesion. Let me show my appreciation for everyone involved by telling you have  done an outstanding job and that I love you all for the hours of fun it is providing! 


A quick question:

Where would be the most appropriate forum section to go search / ask for tips on making a youtube serie?

Cheers!