Messages

166

From the Ashes / FtA game engine

« on: April 17, 2022, 09:16:00 pm »

As you might know, FtA uses own engine, that is a fork from OpenXcom Extended repository.
Two years ago I decided to develop my own fork because the goals of my project are different from those of OXCE.
The main value for the FtA project is to provide a completely new gameplay experience within a classic game. In terms of visuals, I'm doing my best to make it seem like my game is some kind of DLC (in the modern sense) to the original game. It would be ideal if a person who hasn't played the original game couldn't tell the difference between the content of the original game and the new one. As for new features - I don't want to stifle source code changes by supporting backward compatibility for other mods.

From a modder's point of view, my engine only differs from OXCE because of the new rollset properties. Although I don't strictly adhere to the doctrine of minimizing unmodified changes compared to vanilla as OXCE developers do, when run with default settings FtA engine is compatible with all OXC/OXCE mods (as far as I know).
All incompatibilities and the most significant features are protected by mod's base property `ftaGame: true` (default false). Turning on this property opens Pandora's Box, implementing new logic and most mechanics. Some properties start working differently than in OXC/OXCE. I maintain detailed documentation on the project, you can find it on engine repository wiki https://github.com/723Studio/OpenXcom_FTA/wiki
There, I highlight every case of non-standard behavior with value `ftaGame: true`. 
Not all new mechanics are blocked by this property. Additionally, I try to regularly merge with new changes in OXCE, making edits when incompatibilities arise (each time praising Yankes's ongoing refactoring crusade, rejoicing at every change in how existing methods work). So far I've been able to implement all the new features from OXCE, but I can't 100% guarantee that this will continue in the future.
So if you for some reason would like to use my engine for your mod - I'm not against it at all, but please note - I'm developing this engine for my project only, other goals will be secondary for me. If you would like to suggest that I create a new feature, you would need to explain to me why I need this feature in FtA and not in your mod.
Also, I'm not very willing to implement general functionality. For example, I developed a mechanic for reinforcements, and then 6 months later a similar feature appeared in OXCE. Now I have to maintain two solutions at the same time, because they had fundamentally different solutions on a fundamental level, and the OXCE solution didn't work for me. The same thing happened with VIP, now I have two types of VIP in my engine, which have very similar names but work very differently...

Although only about 60-70% of what I had in mind is realized, I am proud of the progress I made over these few years (because I started to change the engine code without knowing how to program at all). I want to say a huge thanks to everyone who has supported and helped me - Yankes, SupSuper, Meridian, Warboy and Ohartenstein, as well as to the guys who are directly involved in the development - Buscher, PedroTerzero, Isotop and Drosan. You rock!

167

From the Ashes / Re: From the Ashes - initial release!

« on: April 17, 2022, 07:15:57 pm »

Thanks for your feedback!

Seems surprisingly bug-free (except swarmids, these are plentiful).

Can't get you sorry... Are swarmid units/missions bugged? If so, can you share example cases how it happen?

First covert ops mission gives some extreme loyalty (possibly negative), like +-100000. Probably intended for debug purposes?

fixed in 0.1.0.1, thanks for the reporting!

A monster hunt failed, all soldiers perished, but scientist returned. Intended?

I will investigate, should not be. If possible, could you pls share the save to reproduce it?

All research progress is 'Poor', should scale from hours to days probably?

I will look if I can improve visual. I thought it should scale without any change...

Is it posible to make resistance radio item visible from the start? Turrets can sometime somehow be visible in latest versions of OXCE.

Yeah, this is a new feature, but the mission itself is pretty old (I think, may be 2 years or so). I should use that new options we have.

When covert operation mission starts, is it possible to indicate day/night? To equip troops with flashlights. It is not a problem for ordinary missions, but is for covert ops.

I made it in a way that even the game does not know it on operation start. So you should be prepared to any case. But I was thinking if I should display it on inventory, when the mission starts. I just dont have good idea where to place the indicator, there is no much space left...

Balance seems fine, both combat (one little exception is a herd of armadillos), item prices, and research costs. Did not look into item volumes yet since did not have space problems

I decreased it a lot, to ensure you will be fine without expanding storage facility number, at least before lategame.
Generally, I don't like stacking several same facilities as a core of base construction.

Unsure how much of the campaign is currently intended to be playable. Researched everything I could (up to motion scanner), and called it quits.

Well, for playtests I saw, you cant really research all the tech tree in a one run. Although, the main arc progress currently relies on MiB agents interrogation.

Did not expand the base at all due to lack of funds. Making smoke grenades helps to stay afloat but not much beside that. Haven't seen landed UFOs or such. A single tiny UFO blew up rather then crashed.

In released version you have some ways to rise funds pretty effectively to expand the base at 4-6 month with lab and creature containment.
There is not much aliens currently in the game, would be added in future release. Tho, you can focus yourself fighting on the ground =)

Got only one cover op for lab equipment (waited for a couple of months). Should probably be repeatable since you need 1 for bio lab and 3 more for normal lab. On the other hand not a problem since got no money anyways

They are repeating, but in current version it's not intended you will be able to build regular lab unless you are super lucky =)

168

From the Ashes / Re: From the Ashes - initial release!

« on: April 17, 2022, 04:05:11 pm »

Hotfix deployed, pls, update. https://openxcom.mod.io/from-the-ashes

It contains some critical fixes, for instance

First covert ops mission gives some extreme loyalty (possibly negative), like +-100000. Probably intended for debug purposes?

169

OpenXcom Extended / Re: OXCE (OpenXcom Extended) main thread

« on: April 17, 2022, 02:50:32 pm »

looks very interesting =)

I cant see vanilla multiple layer toggle in extended options. What if I toggle it on, then change the mod with extended options - can I toggle it off?

170

From the Ashes / Re: From the Ashes - initial release!

« on: April 17, 2022, 03:07:13 am »

Thank you!

171

From the Ashes / FtA installation guide

« on: April 17, 2022, 03:06:44 am »

I hope that Windows installer, that is distributed on mod.io can cover the most cases. You can get it by visiting https://openxcom.mod.io/from-the-ashes

However, you might want to install it manually, so here I'll describe it in details.

Technically, From the Ashes consists of 2 big parts: engine and content.

FtA engine from user perspective can be handled just like OpenXcom or OpenXcom Extended. Stoddard created Jenkins job for me, just like he did for OXCE, so you can get the latest nighty here: https://lxnt.wtf/oxem/#/FTA
Current stable build is 0.7.1, Windows version can be downloaded with https://lxnt.wtf/oxem/builds//FTA/FtA-0.7.1-2b7ffc82f-2022-04-17-win64.7z
Just unzip it somewhere on your hard drive =)
Bionic Linux version can be downloaded with https://lxnt.wtf/oxem/builds//FTA/FtA-0.7.1-2b7ffc82f-2022-04-17-bionic-x86_64.7z
Currently, I don't have any Mac OS, Android and iOS versions. AFAIK, Mac OS can be created just fine, I just don't have Mac 
In case you would like to get source code, it's available on GitHub: https://github.com/723Studio/OpenXcom_FTA
All compiling guides for OXCE should work for FtA as well: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,7048.0.html

Content part is just a megamod, it can be loaded from GitHub: https://github.com/723Studio/X-Com-From-the-Ashes/releases/latest
You can install it just like any other OXCE mod, I recommend unpacking it to C:\Users\{user}\Documents\OpenXcom\mods\
This should be obvious, but I still want to say that - FtA as a mod would not work properly if you launch it on OXC or OXCE, you should use FtA engine!

In turn, you can run any OXC or OXCE mods on FtA engine, AFAIK it should work just fine. You might want to do that in order to get some QoL things that I added to my engine.

Ofc, you need to have original game files, just like for OXC/OXCE. Currently, FtA needs to have only UFO. If you are running Windows, store it in C:\Users\{username}\Documents\OpenXcom\UFO
You actually don't need the whole original game, it would be enough if you will paste this OG folders:
  GEODATA
  GEOGRAPH
  MAPS
  ROUTES
  SOUND
  TERRAIN
  UFOGRAPH
  UFOINTRO
  UNITS
 If you use Windows installer, it would ask to define path to files, and if you have X-COM: UFO Defense on your steam account and loaded locally, installer would use path to it automatically. You can get the game from https://store.steampowered.com/app/7760/XCOM_UFO_Defense/

172

From the Ashes / From the Ashes - initial release!

« on: April 17, 2022, 02:25:03 am »

Greetings everyone, I am incredibly excited to introduce my project, X-Com: From the Ashes, to the community!
It is a global conversion to OpenXcom. During the alien invasion, X-COM's initiative failed, alien agents infiltrated the ranks of most major governments, and within a few months, they were placed in a puppet regime. The true motives of the aliens remain obscure. Their hostile activities are skillfully hidden from the public. There is no support from the Council of Funding Nations, and Council members loyal to X-COM are scattered and remain concealed. The player will need to learn how to survive in the new circumstances, conduct an undercover struggle against alien forces, and cooperate with global organizations involved in the conflict.

This project is more than just a mod for OpenXcom, as it uses its own version of the game engine. There are many entirely new mechanics in the game - diplomacy, covert operations, new tactical mission objectives, loyalty, and much, much more. You can see the full list of engine features here: https://github.com/723Studio/OpenXcom_FTA/wiki

Download installer for Windows from Mod.io: https://openxcom.mod.io/from-the-ashes?preview=17bd8b77fdab4b426a1e766383a7e38b
The process is similar to the OpenXcom installation. However, if you have problems with the installation, visit this page for a detailed description of the manual installation process: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,10498.0.html

The campaign begins with the player having to defend the X-Com base from an assault of the Men in Black. Then you will need to assess the situation and learn how to use the new opportunities. Many aspects of game mechanics and balance have been changed, giving a fresh experience. However, the gameplay and visual design remain in the spirit of the classic 1994 game.

The game is in development, the current version is the initial release, in a sense it is a "vertical slice" of the game experience. The campaign is limited in time with the first 8 months, after which it will end automatically. While most of the mechanics have already been implemented and a significant amount of content related to the early game has been added to the game, much more is yet to come. Nevertheless, the release is necessary in order to gather feedback and get more ideas and inspiration to keep working.

I would be very grateful for any feedback, bug reports and suggestions. You can share it here or by joining or Discord server: https://discord.gg/aecJUvV4pA
Especially valuable to me is gameplay video, so if you stream your playthrough, it would be great if you could send me the link to it. The Discord server has a special channel for streaming your games, don't be shy, drop by there.
You can follow the development progress on the Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/finnik723studio

Current version is well-balanced for 2ed ("Experienced") difficulty level. You might face some troubles on higher difficulty levels because you will have to learn a lot of new mechanics and discover your own META first. "Superhuman" difficulty now works not how I want it to be, as I want to form an extra challenge here. This would require a lot of effort, and I want to finish general development first.
You might notice some loose ends in story arcs, because it is still WIP.
Also, more engine features coming. We have a new hacking system almost done, and there is a solid concept for negotiation system. Future releases will also include soldier secondary stats, additional battlescape tactical objectives and many more interesting ideas are yet to be developed.
As for content part - I'm planning to focus myself on increasing mission variety for 4-8 month, supporting coming engine features with content and balancing difficulties.
The next big milestone is midgame, where I will introduce another 2 factions and encounters with aliens. I'm planning to finish the most major engine work before this. Currently, engine C++ coding takes like 70% of my time, so I lack of strengths to make huge amount of content I would like to see in the game.

The project would have been unthinkable without the tremendous work that the OpenXcom and OpenXcom Extended developers accomplished before me. In addition, I have borrowed some free content from other authors. The detailed list of credits can be found here: https://github.com/723Studio/X-Com-From-the-Ashes/blob/master/LICENSE.md#credits

Most of the game's content is non-compilation code distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). You are free to share and adapt the materials only for non-commercial purposes and when providing appropriate attribution.
However, some assets were developed by professional artists for a fee specifically for FtA, and I have full rights to it. So if you wish to use the assets in your project, please read the license terms: https://github.com/723Studio/X-Com-From-the-Ashes/blob/master/LICENSE.md#licensing

173

OpenXcom Extended / Re: OXCE (OpenXcom Extended) main thread

« on: March 19, 2022, 11:04:16 am »

What do you think about moving to C++ 20? =)

174

OpenXcom Extended / Re: [Documentation] [Feedback] Map Editor

« on: March 14, 2022, 03:14:11 am »

Any chance to have an update? Released version does not support changed `aggroSound: []` property and fails to load mod... I tried to build your current branch myself (looking to update it), but it fails to build with multiple errors in map editor part  :'(

175

Recycle Bin / Re: [WIP]Screaming humans/civilians when/while on fire !

« on: March 13, 2022, 11:53:15 pm »

Many modern mods use fire as huge morale damage weapon, so now fire usually also set unit to panic. And you can assign sound to unit's panic...

176

OpenXcom Extended / Re: OXCE (OpenXcom Extended) main thread

« on: March 13, 2022, 11:13:39 pm »

I thought the point is that one is random, another fixed... Ok, if it's intended

177

OpenXcom Extended / Re: OXCE (OpenXcom Extended) main thread

« on: March 13, 2022, 07:10:17 pm »

I have a question, why items, placed on map with `items` property can be fused with `fuseTimers` and `randomizedItems` are not fused?

178

OpenXcom Extended / Re: OXCE (OpenXcom Extended) main thread

« on: March 13, 2022, 06:19:19 pm »

Looks promising! Do we need to define it for each MCD we want to alter this way?

179

OpenXcom Extended / Re: OXCE (OpenXcom Extended) main thread

« on: March 13, 2022, 02:08:03 pm »

Well, what about something with not so solid shape, like Reaper, for example?

180

OpenXcom Extended / Re: OXCE (OpenXcom Extended) main thread

« on: March 13, 2022, 03:45:44 am »

Oh, cool, I'll look through it. Although, I'm not that good at rendering things =)