Messages

16

Offtopic / Re: XCOM Inspired Fantasy Game

« on: May 20, 2020, 11:10:51 pm »

Non-isometric layers as in DF are difficult to see. Isometric layers with non-rotating camera as in X-COM is fine until someone walks behind an object. Isometric with rotating camera is perfect and what every high-budget game in the genre uses. See X@COM for an example of what non-isometric layers in an XCOM-like would look like. It's not a huge deal but it's less playable.

17

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

« on: May 20, 2020, 11:00:03 pm »

Also, zip ties are evel and sometimes kill people who were supposed to be restrained.

Whoa what? I thought we were just ziptying the hands and feet. That can kill?

18

The X-Com Files / Re: Black Lotus' Freakin' Ninjas

« on: May 20, 2020, 10:58:58 pm »

Dunno why TV experts would try to make guns OP... excluding that one indiana jones scene, it would be very convenient for movies if melee was balanced. So they pretend it is, and they should pretend it is, because it makes better movies and games for it to actually be viable.

Mentioning statistics without specifically stating them is very similar to saying "just ask ____ if you don't believe me!" to the principle. He's probably not gonna do that, so you don't technically need to back it up, but it's not a very strong argument until you do. I would expect statistics show something like "half of homicides are melee weapons" but that doesn't really mean anything because melee weapons are more accessible and concealable which isn't relevant to our situation of non-concealed missions in this game where pistols are dirt-cheap.

I was just thinking that a knife needs actual power behind the stroke. Whereas a pistol can shoot many times in a single "stroke" of pointing. Pistol is slightly more grabbable by the enemy though, since you can't exactly grab a blade.

And again I'm not arguing against CQC, that is pushing an attacker's gun away. Of course that can be a viable tactic at melee range. I'm just arguing that after you do so, using a pistol is better than a knife.

19

The X-Com Files / Re: Tactical penetration

« on: May 20, 2020, 02:56:54 am »

Just see for yourself then reload a save. Unless it's changed from vanilla it's any bullet that deals >120 damage. Note that bullets do 0-200% damage so any weapon that says 60 damage on UFOpaedia will destroy UFO walls if you get lucky. E: see below

20

The X-Com Files / Re: Vehicles and fighters

« on: May 20, 2020, 02:51:09 am »

This would be a nice feature for OXCE. Would have to remain a modding option because some craft have more complex roles, e.g. multirole, radar, escort. And so might add more complexity than is worth. Could also respect mission restrictions e.g. not show Dragonfly after clicking "intercept" button of a covert mission.

21

Released Mods / Re: [TFTD] [Expansion] TWoTS+ Release (v.2.46)

« on: May 19, 2020, 08:09:30 pm »

They don't, but if your main base goes down you're gonna have a bad time. Any manned base loss is pretty devastating too.

22

The X-Com Files / Re: Medal

« on: May 19, 2020, 05:41:12 pm »

There are various kinds, 5 in a mission, 12 in a mission, 2 in a turn, 5 in a turn. in But if you must know, go to New Battle and open the UFOpaedia, it will spoil the entire UFOpaedia. Or look in the commendations.rul file.

23

Released Mods / Re: [TFTD] [Expansion] TWoTS+ Release (v.2.46)

« on: May 19, 2020, 05:38:22 pm »

aliens retaliate after I just destroyed one very small USO with deep bombs.

Isn't it a rule of thumb for all vanilla games that you  shouldn't attack USOs/UFOs near your bases? Retaliation is incredibly powerful and each kill gives a fair chance of it, so you simply never give the enemy the opportunity to retaliate unless you're sure you can take it. I personally don't like the mechanic because it is low clarity (new players don't know this, you don't know the retaliation range, you don't know what will assault, all for a mechanic that ends the game), but it's how vanilla works, so the mod can't be blamed.

24

The X-Com Files / Re: Troop Deployment: Unfair?

« on: May 18, 2020, 05:45:31 pm »

Main thing about setting the difficulty to Superhuman is there is no early-game lose condition. So you really have no idea if it will be the appropriate difficulty when the invasion begins.

25

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

« on: May 17, 2020, 08:13:49 pm »

On a reread he said "They don't in vanilla" so yeah "same as vanilla" is the best answer.

26

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

« on: May 17, 2020, 07:10:19 pm »

Smoke itself causes small amount of stun damage to units in it at the start of their turn which ignores armor but not resists. So if an armor says it takes 0% smoke damage, it will take 0% smoke damage. If it doesn't mention smoke damage, it will take 100% smoke damage, even if it has 50 armor. Tanks also have resists, they're just not shown in the UFOpaedia in vanilla. The grenade does no damage, only the smoke it causes.

27

Tools / Re: Weapon Balance Tool

« on: May 17, 2020, 07:00:56 pm »

Well armor/resistance decides damage independent of the accuracy curve, and is not too hard to calculate yourself before plugging it in.

I think maybe I'll use noGUI and some code to make an excel chart for best XCOMFiles weapons at each range.

28

Tools / Re: Weapon Balance Tool

« on: May 17, 2020, 04:37:49 pm »

Very nice... maybe CQB would be worthwhile? Or, more ambitiously, AI could use these numbers to calculate optimum firing distance? And consideration of cover? And AI consideration of cover?  :P

3 weapons seems a little small if you're trying to get a feel for all the weapons in the mod.

29

Help / Re: A question about timescales

« on: May 17, 2020, 04:35:20 pm »

It's more about hours. Vanilla XCOM has 40 hour campaigns. Most megamods have several hundreds. Personally I prefer <= 10-hour campaigns with high campaign replayability, but I don't mind too much.

30

Open Feedback / Re: Damage control

« on: May 17, 2020, 02:41:03 am »

Searched through source code using window's findstr. Answer is in line 2312 of TileEngine.cpp at https://github.com/MeridianOXC/OpenXcom/blob/oxce-plus/src/Battlescape/TileEngine.cpp.

A big hit is > 20% of the target's base health (likely not including armors, commendations/transformations).