aliens

Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Topics - bladum

Pages: 1 2 [3]
31
Suggestions / Obsolete technology
« on: November 25, 2014, 01:45:45 pm »
Simple idea. If tech is required to buy / made stuff then it also some tech could made stuff obsolete.

This means that research "Enhanced ammo for ballistics" will disable standard ammo and enable enhanced one.

Why this is needed ? For some weapons there are only 3 slots for ammo. In case of HC / AC adding 4th ammo is impossible to do in vanilla. Standard AP ammo would be replaced by Enhanced alien alloys based AP ammo.

Tom

32
Suggestions / Map Blocks - ability to add units same as items
« on: November 25, 2014, 01:21:20 pm »
Map Blocks has a script to add items in particular location

Why not add script to add units in particular location ?

Tom

33
Troubleshooting / bug when running mod from main rule file
« on: November 15, 2014, 01:18:28 am »
symptoms:

app is crush when starting mission and big object should be displayed

my setup is:

latest night build + shotgun mod https://www.openxcom.com/mod/shotgun + x-com extender

steps to duplicate:

when mod is integrated into main rul file then GIF files from mod cannot be read, for example when big object should be loaded then game crashes or when hand object should be then game crashes
when mod is run as a seperate mod then its working fine without changes

For sure this is related for this part
Code: [Select]
extraSprites:
  - type: BIGOBS.PCK
    files:
      60: Resources/Shotgun/Shotgun.gif
      61: Resources/Shotgun/ReinforcedShotgun.gif
      62: Resources/Shotgun/ShotgunAmmo.gif
      63: Resources/Shotgun/AlloyShotgunAmmo.gif
      64: Resources/Shotgun/EleriumShotgunAmmo.gif
  - type: FLOOROB.PCK
    files:
      74: Resources/Shotgun/ShotgunF.gif
      75: Resources/Shotgun/ReinforcedShotgunF.gif
      76: Resources/Shotgun/ShotgunAmmoF.gif
      77: Resources/Shotgun/AlloyShotgunAmmoF.gif
      78: Resources/Shotgun/EleriumShotgunAmmoF.gif
  - type: HANDOB.PCK
    files:
      128: Resources/Shotgun/ShotgunH.gif
      136: Resources/Shotgun/ReinforcedShotgunH.gif
    width: 128
    height: 80
    subX: 32
    subY: 40
important notes:

i moved most stuff outside Xcom1Ruleset to other rulesets to have all under control.

My questions are:

1) does order of mods matter ? i mean file names
2) can several  BIGOBS.PCK be loaded under single extraSprites in one file or should they be divided single extraSprites per a file

Tom

34
Suggestions / traits for aliens
« on: November 13, 2014, 12:52:00 am »
just like in the topic, make a random roll for alien stat but then pick one trait randomly like extra strong or extra fast. Similar solution is implemented in Battle of Wesnoth

source https://www.wesnoth.org/manual/stable/manual.en.html#traits

i know this is outside of vanilla but could be cool for modders

Tom

35
Suggestions / item physics during battlescape
« on: November 10, 2014, 08:24:18 pm »
Hi,

Subject sounds epic but its actually simple. Its just a matter of using already implemented feature to "simulate" physics in the game. 

1) If something hit unit there is a chance to push it in same direction as bullet. This could be based on pure bullet power or power / direction of explosion. So even when Armour would stop all damage still unit could be moved one or two tiles.

2) if unit is killed then its items could be spread randomly on all near tiles. This could be based on item location in inventory. So hand / belt would have larger chance to go 1 tile and backpack lower chance. This could be done using throwing functionality.

3) hitting unit with a powerful blow could force unit to drop some items. Some items would be more or less "dropable" and this would be based on inventory location. Its quite hard to lose a grenade from backpack but its easy to lost it when holding in hand or in the belt.

4) when unit corpse is destroyed due to overkill damage then it should not disappear at all but instead of change to several items randomly distributed on near tiles. I think about 3 new items: human debris, alien debris, metal debris. This staff will be useless for gameplay, just pure graphical effect.

5) panicked unit could have chance to drop or throw weapon into random direction using throwing functionality.

6) Low bravery soldier when suddenly spot several aliens at the same time (2 or more), there is a chance to lose some TU / or drop a weapon etc.

7) items that are on the ground could be moved up to few tiles using very strong explosions using throwing functionality. this could be based on their weight (how far they move) and they damage resistance (if they move at all). Only specif weapons could be used to move items on the ground like grenades.

Tom

36
Suggestions / Score shown in International relationship screen
« on: November 08, 2014, 01:29:48 pm »
hi,

This information can be checked in graphs section anyway so why not display it on  International relationship screen?

Score = (x-com score - alien score) in particular region for last month

I also made little graphic change and make dots shows with little space between them. I think it could look better this way.

Tom

37
Suggestions / Community edition
« on: November 08, 2014, 01:00:19 pm »
Hi,

I could not find a patch / mod that would be a community edition. Is there something like this ?

By thinking community edition i think NOT about global bundle of mods but rather small tweaks of data only or mainly for vanilla version. So if there is OPENXCOM EXTENDED there would be also something similar but for ruleset.

Examples
Spoiler:
instead of adding sub machine gun then tweak AUTO mode for pistol,
instead of adding sniper rifle tweak standard rifle aim mode,
instead of adding grenade launcher tweak heavy cannon,
mission basic functionality like melee attack for guns or fire grenade,
come back to life useless stuff in vanilla like: craft cannon, small range radar or plasma beam without usage of Elerium,
add muton comander as it was main villain in ufo intro :),
and other stuff like this

What would be purpose of community edition ?

From player perspective best game would be without need to change any options at all. Such huge versatility is great rather for modders not for players. I can imagine sequence how new player is installing open x-com:

1) download open x-com
2) install files from original game
3) install official patch that fixes errors in original game
4) install extended version (required for community edition)
5) install official community edition

And that is all. No more options need to be change because reason of community edition is have best gameplay with minimal need to change options. The only option available is to turn it on / off.

PS: sorry if this topic was covered before but i used search and found nothing related to it.

Tom

38
Suggestions / few gameplay suggestions for vanilla, codding require
« on: November 05, 2014, 12:44:11 pm »
Hi Folks,

I played game for a while and i wrote down my thoughts. This is only for vanilla version but all items require codding.

1) Click right mouse button (or double click) on weapon during battle to unload its ammo into hand.

2) Right mouse button (or double click) on an ammo during battle to automatically load it into weapon in hand if matched

3) Show ufo range / damage info on the interception screen by any visual method (like a like that indicates range and width that indicates damage)

4) Show damage inflicted to enemy on hit by number popup during battlescape and interception, both on UFO and alien soldiers. This information would be depended on level of experience of soldier, rookie have no idea how enemy is damage but commander is

5) Show maximum range of weapon during targeting enemy in current fire mode, so far there is just instant chance to hit change

6) Health bar on units over heads during battlescape for x-com units like in many RTS games

7) Counter of killed aliens during mission, and maybe after mission research also counter how many to kill

8) Neutral units have civil or military background, those military can actually use weapons on allies if delivered by x-com

9) Neutral units during base defense mission taken from number of scientist / engineers in particular base divided by 10, you lose them during battle and you lose them in the base

10) Soldiers specialization selection on soldier screen in base. Basically the idea is simple, you click on a button that is assigned on a stat that focus experience into this particular stat. This gives this attribute to grow faster then others (x2 to single one, x0.5 to all others). No other gameplay change.

11) Indication about number of primary actions done during specific battlespace mission, to know that a particular soldier needs to fire one more time to get promotion etc

12) Alien hunter is a feature when specific soldier kills number of enemy units. If soldier kills lets say 20 aliens of a specific race he gets +10% to damage for next kill OR is able to distinguish alien ranks OR is able to see number of damage inflicted to enemy.

13) Every soldier promotion gives a chance to get +10 to bravery of soldiers. Lower rank have lower chance. Higher rank have higher chance.

14) Feature that your soldiers are able to distinguish alien rank on the battle field after you research live alien of particular race. This could be done by small "medal" on the top of alien head to stay with vanilla graphics

15) Additional promotion chance when unit captures / kill very important alien unit during battle

16) Additional bravery chance when unit survives attack of very dangerous enemy alien

17) Set high or low maintenance level for crafts in base taken from maintenance level from Europa Universals. High maintenance = work as normal. Low maintenance = pay 50% per maintenance but repairs, refuel and rearm crafts 2-3-4 times slower.

Regards,
Tom

39
My idea is simple

Run game in hardcore mode where you can:
- save in limited number of slots like 1 2 or 3
- cannot change any advanced settings during game
- hash saves not just plain text (optional, my hash code is below in lua for example)

Code: [Select]
local base = { 14,19,9,17,5,28,17,2,24,10,3,25,22,19,2,12,23,28,2,23,27,9,14,15,7,24,30,4,23,17,14,24,6,23,10,11,21,27,14,15,7,18,10,30,6,12,11,29,9,13,22,6,22,5,21,30,30,21,4,23,8,18,16,14,11,26,26,2,23,9,18,30,27,28,29,3,10,10,1,19,23,24,25,14,29,16,14,28,6,18,20,15,6,6,29,18,1,25,20,25,3 }

local base2 = { 16,26,12,24,24,28,6,10,23,8,17,14,19,11,15,29,28,19,22,4,18,0,7,4,24,4,12,4,3,30,6,15,26,18,9,19,16,15,30,9,23,16,23,12,27,8,10,25,28,2,29,16,2,5,20,27,10,1,0,14,1,7,30,27,26,8,16,11,23,15,20,16,1,13,28,28,22,8,22,19,10,21,5,13,27,25,10,7,27,10,21,29,18,20,26,13,28,12,25,21,28 }

----------------------------------------------------------
--  ENCRYPT
----------------------------------------------------------
function handler.encrypt(str)
   
    local result2 = {}
    local result = {};
    local resultString = "";
    local baseN = #base
    local baseN2 = #base2
    -- CODE
    for i=1 ,#str do
        result2[i] = strByte(str,i,i) + base[ i%baseN ~=0 and i%baseN or baseN ]
    end;
    local resN = #result2
    -- REVERSE
    for i = 1, resN do
         result[i] = result2[resN - i + 1]
    end
    -- CODE AGAIN
    for i=1 ,#str do
        result[i] = result[i] + base2[ i%baseN2 ~=0 and i%baseN2 or baseN2 ]
    end;   
    -- REVERSE
    for i = 1, resN do
         result2[i] = result[resN - i + 1]
    end   
    for key,val in ipairs (result2) do
        resultString = resultString .. strChar(val);
    end;
    return resultString;
end;
----------------------------------------------------------
--  DECRYPT
----------------------------------------------------------
function handler.decrypt(str)
    local result2 = {}
    local result = {};
    local resultString = "";
    local baseN = #base
    local baseN2 = #base2
    -- CODE
    for i=1 ,#str do
        result2[i] = strByte(str,i,i) - base[ i%baseN ~=0 and i%baseN or baseN ]
    end;
    local resN = #result2
    -- REVERSE
    for i = 1, resN do
         result[i] = result2[resN - i + 1]
    end
    -- CODE AGAIN
    for i=1 ,#str do
        result[i] = result[i] - base2[ i%baseN2 ~=0 and i%baseN2 or baseN2 ]
    end;   
    -- REVERSE
    for i = 1, resN do
         result2[i] = result[resN - i + 1]
    end   
    for key,val in ipairs (result2) do
        resultString = resultString .. strChar(val);
    end;
    return resultString;
end;

40
Work In Progress / My mod - share and disccus
« on: August 01, 2013, 01:24:39 am »
I tried to mod game based on my personal feeling and want to share my thought:

in general i played with all custom options turned ON

battlescape
- pistols have only snap shots with 40-60% accuracy and 15-25% cost to use, other way its useless
- rifles have auto cheap but inaccurate, snap same and very accurate and expensive aimed
- heavy have normal snap, no auto, and a bit better aimed, heavy and bulky (even plasma) and in general better damage
- all grenades weight 4, high explosives 9
- all tanks have auto shot but very inaccurate

base
- double cost of research
- cut scientist cost to half

geoscape
- small radar, cheap and low range
- large radar, expensive and mid range
- decoder, more expensive and high range

crafts
- many changes, in general stick with speed to values like 1000, 4000 etc,
- firestorm is fastest
- skyranger 400K buy / 200K upkeep
- interceptor 600K buy / 300K upkeep

production
- all alien weapons x2 to manufacture time
- laser cannon and FLB time to manufacture +25%

missions
- more aliens in general per mission
- civilians during base defense mission
- missions are 2 times more frequent then normal

aliens
- in general lessen damage modifier by half (from 1.6 -> 1.3 from 0.4 to 0.7)
- smaller sectoid
- +15 reaction fire to floater
- reaper have fast, weak melee attack
- chrysalis have heavy but slow melee attack
- zombie is very slow
- all commanders and engineers smarter

craft weapons
- stingray 60 dmg, 40 range, 60%, 20 reload, 6 speed move, 8 missiles
- avalanche 100 dmg, 60 range, 80%, 30 reload, 8 speed move, 4 missiles
- cannon 20 dmg, 20 range, 30%, 100 bullets, 12 speed move, 5 reload
- laser 80 dmg, 30 range, 40%, 50 bullets, 10 reload
- plasma 120 dmg, 50 range, 50%, 25 bullets, 15 reload
- fushion bomb, 200 dmg, 60 range, 100%, 4 bullets, 25 reload

Tom

41
Tools / 3D pixel art editor using voxels
« on: July 30, 2013, 09:36:37 am »
Hi Folks,

This is my old editor from 2010-2011 i was talking about some time ago. This is old version so no all cool features are completed, but this is the only one i found after i moved from PC to Mac the same year. This is only Windows and only with .NET framework.

Regards,
TOm

42
Offtopic / Any plans for mobile version ?
« on: July 25, 2013, 09:53:05 pm »
Hi,

Do you have any plans to make anything on mobile ? There is Aliens vs Humans on mobile devices, but this is closed sourced, doesn't it ?  I am Corona SDK developer with bunch of games published on the AppStore and thinking about going more hardcore...

Tom

43
Suggestions / Few general ideas from old x-com fan
« on: July 22, 2013, 02:42:20 pm »
My ideas, most of them are not changing original game play

1) on finish production screen add buttons to
   GO TO PRODUCTION SCREEN
   REPEAT LAST PRODUCTION AGAIN (the one that was done)
   OK

2) during battlescape
   right mouse button on weapon icon = repeat last selected attack
   would be same as click left and choose same attack again
   
3) during battlescape
   show actual chance to hit something based on distance near targeting pointer
   this could be actual chance to hit or just range modifier
   
4) add perks for aliens that could modify their initial stats (idea taken from Wesnoth)
   50% of aliens have no perk
   10% of aliens have +10 to TU / energy
   10% of aliens have +10 to HP / strength
   10% of aliens have +15% to firing / throwing accuracy
   10% of aliens have +2 to intelligence
   10% of aliens have +10 to armor
   
5) why not show more data on geoscape when x-com have brain wave decoder ?
   we all know size of ship, race, target mission ? why not show it as small icons on geoscape ?
   why player need to click to see a window ?
   
6) on geoscape all alien mission should have indication about its life time
   terror mission last for few hours, many times i need to save / reload to check how much time i have
   to get day mission not night mission etc
   
7) add optional MORE TACTICTS option that would increase REACTION fire for all units by some value
   this would bring game to another level if you like
   
8) during battlescape NO ammunition message should be displayed when clicked on weapon with no ammo

9) right click on weapon inside inventory screen should try to RELOAD weapon automatically based on
   ammo inside inventory, still drag and drop would be normal way
   
10) nice to have option to show how many primary action each soldier made during mission for experience farming

11) a small heart icon on the head of soldier to show if he is critically wounded or not (now need to click into his stat screen)

12) a small icon on the battlescape to show that there are units
   NOT MOVED during this turn as a little dot over a unit in panzer general series
   
13) during throwing show actual range of throwing, not to check where i can do it with OUT OF RANGE message

14) i checked UFO AI and there is prediction algorithm to tell planes to go into predicted waypoint on the
   map, not just mindless follow UFO as it strafe sometimes
   
15) on geoscape need to click plane that is OUT, i cannot select it when click option INTERCEPT on MENU

16) does aliens have critical wounds ? add option to make it happen (not sure if already implemented)

17) add option HARDCORE WOUNDS that would double number of fatal wounds during game (or make limit of 5 per shot etc).

18) cannot crouch when flying, this is a bug or not ?

19) please move SAVE and LOAD button farther in the menu during battlescape, they are too close IMHO
   it could be LOAD OK SAVE instead of OK LOAD SAVE, just a minor thing as there is quick save option now
   
20) add some indication about results of actions on the screen like damage inflicted or received
   as a small number that is drawn, fly top and disappear in 3 seconds
   
21) when soldier sees an item on the floor might and user will move mouse there   
   a small box would be displayed showing what is laying on the ground
   now soldier must go there and check inventory screen
   this would work only for fields that are in range of sight

22) add option to highlight fields that are in the field of view of particular soldier, just like
   turn on / off personal lighting with L, this would help to plan reaction fire better
   this would also work for mind controlled aliens
   
23) please fix alien PSI one and for all. This still is bugged in night build version.
   I have base defense mission with sectoids and all my soldiers are hidden in different places,
   but i still am attacked by their PSI soldier, this is not a challenge, this is annoying
   
24) please add option to display mini map in the corner of screen on the battlescape as in modern games.
   This would be same image, without a border, as you click map but made smaller by 25% or so.
   
25) if 24 is impossible then make M to turn ON mini map and then turn it OFF, i can turn it on with a
   M button but then need to close with a mouse
   
26) if Field of view as in 22) is impossible then make mouse cursor interactive. If soldier can see a particular field
   then make this 3D red rectangle a different color or make it glowing.
   
27) i found many terror mission with just 1 or 2 civilians, it should be 16 so its bug or not ?

28) add option to FAST AUTO SHOTS that would allow units to shot AUTO shot in burst at once not one after another
   i am not sure if this is possible in engine to have 3 shots at the same time with little delay

29) add option to have BURST SHOTS with 5 or 6 shots per fire, only for modders and mainly for HEAVY LASER to work
   as defined in UFO 2000. would be optional tuBurst: and accuracyBurst: in ruleset file
   
30) option to play quick battles as aliens ;)

31) i see no MIXED race set in alien mission in latest daily build,
   this is from TFTD i know, but it is in last stable build and now its removed
   this is available during quick battles
   mixed mission are cool after you are bored with standard setup
   
32) during base defense, when particular building will be damage enough there should be message about it
   there are number of tiles that must be removed to remove a building from base
   no its 100% of tiles -> building is destroyed
   my idea is to show message when 50% of tiles are destroyed and then at 90%
   OR
   make building collapse as a chance based on number of tiles destroyed during battlescape
   less then 50% -> no chance
   from 50% to 75% -> 20% chance to collapse
   from 75% to 90% -> 50% chance to collapse
   from 90% and more -> 100% chance to collapse
   
33) during base defense mission aliens should have a primary target
   - kill all soldiers
   - destroy as many building as possible
   - kill as many civil units as possible
   This would be an OPTION and change base defense mission A LOT

34) add civilians during base defense missions (even those from normal terror mission) just like in apocalypse
   this would be based on number of scientist (FEMALE) and engineers (MALE) divide by 10
   each civilian killed would be a loss for scientists or engineer
   
35) engineers that cannot provide any help for production do to SIZE limits of workshop
   (1 workshop, 50 engineers, only 44 can operate) could be used for HOUSEWORKS and earn money
   this would based on their salary (which is 30K monthly) so it would be like 50$ per hour per engineer
   
36) show percentage value in research instead of label (good, excellent etc) as an OPTION
   
Best Regards
Tom

44
Offtopic / X-Com like isometric graphic editor
« on: August 25, 2011, 04:47:25 pm »
Hi Guys,

I was wondering if anyone could be interest in using such tool... sorry that site is nonenglish but there is download and application is in english...and You can watch screenshots.

https://warsztat.gd/projects.php?x=view&id=2005

This is voxel editor / 3D pixel iso art editor with bunch of X-Com related graphics including world parts, planes, units, buildings, maps, weapons etc....

Just wondering if anyone wanted to use it / develop for any purpose.
https://sites.google.com/site/weefanatics/files/soft.zip

This is quick video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RikkTRuEWM&feature=channel_video_title

Home Site
https://sites.google.com/site/treededitor/home

Regards
Tomasz

Pages: 1 2 [3]