Messages

31

The X-Com Files / Re: Ok so ... How is superhuman to be played?

« on: November 17, 2023, 07:12:39 pm »

Maybe XCOM files works differently, but as I understood 2k points is all you need to make countries happy for the highest increase tier of 5%~20%. This'd mean that funding goes up a lot later on because it's compounding. Not because your score gets so much better. If you get 12.5% each month for 12 months, that quadruples your income. (1.125^12 = 4.1)

https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Country_Funding_(EU)#Monthly_Funding_Change

I haven't really looked at this so I working on assumptions. You're probably right. Looking at the OXCE rulesets, there doesn't even appear to be a way to change these percentages directly.  There is an OXCE ruleset giving bonus funds directly proportional to the score (performanceBonusFactor) but it isn't used in XCF.

32

The X-Com Files / Re: Ok so ... How is superhuman to be played?

« on: November 17, 2023, 06:07:48 pm »

Also, I wonder how much of points is from just research? Usually most $$ mission come up later (tasty aliens), so you get more money to get extra scientists. Extra scientists get you extra points. Voila, points-funding feedback loop.

Could very well be so. Looking at my previous SH game (that I stopped playing in the beginning of June 1999), it seems I had over 2K-3K from research alone every month already a year ago (so, in the middle of 1998):

researchScores:
  - 2351
  - 3532
  - 3521
  - 3486
  - 2928
  - 3691
  - 4542
  - 5070
  - 4453
  - 3527
  - 5650
  - 1790

33

The X-Com Files / Re: Ok so ... How is superhuman to be played?

« on: November 17, 2023, 05:50:58 pm »

I'm on veteran, november 98, kept my score above 2k every month looking at my graphs. It hasn't been perfect, I think there's been about 4 incidents of countries not happy total due to stuff. Funding is 9 million. I suspect superhuman wouldn't have increased funding?

Not as such increased funding, but because there are significantly more enemies on each mission (and each with loot), you can practically get a lot more points on each mission. Let's assume up to 40-50 % more maximum points per mission than with veteran. So I'd suspect the funding could go up in practice much faster in SH than veteran.

The funding can go up really fast once you do those missions which give you huge number of points (say 1000+ each). In my current SH game in January 2000 the funding is at some 57M and if the graph is correct, a year before it was something like 16M. So you can easily double and even quadruple the funding during 1999.

I also loaded my previous SH game that I stopped playing in June 1999. The income is at 27M. Based on the graph the income in January 1999 appears to have been around 15-16M and in July 1998 maybe 7.5-8M. So the funding appears to have been doubled in 6 months in 07/98-01/99. So if you get missions that give you good points the funding can really ramp up fast once you get on with it.

It's difficult to go into the specifics. Up until 1999, you don't really need any other crafts than 1-2 private cars, some vans, helicopter, an osprey, a land rover, and kitsune (and once you have the latter two, you no longer need the others). The rent for these is minimal. Until you get kitsune, you can do all missions either by a car or by fly-transfering from a main base, you don't need to stock up every base. You need only 50 soldiers and lots of dogs. You don't need more than 50-90 engineers ever. Though later in the game (in 1999+), once you start intercepting - and the enemies start retaliating -, you may want to deploy some more soldiers on other bases as well, depending on your interception strategy.

34

The X-Com Files / Re: Ok so ... How is superhuman to be played?

« on: November 17, 2023, 03:46:44 pm »

In my SH IM current game, in January 2000 the council income is 58M and maintenance 37M. I just reloaded my previous SH IM game (which I didn't bother to continue beyond that point), in June 1999 the council income was 27M and maintenance 26M. In another veteran IM game in December 1999, income was 45M and maintenance 30M.

I guess I could try to look up some earlier saves (that I posted here, to report some bugs etc.) but I don't think it's worth it. I'd say earning 15-20M a month in the beginning of 1999 should not be all that difficult. So it's more a matter of how you spend the money.

By the end of 1998, you don't even need more than, say, 50-80 engineers, because there aren't all that many things you really need to manufacture that would take a lot of time. You can play the whole game with just one workshop. Agents are not all that expensive, and you should not need hundreds of them. If they get killed in every mission, you are doing something wrong. Playing 'good' ironman is characterized by adopting playstyles where you don't get killed all the time, rather than tanking all the losses that come at you.

35

The X-Com Files / Re: Ok so ... How is superhuman to be played?

« on: November 17, 2023, 07:05:37 am »

The thing about research, especially interrogation, is that there are a LOT of regular getOneFree and protected topics. It makes sense to research all of those by interrogating the enemies where research is the cheapest, so that you don't waste the more valuable and more expensive enemies to these topics (and instead get more valuable information out of them). (You cannot rely on getting enough Secret Files, etc. to get these easily.) Compared to vanilla, how you progress in the research tree also depends a lot on RNG on which subsequent topics opens up.

For specific example, before going down the MIB path, you should clear all the protected and other available topics first (because MIBs are very expensive compared to the the others in the same timeframe). And before starting interrogating alien leaders, engineers and navigators, you've hopefully learned all the topics you can get from the hybrids, because you want every topic you get from leaders, engineers and navigators to progress the tech tree so that you can get access to better techs earlier. (Hybrids are also much cheaper than the MIBs.)

But it is certainly true are a huge number of research topics (non-interrogation) that don't progress the game, open further opportunities and are rather useless. You can and should definitely deprioritize these anyway (after playing once or twice, you learn them). But based on my experience, there is still a LOT that you must go through, and combined with all the enemy interrogation you need to do, I can't see how you could keep up even with, say, 100 scientists by the end of 1998. Or at the least you're handicapping yourself by not progressing as quickly as you could if you had made different choices on how much you put into research.

In contrast, in my current SH IM game, I had something like 250-300 in 1999 and over 400 scientists by the end of 1999. That was certainly a bit of overkill, because in the second half of the year, I only had a couple of topics left and I had already exhausted all the junk as well. But at that point I had nothing else to do with the money in any case, so why not. At least every new thing that pops up (in this case the topics opened up after advanced labs such as plasmas) were straightforward and did not need to compete with other dozens of more important research topics (for example, a space-capable transport).

36

The X-Com Files / Re: Ok so ... How is superhuman to be played?

« on: November 16, 2023, 04:28:22 pm »

350 scientists?! In the early game? Are you serious?!  One of the prior games was abandoned due to too heavy research: Nothing left to research and way too expensive salaries! We ran out of soldiers / equipement. So we decided to do a bit less research and have more soldiers training. Imho our balance right now is quite good (even if there could be a bit more research, yeah!).

How you ramp up the research is a delicate balance. As a rule of thumb you should be able to cover the monthly salaries with your current council funding. Building facilities, purchasing equipment and enrolling workers may be something you will need to use other finances as well (except in the very early game, where - except for a few lucky streaks - council funding is net positive).

1999 is already midgame. By the end of 1998 you should have probably about 5-7 bases, with at least a science lab in each (25 researchers), possibly other labs (5-10 more researchers). So let's say this is totalling about 120-180. Sometime in the early 1999, you will hopefully have enough tritanium to start building improved labs, to get deeper research opportunities and further researchers.

By the way: we got many alien technologies right now that can't be researched - whats their dependency? E.g. sonar pistols, plasma weapons etc..

Use the tech-tree viewer or xcf.trigramreactor.net. There is very little chance to succeed unless you do your research, pun intended.

You should sell off all the plasma equipment you get until about mid-1999. This will give dozens of millions of money, and all of it is less thans useless to you until the advanced labs are in the pipeline (and by that time, you have obtained much more of them in any case). There are also a lot of other alien components you could sell off if you're short on cash. This is a hint of one of the sources fo your financial problems.

37

The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 3.1: Lights in The Sky

« on: November 15, 2023, 08:32:05 pm »

I have since then found out that plasma sniper rifle is the most reliable way of one-shotting mutons (far away). The downside is that it takes so big a chunk of TUs to fire (you can essentially never fire two shots), so if you're looking for total DPS, turbolaser sniper rifle provides the biggest punch. And I agree, gauss sniper rifles are also surprisingly good overall at the point you've obtained lots of power suits (with the same caveat as plasma sniper rifles: inefficient TU usage).

Also, to avoid most problems caused by mutons on open areas, I strongly suggest skipping turn 1 completely (except possibly throwing smoke) and deploying out only on the next turn. Like most aliens, mutons have aggression 2 so once they get the chance, they waste a lot of their TUs running around. So it makes sense skip the first turn crossfire with full TUs.

Now while I'm at, here's a huge tip (that I discovered myself only in this campaign) for those interested: Thanatonautian Manus is an extremely useful mid-game PSI weapon to take down armored enemies, especially heavy MIBs (always seems to one-shot them), but it also works on many others. With 90-100 PSK it is very accurate and makes tremendous amounts of damage with 0.1 armor effectiveness (with the only limitation being range 20). Felt almost cheesy using it.

38

Released Mods / Re: [TFTD] [Expansion] TWoTS+ Release (v.2.58) SH playthrough

« on: November 14, 2023, 10:20:02 pm »

- M.C. Focuser is too strong  (unlimited range and with  some M.C. implanted and then trained aquanauts you can kill easy anything but terrorists)
 - Leviathan has no practical usage  (you immediately  research Flaunder  and go for final mission)

To be fair, MC Focuser is a very end-game weapon (unless you get very lucky and have the opportunity to capture a stuck Oct in an artifact site mission). While it is very powerful, at that point of the game I'm not sure if it worth making an extra challenge. Without a good MC Focuser I suppose T'Leth (especially first level) could be more difficult. It certainly makes it much easier to deal with freaks and hellcrabs without taking too many risks. And if you're still missing the lobsterman commander, going to a base to get one would be more risky.

The usefulness of Leviathan depends a lot on whether the RNG gods have favoured you. You could very well be stumped with the abyssian dependencies, for example.

39

The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 3.1: Lights in The Sky

« on: November 14, 2023, 08:24:09 pm »

OXCE allows modders to enable rejoining (allowCountriesToCancelAlienPact) but in XCF this is set to false. So, they won't rejoin.

40

The X-Com Files / Re: Ok so ... How is superhuman to be played?

« on: November 14, 2023, 05:15:57 pm »

Never the less by the mid of '99 we're only researching with 80 scientists. Couldn't afford more until now. Money is really a hard limiting factor! But I like it! Feels pretty competitive. But yeah, no Raven / Thunderstorm in sight.

I don't think there is ANY way to succeed with those resources. You will need to think what you could have done differently in order to be able to invest much more on scientists and also much earlier. As said, by mid-1999 you could have up to 350 scientists (with very little to research anymore, if you don't get to advanced labs), but at the very least you should have something like 200. Now you're lagging behind at least a year, maybe more, behind in the research and cannot progress. Because progressing also involves a significant number of interrogation, you're stumped because you don't have throughput for basic research, let alone interrogation.

In the beginning you need to focus on building up additional research capacity fast, so that you don't limp along with 5 or 10 scientists for a year or longer. For a large part of the first year, you can focus on expanding and saving to improve the first base (for example, the science lab once it is available), and gradually build more bases with science lab and/or other facilities.

There are also certain missions that you can keep on churning to get money. For example, you don't want to destroy the Tasoth Factory until you've sufficient funds. For example, Undersea City and Tasoth Factory both give you about 10M each in selling all the useless components they provide.

41

The X-Com Files / Re: Ok so ... How is superhuman to be played?

« on: November 14, 2023, 01:55:42 pm »

I've played with XCF with SH IM a number of times (close to the end game, though not bothered to complete it). It is doable, if you take the time to learn the right tactics and strategy (like how to ramp up your research and how to focus it, and what equipment is useful in the midst of hundreds of pieces of junk equipment). If you don't bother to learn the right tactics, the workings of spotter/sniper game mechanics, etc., it will be a disaster. It can be doable especially if you allow yourself cheating by restarting the mission.

Regarding hybrid bases, with SH (and even veteran I think) you should definitely not exit the base landing areas and go out to explore. Depending on terrain it is usually OK to drop out and shoot or throw out high-explosives, though. You'll not end the turn by leaving an agent downstairs. In difficult spots, you may need to rely on staying upstairs and relying on reaction shots / reaction barking for a few turns. So, for at least 10 turns or so, do that and you've killed off anyone that could come wandering nearby.

Hybrid bases are actually one of the easiest missions at least when you have decent equipment (at least BO auto-sniper/sniper) and some armors (Tritanium vest or better, possibly cyber armor at that point). There will be MUCH more difficult missions in the pipeline, for example, Syndicate HQ.

Based on the questions you ask I think you're going to have a very rough time going forward. Maybe after learning a bit more you should restart to get a better start.

Regarding intercepting. You don't need to do any intercepting before 1999. By that time you should have at least researched RAVEN and THUNDERSTORM, even if you haven't wanted to use the alloys to build one. If you don't, you're way behind the curve. It sounds like you're research is lagging badly. Remember, you'll need to have multiple bases with science labs, intel, and bio labs (35 researchers each) within a year or so, and improved labs on multiple bases before 1999. So, your goal should be at least 150-200 scientists within 18 or 24 months.

42

Released Mods / Re: [TFTD] [Expansion] TWoTS+ Release (v.2.58)

« on: November 14, 2023, 01:39:50 pm »

No, I am talking about regular worm island where non-flying worms are hiding in their holes (I don't thin they respawn there) and are very hard to be seen. This mission should be doable by having 1 scout drone equipped with laser pistol, but for reasons unknown it wasn't in the craft. May be I misclicked and brought the underwater one.

I'm referring to the same thing. There is something strange (intentionally I think) in that mission. I think there is a worm in every hole, but you cannot see them even right on top of them all at once. You'll have to kill them off essentially one by one, and then find out in which hole the next worm appeared and is now visible. At least that has been my tactic. PITA mission as I said.

43

The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 3.1: Lights in The Sky

« on: November 14, 2023, 12:04:02 am »

I wonder, what are the best ways to deal with mutons in open areas?

They are very tanky (125+ health and 28+ armor), and have reasonable reactions and firing accuracy. Usually taking one down takes 2-3 hits which is liable to cause you casualties or at least serious wounds. If they weren't 60% resistant to KINETIC, bigger gauss weapons might do the trick, but I don't think any main gun is likely to one-shot them. And if you don't deal with all of them quickly, the snipers are likely to fire back or throw explosives.

Their major weakness appears to be a very low PSI strength, so inside confined areas I guess mind control or panic should wreck them. But this is not really an option in the open areas.

44

Released Mods / Re: [TFTD] [Expansion] TWoTS+ Release (v.2.58)

« on: November 13, 2023, 11:55:47 pm »

Worm island obliterated me again...  :'(

If you refer to the worm nesting area where new worms pop up in their craters.. you don't go there until you are shielded, and preferably with 3 displacers. It doesn't progress the game in any case. It usually takes about 30 turns of running around to get all the spawning craters eliminated. By which time your agents are likely getting stunned and may already start to die from overstunning. So it would be preferable to try to use the displacers for the most part and move the agents inside when their stun is getting too high. But as said, I think you can safely just skip this missions if you don't want to bother.

If you refer to a regular worms attack holiday resort mission (with all the civilians), you'll need to know how to approach it. When this first comes you likely won't have gauss drones yet. The key thing here is deploy the maximum number of scout drones and a few aquanauts. The aquanauts have a couple of preprimed stun or regular grenades which they throw out immediately at nearby enemies. The aquanauts stay in the sub and go unconcious there. Then the scout drones go collect the stunned or killed trophies. It is also possible for the scout drones to prime stun grenades, drop them on worms or locusts, and then pick them up. You'll need to be careful, because scout drones are easily killed. So keep flying and avoid the flying locusts. For the first time or two, that's likely all that you can do with this mission.

Looks like this mod is too much for me...  :'( Hunter UFOs are nightmarish. They can be everywhere and often they are. How many crafts one supposed to loose to them?

They are indeed painful. In my SH IM campaigns, I always accompany a transport with two barracudas or morays equipped with squall missiles (the only ones with sufficient range and speed to kill HKs fast enough). The pilot should always have good firing accuracy and bravery. You should also install the targeting improvement to ensure that most missiles hit the HKs. With this way, a normal HK can often kill one of the barracudas/morays, but not both (or at least not the transport).

Later in the game HKs with shields start to appear, and at a certain point, for example bases spawn exclusively shielded HKs. Squall missiles are inadequate against them. You'll really need the "fusion bomb" to deal with those. So you'll need to hope you get the right techs to progress the research fast enough (and not get too unlucky with shielded HKs before then).

The mod certainly requires an entirely different approach to protecting transports and dealing with HKs than any other mod I've played (not that many to be fair). I found it refreshing and compelling, once I learned a reasonably safe way to deal with them even with ironman.

I heard rumors about next improved version of this mod. May be I will be more lucky when it will come out.

Nord has been putting a lot more time on X-Chronicles lately. This mod has been in low maintenance mode for a while. So I wouldn't be holding my breath for significant updates to this mod (unless someone creates a fork).

45

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

« on: November 12, 2023, 08:31:55 pm »

This is something for Meridian and Yankes, currently oxce only tests, if all remaining aliens are under mind control, else game treats it as if player moved soldiers on exit tile and aborted. MiB Lunar Base or any other multistage mission with surrendering enemies will have same issue. Probably should be reported under OXCE Bugs.

Anyway, here is save from quick battle. Hit the scientist to get your stuff, press "next turn" to not.

Huge thanks for reproducing this. Reposted on OXCE bugs.