Messages

31

The X-Com Files / Re: Endgame tips?

« on: April 30, 2022, 08:04:22 pm »

Nobellon is a drug that you can make cheaply, it restores sanity and takes miniscule HP from your soldier, if you have Helix Knights, you probably have enough HP to not actually matter in the end if they lose like 5-15 HP, though this does mean infimary once the mission is over.

32

The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 2.4: Flesh and Circuitry

« on: April 18, 2022, 02:10:48 pm »

No, since the easier a mission is, the more penalized it is if you skip it. And these are the easiest missions.

I could rescale all missions, but haha, no

Oh great, fine i will do it myself for my playtime and my sanity, having one skipped mission for any reason (wounded men, your vehicles having other missions) have penalty of 15-20 succesful missions of the same type is completely unreasonable game design.

33

The X-Com Files / Re: Xcom Files: Why so many UFOs?

« on: April 17, 2022, 10:17:57 am »

I believe you are mostly correct Solarius. But I my main issue was not a base next to my own. I still had two other bases to launch missions from.

What I would like to know is if it is normal to have 14 cult manors at one time on beginner difficulty in 1998? Most of my months had been a positive score.

And why could my humvee with a cannon not shoot them down?

The game being difficult is not an issue, but I did adapt my play style to the issues. I gave my humvees weapons and bought more Dragonflies (which I thought would be fast enough to outrun the enemy craft). But nothing I could do was enough.

Humvee could use a better weapon that isnt locked behind Promo III where you will be able to start fielding Mig fighters and your own interceptors, given minigun only works against Jets (if jet isnt too accurate and blows up your Humvee) and Cars but not Helicopters or the UFOs. Like the first craft capable of fighting 3v1 what spawns from Dagon temple was Raven so there was a giant gap of me being incapable of doing anything as everything i tried to sent went up in flames and such costs at that point were unacceptable.

34

The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 2.4: Flesh and Circuitry

« on: April 16, 2022, 09:50:20 pm »

You misunderstood, I didn't say you said there should be no penalties. It is normal for the penalty to be huge especially at the beginning, that is what I am saying, because X-Com is new and Council doesn't want it to go on. Quoting myself "..basic suspect then they will give you huge penalties". First sentence may be missing some wordings though.

There is a big chunk of problems with missions that :
1) Spawn often
2) Have large penalty
3) Are in early game where you dont have many sources of points
4) Itself are pointless beyond your first cultists per cult, for dossiders you will get boatloads of the same cultists you get from doing these missions from every anti cult mission from then on given they will often surrender once you kill most of their friends or your men will stabilize those on the ground and nick them and off to the "playground" of your inteligence officer.
5) Themselves give crap rewards, the only good thing you get from these are weapons and most of the cultists here are armed with crap weapons or weapons you can buy anyway, the only exception being Red Dawn which can give you some early assault rifles.

For this reason i just started cheating victory on this mission once i beat it twice for each cult and that was BEFORE i got rubber shells for shotgun.

Like my biggest problem is simply that are not enough other sources of points so early in the game and that it spawns so much.

35

The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 2.4: Flesh and Circuitry

« on: April 16, 2022, 12:05:39 pm »

Can the penalty for cult aprehension be toned down considerably ? In the early game, missions that spawn alot, have no meaningful reward beyond your first for each cult to unlock the cult and requires some time before you can make this mission type go away (given things like logistics and better weapons will take priority in research).

Like it is -200 point penalty a pop so early for a mission that spawns so often is quite excessive.
Like it wouldnt be such a big deal if the reward for this mission actually would be bigger than what... 60 ? 40 ? Meaning one missed apprehencion is like 4-6 successful apprehensions (casualty less) which is really harsh.
The only early game mission that has point reward larger than this is the mass creature hunt where you face like +20 creatures, then yep, that goes above that, but you wont get many of these per month and not all of them goes perfect, without troops dead.

I opened my geoscape safe to look how many missions have spawned in 2 months this campaign runs

  STR_CIVILIAN_CAR: 3
  STR_CROP_CIRCLES: 4
  STR_CULT_APPREHENSION: 15
  STR_DEAD_CATTLE: 2
  STR_MONSTER_HUNT: 10
  STR_SOLDIER: 13
  STR_UFO: 2
  STR_UFO_UNIQUE: 3
  STR_VAN: 3

Only 15 apprehensions in 2 months

36

The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 2.4: Flesh and Circuitry

« on: April 10, 2022, 03:36:44 pm »

Does this mean the engine can tell which corpse belongs to which soldier? What I mean is, say you have two Enforcers on a mission (Amethyst and Beryl). Both get destroyed and one of the corpses (A) gets blown apart by a blaster launcher.

Are you able to recorporate either of them, or only B?

One thing you should consider is that corpses can be burned to ash, making then inrecoverable. I am not sure if 2x2 units can be, but i know individuals can be (which i guess, Enforcer would count as). This happens if they get killed by energy weapons like lasers or plasma (or possibly blaster launcher ?),

37

The X-Com Files / Re: [submod] XCom Files Arsenal Additions (ver 0.8 Anarchic Anachronism)

« on: April 02, 2022, 07:24:15 pm »

So much content and not enough time to play with it....
Time to i guess, post what i think of this submod, you made commendable work, but there could be some polish in certain areas.

The one thing i for sure use are the new armors in this mod, the armor staging in baseline XCOM Files is too harsh given you jump from kevlar vest, which can sometimes stop really low caliber rounds but otherwise is a pretty much just better than nothing to blast padded vests that renders shotguns and pistols almost harmless to your troops unless they roll for high damage and the next step up is outright bulletproof armor unless you are getting hit by armor piercing projectiles or high caliber rounds.

Armoured cars are great, also fits the massive gap of XCOM tank troops because it takes a long time before you get tanks and by the time you get tanks, you had to take out a cult already given that is the situation where they would be the most useful.

Optional off hand shield that isnt glued to your soldier is way better alternative to the baseline version, albeit i didnt actually found it that useful as i expected, mainly because having blackops rifle that can hit enemies halfway across the map is just way too strong to pass up and good pistols come way too late for this shield to be relevant. And enemies simply not breathing my air is plain out better option than shielding up. This off hand weapon does open up some playstyles but requires alot of TU to mine every ounce of usability (Like carrying it with shotgunner, pulling it, shielding up and brace for impact while you close the gap), but this competes with the fact that high TU troops are better used elsewhere. It also requires considerable strenght which means most likely Dawns bio upgrades so you can actually have a two handed weapon, shield, some medispray and few shells on one soldier so he is usable beyond turn 3.

So many new weapons like the anti tank rifle feel redundant by the time i can actually buy them, they would be REALLY useful against Armoured Cars of Red Dawn which happens to be the first cult for me to defeat (They have the least bullshit around them, i progress Red Dawn -> Black Lotus -> Exalt -> Church of Dagon)

I kinda laughed that i got some kind of rocket launcher, carl gustav something something for finishing the Church of Dagon, mission that got cleared with a laser tank, miniguns, rocket launchers and auto sniper rifles, kinda late ?

Gas Grenade and Gas Mines are a good gear, albeit i found it rather really inconsistent if it kills or just knocks people unconcious, but i like it over standard mines and grenades when i dont want to destroy enviroment like staircases and the blast radius is quite large.

So many weapons added by this mod could have been more accessible, here is the problem, pretty much most weapons added by this mod cannot compete with BlackOps weapons, who hit more accurately, generally have good damage, some minor armor penetration ability and mainly, excelent range, the most basic Blackops Rifle is like THE most used weapon, obscene range, accuracy and kills most humanoids in 1-2 and can even dent armored enemies.

And its quite a problem given Blackops weapons are unlocked w Military Envoy recruitment, which can be actually quite early, way more quickly before you could access these weapons. And even then, i just realized i should just stick to hunting rifle (given it has map wide range and kills most humanoids in 1-2 hits, very cheap ammo), regular shotgun (Which can shoot multitude ammo types and be pretty effective at most ranged fights, i do like flechets, kinda wish i could have buy more of them to actually use them beyond 1 mission against Red Dawns manor where it raked quite the bodycount.
And by the time i could, everyone was walking around with Blackops rifles and shotguns pretty much took a backseat outside creature/zombie hunts.

Things like AA12 are sort of overkill, the standard shotgun does the same work at beter range and i find this quite the deal when it comes to fighting creatures.  And i cannot remember if there are enemies in this mod that actually are 1) Have massive HP 2) Dont have fuckton of armor 3) Dont have some sort of reaction attack that can instantly kills your soldier
Like, if there was like a creature, that has no armor, but really high HP... then automatic shotguns would be straight up better given you could nuke it when it gets close.

But the biggest "why even use the other weapons" is the freaking MP5, yes i am not kidding, this accurate, people shredding SMG and accessible EXTREMELY early on, way before you get actual cult weapons pretty much makes most weapons redunant, before Military Envoy recruitment, the only weapons i need to round up cultist officers are hunting rifles, Mp5 and shotguns, i literally dont need anything else (Well if i skip non weapons like stun weapons, tear gas, smoke screen etc...). Like i am looking at kalashnikov and MP5 and comparing its stats, yes kalashnikov has better ammo type that will do more damage to armoured enemies, but here is a thing... there arent many enemies in the early game with armor where such difference would mean anything, just double tap them 6 times and they will be riddled with so many bullets it didnt matter that they got hit for 8 HP x 6.

Look, i guess what people encounter and how they progress will change from person to person so dont take what i say as some sort of ironclad facts. I do have actually few ideas to improve these problems.

- Make MP5 locked as a cult weapon, Dagon Cult, this gun is way too good for how early you get it and this submachineguns competes with actual assault rifles.
- Make an anti tank rifle be purchasable once you finish integoriating Red Dawn Coordinator so you have 100% chance to actually put it to use and its probably also the only time you will use it to be frank, given explosive weapons will surpass these clunky WW2 weapons because they hit for 4x times each attack. And against individuals, you will have the much more useful MAGMA cannons or simply the Blackops Rifles. Hell the Armoured Cars can actually be damaged with regular blackops sniper rifles and if you happen to get Berret Sniper Rifles, then they are in for bad time too. And by the time i get to assault Red Dawns HQ i usually just have blackops weapons and some scrounged up explosives and incendiaries to take out the armoured cars outside.
- Increase the cost of all Blackops weapons or decrease the cost of the weapons you made, looking at the list i notice that KS 23 cost whoopin 12k to buy while a Blackops Weapon costs 4500, despite Blackops shotgun being much better weapon at killing enemies KS 23 might be able to fire different ammo but by the time of Promo 2 its super likely you wont even need that.

38

The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 2.3: Rise of The Cultists

« on: March 30, 2022, 02:51:50 pm »

Hey, I was wondering how to get around the Shadow of (Cult name here) events.  I've done a few runs at varying difficulties, but I've never made it past six months because this event is constantly occurring and draining all of my points away.  I ran a game on beginner yesterday and lost in two months with scores of -2500 and -1700.  I'm hitting as many missions as I can, and I'm scoring in the positive on those missions, but there's no way that I can make that many points that fast.  In fact, today I started a new game and got hit with a Shadow of Exalt event before I had met all of my starting staff.  Is there some way that I can turn down the rate at which these types of events occur, or lower the number of points they drain?

This is odd because i cant remember Shadow of the Cult events at all, isnt this the Grim Ritual site, Gopniks dream, killing intend etc.. ?

Those shouldnt be draining THAT much points, let alone at once in one month in the early game that it can destroy you if you are doing well on other missions, like there is something that is missing here.
You know that NOT accepting missions does drain points ? Because such low scores so early in the game are really weird, those are "I skipped terror missions" number. Or if you accidentally researched too many archs at once and you have too many missions from different archs with massive penalties on too many of them/you cant actually play these because they are too hard for your tech level.

There is something wrong with your game, because in no way i hell you could be defeated even before meeting your basic staff

39

The X-Com Files / Re: How to arm craft?

« on: March 28, 2022, 01:56:28 pm »

Humvee doesnt have the same weapons as something like MIG or Kitsune, do you have the right ammo for it ?

Like you need minigun boxes to fill the minigun and there are 2 miniguns, the light minigun and the minigun.

40

The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 2.0: We Will Be Watching

« on: October 28, 2021, 08:15:49 pm »

Solarius, is there any reason base facilities like the access lift, HQ etc. give mana/sanitiy recovery?

Well, Lift because its kinda hard to do your job if you cannot leave or enter the base.... unless you fancy climbing the hangar door each day with a rope.

HQ gives a psychological effect, if you were in a base that actually has a command centre with you and high ranking teammates (If not direcly the Commander), your mind would be alot more at ease, more safety, ensurance and order in case of future missions or base defence.

Or if any other buildings give sanity, it would make sense in universe for soldiers to feel more...secure when their base has alot of structures, big budget, it will make them feel more important to XCOM.

41

The X-Com Files / Re: How safe are non-combat hideouts?

« on: October 10, 2021, 09:58:05 pm »

Hello,

Is it then possible to "win" the game with only one base and never a second one ?

Probably yes, but it will be very hard both on gameplay AND mainly your sanity, without additional bases you will struggle with storage capacity and you might also not be able to have alot of hangars to be able to send troops to multiple places at once so you will be forced to excell in every single mission you do get.

Having multiple bases is intended and how you should play. The ability to respond to multiple missions at once is also important and until you get something like a Skyranger, your crafts might not be even able to get to ther destination if for example your base is in Athens, Greece and there is Alien Terror in Rio De Janero.
And some cults only operate in certain regions, like Exalt in USA.

42

The X-Com Files / Re: [submod] XCom Files Arsenal Additions (ver 0.6.0d The Wall)

« on: October 04, 2021, 05:38:06 pm »

I can't tell from the pictures how the attachments like the bipod work, and that's what I'm most curious about. Can they be added and removed from guns during battle? Or are the like separate weapons?

Now that I'm imagining how an attachment system might work I can kinda picture something probably more elaborate then what you did. The weapon slot would be expanded to have more slots, and each weapon would simply 'fill' all the slots it doesn't have. Those leaving open attachment slots for attachments it can have. Then the attachments would be items each with their own bonuses. This would probably create all sorts of issues when storing them in backpacks though.    ...Am I making any sense at all?

Anyway, how's your attachment system work, can I get a couple pictures please?

Attachments are build projects in engineering, you need some pocket change and engineer and its almost instantly build. Then it works as standalone weapon.

43

The X-Com Files / Re: Entere the alien embasy

« on: October 04, 2021, 01:49:17 pm »

Or even weirder, after you make nice with leaders in shogg they start offering monthly resources (here's some gold bars you can sell). Things like that really bother the council (that don't want you to become beholden to non-human powers) but grant you some leeway as human nations fall.

Handouts from non-council sources does actually sound really cool. I would have expected that corporations would also start funding XCOM when countries start to fall and they can see the writing on the wall that if XCOM is gone, so is Humanity. And mainly, there wont be any customers and money to be made if everyone is dead or enslaved.

MAGMA without a doubt seems to be most symphatetic towards XCOM, Shogg Kingdoms, the underwater arc created corporation (by XCOM !) could be sending some of its profits back to its daddy, Blackops and UAC could start supporting XCOM if you eliminated the Cult of Apocalypse and Syndicate. And even some secret groups like Illuminati and MJ12 could start supplying XCOM with cash.

That is, if its even possible to add new countries as corps and groups of interest that will start giving you money once you finish an arc or make a certain research. These non-countries would also give a static income and couldnt be infiltrated. This would also reward the player for finishing story arcs AND give him some sort of safety net when his biggest sources of money get infiltrated.

44

The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 2.0: We Will Be Watching

« on: September 09, 2021, 08:23:43 am »

2 of the MAGMA share tech research topics needs to be changed, i just realized that both of them actually give you fuckall if you dont have a completely different tech from different story lines and they feel like a massive noob trap for those not using middle mouse button to see what gives what.

1) Sharing Alien Gardens with MAGMA
MAGMA can offer you chemical rounds for pulse weapons (And nothing else ?) But Pulse weapons are completely different unlock from Syndicate storyline.
So you can research Alien Gardens, share bioweapons with a corporation and you get nothing in return. This research needs to be locked behind having pulse weapons in the first place.

2) Sharing Elerium battery with MAGMA
Same as Alien Gardens, researching Elerium batteries lets you share it with this corporation but you get nothing in return, you need to get Terramite from Shogg arch too in order to unlock the power armor.

This tech needs to be locked together with sharing elerium batteries.



 

45

The X-Com Files / Re: The X-Com Files - 2.0: We Will Be Watching

« on: September 04, 2021, 07:34:15 pm »

Jar of Grey Goo ? Is that some sort of new grenade you can toss at enemies so they get dismantled by a swarm of nanobots ?