2x2 base facilities: single 20x20 map or four 10x10 maps ?

[robin]

As per topic title.
The only 2x2 facility (the hangar) uses four 10x10 maps instead of a single 20x20 map: is there a specific reason that requires 2x2 facilities to use four 10x10 maps instead of single 20x20 map?
I'm asking because I'd ideally use a 20x20 map, if possible.

Thanks

[ohartenstein23]

Besides the reason that the original game data is arranged that way?  Perhaps because the base map in the original game was drawn by placing a map in each square of the 6x6 grid?  The OXC engine doesn't do it that way though, it loops over base facilities and places them according to position and size, so maybe it could be an option to use a 20x20 map instead.

[robin]

Besides the reason that the original game data is arranged that way?  Perhaps because the base map in the original game was drawn by placing a map in each square of the 6x6 grid?  The OXC engine doesn't do it that way though, it loops over base facilities and places them according to position and size, so maybe it could be an option to use a 20x20 map instead.

That's what I'd like to know, if the 20x20 map option is available.


Also another question sort of related:
can the Access Lift facility be 20x20 ?

[ohartenstein23]

Ah, I didn't make it clear in my post, the 2x2 map is not an option in OXC right now. I forgot that I added it though in OXCE with the vertical terrain code, if you want to try that.  There is also no reason I found in the code why a 2x2 lift wouldn't work, you could try it by just repeating the lift map 4 times before creating a 2x2 map.

[RSSwizard]

Actually I really think that each "facility tile" should be 15x15 instead of assumed to be 10x10. I think base defense should have a whole lot of real estate, providing plenty of range to be reaction-fired upon and reduce the effectiveness of aimed shots. Lots of distance to cover to eat up your energy too, and more time for enemies to spread from the airlock and hangars before you can get to them.

Little more than 8x8 meters of floor space even spread over 2 floors is hardly what id consider operable for any facility run for its purpose in a high caliber clandestine organization such as xcom.

Rumors of deep underground military bases as part of extraterrestrial coverups and the large (uac) military facilities from doom give the impression if its a secret base its not just some little missile slio.

Id even say 20x20 per base tile but because of the total map size that might be kinda funky for the engine (120x120 maps). But I forget whether the map engine can handle non-10 size map chunks.

Ive always thought it's probably better to have the Top Floor reserved for the passageways with successive lower floors reserved for the meat and bones of each facility structure (and on the lowest level you'd put the utility tunnels). Due to gravity it makes sense for any deliveries and for emergency evacuation - you want to have all of the traffic as close to the surface as possible.

(to halt map slowdowns all EMPTY map chunks should only have a 1 or 2 border Solid Rock fill on the edges with a large hollow space inbetween, that way there's nothing being drawn in those spaces, since solid rock tiles are supposed to be indestructible nobody's going to break through there and fall into that hole).

[Hobbes]

Actually I really think that each "facility tile" should be 15x15 instead of assumed to be 10x10. I think base defense should have a whole lot of real estate, providing plenty of range to be reaction-fired upon and reduce the effectiveness of aimed shots. Lots of distance to cover to eat up your energy too, and more time for enemies to spread from the airlock and hangars before you can get to them.

Little more than 8x8 meters of floor space even spread over 2 floors is hardly what id consider operable for any facility run for its purpose in a high caliber clandestine organization such as xcom.

Rumors of deep underground military bases as part of extraterrestrial coverups and the large (uac) military facilities from doom give the impression if its a secret base its not just some little missile slio.

Id even say 20x20 per base tile but because of the total map size that might be kinda funky for the engine (120x120 maps). But I forget whether the map engine can handle non-10 size map chunks.

Ive always thought it's probably better to have the Top Floor reserved for the passageways with successive lower floors reserved for the meat and bones of each facility structure (and on the lowest level you'd put the utility tunnels). Due to gravity it makes sense for any deliveries and for emergency evacuation - you want to have all of the traffic as close to the surface as possible.

(to halt map slowdowns all EMPTY map chunks should only have a 1 or 2 border Solid Rock fill on the edges with a large hollow space inbetween, that way there's nothing being drawn in those spaces, since solid rock tiles are supposed to be indestructible nobody's going to break through there and fall into that hole).

120x120 maps are possible to be generated but the replayability of base defense missions would be affected. It's a matter of area: a 60x60 map has 3600 squares, while a 120x120 has an area of 14400 squares, or 4 times the area of a vanilla base defense. That would double or even triple the time required to complete such a mission, and the first time it would be OK since the player would be experimenting something new, but afterwards base defense would turn into a really long chore.

Even a 90x90 map (with blocks of 15x15 squares) would mean an area of 8100 squares, more than the double of vanilla, with the same effect on the time required to complete a mission

[Stoddard]

That's all not taking into account the FPS. It's already suboptimal at 60x60 base defense, esp with lots of smore/fire. Quadrupling that will not exactly kill it, but still.. What would surely kill playability is adding z-levels to the base maps. No way around that but for rewriting the renderer, and with the scripts, I'm not sure it's even possible.

You want Dwarf Fortress-like bases, you've got to rewrite the battlescape.