Additional new Ideas/questiosn about mods/modding openXcom

[mrcalzon02]

just some thoughts and questions about what is possible or could be possible.
 I have no idea of any of what i'm talking about is even possible much less supported...

1.has any one tried adding (Shields  Belts) as an item or (personal shields) as a stat?
-sheilds retro engineered from ufos? or built from scratch?
-Works-another mod already adds

2.what about  a mana/psi pool stat  and spells/weapons that draw power to fire/activate?
-medieval fant or sci fi base spells and powersish?
-Works-another mod already adds

3.abilities or items that spawn temp/disposable unit/units in the battlescape?
-like reinforcement flares which calls random help from local military? or Signal beacons which create temporary holo-units or beam in more aliens?  wouldn't it be cool to be down to half a squad in a mission gone sour but pop some emergency smoke and have some tanks roll in with some rando soldiers which you can use for a mission and never see again? maybe they cost an ass load to pay for the support?...sigh that would be a shite load of sprite work...but worth it.(Might make tank HWP sprites for the heck of it.)
-Tanks like normal tanks, like HWP but cheaper and more shit.  along with random soldiers with a rifle with 5 rounds and a grenade.
-Work in Progress-another mod is adding but no idea when...

4.player built safe havens for civilians? like a base but different modules? having different modules provides different buff/debuf to
base/income/units?
- say fluf wise a X-com evacuation program. which would some day lead to -xcom apocalypse- domed cities.maybe they face base assault more often?( better higher priority target?)
like building an alien colony but xcom.
Civilian room types That Cost negative amounts of cash in the existing system, civilian quarters? (living quarters/workshops/landingpad)(Also, would having civis spawn on base def kill the universe?
-works-Built simple demo mod.

5. Adding xcomBase Surface level to base defense maps?
- would it even work(*update* maybe)
- perhaps adding surface layouts to Each room type?have random for empty(dirt) tiles?(always wanted to see what the surface of the Xcom bases would look like.)
-great excuse for map makers to make more xcom themed map stuff... Just Thought of a Quick'n'dirty way to do it, by adding a Third&fourth "top" level to all Xcom default base facilites? Even the "Dirt" map maybe using urban to make a Surface type things..(will try later and post results.)
/|\
*update**AAAAAAHHH*, okay, doing this requires rebuilding all prebuilt nodes. all of them...)
Also need to edit the mission call to ask for 4 tall map tiles not 2.
Tileset loading error/limit in base def mission? *more research needed* see image for reference.

6. option to retake/reclaim lost bases?
-possible to save base info as a new alien colony?
-have the base info restored after successful mission  to retake it?

[Meridian]

1. yes

2. no (but nice idea)

3. no, but planned

4. no

5. yes

6. no

[mrcalzon02]

should i be replying or editing OP?

[ohartenstein23]

A bit of elaboration on some of the points:

• Personal energy shields (and many other battlescape ideas) can be made in the Extended branch of OpenXcom (look for OXCE/OXCE+ here in the forums) using a scripting language created by Yankes.  I've written scripts for almost exactly what you're suggesting, with more advanced versions of this script available in the mod X-Piratez.
  
• There's no mana pool per se, but it is possible to make weapons and items take energy or morale to use or cause stun damage on use - Piratez and X-Com Files have quite a few items with this already.
  
• Nothing to add to Meridian's answer.
  
• Nothing to add to Meridian's answer.
  
• I wrote map generation code for exactly this purpose!  It's a part of OpenXcom Extended and Extended Plus, you can see an example of it in this post.
  
• Nothing to add to Meridian's answer.
  

[Solarius Scorch]

should i be replying or editing OP?

Replying would probably be less confusing.

And welcome to the forums!

[mrcalzon02]

(removed double post.)
sooo um well one of my ideas works, but as implemented is suuuper cheaty.... having Base facilities able to be canceled before being fully built allows negative cost facilitates to be spammed and deleted for instant free cash... hum, how to fix? guess i could just having them have build cost and negative maintenance cost?
Soo looking at Civilian base facilities balance in terms of longer build times+bigger investment= bigger payouts.
along these lines so far.
  - type: STR_LIVING_QUARTERS2
    spriteShape: 1
    spriteFacility: 18
    buildCost: 100000
    buildTime: 10
    monthlyCost: -10000
    personnel: 2
    storage: 2
    workshops: 2
    mapName: XBASE_01
  - type: STR_WORKSHOP2
    spriteShape: 1
    spriteFacility: 20
    buildCost: 200000
    buildTime: 20
    monthlyCost: -10500
    personnel: 2
    storage: 2
    workshops: 2
    mapName: XBASE_03
  - type: STR_HANGAR2
    spriteShape: 9
    spriteFacility: 9
    size: 2
    buildCost: 300000
    buildTime: 30
    monthlyCost: -45000
    mapName: XBASE_16

The question then becomes what happens if/when someone builds a  base with a negative monthly maintenance cost?
also, crap looking at sprite editng is hurting my brain! going to be digging around for a good sprite editing setup/tools.(i have read enough to know gimp is a bad idea but its my go-to editor.    )

[ohartenstein23]

Don't know what you mean about negative cost facilities, but negative monthly cost does exactly what you expect - free cash every month!

Also, GIMP works fine if you know what settings to use. Find copies of the proper palette files (I remember finding them somewhere on the forum in a photoshop thread), put them in GIMP's palette folder. Then, make a new image, go to Image->Mode->Indexed, and in the dialogue box choose the XCom palette you want and untick the option for removing unused colors. It's a good idea to save a project file with this as a template, so you always start with the correct settings.

[mrcalzon02]

if you plug a "-" infront of a buildcost value you get a instant payout when you place the building.... but you can immediately cancel the unfinished building and do it again, thus free cash.i imagine it like promising to build a apartment to a bunch of investors they give you the cash blindy, and you just dont build anything, and then keep saying your going to build more.... and more.  and more. and they never question you... i can imagine sad families showing up at the xcom base and being feed into a incinerator.....
Example
  - type: STR_HANGAR2
    spriteShape: 9
    spriteFacility: 9
    size: 2
    buildCost: -300000
    buildTime: 30
    monthlyCost: -45000
    mapName: XBASE_16

that would be the code for a hanger that would give you a shite ton of cash just to place it.

Also if what your saying is right Custom base Sprites will Follow soonish.( what is[ERROR]Failed to open directory: common?)
*update* well poop now there are new issues will continue tomorrow (uploading what i have on the off chance that iim just an idiot.)

[ohartenstein23]

Ah, negative build cost. There's a way to make removing a building cause a refund, probably you can just set that to negative too, countering the free cash on facility placement.

[mrcalzon02]

yes a cancel cost would be just what was needed, also later today im going to be rebuilding my custom sprites for the rooms one step at a time to try and find what i've done wrong... they aren't very unique right now,(simple recoloring) but hey even the greatest tradesmen start as rank armatures emulating the work of their masters. this forum and the resources it provides have been very helpful, im happy to help even if only a very little...( on that thought i might try doing some more sprite recoulors of base stuff later to.)