Ways to reduce the tediousness

[bluth]

Hey everyone,

I recently playing X-COM Files and I love it. The setting and freedom possibly make this my favorite game ever in theory.

In practice I already start to fear the grind. At some point I'm just bored of doing the same fights against cultists over and over again, especially when I have to lose so much time looking for them hiding in a closet.

It sucks because I genuinely enjoy all the love that went into making this mod and all there is to discover.

Is there a setting or a submod that "shorten" the campaign by reducing the number of missions that pop and quickening the progression for instance ? I actually think this could be doable pretty easily by editing the config files but I don't want to go into that blind and fuck up the balance completely.

 Or any options to skip missions I really dont want to do for the 50th time (in Xenonauts you could bomb UFO for instance) ?

I know this long grind is part of the charm of such a mega mod but I would very much like to find a way to enjoy it without it feeling like a chore.

[mg2k22]

Hi

Well, you can ignore / abort most missions if you want to. Scoring-wise it's manageable.

[psavola]

I hate to break this on you, but actually IMHO the cultist part is not all that long.. if you capture and research the right ones, you continuously progress to new kind of missions (and the more easier ones stop spawning). Further, personally I find this early game most exciting myself (training agents, weak weapons, weak agents dying all the time, etc.). Maybe you are not doing the right things if this feels repetitive? But if you are, I fear you might get even more bored later, when you really get to more repetitive phases..

[Juku121]

Yeah, the megamods are really not meant to be played in one sitting. Or one month, even.

Well, you can ignore / abort most missions if you want to. Scoring-wise it's manageable.

I'd also be a bit cautious about skipping missions. We've had several people come in and complain about losing due to score, and while some of that was due to bugs, some was also genuine. I tried two saves just to see how it goes, skipping a whole month and letting current research run its course. So, with lowish research score, the save from Aug '97 just posted in the bug thread got me ~1K negative score. An older save of mine from mid-2000 got me ~6K into the negatives.

You need quite a few missions to offset that, and while skipping some is definitely possible, skipping most either is not, or you really need to know what you're doing. Not to mention that the most skippable missions tend to be the ones where you can get in some cheap training for your agents. Loot and score, probably not so much except for not getting the penalties.


There is only a mod to make XCF even longer. I guess so far the in-game tools have sufficed for mission grind. Or perhaps people just stop playing at some point.

[bluth]

Maybe you are not doing the right things if this feels repetitive?

That's actually completely possible, I may have taken wrong research path which artificially lenghten the early game lenght. I will look into that.

I'd also be a bit cautious about skipping missions.

Ok too bad, I had some hope of stopping doing low level cultists missions once my jail were full.

Yeah, the megamods are really not meant to be played in one sitting. Or one month, even.

There is only a mod to make XCF even longer. I guess so far the in-game tools have sufficed for mission grind. Or perhaps people just stop playing at some point.

You are right and that is something I see constantly when reading/speaking about XCOM mega mods. Players love them to death (because they are awesome) but they rarely finish them.

I honestly think there is a place for a XCOM Files-lite (or X-Piratez-lite for that matter) that allows to experience the game in a reasonable time frame. It also feels better (imo) to play in Ironman when you know a lost run won't make you lose 200 hours.

[Juku121]

Ok too bad, I had some hope of stopping doing low level cultists missions once my jail were full.

You can probably cut down on some score loss by doing the old 'abort terror site' strategy, landing and then immediately taking off. Most missions have a lower 'abort' penalty, compared to the 'despawn' penalty. You might also get in some cheap shots to get stat-raising XP.

Myself, if things get really tediuos, I either enable debug mode and CTRL-K/CTRL-J or just edit my saves and give eneryone 9999 TU and energy (in case I really want to see what 'natural' commendation progression looks like).

I honestly think there is a place for a XCOM Files-lite (or X-Piratez-lite for that matter)...

While not exactly X-Com Files lite, the OXCE version of Final Mod Pack is not too dissimilar and definitely smaller in scope. There's also Reaver's Harmony, which is kinda similar.

[bluth]

I started using the command when I notice there is only one guy hiding in a corner. It actually dramatically accelerated my playtime. Thanks !

Yeah I've read about FMP but I'm just so in love with Xcom Files setting !

[CaptainVietnam]

I personally tweak the cult apprehensions missions de spawn penalty to 0 I get sick of them. Restarted this mod so much and all they are is me rushing into a dark corner throwing x2 flares and skipping turns till they die to over watch. A faster way to cut them off sooner would be great.

as for in game missions I use
[OXCE] Forced Bughunt
https://mod.io/g/openxcom/m/oxce-forced-bughunt

I tweaked it to kick in after 30 turns (like xenonauts) most  things are dead far before then. limit it to 1-3 enemy units left on map before trigger.

nothing is quite as annoying going 100-300 turns looking for 1 assassin boy so I don't anymore never looked back since.

[bluth]

I personally tweak the cult apprehensions missions de spawn penalty to 0 I get sick of them. Restarted this mod so much and all they are is me rushing into a dark corner throwing x2 flares and skipping turns till they die to over watch. A faster way to cut them off sooner would be great.

I might do just that, where can I tweak this value ?

Even in lore, I see the Cult Apprehension mission as a way to gain intel, there is no imminent threat. Once I've enough low rankings cultists in my jails I can skip some without the world falling appart.

[psavola]

X Cult Apprehension missions stop once you have researched X Cult Network, i.e., very early on (depending on RNG and research priorities usually in 3-6 months). You're likely doing something wrong if these really trouble you that much especially in the long term.

[CaptainVietnam]

I might do just that, where can I tweak this value ?

Even in lore, I see the Cult Apprehension mission as a way to gain intel, there is no imminent threat. Once I've enough low rankings cultists in my jails I can skip some without the world falling appart.

This is all from the top of my head but
use notepad++ go into the rule set folder it is called alienDeployments (or something like that)
press CTRL + F TO OPEN search
type in STR_ALERT_CULT_APPREHENSION
from there you will find despawnPenalty: 150 replace with zero
find next on the bar repeat steps for all the cults

X Cult Apprehension missions stop once you have researched X Cult Network, i.e., very early on (depending on RNG and research priorities usually in 3-6 months). You're likely doing something wrong if these really trouble you that much especially in the long term.

I restart often as an ironman player and as perfections to see If I can do better.

It is not wise to do cult network without being able to get them all done at once and get promo 2. you can get armored vest, black ops weapons, frags before ever even having to face a outpost. Why fight outpost with kevlar armor and bad guns and no way to avoid sniper/spotters?

If RNG IS bad sometimes a cult safe house just wont spawn and delays promo 2 but at least i'm not fighting outpost like I would searching network. It's a lot like not attacking manors without promo 3 it just makes life hard just don't do it lol.

so yeah I get stuck with brain rot if RNG sometimes wont give me one of cult safe houses I need.  leading to 6 months of cult apprehension  and I got sick of it after a while. 

another great tip is to research trigger research
(things that say may effect game progress) at start of month since they don't take effect until a fresh month.

[bluth]

X Cult Apprehension missions stop once you have researched X Cult Network, i.e., very early on (depending on RNG and research priorities usually in 3-6 months). You're likely doing something wrong if these really trouble you that much especially in the long term.

Oh yeah I definitely fucked up the research path. You should have seen my 4 agents in a van with Kevlar vest and shotguns facing up againt the first UFO shot down by the army. A lot of burnt bodies.

I played with the research tree a little bit and started a new game with this knowledge. I bt it's going to be much better.

This is all from the top of my head but
use notepad++ go into the rule set folder it is called alienDeployments (or something like that)
press CTRL + F TO OPEN search
type in STR_ALERT_CULT_APPREHENSION
from there you will find despawnPenalty: 150 replace with zero
find next on the bar repeat steps for all the cults

Thanks man, will do !

[HinterDemGlas]

I honestly think there is a place for a XCOM Files-lite (or X-Piratez-lite for that matter) that allows to experience the game in a reasonable time frame. It also feels better (imo) to play in Ironman when you know a lost run won't make you lose 200 hours.

I still have a file around from like 2020 with ideas (and a general structure) for an "XCFiles Digest". I think what really deterred me was mission scripting

[Chromeo]

I do really wish this mod and Xpiratez were shorter or at least had a shorter mode option, I understand some people like the 'long war' experience but to me it just feels far too grindy.