Author Topic: openxcom was too difficult to play. is there a way to use the original rules?  (Read 1194 times)

Offline Juku121

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i just finished playing terror from the deep x-com  patch version 2.1
there was no difference i found from the one with the unpatched version. even the linked mission doesnt relay the weapons to the final, except you receive all the weapons at the end.
Since the only old version I have access to is the GoG one, which is unpatched unless you use the largely unsupported Windows executable, I can't really say. Installing the StrategyCore 2.1 patch doesn't seem to make a difference with that, either. And all the TFTD playthroughs I've seen seem to have the same multi-stage issue of 1.0.

OTOH, I do recall getting to have end-of-stage loot and UFOpaedia.org also says that bug was fixed. So, I don't know. Perhaps the 2.1 patch isn't really working with modern distributions of the original. Or perhaps you're right. I tend to think it's the former, but that's me.

I think never played 'unpatched' TFTD, unless you count the demo, but it's been nearly 30 years, and I have zero data from that time still on hand, so who knows what the exact version I had was. 

no you havent actually played the original, ones you played must have been the universal patched one disguised as the original, there is no way you would havent known this from the original
The Universal Patch didn't exist for another decade or so when I first played the games. I still remember some Sectoids/Floaters/Chryssalids spooking me when they stood back up, so it definitely wasn't 0.1%. It also wasn't too often, as they usually got killed and if they didn't, the mission didn't take too long to finish, so they didn't have a lot of opportunity to regain consciousness. But that isn't your 0.1%.

Tentaculats and calcinites and maybe robsters too are noticiably different from the orgianal, probably all other aliens were changed too. the reason i found was modders probably straightened out their paths
Now that is more likely to be a Universal Patch thing, since what it did was restricted to maps, map data and alien patrol routes.

Zigging and zagging a little does not change melee attack ranges, though, since the zigzag is likely there because this is the optimal path, TU-wise. And TU costs don't have dramatic differences between different versions.

The AI has been unreliable about actually charging you since forever, and that was something that wasn't changed until OXC, and then only as an option for modders. So I still think it's confirmation bias on your part, after one or two Tentaculats got lucky. But I might be wrong.

by doing so, they changed some kind of game balance further, but now it is ok for universal patch, if i just consider universal patch is not a patch but a mod.
Sure, it's a mod in the sense that it wasn't something the original devs did. But it didn't alter balance, it just fixed a bunch of what were widely considered map errors and issues. There's plenty of precedent for things like this being called 'Community Patch' or similar.

no it was NOT broken, please play the oirignal. the original served its perfect purpose, dye grenades disperse slowly
This has been disputed since day one (with the same or similar argument as yours), and most places I've seen disagree with your take. See here for what's the closest thing to a consensus X-Com players have on the subject.

But, sure, that's indeed a balance change and not 'pure' TFTD.

so modders made all field aliens converge toward you, and in 2 turns, some of them WILL already reach your submarine's door.
No such thing before turn 20. And that was always a thing since the original UFO. Sure, OXC AI is not 100% the same as the original, but mostly it's technical improvements like unrestricted grenade targeting. Universal Patch, i.e. data set modders changing AI without touching the executable is a fairy tale.

so universal patch removed the 80 item carry limit.
The Universal Patch only changed maps and related data. The 80-item limit is in every non-OXC version I know. Well, TFTD technically has a 110-item limit, but crafts still can't load more than 80, so that's only applicable to base defence.

If you play OXC, you can always reinstate the limit yourself. Most people welcome this change.

YOU DONT EVER NEED TO RAID ALIENS in vessels
Excessive smoke/dye turtling was always considered a weakness of the tactical model, and OXC(E) mods usually have several ways of mitigating this. But, sure, play as you like.

Incidentally, this tactic works about as well for both original and modified dye grenades. You just need to press 'end turn' a lot, and pray that there's no alien squad close to the doors during the first few turns if you use the original, power 10 grenades. Smoke/dye still dissipates at the same speed.

in the original, aliens who jump from the roof of the UFO vessel to the ground are extremely rare,
but in the universal patch one, they come out of there like boiling water
There is exactly one USO across the two games where non-flying aliens can even get to the roof, the Fleet Supply Cruiser. I don't recall anyone ever spawning on a roof, but I suppose they might, on rare occasions. But this is definitely not often enough to be 'like boiling water'.

you come to them by dragging all 10 marines to them. aliens in there are SO defensive, there EXISTS an impossibility for you to win(no amounts of saving and loading games can do), if you tell me what this impossibility is, i will praise you
Unless you're playing BOXCE or a mod that changes this, aliens always had their turn 20 thing that made them cease patrolling and come out, in both games. I rarely hit that limit, due to killing them all before, but I have no idea how you got to the conclusion that aliens turtle forever.

People have played Superhuman TFTD since the beginning. If you need an example, Meridian here specifically played original TFTD to get debug data and bust myths.

and finally universal patch workshop production has about 30% faster duration.
That's probably just you running into the Manufacturing Rate Limit Bug. Which is not something that happens to every single manufacturing project.

the reason i havent played patched version 2
Similarly, I can't play non-OXCE TFTD. The UI improvements alone are just too much.

openxcom using universal patch doesnt represent the original xcom ufo, IT IS JUST A MOD.
Sure, there are many things different from the original, mostly to improve the game and fix what most people would consider bugs. But - short of the dye grenades and multi-stage missions - your observations don't seem to be those, just vague opinion.



If you can provide an original 1.0 save (Geoscape only, Battlescape is not compatible, so one can't compare the same save in two engines) that demonstrates either the 'aliens don't wake up', 'aliens run from the roof', 'tentaculats have greater range than before' or similar, I guess one could take these posts more seriously. As it is, it's you making vague assertions while not playing the original, ones that contradict my own experience and what's been recorded on the UFOpaedia.

i would like to post this openxcom extended forum section as a wish that openxcom also consider a original version to be used as well
OXCE is not a project concerned with faithfulness to the original edit: to the same degree as /edit OXC is. If you want to ask the original devs, OXC Discord seems to be the place for that. I wouldn't get my hopes up, though. The most likely answer is still "If you want to play the original, nothing more and nothing less, then play the original".
« Last Edit: June 15, 2024, 02:33:24 pm by Juku121 »

Offline Yankes

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OXCE is not a project concerned with faithfulness to the original
This depend on your definition of "faithfulness", for me rule is "if you last played 25y ago you will not see difference".
Ono other hand if you play non-stop for this 25y then you will see lot of differences.
I would consider OXCE a faithful sequel to original game (TFTD is effective only expansion pack) that still behave similar but update all mechanics.

Offline Juku121

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Perhaps I should have said 'concerned mainly with faithfulness'. Still, it's OXC's schtick to be as close to the original as one can reasonably be, and OXCE's to 'extend' that without invalidating the original whenever possible.