Balanced Ruleset

[clownagent]

Hello,

in the forum there are  many suggestions on how to balance the original xcom ruleset. For example  nerfing the the plasma cannon and the blaster launcher, but improving the normal cannon and stingray rockets. Maybe also the lightning craft seems to be too underpowered.

So, my question is:
Are there any balanced (downloadable) rulesets around, which incorporate some of this balancing stuff?



 

[kevL]

i put my not-quite-balanced-for-me ruleset up here

It's not plug & play, tho ( it could be with a few changes ) -- it's for comparison/ideas if you want


ps. i think the ruleset-format has change slightly since that version...

[clownagent]

Thanks! I'll give it a try.

[kevL]

uhm i just noticed I put a bug in there: ZOMBIE_ARMOR has "drawingRoutine: 5" which causes a crash.

it should be "4"


anywho, gLuck!

[clownagent]

I created two rulesets, one for balancing crafts and air combat, the other one for changing battlescape weapon stats.
Maybe someone is interested. As usual both files should be loaded via the "options.cfg" together with the standard ruleset.

The changes are as follows:

BalancedWeapon.rul:
- Autoshot only for rifles and autocannon
- Plasma weapons: most damage, medium weight, smaller clips, medium accuracy, medium TU
- Laser weapons: medium damage, large weight, unlimited ammo, best accuracy, slow firing
- standard weapons: low damage, low weight, medium ammo, least accuracy, fast firing

BalancedCraft:
- Plasma needs Elerium for rearming and is weaker
- Avalanche is a single, expensive but devastating missile (nuclear! in ufopaedia )
- tweaked other craft weapons a bit
- Avenger is more expensive and needs more elerium for refueling than Lightning and Firestorm (it has two reactor chambers)
- Improved UFOs (Both weapons and durability), now they fire back sometimes 

[redv]

There may be great changes in strategy and economics, if you will buy crafts, not rent.

Code: [Select]

crafts:
  - type: STR_SKYRANGER
    costBuy: 5000000
    costRent: 100000
    costSell: 3000000
  - type: STR_INTERCEPTOR
    costBuy: 6000000
    costRent: 100000
    costSell: 4000000
  - type: STR_FIRESTORM
    costRent: 100000
    costSell: 9000000
  - type: STR_LIGHTNING
    costRent: 100000
    costSell: 14000000
  - type: STR_AVENGER
    costRent: 100000
    costSell: 22000000
...
manufacture:
  - name: STR_FIRESTORM
    cost: 8000000
  - name: STR_LIGHTNING
    cost: 12000000
  - name: STR_AVENGER
    cost: 18000000

[clownagent]

There may be great changes in strategy and economics, if you will buy crafts, not rent.

Interesting idea. With these prices a craft would be very valuable and an early  loss of an interceptor nearly unacceptable.

In the original I found the air combat too easy. Even a single interceptor could shoot down most of UFO types by itself and by the time you have the firestorm, there is no threat anymore even from battleships (this is in strong contrast to battlescape missions, where the aliens are ruthless). I think that already small and medium UFOs should be a threat in air combat and the possibility to attack with multiple crafts at the same time is underused. Fluffwise it is cool to detect an UFO and send in several interceptors from bases scattered all over the world.
So in a modified ruleset I try to improve the UFOs to a point where Xcom has to sent regularly  2, maybe even 3 interceptors to shoot down a medium UFO. In short: UFOs should be tough, Interceptors weak and relatively cheap. Expect to lose a craft from time to time.

[Hythlodaeus]

I'd make Heavy Plasma work like the TFTD's Sonic Cannon (that is, snap and aimed fire only), and make Plasma Pistols more frequent in the late game, since they're a good weapon whose sole downside is their rarity in the battlefield. I would also improve the aim rating of the Heavy Laser, downgrade the explosion radius of the Blaster Bomb to that of a small rocket, and make Psi consume enormous amounts of stamina and TUs.

[clownagent]

I'd make Heavy Plasma work like the TFTD's Sonic Cannon (that is, snap and aimed fire only), and make Plasma Pistols more frequent in the late game, since they're a good weapon whose sole downside is their rarity in the battlefield. I would also improve the aim rating of the Heavy Laser, downgrade the explosion radius of the Blaster Bomb to that of a small rocket, and make Psi consume enormous amounts of stamina and TUs.

I agree with all points. Maybe the blaster launcher should be split into two weapons:
1. Direct fire weapon with very large explosion and damage
2. Guided weapon with small explosion and damage like the small rocket

Extreme damage + waypoint-guidance is completely nuts. Thankfully the aliens kill more often themselves with it than the Xcom troops.