[WEAPON] Fusion Torch

[Ran]

So here is my first mod:



The Fusion Torch is an extremely powerful short range demolition device with a range of 1 tile. It can cut through UFO hulls with ease and is especially useful inside UFOs where Blaster Bombs would cause too much damage. Its high TU cost doesn't make it a good melee weapon, but any unlucky alien coming close enough will be annihilated by this device.
The Fusion Torch's Power cell stores enough energy for 5 devastating blasts.




To unlock the Fusion Torch, Blaster Launcher and Blaster Bomb need to be researched. After Fusion Torch research is completed, the Fusion Torch Power Cell may be researched. Both items need to be manufactured.


Mod comes in 2 Versions:
FusionTorch.rar has only Aimed Shot and standard flame hit sprite
FusionTorchAuto.rar has Aimed- and AutoShot-2 option and custom blue flame hit sprite.

Savegames for for testing:
Sep2nd.sav lets you research the Fusion Torch
t1.sav is a battlescape mission with a downed Muton Terrorship.

So far it seems to work fine, the HANDOB sprites look somewhat terrible, I'm really bad at drawing objects with a few pixels.
Please tell me what you think!

[Hythlodaeus]

Looks great, but I'd like to recommend lower damage values, chiefly because, with 500 damage, that makes it really easy to kill Sectopods on close range.

[Warboy1982]

it also makes it possible to carve through skyranger hulls, i guess you guys can have your windows after all.

[Ran]

I admit that was the sole point of this mod.

[Solarius Scorch]

This. Looks. Awesome.
I hope you get it pretty late though, after Heavy Plasma Gun, Flying Suit and psionics... Otherwise it might be unbalanced.
I'd also increase TUs to at least 85%. This shouldn't allow for more than cutting holes in the scenery, or perhaps an alien unfortunate enough to wander close at the beginning of your turn.
Anyway, I'll certainly use it!

EDIT: OK, I check the ruleset and it seems it needs a Blaster Launcher/Bomb. Not bad, but I'd suggest adding Elerium-115 to the prerequisites, as you need to make your own clip design to power this baby.

[Ran]

I have added Alien Alloys and Elerium-115 as research dependencies and increased TU cost to 80%.
Damage 500 is indeed needed to 'remodel' X-COM crafts, but you may choose whichever value suits you.

Should I increase accuracy even further?
I mean, how hard can it be to miss a wall in front of you?

I noticed there is a bug which lets the Fusion Torch misfire over considerable distances from time to time in what looks like an arcing shot. Seems rare and no real problem however. Please test and give feedback!

[Solarius Scorch]

Accuracy is fine; it's not always easy to cut the wall.

As for the 500 damage, I just heard that 200 is enough to cut through UFOs, and 250 through the Skyranger (if you really want this feature). Perhaps you should consider bringing it down to these values, to give the poor Reaper some survival chance.

I haven't reached your torch yet, but I'll try it as soon as I research it.

[Ran]

None-explosive weapons affect terrain with  25% to 75% of their original power.
This means the Fusion Torch has an effective destruction power of 125 to 375.
The outer UFO wall can take 100, the X-COM crafts 255.
So already with strength 500 the crafts have a 50% chance of withstanding the Fusion Torch, while UFO walls will always be penetrated. I think this is fine.

As for the Sectopod and other unfortunate aliens - if you managed to come close enough to hit them with 80%TU cost, you deserved that kill as well as an award.
The only creature able to survive a direct hit is the Zombie, as it will hatch a Chryssalid no matter how much damage it takes. You'd have to change firing values to AutoShot-2, so the 2nd hit also kills the Chryssalid to solve this issue.

[yrizoud]

Autoshot-2 would also allow you to cut a hole AND melt the alien behind it, using a teammate with a motion detector.

[Drako^BB]

Intresting

[Ran]

Killing the alien behind the wall sounds fun but proved quite difficult.
You easily end up standing in front of it with no TUs left.

I have added a separate Autoshot mod which includes a new hit sprite with blue flames - FusionTorchAuto.rar
Geoscape and battlescape savegames for testing can now also be found in first post.

[Solarius Scorch]

Ran, I noticed your torch is visible in the Ufopedia since day 1. You can fix it by changing the Ufopedia section to this:

Code: [Select]

ufopaedia:
  - id: STR_FUSION_TORCH
    type_id: 4
    section: STR_WEAPONS_AND_EQUIPMENT
    text: STR_FUSION_TORCH_UFOPEDIA
    requires:
      - STR_FUSION_TORCH
  - id: STR_FUSION_TORCH_POWER_CELL
    type_id: 4
    section: STR_WEAPONS_AND_EQUIPMENT
    text: STR_FUSION_TORCH_POWER_CELL_UFOPEDIA
    requires:
      - STR_FUSION_TORCH_POWER_CELL

Hope it helps.

[Ran]

Thanks, I completely forgot about that.

Should be fixed, please keep reporting any issues you find.

[LouisdeFuines]

Is it possible to have the torch translated in german?

I would do it myself, if you`d tell me how.

The problem is, it shouldn`t be in the normal strings, right?

[Ran]

Sure, German is my first language.

I generally don't like German translations and prefer to play in English, so I had not added any translation until now, check the new attachments and feel free to use or modify the German text.