[ALIEN INVENTORY] Item Levels more variability

[Solarius Scorch]

This very simple mod makes the aliens retain all three tiers of weapons throughout the game. In the vanilla version, they quickly switch to using exclusively Heavy Plasma Guns, which is kinda monotonous.
Bear in mind that in later months Heavy Plasma still dominates; Plasma Pistols and Plasma Rifles are less common, but they do show up.

An up-to-date version always here: https://www.openxcom.com/mod/item-levels

I realize that this mod is trivial, but still it would benefit those who (like me) would like to see more variability in alien weapons and don't know how to do it themselves. Still, if you think this doesn't deserve being called a "completed mod", feel free to delete/move it.

In the future I might use this mod as a basis for additional alien weapons (hand-held Plasma Cannon anyone?).

EDIT: I've added a Plasma Sniper Rifle to the alien inventory, enjoy!

EDIT: I've decided to drop the Plasma Sniper Rifle from this mod and make it a new one. This mod will be kept clean - just retaining of old weapons (for people who don't want new stuff). For the new version with added weapons, see my Alien Armoury Expanded mod.

[B1ackwolf]

l love you...no homo xD
this its great!! i was tryng to do it for myself but i couldnt get the time (i m in exams and also the situations its a little awkward here) i think this should stay in vainilla or at least just for sectoid...how its posible that a alien with athrophied arms could use a heavy plasma? they should stick with pistols and rifles
(, i know that in late game the pistol doesnt make a big threat againts power armors,but there must be a way to equilibrate it right?)

[Solarius Scorch]

l love you...no homo

Same

this its great i was tryng to do it for myself but i could get the time (i m in exams and also the situations y a little awkward here) i think this should stay in vainilla or at least just in sectoid...how its posible that a alien with athrophied arms could use a heavy plasma?

I thought about it too. Unfortunately, the game doesn't take equipment weight into account when assigning inventory to aliens. You can't do separate loadouts for different races either; it depends on the UFO.

[Mr. Quiet]

So this mod lets aliens use any weapon they want depending on the UFO size? This way it's not always Heavy Plasma late-game? I hope I understand correctly, this sounds good and not op

Thanks again Solarius! It's always the small details that count.

[Solarius Scorch]

So this mod lets aliens use any weapon they want depending on the UFO size? This way it's not always Heavy Plasma late-game? I hope I understand correctly, this sounds good and not op

OK, again Aliens' equipment has 3 possible configurations, or tech levels (simplified: plasma pistols, plasma rifles and heavy plasma only). The game rolls which configuration is used. But the later the month, the more the engine is weighed towards the strongest configuration, which only contains heavy plasmas. At some point only heavy plasmas are used - there's no pistols nor rifles. This mod changes that, so there will always be a chance to see pistols and rifles.

As for the specific loadouts, they are tied to the UFO; that's why you get Blaster Launchers only in Battleships and bases. You can't tie loadouts to a race, because every UFO can be manned by any race.

Thanks again Solarius! It's always the small details that count.

No problem

[Mr. Quiet]

Thanks for your explanation.

Rereading the OP, I can't wait for the Aliens to get new weapons, because it feels like we're getting new weapons too

Edit: I'd like to know what's next on your list. I'm dreaming of mods everyday

[Solarius Scorch]

Edit: I'd like to know what's next on your list. I'm dreaming of mods everyday

I mostly write stuff for the Piratez! mod by Dioxine. Once this is out, I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

EDIT:

I promised you I'd work on this mod further, right? So, let me present the next iteration! This one goes beyond simple retaining of low-level weapons throughout the game, as it adds a new weapon that aliens use:



Yes, it's an alien sniper rifle that the enemy actually uses. It can only be found in some missions (where I arbitrarily decided a sniper rifle would makes sens, for example in terror missions - city fighting). It lacks autofire, but is very accurate and a bit more powerful than the Plasma Rifle.

The sprite was made by Shadow (impressive job!) and somewhat modified by yours truly (mostly adding the sniper scope). I plan to work on the handobs a little more, but I think it's not bad already.

My next project regarding this mod will be a light plasma cannon which explodes on hit. I'll have to make it from scratch though, so it'll take me some time.

Download the enhanced version from the first post in this thread. If you want the basic version 1.0 (without new weapons), download it from Jo5hua's mod site.

[Jo5hua]

Oh sure.. just leave me and the mod site users with the "basic" version! Btw, you can always upload multiple files for a mod and just change the file name and it will show both files for a mod.

By the way, this would go great with Shadow's Terran Plasma Weapons. Balance both alien and xcom weapon loadout.

[Solarius Scorch]

Oh sure.. just leave me and the mod site users with the "basic" version! Btw, you can always upload multiple files for a mod and just change the file name and it will show both files for a mod.

But that's what I did! Both versions are on your site, to appease all factions!

[LouisdeFuines]

Love your mod.

Never understood, why the game fails to use all three weapons.

In TFTD the lobsterman use often Sonic-rifles.

Bud sadly the sonic-pistol will never again be seen after some time...

[Solarius Scorch]

Love your mod.

Never understood, why the game fails to use all three weapons.

In TFTD the lobsterman use often Sonic-rifles.

Bud sadly the sonic-pistol will never again be seen after some time...

Once OpenTFTD comes out, I'll be sure to fix it too

In other news: I've decided to separate new alien weapons from this mod to keep it clean. This will be for people who just want to preserve plasma pistols and rifles for the entire game; I'll make a new one with expanded alien armoury. The new mod can be found here.