@guille1434
This crash is consistent with ship's layout, that much I can tell. There are 28 spaces on the lower floor, and you're getting a crash when trying to put 29th soldier... The thing is, on my machine, the 29th and next soldiers are getting deployed on the second floor without any problems, I've even tried 50 soldiers... I have no idea what could be causing the problem for you. Try using my AVENGER and LIGHTNIN tilesets provided in the TERRAIN_FIX directory?
As for the ruleset deployment, it is a very unruly beast. You don't *need* it since it's just an override: normally the game simply deploys units on xcom craft floor tiles, starting with the NW corner of the lowest floor. When there is no more space in the nortmost row, it starts deploy in the next row. If there is no space left on the lowest floor, it goes (or should I say, it SHOULD go) to the next floor.
You can try overriding this with ruleset to see what happens. Just remember that 1st, 5th, 9th (and so on, as many iterations as you have tanks) soldiers need to be deployed in a NW corner of a 4x4 floor space else the game will go haywire when trying to deploy 2x2 units.
Oh yeah and here's question for cjones and other people: do you want custom deployment in Bonaventura instead of how currently the soldiers are just haphazardly thrown there (which sometimes makes planning hard)? And if, what the deployment should look like, who should be facing where? The 2nd floor is also useable, and the Bonaventura could fit even 24 or so soldiers, the 18 cap is there for balance reasons.
@VodkaBear
Frankly I have no idea. By the description, the crash seems to be caused by missing resources. This sounds like you don't have the latest nightly / you haven't activated Piratez_factions.rul
Piratez.rul and Piratez_Factions are BOTH vital. Also, you can grab this map pack cjones mentioned, as it is basically a copy of my own terrain-related folders.
@Edrick
Grab the map pack, this is the only remaining solution that comes to my mind (or version lite, use files provided in the TERRAIN_FIX folder, this will take care of earth-filled craft). About the palette, I am powerless, I haven't tinkered with it in any way. Must be a peculiarity of you hardware/OS/filters... are you using any display filters? Still thanks for appreciating the mod despite the problems
@cjones
First of all, I am deeply grateful for all the praise. Seems you're enjoying this mod as much as I do, with all the little things and a proper approach to the whole thing. Indeed, everything you know about XCOM is only of limited use with this mod. Trying to create uniform squads is only fighting the game. It's better to go with the flow and try to fight with what the gods of random throw at you. That's why most weapons aren't manufactureable. That's why all armor depends on what you can seize from the enemy. The goals are twofold - first, each pirate is a personality. Second, no two campaigns should look alike. And generally, it's about being awesome, for good or bad. Sadly, I have no real control over Pogrom and Crackdown missions and so they tend to dominate the games... much of it is hardcoded. I'd prefer more standard shipping to be happening, but the engine doesn't allow for that.
As for the difficulty level, it's entirelly up to you. I try to make the game balanced for all difficulty levels. It's basically about how hardcore you feel. On Beginner/Experienced, you'll be getting small enemy crews with lo-end stats, but this also means they'll be less likely to panic en masse (as panic depends flatly on how many enemies you kill, and how fast - Bonaventura has been designed to deploy quickly and start wholesome slaughter as early as turn 1; it's an ofensive craft, which is a major difference compared to all vanilla crafts, which are all defensive in nature), BUT a gauss round will kill you as reliably as on any other difficulty. On Superhuman, the slaughter is close to surreal, as you leave battlefields strewn with dozens of bodies... but the danger lurks everywhere, and some enemies won't panic no matter what (this makes Star Gods most true to their name), and all enemies have seriously buffed stats... on the other hand, getting a full complement of Annihilator suits is much, much easier, as you reap tremendous earnings out of your missions, both in money and rare resources. (although Annihilator is a swag-deluxe armor, you wear it for pride since much easier to get Brute armor is already overpowering against most threats, if, as even the name implies, much less imaginative than Harbinger or Blitz). Sooo... I think indeed veteran might be the best level to play it (and most random, as you can never tell how large will the enemy crew be - you can get beginner-sized as often as full Superhuman-sized), but as for myself I play on Superhuman as I enjoy the carnage.
