[TOTAL CONVERSION] The Piratez Mod - 0.9.j - 9 May - Holiday Edition

[Ridаn]

It may be WAD, and I do not really mind, but it needs some adjustments.
Also 1tile units, like Academy Explorers, were spawning to the left of doors, pretty much inside the base.

[Dioxine]

No, they're not using the vanilla definitions, neither smugglers nor passengers.

And the factory never even touched the hangar, both maps and rmp.s were made from scratch. I cannot explain this behaviour.

EDIT. Actually, I can. Whoops. I f****d up the .RMPs. It will be fixed in the next version.

EDIT2. Looking into the weapons issue. Looks like Warboy doubled the reload times on everything but he didn't bother to fix the UfoPedia craft weapon articles to go along with the change, which raises a lot of issues (should I balance things out based on current Pedia descriptions, or wait till it's fixed - I want the weapon projectiles to have realistic speeds).

[Dioxine]

New version is up, enjoy! As always, consult the changelog in the 1st post for detailed reference. No dramatic pitfalls to warn about this time, though

[Ridаn]

New version already? Thats really cool!


I have a question about Drakkar - do those secondary doors on the side serve any purpose? Can Door1s be removed?
When opening door from diagonal tile (like Bigz does on screenshot), you open a Door1 first and Door2 second, but I would prefer only having Door2s, as to not to waste TUs (its only 4TU but still).

edit: Pyramid of Pain turned out a quite tough mission, I both loved and hated it.

Stunned Lobsterman drop corpses named STR_LOBSTERMAN_TERRORIST, which, when researched, didnt unlock any Bootypedia entries.
Also when you kill prisoners (Deep One Warrior and aforementioned Lobsterman) through Execute order they do not drop corpses or any booty.

[Dioxine]

Pyramid of Pain turned out a quite tough mission, I both loved and hated it.

Nice to hear that

As for the bugs -
1. These doors were never intended to be opened, just to cover these pink ship's innards I guess it was a sloppy design after all...
2. Linking up researches with corpses and live aliens has always some black magic element to it. I did it dozens of times and yet I can't say I understand how it's done. There was some weird stuff in the research, though, and indeed the string for Lobsterman Terrorist was missing. As for the disappearing corpses, I have no idea. I fixed both problems I've spotted for the new version... We'll see if it's enough. It's one of these things you can't really check through a Quick Battle. At least capturing these aliens alive doesn't crash the game, which is a nice change

[Hobbes]

Is that a 'ufo' disguising as Mayan pyramid?

[Avalanche]

Does the upgrade to .89 from .88.1 require a new game?

[Ridаn]

Does the upgrade to .89 from .88.1 require a new game?

I say yes, otherwise your old crew is missing on extra stamina recovery (its based on initial stats, and those are increased).

By the way Juggernaut Suit is just 1 Plasteel to manufacture? Feels way too cheap.

[Avalanche]

I say yes, otherwise your old crew is missing on extra stamina recovery (its based on initial stats, and those are increased).

Well, I tried playing anyway, and in case anyone else is in my shoes and wants to know, you're correct. My soldiers are a bit gimped now (one currently has exactly zero energy because the metal armor she's wearing sapped it all), but other than that no real problems as far as I can tell.

Other than that, a few previously researched topics have opened themselves up again, but it hasn't actually caused any problems. If anyone doesn't want to start over, it seems pretty safe to just upgrade. Also, it works with the newest nightly as well.

[Dioxine]

Is that a 'ufo' disguising as Mayan pyramid?

Yeah... we all need to find workarounds with TFTD adventure mission generator being still unfinished My solution is to make a "probe" UFO with 1hp, so you need to follow it to its landing - where something is happening, hence the probe was sent there. As the happenings are far more interesting than the probe, the probe is promptly forgotten It's 1 hp so you can't make it crash-land, and destroy the illusion - if you shoot at it, it just blows up & that's it (requires that no craft weapon has power below 4).

[Ridаn]

Well, I tried playing anyway, and in case anyone else is in my shoes and wants to know, you're correct. My soldiers are a bit gimped now (one currently has exactly zero energy because the metal armor she's wearing sapped it all), but other than that no real problems as far as I can tell.

Other than that, a few previously researched topics have opened themselves up again, but it hasn't actually caused any problems. If anyone doesn't want to start over, it seems pretty safe to just upgrade. Also, it works with the newest nightly as well.

I too just cant abandon my old crew (and 2 Annihilator suits ), so I modified a save file - increased all initialstats TU by 15 and removed all "..._BROKEN" research unlocks (because I didnt get any post-interrogation articles).
edit: also removed a Catgirl research unlock, because there is some surprise promised in patch notes.


Now that I`ve reached lategame I`m struggling with Power armour parts - only way to get them is robbing Trader Bodyguards.
Pogroms and Crackdowns can provide some, and latest ship in a Cargo Freight mission usually carries a CEO and 3-4 Bodyguards.
I think there is a need for more sources.
Like Goverment Elite soldiers could drop some. At least when you get hit with a Goverment Crackdown you will get something nice in return. And there will be a additional reason to destroy govermental gunships (do they even carry elite soldiers? I do not know, I had no reason to, may be there is some nice components there, but .88 craft balance was screwed up and I never tried to shoot them).

Another suggestion is to introduce new CoS terror unit called Crusader - a power armoured zealot with 100 bravery and heavy weapon. Those could drop Power armour parts too, and Celatid might move to Deep Ones (they get theirs Pipes of Doom from somewhere, right?).
Speaking about CoS terror units - Beastmaster description is outdated(?) - they do not have any battle magic, built in weapons, or psionic abilities. And enslaving Beastmasters does not yield any booty, may be at least 1 Clergy`s Booty would be okay?

I saw mentions about new faction - Spartans, may be those can be a source of Power armour scraps too?

And finally - there should be a use for a Star Gods booty. Because cloaks are cool. Putting the fancy cloak on top of Harbringer armour would be awesome - add a jewelry and exquisite gem as manufacturing requirements and get a hella rare top tier Pirate Queen armour.

[Dioxine]

Now that I`ve reached lategame I`m struggling with Power armour parts - only way to get them is robbing Trader Bodyguards.
Pogroms and Crackdowns can provide some, and latest ship in a Cargo Freight mission usually carries a CEO and 3-4 Bodyguards.
I think there is a need for more sources.

Power Armor is supposed to be rare. Else there would be, eventually, no need to use non-powered armor. Naturally, there is also the Annihilator; again, getting a full complement of Annihilator suits was supposed to be something worth some bragging rights

Like Goverment Elite soldiers could drop some. At least when you get hit with a Goverment Crackdown you will get something nice in return. And there will be a additional reason to destroy govermental gunships (do they even carry elite soldiers? I do not know, I had no reason to, may be there is some nice components there, but .88 craft balance was screwed up and I never tried to shoot them).

Another suggestion is to introduce new CoS terror unit called Crusader - a power armoured zealot with 100 bravery and heavy weapon. Those could drop Power armour parts too, and Celatid might move to Deep Ones (they get theirs Pipes of Doom from somewhere, right?).

These ships aren't as deadly as Gunship, but no, Elite Soldiers wear non-powered armor.
About the crusader guy - maaaybe, I'd rather have Celatids stay with the Church (but no worries, there is still a single free slot in the Church Pogrom roster where a new unit could go). Maybe Spartan / Govt generals will be using Powered armor, but those, being Commander-tier, will be very rare sights.

Speaking about CoS terror units - Beastmaster description is outdated(?) - they do not have any battle magic, built in weapons, or psionic abilities. And enslaving Beastmasters does not yield any booty, may be at least 1 Clergy`s Booty would be okay?

Ugh, she does indeed drop Clergy Booty when killed, so it is only logical to make it as you say. I guess that bikini is worth more than it looks As for the psionic abilities/buit-in weapons - what do you think she's shooting you with after losing her armor?

And finally - there should be a use for a Star Gods booty. Because cloaks are cool. Putting the fancy cloak on top of Harbringer armour would be awesome - add a jewelry and exquisite gem as manufacturing requirements and get a hella rare top tier Pirate Queen armour.

Great idea! I might add a line of Veteran/Elite armors for commanding staff, with requirements like those. But making armors ain't a quick process I have other plans for the Star God booty - namely, a better psionic robe - but I'm kinda laying off the psionic stuff to after moving to Yankes' OXCom Extended. Here the voodoo stuff is just a placeholder, since I can't make it work in a balanced way - namely, a powerful force, but with a limited range, so you can control enemies through walls, but you can't control anyone who's far away - I think about 16 tile range would be fine, well within enemies' spotting range. Plus OXCom Extended allows stuff like psi-dependent weaponry etc.

Finally, there's some crop from todays work - a new Raider type:

[Ridаn]

Catgirls got all ninja like (thats what the surprise was!) but their colors got weird.
Can this new recoloring script be applied to dying animation and floorobjects too? Because it looks bad, when people die and change colors.

Also Factory problem (enemy spawning there) got fixed, but now my crew spawns in there. Because game tries to spawn base defenders in all aviable points evenly, and Factory is huge, I get a half of the crew spawn inside the Factory.

And a question: how does Dodge work? There is a mention of Dodge in armour descriptions, what is a mechanic behind it? I`ve noticed that Merc Captains and Catgirls can easily survive a stab from Hellblade, is it because of Dodge?
Answer to those questions would be a good additions for Encrypted data discs unlocks, I think.

[Solarius Scorch]

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe

[Dioxine]

Catgirls got all ninja like (thats what the surprise was!) but their colors got weird.
Can this new recoloring script be applied to dying animation and floorobjects too? Because it looks bad, when people die and change colors.

Their wild colors are as intended. But no. Recoloring is all gone when the dying animation kicks in. I agree it's bad, but nothing can be done about it (unless the Powers That Be recognize this as a problem).

Also Factory problem (enemy spawning there) got fixed, but now my crew spawns in there. Because game tries to spawn base defenders in all aviable points evenly, and Factory is huge, I get a half of the crew spawn inside the Factory.

Well, I could change that but... The crew gets spawned all over the base, so why not in the factory. And cutting off spawn points is a bad idea generally... Since someone could try to simply swamp base with enough personnel to forbid alien spawning. Any ways, this requires a major overhaul (I'll probably triple or quadruple the amount of spawning points available at Living Quarters, and add more tank spawn points in Vaults - this will increase the chances of most crew spawning where they ought to - but there will be spawning points in all facilities).

And a question: how does Dodge work? There is a mention of Dodge in armour descriptions, what is a mechanic behind it? I`ve noticed that Merc Captains and Catgirls can easily survive a stab from Hellblade, is it because of Dodge?
Answer to those questions would be a good additions for Encrypted data discs unlocks, I think.

These guys are simply resistant to melee, as it is said in their description - but I didn't think ANYTHING could survive a hit with this weapon As for dodge, no, it doesn't work with the current aiming script. It's simply the size of unit's hitbox, smaller hitbox = higher "dodge". But I'm keeping it in there in case we get an improved aiming algorithm with a realistic bullet spread (WARNING: very vanilla unfriendly!), either optionally in normal OXCom or in the Extended. With such an algorithm, suddenly the size of a hitbox, as well as non-total cover, would be major factors in the actual chances of being hit.

(the current aiming algorithm works a little like this: if the % dice is rolled under or equal your chance to hit, you hit in the exact visible pixel. If it doesn't, the projectile veers off wildly and randomly. I'd rather have the % dice being the chance of hitting, say, 8 pixel hitbox at the centre of an unit, ie chances of hitting a human-size target; spread should be directly linked to % dice - the worse the roll, compared to the hit chance [d100 + Hit chance - 100], the worse spread. Like, you'd have 45 degree misses only if you rolled below 0, and 1-pixel-hits only with rolls of like, 200+).