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

[ivandogovich]

@Ridan...  Thanks for the feedback.

I'm wondering about my fuel state.  I've spent the first month fruitlessly chasing the Bonaventura around enemy vessels European skies...   I intercepted one contact only, and out of a hope that it would land and a fear that maybe I couldn't handle fighting a "Medium" I missed it.  I'm at the end of the month, and only have 30% fuel left, and I'm concerned that I will run completely out and never get anymore.

Do enemy missions include landings that I would have the chance of targeting, or should I just try to shoot everything down and hope for the best?

I really am brand new to this mod, so I have no idea what works and what doesn't. 

[Ridаn]

Just got a clean CTD trying to assault crashed Hopper in Sahara Desert.

@Ivan, you start with 10Nuclear Fuel, getting a single intact power source will net you 50 more (effectively 1million in moneyz).
Bonaventura can take on pretty much any small UFo, except a small one with a single window in the middle (its a fast military vessel, it kicks ass). You can take on some of medium Ufos though I`m just not sure what vessels are in that class (hyperwave decoder spoiled me), but there is at least two medium miitary UFOs. Many UFOs do land, some always do, but it is really dependant on its mission.

In my latest playthrough I got lucky with a wave of Freighters (they are large, they always land, and crewmembers are badly armed (unless its a last ship in a wave)) and had no place to store fuel in.

@Dioxine, I`ve got suggestions as to spice up Star Gods fighting
All other factions ranks can be easily discerned on sight, but not those guys, so how about borrowing some more high quality XOps stuff - namely Overlords race sprites.
Guardian rank Star Gods would be crystaline dudes without psi powers.
Operative stays as is.
And Coordinator becomes zombie like. First form would look like old plain Etherial, but when it dies - a transcended ball of sentient plasma rises from fallen robes (using a Solarite (Overlord terror unit) sprite) and all hell breaks loose. Shooting it down can cause fusion-tier eplosion too.

[Dioxine]

I feel like melee attacks from behind just straight up do not work with this nighty. I have to destroy walls to make sure my boarders can Stun Rod/stab people from left or right flank.
It is probably a worst time to start a Lets Play (you cant even stab people with in the back with Rapier, ffs) and in addition to that Ivan gets CTDs right at the start.
God damned Murphy`s Law.

It's more complex than that: sometimes you have to stab them from the adjacent tile, sometimes diagonally, there is no rule for that. Around 60-70% of the time melee attacks work, but there is no telling when they won't.
About the Star Gods: good pointers but they're made this way with the INTENT of making them harder to distinguish, so grabbing a Guard is harder Although I will eventually add more variants - when that happens, I will have your suggestions in mind Guardians are the way they're intended to be, but you will notice I started to expand the Star Gods menagerie if you're unlucky enough to be attacked by them

@Ivan: To the pointers Ridan provided, I'll add:
- Check the Black Market. Notice you can buy Nuclear Fuel (Elerium-tech is commonplace on conquered Earth), although it's gonna cost you arm and leg. You can also buy alternate crafts, but that'd require selling Bonaventura.
- Most missions do include landings, and the landing times are pretty long. Bonaventura has huge fuel capacity, if you can't intercept them, you can always try to follow and find out if they've landed. Also the first enemy mission in January contains ships that are generally slow, easy to shot down or chase. However, sometimes even you improved Small Radar misses them... Not much can be done about bad luck. Putting your base in the middle of Europe, China or N.America greatly increases your chances, but it also means high risk of attacks on your hideout.
- Generally your interception options are very limited, and catching landed enemies is the default early tactics. If you try to intercept and immediately start taking heavy damage, break off. Bonaventura is resilient, you'll be able to escape. If things are happening too fast, slow down the Interception time in Options. If you only take light damage, attack relentlessly
- Missions are very varied. Some are almost impossible to tackle early on; there should be plenty of easier ones, on average, but... random factor.
- You're getting a lot of points from research. This can allow to weather a couple of bad months without getting into negative score, waiting for your chance to shine, even with weak Pogrom performance. But as long as you keep researching and grabbing some loot, you will slowly get stronger. For cash, sell Grog/Rum

[niculinux]

@Ivan: To the pointers Ridan provided, I'll add:
- Check the Black Market. Notice you can buy Nuclear Fuel (Elerium-tech is commonplace on conquered Earth), although it's gonna cost you arm and leg. You can also buy alternate crafts, but that'd require selling Bonaventura.

>Excuse me, but i did not find nuclear fuel in the black market last time i played, with the most recent nighly (2015-03-26 18:45) maybe i'm completely blind, or completely wrong? May sound very strange but someone might post a screenshot? Thanks!

[Ridаn]

>Excuse me, but i did not find nuclear fuel in the black market last time i played, with the most recent nighly (2015-03-26 18:45) maybe i'm completely blind, or completely wrong? May sound very strange but someone might post a screenshot? Thanks!

Its at the bottom, alongside other raw meterials.

[ivandogovich]

Thanks again, guys!  I didn't know I could purchase the fuel in a pinch! Good to know!

[Dioxine]

Yup, you really need to read the Pedia and check out your options thoroughly before digging in - the mod really changes a lot

About the crashes - my current theory is they happen during enemy side's Patrolling behaviour, if the nodes (.rmps) are somewhat not right. Perhaps it'll be better to send these pre-crash saves, logs & screenshots to Hobbes, since I'm merely using his terrain and if I try to repair it, I'm not only likely to break something but I'll also generate incompatibility. Always try to update your TERRAIN, MAPS and ROUTES folders with the latest versions from his Terrain Pack (as Piratez is often behind the cycle).

[ivandogovich]

Always try to update your TERRAIN, MAPS and ROUTES folders with the latest versions from his Terrain Pack (as Piratez is often behind the cycle).

OK! Awesome!   I wasn't sure on that. I'll pull his terrain pack in this evening.  It is the one with Railroads.  There are a lot of 4 tile units up there wandering around on the rails, I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

[Dioxine]

I want to stress, it happens quite rarely. I've played a Pogrom on that very terrain today and there were no problems. I guess there is no option but save before every landing, just to be sure - if a new map is generated, it should work properly.

Just got a clean CTD trying to assault crashed Hopper in Sahara Desert.

Well I had one of those when assaulting a Large Scout of all things... But the map was one of Hobbes' modified mountains. Strange things afoot.

[Ridаn]

openxcom_git_master_2015_03_31_0510.zip - built 2015-03-31 03:15

Warboy1982, Tue Mar 31 05:10:28 2015
softcode battle music

Warboy1982, Tue Mar 31 04:38:43 2015
fix voxel placement of melee attacks

whoops, i offset it twice, and i figure i should probably clamp it,
to avoid similar issues in future.

Warboy1982, Sun Mar 29 15:23:10 2015
allow for per-ufo briefing definition

Warboy1982, Sun Mar 29 13:58:56 2015
different debrief music depending on score

Sweeet.

edit1: I hate to say this, but new base tiles (damaged ones) do need reworking, reason is - you cannot throw grenades on them.
Actually it is impossible to throw anything on them, and I`m pretty sure that weapons using an arcing shot cannot target them either.


edit2: yup, cant target those with flamethrower either, and only way to setup a smoke screen on damaged tiles is to stand directly on them and put a primed sgrenade on the ground.
On other news: large 4tile units (I tried on Sectopod) still cannot be melee hit from diagonal tile.


edit3:

but you will notice I started to expand the Star Gods menagerie if you're unlucky enough to be attacked by them

I completed one Star Gods Pogrom and two Crackdowns, and I havent seen anything new yet.
I assume you were talking about Cyclops? It didnt spawn even once.

Also is it intentional to make Witch suit have -5TU penalty, to deny maxed out soldier a 4th MC attempt?
I suggest to cut out 5TU from Blitz suit too, as a maxed out gal can MC 5 people while wearing it now.


edit4: regarding missing ranks pictures. They do come back if you press a "next soldier" button.

I got some weird starting position in my alien base assault: two gals spawned at 1st floor, and an equipment pile is on the first floor too.
I was able to grab a stunned Guildmaster on a 2nd turn (all I needed there really), dragged his body on a 2nd floors green tiles and pressed Abort mission button..
All my stuff from equipment pile is gone, because it was lying on a 1st floor.

Where do I report this? Expanded U_BASE afaik isnt supported anymore, and so are Civilinan`s alien base maps.

[Dioxine]

God be praised, we can use melee again. Although don't celebrate before testing if the fix really fixed this And if Briefing definition is what I think it is, this could be even more substantial improvement (many kinds of Pogrom missions!).

1. Tiles - well, looks like the experiment failed. No problem, fixing this is easy.

2. The Star Gods are supposed to launch Crackdowns only with the Cyclops and Guardians. Well, looks like they don't give a damn

3. Witch Armor - yes it is intentional, and -5 TU for Blitz seems reasonable (I can add +5 Stamina instead, since running is important too). None the less, Psionic stuff is only a placeholder for now, until the mod migrates to Yankes' Extended version (or until his upgrades are pulled into the main, but I don't think it'll happen quickly, if ever ). As of now no matter what you do, Psi is either OP or useless, with no middle ground. To be honest all I would need is to be able to limit range of selected Psi attacks or increase their power dropoff (vide: UFO: Aftershock), really it's all that's needed to make this stuff playable.

4. I'm not sure about the Expanded UBASE, but this bug is known. I might even revert enemy hideouts to standard layout until a custom Piratez version (probably versions, plural, some underground, one would be Hobbes' AREA51 for example) could be prepared As for looking for responsible, I was presented the Expanded UBASE by FMP with assurances of it being cool

5. The bug with disappearing ranks is pinpointed and it will be fixed. Actually I want to make custom rank pictures, but I haven't so far come up with any good graphical idea (and the original ranks are quite pirates-y by themselves, heh). If someone has any good ideas for new rank pictures, I will listen

[Hobbes]

Well I had one of those when assaulting a Large Scout of all things... But the map was one of Hobbes' modified mountains. Strange things afoot.

I'm getting weird crashes often on Area51 terrain that I can't explain. And usually the bug disappears when you try again. It may be something engine related.

[ivandogovich]

Yarr!!   Dioxine Says: "Read the BootyPedia"   

Ayup!  With all the numerous weapons available, with all of their tweaks and nuances, it is good to read the BootyPedia.  But... just reading it, may not give a decent sense of what weapons might be effective against what enemies... etc.

So I spent an hour or two Adding PirateZ weapons to a Spreadsheet that calculates damage against armor.   When this was set, I could more easily see what weapons really stand a chance against taking down any of the jokers that I met in the first two missions. 

My favorites: Cutlass, Ball Bat, Hammer, Shovel, Hand Cannon, Boarding Gun.  I like a couple spray guns for my scouts, but I don't know if its really effective or not.

I updated my terrains from Hobbes latest, and restarted to the auto Geoscape save before the Pogrom.  Next contact turned out to be a small that wiped my Bonaventura from the skies with a vengeance.  And with it, my hopes of a long and success career as the Scourge of the Euro Syndicate. 

Hm... Ok. Watch out for small UFOs.  Lets restart with what we've learned.

Set the new hideout, "Shang-Hai-gri-La" in, yep, you guessed it, China.  Weighted early equipment buys towards the goodies mentioned above.  I also tagged my high melee soldiers (80 plus) to help when equipping them.  I have to look into exactly how melee skill affects chances to hit and how much strength gets applied when you do connect with weapons that use those attributes.  I know that when I tweaked the combat knife mod, only the highest skilled soldiers really stood a chance of using them effectively.

Chased a Medium UFO, engaged and Lost the Bonny. . 
Ok. Watch out for Medium UFOs and ALWAYS stand ready to quickly disengage!

Re-loaded, ended the month with a Pogrom in Commercial Terrain.  Looks like a different enemy set.  Mostly some sort of personal armor, and small disks.  Hammers are great breach tools, and because the terrain is so tight, its easier to get Up Close and Personal for the majority of my girls running around with blades and clubs.  Things are going fairly well, dropping some baddies, and capturing a few juicy weapons I can use, and also losing a few of my girls as well.  I definitely don't feel as lost as during the first Pogrom that I tackled.   

I don't know if I'll be able to clear the map.  There is at least one CyberDisk in the Theater.  It seems to be shrugging off Ax and Cutlass slices and even a couple laser hits.  I don't have any HE packs nearby, but it may be trapped in the lobby.  I could send a couple mules to carry some back, but I'll probably try clearing the rest of the map first.

Is it good to protect the Mutants in a Pogrom? like preserving the civilians in a Terror mission? or can I get money for "kidnapping" them.  Its kind of hard switching to a pirate mentality, from the "savior of the world" mentality.

I'll play a little further, then probably start recording the LP later this week.

Cheers, Ivan

Edit: One other Question:  Are all corpses supposed to just say "Dead"

[Ridаn]

I skip Spray Guns, they just dont do enough damage, good for training stats though.
Handcannons are awesome, but you have to loot some Magnums (and something else probably) to start manufactoring those.
Actually many handguns (Confederate Eagle, Snubby, Magnum etc) can punch through Security side armour, while starting SMGs and assault rifles just lack the punch.
Best sniping weapon for a start is actually a Crossbow, imo.
I like Rapiers and Axes for my starting boarders, especially Rapiers.
I always had at least a couple of dedicated grenadiers, because TFTD style explosives are awesome. Sadly, since a 0.9 version you cant start producing Dynamite after just a single research, but I think couple basic HE grenades can take out armoured guys if thrown right at their feet, and yet do not have enough damage to remove loot and corpse (not 100% sure though).

And yes all corpses are "Dead", but they get converted to all kind of booty after mission is complete.

[ivandogovich]

Thanks a bunch, Ridan!  And HE Grenades won't wipe out loot?  I'm so trained not to blow stuff up!   Are frag grenades worth the extra weight?

Cheers, Ivan