Hi!
Sorry, it took me a while, since a new job is taking a lot of my time and energy. I'm still here though, and as determined to work on the FMP as ever!
Thanks for all the feedback, it's priceless. I'll try to address all your questions.
I've started myself a new game, using FMP and my own mods, set it to ironman superhuman. Now it is April, all I've got is alloy ammo and some armors (not even enough personal armors for the whole squad) and BLAM comes main base defense against sectoids and cyberdiscs. I've barely survived and reinforcements from my other bases are on their way and BLAM a second helping of the same. Two thirds of my men are dead, all the tanks are scrap metal and I still have no living leader or commander.
Where is your base located? I learned the hard way that putting your first base in France is a guaranteed way to get a visit from the aliens once a month.
Normally I start in south-western Russia, around Crimea
, and it never looked like this.
I've already had two missions against mutons, my first terror was sectoids and the second one too, the only time I saw a floater was my third terror and the only time I saw snakemen was a large scout in a new forrest terrain full of hills (it had caves too). The RNG must be out to get me.
So the line about tougher aliens appearing later in the game has me kind of wondering. Could we *please* have more floaters and snakemen during the early game? Sectoids are not exactly weak when you're miles away from psi-labs. My latest mission is another terror and it is gillmen chtonites and boy am I happy to see them...
I guess it would be possible, but it's already pretty balanced. Here's the percentage for alien races for the first three months:
ALIEN RESEARCH:
January:
Sectoids: 60%
Floaters: 20%
Anthropods: 20%
February:
Sectoids: 55%
Floaters: 20%
Anthropods: 20%
Snakemen: 5%
March:
Sectoids: 60%
Floaters: 20%
Snakemen: 10%
Anthropods: 10%
ALIEN HARVEST:
January:
Sectoids: 30%
Floaters: 30%
Chtonites: 20%
Anthropods: 20%
February:
Sectoids: 30%
Floaters: 30%
Chtonites: 20%
Anthropods: 20%
March:
Sectoids: 30%
Floaters: 30%
Chtonites: 20%
Anthropods: 20%
ALIEN ABDUCTION:
January:
Sectoids: 40%
Floaters: 30%
Chtonites: 20%
Anthropods: 10%
February:
Sectoids: 40%
Floaters: 30%
Chtonites: 20%
Anthropods: 10%
March:
Sectoids: 30%
Floaters: 20%
Chtonites: 30%
Anthropods: 20%
ALIEN INFILTRATION:
January:
Sectoids: 50%
Floaters: 30%
Anthropods: 20%
February:
Sectoids: 40%
Floaters: 25%
Anthropods: 25%
Snakemen: 10%
March:
Sectoids: 40%
Floaters: 30%
Snakemen: 20%
Anthropods: 10%
ALIEN BASE:
January:
Sectoids: 40%
Floaters: 30%
Chtonites: 30%
February:
Sectoids: 40%
Floaters: 30%
Chtonites: 30%
March:
Sectoids: 30%
Floaters: 30%
Chtonites: 30%
Snakemen: 10%
ALIEN TERROR:
January:
Sectoids: 30%
Floaters: 30%
Chtonites: 30%
Anthropods: 10%
February:
Sectoids: 30%
Floaters: 30%
Chtonites: 30%
Anthropods: 10%
March:
Sectoids: 30%
Floaters: 30%
Chtonites: 20%
Anthropods: 20%
Retaliation works differently and has no set races.[/spoiler]
As you can see, Sectoids only have a significant advantage in the research missions, since they're, well, researchers. Most menial and combat missions are mostly undertaken by other aliens. But yes, you the RNG hates you, you'll get your least prefered race 80% of the time. :P
[quote author=Arthanor link=topic=2027.msg29505#msg29505 date=1407793445]
From my experience of adding something to a mod only to find out it was impossible to unlock because I had made a typo in the "requires" list, I think you can do it like this (as a pseudocode summary of a shotgun ruleset):
[spoiler]
items:
- Shotgun
- Shotgun Shell
- Shotgun Alloy Shell
requires: Alloy Ammo
- Shotgun Elerium Shell
requires: Elerium Ammo
No research entry
manufacture:
- Shotgun Alloy Shell
uses: Alien Alloy
requires: Alloy Ammo
- Shotgun Elerium Shell
uses: Elerium
requires: Elerium Ammo
ufopaedia
- Shotgun
- Shotgun Shell
- Shotgun Alloy Shell
requires: Alloy Ammo
- Shotgun Elerium Shell
requires: Elerium Ammo
extrasprites:
- Shotgun
- Shotgun Shell
- Shotgun Alloy Shell
- Shotgun Elerium Shell
What this does is provide all the information required to have the extra stuff, but nothing to unlock it. If another mod you have happens to contain an Alloy Ammo or Elerium Ammo research topic, *poof* the shotgun stuff will become available alongside the rest. To keep the illusion complete, use the proper list orders so the extra shotgun stuff fits right where it belongs on lists with the other mod.[/code]
Frankly, I'm, not sure what your advice contains. If it's about how to control typos, well, I guess I'm doing fine with a little help from Falko's tools. If it's about how to split the ruleset into multiple rulesets (which I think is the case), then I agree, but it's still too complex to try at the moment.
In fact, I think it might be interesting if, as a community, we came up with a list of "anchor points" for mods. Techs like "Alloy Ammunition" or "High Energy Weaponry" for plasma level tech. If I make a new shotgun, I can just depend on the anchor of "Alloy Ammunition" to make my shotgun alloy ammo available. If I make a new Laser Blaster tech, I can just depend on the anchor of "High Energy Weaponry" to unlock it.
Different mods could then define what the pre-requisites of these anchors are, the FMP one way, while the XAE could define them differently, and a basic mod called "anchor points" could define what we agree should be the vanilla behavior where pre-requisites can only be vanilla research topics (ex.: Alien Alloy unlocks Alloy Ammo; Elerium + Alien Alloy + UFO Power Source unlocks High Energy Weaponry).
It's certainly an idea worth discussing. I think it deserves a separate thread though, since it concerns many mods, not just FMP.
Baterie standard nirmal clip building with techology actual. Is similar than a batteri of mobile and the idea is in the construction of batterie 30% carcase ant the rest quimical for energy.
Sadly, a human tech battery will never be able to power even a humble laser firearm, period. Not even now, after the revolution brought by the development of cell phones, and even more so back in 1999. This is just unfeasible.
Alloy batterie. The alloy is better more hard and the proportion is 5% for case and the rest for energy componets. This is the difference of the weapon. More damage for the difference of the quatity of componets. If you buy a laser weapon withouth clip you have more space for energy components. This is the idea. Sorry if i dont explain better
Yeah, the battery size and weight matters, but even a large and heavy alien alloy battery would only be as good as the alloys are good in energy storage - which is definitely better than human solutions, but not overly so, or the aliens wouldn't need the Elerium for hand weapons. If alloy batteries do get in the game, they'll be really small... Like, 1 shot only for the Heavy Laser, 6 shots for the Laser Rifle and the Laser Pistol. Something like this.
And another question.
In my game i see sectopods in 3 missions. 20 missions along i dont see more. And i dont have corpose to rebuild.
May be ppssible other option to build them
No.
...Well, maybe.
But this mod plays with the idea of making each campaign different depending on what gets randomly chosen to throw at you. In some games you might not even get the lasers at all, since you get plasmas early, in other games you can't find Cyberdiscs so you don't get your own, and so own. This will be further capitalized on with armours, which will largely depend on alien races.
If you're planning on adjusting the dropoffs for balancing, I believe I read that you can set the dropoff for weapons to a negative number and create weapons that fire worse as you get closer. This could help balance weapons that are intended to be long-range.
Oh, I never thought about that - many thanks. But there's the minRange flag, which essentially does the same. I'll probably use it for the sniper rifles.
Using a negative dropoff value... well, I don't know how to use it sensibly. It reminds me of the Warhammer 40.000 weapon named Conversion Beam, which gets stronger as the firing distance increases... But it's a Space Marine weapon, and therefore obviously silly and unfair.
I think I've finally come to terms with it.
I've tried this mod at least four times now, and every time I just back out, uninstall it, install my own preferred mods and start a new game. I do not like Final Mod Pack in it's current state.
Let me reiterate that.
In it's current state.
I have faith in Final Mod Pack though. Once it's V.1.0a/b I'll retry it again. For now, I cannot play around with it.
It's not Final Mod Pack, it's me. I just think too many thing can be tweaked and shortened though I can do nothing about it but complain on a forum. And while you might appreciate it, you probably wouldn't appreciate what I had to say about it.
Listen. This is a good mod. A very good mod.
Just not a mod for me in it's current state.
No problem man. The readme even says directly this is not a mod for everyone. I have no problem with that, though of course it would be nicer if everyone loved your work.
Anyway, I'd like to reiterate that I do read every single complaint and take it into consideration. And I introduce most of them, as long as they don't collide with other ideas that I want to keep.
Aaarrrgh... Either the RNG *is* out to get me, or the mod still needs some balancing. Granted, I'm playing on ironman superhuman, but still...
It is June and I'm finally researching a laser rifle.
Well, I think it's pretty early.
I already have it in ufopaedia thanks to some glitch but I'm finally researching it.
It's not a glitch, it's an attempt to "appease the masses".
Since laser weapons were aready seen in the hands of Men in Black, and could be used by X-Com soldiers if picked up, people complained they couldn't see their stats. So I made them available, and now people are complaining again... See what I'm dealing with here?
Sorry, let's get back on topic.
So my weapons so far have been earth firearms with alien alloy ammo. Which kinda sucks considering my main enemies for the past two months have been mutons. Power 40*0.6=24 versus armor 20 mutons is not very funny but rifles and LMGs are my best general-purpose weapons so that's what most of my men use. And I'm using up so much alien alloys I've actually had to manufacture some.
I have four bases, two of them with HWDs and I've managed to shoot down all the scouts I've detected. But I've had to defend my main base three times, twice against sectoids and once against my own mechtoids, and my number three base now has a second muton battleship incoming. My first two terrors were sectoids, the third one floaters (a blessing) and the fourth one.snakemen (plus I've shot down several terror ships). I've aborted the fifth terror because it was mutons at night. In fact I'm fighting mostly mutons since May and the fight is becoming a chore. The first base defence against mutons took me 91 turns and I've had to pick up ammo from storage room floors because most of my guys ran out of it. Sure, all but two of them were garrison rookies, but still.
Yeah, same here. I hope that moving the mutons to at least July, as it is now, will help. (The exception is Alien Flyby, which allows Mutons in June.) But if you were playing with an earlier version, you'd get them much earlier, probably even if you switch to the latest version during your campaign (because the missions were already generated for this month). In short, it should be easier with the newest version.
If it's not enough, I can move them further down the timeline.
So I'm really hoping that the laser rifles I'm researching will give me a turnover point because I do need one. I've researched tons of things I have no obvious use for and which give me no immediate benefit. I can finally begin researching laser and gauss and plasma weapons but right now I'm still fighting the aliens using the same weapons I've been using months ago and it feels like I've had to reasearch tons of stuff and there's already 55 (I've just counted them!) more research topics on my list (not counting the few more from my other mods). I've been using laser hovertank for like a month but my men still use LMGs and no powersuits?
So I definittely understand XCOMFan419's feelings. Maybe I'm more patient, so I'll fight on, at least for some time, but I feel like the 0.8 version of the FMP is much more frustrating to play than the 0.5 version I've been using before.
0.8 is definitely more accessible than 0.5, because lasers are way easier to get. If it feels harder, then it's probably due to RNG... But that's what I think. I need more data.
Not sure if this is the right place for this observation and to be honest I haven't a clue about designing mods but on looking @ the rulset for the final mod I noticed something that seemed odd to me. My very limited understanding of the air combat had the interception window open @ standoff range which I think is 75km but on looking @ the new Raider ship its weapon range is 82km. How does this work in practice?
The Raider Ship never actually shows up, it's only a way to generate a new type of ground mission. So its stats are irrelevant.
Starting a new game - so far, I've had no problems getting gauss and laser weapons fairly early,
Mister, you're luckier than both me and the others.
but in the past games it took me forever to research elerium, essentially leading to a situation where if I could survive to research psi-amp, I had comparatively weak weapons, but could PSI-control everything in sight. Looking at the ruleset, though, it looks like a poor RNG streak, sicne Delta Radiation that's its prerequisite is attainable both from leaders and engineers. I'll try to keep notes of this game.
I've been thinking about making psi harder to get, but whatever you do, it'll always become a game breaker at some point. That's why I play with "line sight only" psionics, even if it makes the game easier against Ethereals. The game just feels better to me. Still, this is a general option, not related to FMP, so do with it what you prefer.
By the way, I suspect it's a bug - last game I couldn't research the stormlance launcher, but the missiles are purchasable in the general store.
Yeah, it's been reported before and will be fixed.
And as for the M range error that Harald reported, I'll look into it, but if your alienDeployments part contains 3 equipment levels per unit (or indeed any number other than 4), then it's not compatible with the FMP, which requires 4 levels. So crashes are expectable.
Whew, I guess that's it for now. I hope this post is not too long for all of you to read... And I know that it's not always what you wanted. Still, it's a complex development and I'm doing my best
PS. Has anyone encountered the Hybrids? Do they work?
PPS. WHAT ABOUT THE DAMN SKYRANGER MAP?