[COMPILATION] Final Mod Pack (FMP)

[hellrazor]

I can't see why we couldn't have two (or more) maps for the same ship. The only rule would be to retain the same external view, otherwise the map won't match the interception screen.

Of course the exterior look will not be changed.

I'm a bit sceptical about the walking on roof idea, since the Excavator is a technical ship (the big lift is in fact a large drilling device - I imagine that the excavated material is launched through the roof), while a Lab Ship should be more standard. I'm not against additional doors, but we shouldn't force the aliens to leave the ship's interior to get to another section.

Well 2 or 3 could be partolling up there and sniping you when you advance.

Oh, and the triple doors are for moving the cow in. How else would they move the cow in?

How do the cow get into the Harvesters?? There are tiles which represent a loading door in the ground.

[pilot00]

Oh, and the triple doors are for moving the cow in. How else would they move the cow in?

Via catapult, like the middle ages

[arrakis69ct]

This way

[myk002]

I actually really like the triple loading door on the second level.  it makes the map tactically interesting to have enemies paratrooping onto the map from above, and if you have flying suits, it allows for another avenue of ingress.

[pilot00]

I actually really like the triple loading door on the second level.  it makes the map tactically interesting to have enemies paratrooping onto the map from above, and if you have flying suits, it allows for another avenue of ingress.

Depends on how you like to drink your poison. I had an excavator (pretty much the same shape) intercepted and when I entered the battle, I had snakemen litteraly raining from the  destroyed tiles. It wasnt pretty

[arrakis69ct]

It's raining. Snakeman .....

The better of the map is this. You Don't know when rain enemies XD

[hellrazor]

Hi Solarius,

take a look the Fixed Labship Map

I also encreased the size of middle section to fit the lower and upper level.

See Screenshot or take a look for yourself ingame, Map attached in zip file.

[Harald_Gray]

Okay, so I' ve just played through  the Cydonia mission, using FMP1.2.1. And while the first part was okay, the second makes me ask what the fsck?!?

My *weakest* soldier had psi 89 and I've spent most of the mission blocking all my soldiers inside the deployment areas using two of my HWPs! I've had aliens mindcontrol some of them since trun two! So I won the mission by first hiding in my deployment zones, dropping down to take shots from my lascannon hovertanks at any aliens passing by and then *very* carefully exploring the base with two of those hovertanks while the remaining two had to stay back and block the lifts so my indcontrolled/panicking soldiers wouldn't run away and get themselves killed.

It was only say two thirds into the mission that I've dared to let two of my soldiers leave the deployment zones and join the fight and one of those panicked once too.

And what my complaint is? Well, I'm not complaining that the mission was too hard. Yes, I was quaking in my boots at first, waiting for that blaster launcher shot that would kill half my squad. But after a while it dawned on me that none of the ethereals wield those, in fact most of my enemies only had melee weapons, so the mission was not *that* hard. My complaint is that the stage has made all my efforts to put together a good squad pointless.

I could have taken a bunch of random rookies in jumpsuits to that stage instead of my hardened veterans in flying suits and the result would have been the same. My veterans, some of them with dozens of mission under their belts, have managed to kill *one* alien during that whole stage. Oh, and one of them blew the alien brain to pieces by plasma blaster fire. But they've spent the rest of the stage hiding, panicking and being mindcontrolled.

So what the heck is the logic behind this? Okay, I get it, Ethereal top brass is supposed to be psionic badasses, but the gameplay sucks as a results. UFO is largely a squad-based game and discovering one's veteran squad is basically irrelevant for the final stage of the game is both disappointing and infuriating. I love this mod but this last stage was mostly frustrating and boring, with an undertone of fear caused by the fact that having one HWP destroyed more of less halved my mobile force for much of the stage. So what gives? And could we please go back to a design that lets us *use* our soldiers? 

[Solarius Scorch]

@Harald Grey:
Hmm, I think it was an RNG thing. The Ethereals should mostly wield ranged weapons (really good ranged weapons), the melee one shouldn't be too popular. It's weird, and I'm genuinely sorry it was disappointing, but it was pretty random. Apparently there was a fencing tournament going on in Cydonia on that day or something...
Well, at least it wasn't walking in the pie as usual.

@Hellrazor:
Thanks! I've already downloaded your latest Hardon Expansion Mod this morning and used the map from there. I presume it's the same one?

[Harald_Gray]

@Harald Grey:
Hmm, I think it was an RNG thing. The Ethereals should mostly wield ranged weapons (really good ranged weapons), the melee one shouldn't be too popular. It's weird, and I'm genuinely sorry it was disappointing, but it was pretty random. Apparently there was a fencing tournament going on in Cydonia on that day or something...
Well, at least it wasn't walking in the pie as usual.

Ehrmmm... I'm not complaining that too many ethereals had melee weapons. I'm complaining that many of them had psi abilities so strong that even my PSI 99 soldiers were more or less defenceless and I've been unable to use any of my soldiers during much of the second stage.

It felt like the enemy was cheating. I've had about the best XCOM agents can get PSI-wise and yet they've been as defenceless as rookies encountering their first sectoid leader. I've had to disarm my whole team and keep them blocked inside deployment zones by parking HWPs on the lifts so my agents wouldn't walk away and get themselves killed. There was (AFAIK) nothing I could have done to prevent those debilitating psi attacks and this turned all my soldiers into potential traitors and sources of panic.

My best agent had psi str 98, psi skill 51, cydonia was his 62nd mission. He has spent the majority of the last stage panicking or being mind controlled. So why bother with selecting, training and equiping my soldiers when I've had to kill all aliens but one with HWPs? And why design a stage in a way that turns all the player's soldiers from assets into liabilities?

Or was I too hasty setting out for Cydonia? Is there some tech I could have researched that would have protected my agents?

[hellrazor]

@Harald Grey:
Hmm, I think it was an RNG thing. The Ethereals should mostly wield ranged weapons (really good ranged weapons), the melee one shouldn't be too popular. It's weird, and I'm genuinely sorry it was disappointing, but it was pretty random. Apparently there was a fencing tournament going on in Cydonia on that day or something...
Well, at least it wasn't walking in the pie as usual.

@Hellrazor:
Thanks! I've already downloaded your latest Hardon Expansion Mod this morning and used the map from there. I presume it's the same one?

Depends on which version you got. The one in forum post zip is definitly the correct one.

[Solarius Scorch]

Are these Ethereals really that hardcore? I thought I only bumped their psi stats a little. Let's see:

Normal, standard Ethereal:

Code: [Select]

      psiStrength: 50
      psiSkill: 40

And here's a typical white Ethereal:

Code: [Select]

      psiStrength: 75
      psiSkill: 50

Okay, he's way more robust Psi-Strength wise, in order to be less controllable... But yeah, it'll somewhat boost his psi attack too. (I have no idea how much exactly, I am a strong independent modern man and I have disregard for formulas.) But, as comparison:

Ethereal Commander:

Code: [Select]

      psiStrength: 65
      psiSkill: 50

Only slightly worse. And this is a peasant Ethereal, not a member of the Order. And the Order is hardcore.

For completion, here's the psi stats for the biggest motherfucker in the Order, colloquially named "The Grand Master" by our research team:

Code: [Select]

      psiStrength: 85
      psiSkill: 80

Strong? Yeah, but I bet some of your people assaulting Cydonia are at least as good. And he's supposed to belong to an ancient psychic badass race (though the ancient part is disputable).

And that's why their stats are like they are.

Of course I accept the fact that while logical, it may make the game less fun. I'll think about it, but I don't think I can do much without overhauling the entire psi system (which is likely to happen, by Yankes' grace), or just nerfing the Order down to the peon Ethereals who dirty their hands with Earth assaults.

[arrakis69ct]

If you want can use the option psy on only direct sight
 I use and are less difficult. In my opinion is more real

[Meridian]

Are these Ethereals really that hardcore?

I haven't been to Cydonia yet, but I have seen the "Diplomacy" mission already.
I took 10 best psi soldiers with me with the following psi strengths: 100,100,98,98,97,95,95,94,92,92.
7 of 10 were mind controlled in the first turn, 1 was killed.
In the second turn all 9 remaining soldiers were mind controlled and I lost the mission.

I am not saying it is impossible to win... obviously you can take HWP's (or turn on psionic LOS option)... it just doesn't feel right.
Since the diplomacy mission is very rare (and optional)... I don't care.

But if Cydonia is the same... then it needs rebalancing... otherwise I will have to attack Cydonia with HWPs only... which I think was not the design you had in mind when creating the mod, right?

[Solarius Scorch]

All right then, I'll definitely tone them down - for now, that is.