Greetings Ek1, and many thanks for the favourable review.
I will address your points below, but first I would like to clarify that the FMP is not meant to change core features of the game. It is not an total conversion, it's more of an expansion pack. Therefore I haven't touched anything that would influence gameplay too much, except making laser and plasma way less available - that was necessary in order to do things I wanted to do.
My current project,
The X-Com Files, a successor to the Final Mod Pack, is much bolder with the changes.
First of all there seem to be no real soldiers. To my understanding the soldiers are the best of the best chosen to protect our planet, yet some of them wold not clear any countries basic boot camp. Well, most of them. Equpped with assault rifle, two spare clips, light flare, grenade and a first aid bandage and most soldiers are over their limits unable to shoot anymore. The shittiest modern soldiers gets 1/10th of that pay are required to carry their personsl equipemnt or they are not working anymore.
After the dust settles the soldiers gain remarkable boost to their stats. Even to reaction that is a scinetific fact to reduce when people get older.
So would a mod be included where soldiers would feel more soldiers and also advance slower?
This is an example of a vanilla feature I didn't dare to touch. What can be done is making starting soldiers, well, better. But it would take away the character development process from vanilla, and I didn't want to do that...
Honestly, in my headcannon for decades these people aren't even real soldiers, they are more like detectives looking for aliens around the world. Therefore, they lack proper training and learn on the fly. Doesn't make sense? Well, blame Microprose! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(The
The X-Com Files mod capitalizes on this element, and also allows you to train these random chumps at your base before going on real missions. And gives them proper suits, ties and leather coats.)
The melee combat seems pointless as hitting a enemy is as good as winning in a lottery. Stun rod is the only reasonsble option when ele mace offers ?20% hit chance versus 140% of shotguns at the same range. Getting into melee range with someone that has a heavy plasma aimed at you is already a huge risk. Not having even a decent chance of hitting just makes the melee useless aspect in the mod (game) and autohitting aliens jt feels like insult top of it all.
Could some balancing be made with the melee section?
Melee weapons are meant to be last resort, otherwise it'll be too good (like in some FPS games where knives are better than rifles). Is this done perfectly? Hell no. Can it be done better? Probably not with vanilla OXC engine.
Again, it works better in
The X-Com Files, mostly thanks to the training facility.
Couple bugs, when the alineecointaiment gets full and some room is made in the prompt window it does not lead to corpses nor cash gained. They just disapear.
It's something that should be addressed to the game developers, since as a modder I'm not responsible for such code. It's the same as vanilla game, I only add units, weapons etc.
interrogation on aliens yeld quite often to zero info. Not even info of the next UFO flyby or terror site or boost to researchs or anything at all.
That shouldn't happen... Unless you only have one last thing to get from a captive, and you start interrogating two captives. In this case only the first one researched will give you anything.
And agzin i cant sell the living sectoid soldier that gave me zero info nor its corpse.
I don't quite follow... You can't sell an alien? Or are you referring to the fact that you've interrogated someone for nothing?
Again, huge thanks for the work you've done. I buy you a beer if you ever come to finland.
Oh, I would be happy to! Finland is an absolutely amazing country, I loved it! (Was there in 2011, went to the Ropecon convention to give a lecture with Dioxine.) Fantastic place, I would very much like to see more of it!
