Version 1.03 is there!This mod was created with the aim of diversifying the game play and equipment used while going through the game. It is intended to be used whole, but it comes in many parts that all should (..!) work by themselves. This allows YOU to pick and chose which mod to use (even only one!) and design the experience YOU want. If you think something is missing, let me know!
Together, the mods combine to create a longer game in which your squads are outfitted with successive tiers of equipment, always improving. This adds more demand from your materials (ever ran out of Alien Alloys? You might!), workshops (producing the latest armour/weapon/craft) and lab (there is a LOT more to research), making the game longer and more strategically challenging.
I have found the extension of the game time to work well, smoothing the progression instead of having a series of underpowered to OP quick transitions (getting laser rifles, power/flight suits, heavy plasma, psi).
This mod is intended to be used along with the Alien Armoury Expanded.
I strongly recommend using the additional races (gazer, waspite/cover, anthropod, mechtoid), Terrain Pack, Mission Pack and YetMoreUFOs as well, since they add a lot of variety in engagements.
Although not integrated in the XCom Armoury Expanded, the following mods are fully compatible and I have enjoyed using them in my campaigns:
- GravArmors
- GuidedMissiles
- MoriartyPlasmaCannon
- Stun Grenade
This mod is build in a modular way, with a selection of rules files that build upon each others while still being mostly independent (ie rarely do you need one mod to make another one work and they will never break each other). All weapons and crafts are balanced together to ensure they are all relevant at some point in the game. The modules are:
Basic Modules:
- XCom Armoury Expanded: Adds shotgun and sniper rifle equivalents for ballistic and laser weapons, along with a reskin of laser weapons to make them all follow the same aesthetic (from the original laser rifle). Credits: Warboy for the shotgun and sniper rifle, Chiko and Aldorn for the laser weapon reskin.
- XCom Armoury Expanded Crafts: The XCom answer to new UFOs, along with a craft weapon re-balance to make air combat more challenging (Credit: Istrebitel). This adds:
+ Obstructor: An Interceptor with Alien Alloy hull, making it lighter (a bit faster) and more resistant to damage.
+ Retaliator: An further improved Interceptor using Alien Alloy and UFO Navigation. Credits: Shadow
+ Thunderstorm: A fast, one weapon “interdictor” to quickly respond to small threats. Credits: Tyran_nick
+ Raven: The first XCom craft designed using UFO Construction, from an industry prototype (which would have become what is in XCom2012, but the aliens showed up in 1999!). It outclasses the Interceptor family, requires Elerium to build but not to fly. Credits: MickTheMage
+ Sentinel: A tough, lumbering behemoth of the sky who can take damage like few others. The counterpart to the Firestorm speed. Credits: Warboy.
+ Skywarden: A Skyranger with Alien Alloy hull, making it tougher and able to sport two side doors for rapid deployment without compromising a safe landing in alien controlled space.
+ Skyguardian: The pinnacle of the Sky-transport family, responsive enough to intercept crafts with its one weapon, able to carry 16 soldiers and deploy them through two side doors and a back ramp.
Expansion Modules:
- XAE Research and Manufacture: My take on what research should be like in XCom. No more quick plasma access, or even lasers. Everything takes work. Recommended to use with other Expansion Modules to widen your weapon options, since there is no early laser rifles and heavy plasmas anymore. Credits: NeoWorm for laser and TurkishSwede for plasma research.
- XAE Alloy Ammo: Adds new ammunition for all ballistic weapons, increasing the AP damage capabilities. Credits: moriarty
- XAE Utility: Adds utility weapons (Combat Knife, Taser, Grenade Launcher, Single Shot Rocket Launcher, Rocket Propelled Grenade Launcher) to widen the selection available at the beginning of the game. A complement to the XAE Alloy Ammo, to help you survive the early game while going through the longer research tree. Credits: Ryskeliini
- XAE Gauss: Adds Gauss weapons as a complement to Laser weapons. High precision, low rate of fire, to contrast with the rapid-fire lasers.
- XAE Gauss DE Ammo: A new ammunition for Gauss weapons, made of Depleted Elerium.
- XAE Elerium Lasers: Laser weapons using an elerium lens to better focus their beams (see XCom-Interceptor), an improvement on the regular laser, on par with Gauss weapons with DE Ammo.
- XAE Advanced Weapons: Adds a Laser Blaster and Gauss Launcher to XCom's weapons, which take over the AutoCannon and Heavy Cannon roles, respectively, with tiers to follow the Laser and Gauss progression.
- XAE Elerium Missiles: A new missile type for XCom crafts, requires Elerium Bombs from the Alien Armoury Expanded.
- XAE Small Bombs: Two new bombs for the small launcher, available as soon as it is researched. An explosive bomb (damage a little higher than a grenade) and a smoke bomb. Allows the Small Launcher to replace the Grenade Launcher in mid/late-game. Still compatible with Elerium Bombs (but has to be loaded AFTER the Alien Armoury Expanded, otherwise the new bombs won't work).
- XAE Imp MediKit: An Improved MediKit which heals more hp per fatal wounds, leading to healthier operatives on the field and shorter recovery times. Requires Alien Tech research.
- XAE MagArmor: A personal armour variant surrounding the operative with a strong magnetic field to deflect incoming plasma. Also uses the MindLink Interface to boost firing accuracy and reactions.
- XAE Scout Armour: A lighter, faster personal armour variant, perfect for scouting duties.
- XAE Power Suits and Armours: Moves Power and Flying Suits to a mid-tier armour instead of the early access, almost impervious armour it is normally. A new series of Power Armour and Flying Armour is introduced, which takes over the endgame armour role.
- XAE Tanks:
+ An all new tier of tanks with alloy hulls. (Currently.. overpowered? They have the same armor as hovertanks which might be too much.. Let me know!)
+ A complete rework of tanks to be modular: Hull and Weapon are separate. You can now replace the obsolete cannon turret with a shiny new laser cannon, or put a rocket launcher on your hovertanks! (For those who want "regular tanks", an alternate ruleset will be coming soon)
+ Destroyed tank hulls are repairable, to work along the new armours and the changes made by the GravArmors mod (Strongly recommended, to be incorporated eventually) which allow infantry armour to be repaired. Tank weapons are destroyed, however, as the aliens always make sure to take them out.
- Tanks Simple: An alternate Tanks Expansion module which enables "vanilla" build and field behavior for tanks. It is simpler but does not offer the same opportunity as the XAE Tanks mod.
(NOTE: FOR OBVIOUS REASONS, THE TWO TANKS MODULES ARE NOT COMPATIBLE, CHOOSE ONE OR THE OTHER
- Elerium Explosives: Proxy grenades, High explosives, Rocket, AutoCannon and Heavy Cannon explosive ammo using Elerium for more damage. A ressource intensive way to get more damage on those pesky cyberdiscs.
- Attack Dogs: Dioxine's original Attack Dog, now with an improved Armoured Attack Dog variant, with more transport capability. Currently, both "hands" of the dogs are taken, preventing it from using weapons (in Nightly version). Once I figure out how to make it work, this mod will include the "Dog Warning System" (ie a motion scanner for dogs).
====Original First Post====
I just recently joined the community and it is very cool to see so much work going into this old gem of a game!
Although my first reaction upon seeing mods was: "Pff, the original was fine", I am quickly realizing the value of all the tweaks and improvements that are coming from the community. One thing that I still have issues with, however, is the variety and overlap between certain mods.
Many new weapons, many new crafts, all sort of addressing similar issues in different ways. Inspired by the Alien Armoury Expanded, I think a "XCom Armoury Expanded" would be a great addition, to pull together some of the great work that has been done here. Very much like the AAE, this mod will try to keep its content streamlined to things that are in direct continuation of the original. No fancy new weapons class as I think that deserves its own mod. Just a (fair) few new crafts, and some additional variety for wargear.
I first intend to work on the crafts, to create
- XCom_Armory_Expanded_Crafts:
- Alloy Crafts (both Interceptors and Skyrangers)
- SkyTransit
- Retaliator
- Thunderstorm
- Raven
- Sentinel
- A stat rebalance to keep everything relevant (inspired by the "air combat rebalanced" mod)
- Updated Tech Tree
The second part will be the XCom_Armory_Expanded itself, to add:
- laser sniper rifle and scatter laser (as counterparts of the new plasma weapons in the AAE)
- regular sniper rifle and shotgun (as above)
- A light stat rebalance
- Updated Tech Tree including making plasma more difficult to use.
The aim is to combine with the Alien version and provide an expanded game experience that is still very close to the original game. Other mods can then be grafted on, for example more realistic starting weapons, altogether new weapons/armors, new aliens, etc. to create a different experience.
As it is, I have a draft for the craft stat changes, as well as an idea of the new craft tech tree. Stats will be tweaked in order to obtain a progression in both fighters and transporters and to try to maintain relevance of a variety of crafts later in game. As such, it will look like:
Interceptor -> Alloy Interceptor -> Retaliator
Skyranger -> Alloy Skyranger -> Skywarden
With diminishing rent as more alien components replace earth ones, but still keeping some to represent fuel use.
As a supplement to the Retaliator, the Thunderstorm will be a fast and still rather resilient craft aimed at taking out small and deadly UFOs (ex.: the fighter from AAE) but with only one weapon hard point preventing it from taking on larger targets unless in swarms.
The Raven is included as the first human craft using entirely alien components, unlocked after UFO construction. Slower and weaker than the firestorm, it uses a "slow burning Elerium Reactor" which requires elerium and power source at construction but not later.
The Firestorm is improved by making it faster to repair because of the modular structure of saucer crafts and making it more fuel efficient.
The Sentinel changes in role to a heavy support craft, its resilience allowing it to accompany Avengers in taking out the largest UFOs.
The lightning gains the same engine as the raven and faster repairs being a saucer craft. It is aimed at intercepting small UFOs independently and delivering a small, relatively adept crew to recover the UFO. No need to send a fighter and your full skyranger crew to take down escort UFOs, so save on hangar/maintenance/rent/fuel.
The Avenger is unchanged, remaining the king of the skies. And the tech tree is attached. The hybrid crafts are their own branch, that will be relatively quick to research since they are based on well known Earth designs. The craft themselves will also be quick to manufacture, to represent the delivery of ready made earth parts to the workshop, XCom only having to work on the alien components. Conversely, the late-game 100% UFO based crafts will take much longer to research and manufacture.
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======>NEWS<======
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Current:
Version 1.03 of the mod is now available! Armoured Attack Dogs!
