[UFOPAEDIA] Modding Ufopaedia

[Aldorn]

Suggestion: on the Cydonia pic focus instead on the top third of the original image since it displays the Face on Mars.

I never noticed this (culture culture...)

[Aldorn]

Using NeoWorm's fanart is a high temptation...

[Hobbes]

Don't get me started on fanart... how about his for Alien Research/Abductions?

[Hobbes]

You could also have a section on the UFOPaedia about base personnel to show the... multinational nature of the extraterrestrial combat unit...

[Arthanor]

Nice base personnel! Not sure it's quite the right image for the mood though

Aldorn: That's really interesting! When/if I finish the XCom Armoury Expanded, I might well look into this to make it look pretty! Not sure about the tech tree, but for the FMP that could be very useful indeed.

[Hadan]

Using NeoWorm's fanart is a high temptation...

These look great, would be a nice addition to the game 

[Aldorn]

6) Adding some extra info on aliens

I attached stuff for anyone who needs it here

I also included research section (but did not test it !) beware to Zombie part, perhaps have this to be provided by snakemen instead, or simply by chrysalid
- setting cost and points resp. to 50 and 5, but could be 0/0
- any stat info is researchable after live alien
- damage modifiers info is researchable after autopsy

Stats screen does not display Psionic Skill/Strength attributes. First it did, but I removed them because :
- not enough space to display the 11 attributes except of removing free lines
- because knowing this at the beginning of the game, just after first live alien interrogatory, and before knowing anything about psionics, could be strange

It contains all vanilla aliens + Waspite/Gazer/Anthropod (also Robin's aliens)

I didn't use Fanart as we only have two of them...

[Arthanor]

Or maybe as additional info for researching a live alien? The additional info representing the "test" done to the alien after the interrogation is concluded, and explains why it ends up being a corpse once the project is over.

[Aldorn]

Or maybe as additional info for researching a live alien? The additional info representing the "test" done to the alien after the interrogation is concluded, and explains why it ends up being a corpse once the project is over.

Right, better idea 

[Arthanor]

You could even do it in a 3 step process:
1- Get the UFOPaedia as it is now -> You learned what it is and how to keep it
2- Research again to get stats -> Run more tests with soldiers
3- Research again to get damage modifiers -> Run more tests with a variety of weapons.

I've always disliked how there is so little point to capturing aliens beyond the first leader and commander. I'm not keep on making research totally dependent on interrogating aliens (as I don't think most would know much, I sure don't know how to make a phone or computer despite using one every day), but getting something out of it would be neat and stats are an easy one which adds to the immersion: See an alien for the first time? Better capture it to know how to fight it!

[Dioxine]

@Aldorn: do not paste pictures over, instead change mode -> Indexed Color -> custom palette, it's a sin to have those great pictures so ugly and grainy

[LeBashar]

For me it should be logical to have stats and resistance after the first autopsie, and not after a live alien interrogation.

The research process for me si you first studie a corpse, than, you learn how to keep him alive or kill them faster and then you could try to capture one which can talk and give some others informations.

[Aldorn]

I updated link above with attached ruleset and ufopaedia sprites

You could even do it in a 3 step process:
1- Get the UFOPaedia as it is now -> You learned what it is and how to keep it
2- Research again to get stats -> Run more tests with soldiers
3- Research again to get damage modifiers -> Run more tests with a variety of weapons.

I did this in research but not tested

@Aldorn: do not paste pictures over, instead change mode -> Indexed Color -> custom palette, it's a sin to have those great pictures so ugly and grainy

I will try this, thanks for the hint
Sometimes I do right, sometimes wrong, I have to train (particularly of changing palettes depending on what about I'm working...)

For me it should be logical to have stats and resistance after the first autopsie, and not after a live alien interrogation.

The research process for me si you first studie a corpse, than, you learn how to keep him alive or kill them faster and then you could try to capture one which can talk and give some others informations.

In fact I did this

[Arthanor]

For me it should be logical to have stats and resistance after the first autopsie, and not after a live alien interrogation.

The research process for me si you first studie a corpse, than, you learn how to keep him alive or kill them faster and then you could try to capture one which can talk and give some others informations.

I don't know.. Can you tell how fast/strong/resilient something is by just looking at a corpse? It seems to me that experimenting on a live specimen would be a better way to get stats/modifiers than a corpse. You get to watch it lift weights (or shoot it in the face to get the modifiers Take that you stupid chrysalis!)

[Aldorn]

@Aldorn: do not paste pictures over, instead change mode -> Indexed Color -> custom palette, it's a sin to have those great pictures so ugly and grainy

Could you make a try yourself, as I cannot do better

I attached original ones

Aim is to make it 320X200 and nicely displayable under Ufopaedia