[MAPS] YetMoreUFOs!

[Arthanor]

Oh wow, this map business is even more complicated than I thought... I was hoping it was just a matter of adding some missing info in the map/tileset.

How about adding one unit o alloy lying on the floor of the UFO? Kind of ugly, but it's the easiest way to keep the game consistent, instead of "I got a whole UFO and not a single alloy?!" Or maybe it's the one steel UFO

[guille1434]

 grzegorj: Thanks for the answer! I hope your excellent work will be sometime included in the FMP mod...
Thanks for sharing your work!

[grzegorj]

I was hoping it was just a matter of adding some missing info in the map/tileset.

It should work this way. I have already reported a bug to OXC coders. This is the best solution: I have no idea what part of the original Small Scout does generate the Alloys... each one should.

[grzegorj]

The version 0.4 is ready to download but it still does not contain all planned Large Scouts. It is so because of three reasons:

1. Two models have appeared to be really time-consuming (I mean UFOKLATU and UFOBOP), especially their route files. It is not so simple to check 62 nodes... And all of them twice, but each of UFOs has also its symmetrical twin in the mod.

2. I have also made some gfx work. Thanks to it we now have double pillars to plug holes in wall edges when there are short skew external walls in UFOs (there are no such walls in any original models but there are plenty of them in community models). No more seeing or firing through edges... I hope. Any possible errors which can still exist in this matter are probably generated by the game itself, not by maps. Adding those double pillars have made me correct some already done UFOs.

Wedges for external, convex angles in UFO walls have also been added to the tileset. Now we can place external UFO doors just by an angle. Previously it caused ugly graphic result. Now it looks really nice, see the corrected UFO_111(A) / UFR_111(A) (there are 4 doors now in the stand of the mushroom-like UFO instead of 2 in the previous version).

Replacing all files with newer version is absolutely necessary then. As for now, no genuine (game) UFOs have been modified in any way, only the ones made by the community (and the modifications are as tiny as possible).

3. This is only a hobby which I can cultivate only in my free time So, please be patient. There are already 71 UFO maps in the package so I think that my speed is relatively fast I really plan to finish all the work... in several weeks.

Note also that ALL Luke's Scouts are already in my package. All Scouts from MapPack1 and MapPack2 (plus "new" Bird of Prey) are here too.

The nearest plans are: 12 more Large Scouts (yes!), including 3 maps by davide, 3 of 4 maps by Solarius (I hope they are all right now but I will take a look at them once again) and 6 maps being mirrored version of the six ones.

Then I will repair harvesters and abducters... I have also an idea how to remove those nasty black triangles in floors of Abductor.

The version 0.5 is expected next Sunday

[grzegorj]

PS. The new version of UFOL83 terrain files contains more tilesets than the previous one. However, in all maps known to me, including those from Luke's Extra UFO package, it is last on the list. So, using the version corrected and supplemented by me should not cause any problems, even if you use it with other maps. On the other hand, the new version is absolutely necessary to use with UFO maps corrected/prepared by me.

[guille1434]

Hello grzegorj!

   As I really want to see all those new ufos in action... I was thinking about a way to implemenmt them in a Final Mod pack modded game... Those steps are the ones I think should be done to replace luke's ufos present in the FMP and replace them with yours:

1) Copy all your mod files present in the MAPS, TERRAIN and ROUTES folders to the equally named folders present in the Data folder of the game installation (previously having made a backup)
2) make a new ruleset (.rul file) where the following types in the ufos section are deleted, refering to the ones present in the FMP ruleset: "- type: STR_SMALL_SCOUT", "- type: STR_MEDIUM_SCOUT", "- type: STR_LARGE_SCOUT", then in the same ruleset, copy the information from your ruleset...

Do you think this will be enough to enable the use of your new ufos, or is there something I am missing, for example if there is any other ruleset section(s) affected by changing some types in the ufos section?

I hope I could explain myself in a clear way...

Also I want to say a big "Thank you!" for sharing such a wonderful and thorough piece of work!

[grzegorj]

Yes, guille1434, it will work. Do not forget to install Final Mod Pack at the start, i.e. before my mod. Such a changed Final Mod pack ruleset will be available soon without the need of manually editing anything. But as for now, if you cannot wait, you need to do it by yourself, exactly as you have described.

[guille1434]

Thanks for your answer, man! I will do so, because I want to add more variations on the theme of Ufo maps... Besides, I will upload the ruleset here, with complete instructions for anyone who wants to do the same, and may be saving you some time and work...

[Arthanor]

As usual: Nice work! Recovering a large scout used to be a chore, not it's a surprise every time. I can't believe the variety out there (Just discovered the one with 4 corner elevators and a second level, I was like: "WHAaat?!" And I sent my rookies to recover this one thinking "It's just a large scout..."!).

Without you, I would have never seen all those. This is great! With your mod, the alien remix mod (Who thought of Ethereals+Chryssalids as a good idea?!) and a few new races, now I just don't want to leave Earth to see what's coming next

[grzegorj]

As I am rather busy these days, I cannot still finish with Harvesters. Moreover, the mod website has been down for two days now. In order to give a sign of life (:-) ) I have decided to upload a beta (incomplete) 0.5 version here.

Which is the most important... It is time to definitely quit with Luke's Extra UFOs, or at least with his Harvesters. It is so because I have changed U_DISEC3 terrain file, so if you do not copy the new version, your UFOs will not work well. But with the new version, Luke's Harvesters will not work.

At this moment 106 UFO variants are ready: 3 Small Scouts, 32 Medium Scouts, 59 Large Scouts, 12 Harvesters. More Harvesters will come very soon (all Luke's maps will be added; as for now, only A, B, C and D are implemented).


There are three rulesets inside, choose only one of them.
YetMoreUFOs - if you do not know what to choose (it is the basic option);
YetMoreUFOsMini - if you want all UFOs of a given type to preserve their outer shape (no strange, new constructions will appear then);
YetMoreUFOTypes - if you like to play Solar's UFOs just as he has designed them.

I have added 3 Solar's New UFOs either as Large Scouts or as new UFO types - you can choose what you prefer: to have more Large Scouts or to have more UFO types (see readme inside). Just choose the proper ruleset. The archive contains the entire Solarius' mod (and all his files) so you do not need to worry about incompatibility. If you want to have both mods, choose YetMoreUFOTypes ruleset, and do not choose Solarius mod (all its contents is already inside)!

I have also added several UFOs designed by myself, including "double Large Scout" and some triangular ships. They originated long time ago, and have never been published.

Have a nice time with new UFOs!

[Arthanor]

Hi grzegorj,

Once again, thanks for all your work! You're the reason recovering UFOs (especially large scouts!) can be enjoyable again!

I wish I could offer you something that's as game changing as your mod has proven to be for me. Let me know if there is some weapon/armor/craft/research/balance/alien change that you'd like to see and I would be happy to look into it.

And.. I apologize for asking, but since you're doing such great work on UFO maps, I was wondering if you could maybe fix this craft redesign? Mainly fix the "elevator" on the roof so it looks like it's the top (no vertical yellow lines), maybe change the chairs to human ones, and apply the fixes you did to the lightning?

Thanks in advance and keep up the great work!

[davide]

Which is the most important... It is time to definitely quit with Luke's Extra UFOs, or at least with his Harvesters. It is so because I have changed U_DISEC3 terrain file, so if you do not copy the new version, your UFOs will not work well. But with the new version, Luke's Harvesters will not work.

Could you rename your version of tileset U_DISEC3.* to an other unused name such as U_DISEC4.* or any other ?
It is a tiny effort but it could resolve the incompatibility

Thanks in advance

[grzegorj]

Davide, there is no any incompatibility. Simply speaking, Luke's package is outdated and there is no need to use it any more. All the UFOs from there will be available in my mod. So, what should it be renaming it for? Notice that it is not me who changed the original list of tilesets... I have reverted it to the original.

All Harvesters are ready now. Install my mod and remove Luke's Harvesters completely (all are now in my mod, together with their reflections, not present in Luke's mod), there will not be any conflicts - only Harvesters use U_DISEC3.

Ah, one thing more. Renaming U_DISEC3 would NOT remove the incompatibility, so this would be aimless. As for now, the game needs to have the same list of tilesets / terrain files for all variants of a given UFO type. Luke's mod changes the original list, I have reverted the change. But as a result, both mods cannot be used in one game. It is not possible to work with Luke's Harvesters and my Harvesters at the same tiome, and this is not a question of U_DISEC3.

You can also rename the old version of U_DISEC3, for example, to U_DISEC3_OUTDATED (or anything else), and make proper changes in Luke's ruleset. But even then you will not have both my and his Harvesters. Such a request is a little stupid, however, as my mod contains all his Harvesters, with corrections in addition.

[grzegorj]

The mod website is down, and nobody knows whether it will ever function again. So, I will publish new versions here. I am also thinking of making a copy available on my own website. Just for a case...

Version 0.5 (final, with all Harvesters ready). 122 UFO variants: 3 Small Scouts, 32 Medium Scouts, 59 Large Scouts, 28 Harvesters. It has also SolarsNewUFOs mod integrated. Tiny patches for (the original) Harvester (no more invisible holes in floors) and for Lightning (no more invisible tiles) have been added, and are recommended also for a normal, unmodded game. Moreover, a ruleset for using Firestorm (and Interceptor) as a fighter-transporter (1 tank + 6 soldiers, or 10 soldiers) has been added, as the one provided with OXC causes problems. After installing this mod, Luke's Extra UFOs will no longer work because of changes made in data files.

As I said, there is no need to run both mods. In my mod, there is plenty of patches for Luke's UFOs. All his UFOs (Scouts and Harvesters for now) are present in my mod, together with plenty of other maps. If you cannot wait for other ships, modify Luke's mod yourself - remove all Scouts and Harvesters from his ruleset, there should not be any conflicts with Abductors, Terror Ships and Supply Ships. Or wait until I finish my mod, and then there will be no need to use Luke's mod any longer.

My mod has never been thought to be compatible with Luke's. It is its replacement, instead.

Checking and creating Harvesters has taken me a lot of time. Notice however that they have three floors and plenty of items to check. 60 nodes in RMP files is nothing exceptional... and each node must have been checked. I hope Abductors will do faster, just as they are smaller.

[grzegorj]

Arthanor, I will take a look at additional XCom ships when UFOs are ready. Removing the "yellow-lined" object from the roof is very simple with MapView. Here you are a corrected version of the map. It works with the standard (and the corrected) Lightning terrain files but it still needs U_WALL02 terrain. I have added the files in the attachment but they are the same files as the ones in my mod. You can even use the terrain files from Ultimate Patch (they are NOT compatible with the original LIGHTNIN files from the game).

To simplify: use this version, and your Lighning will be still usable. So will the modified Lightning be.

In theory, you need this in the ruleset to have both ships in the game:

Code: [Select]

    battlescapeTerrainData:
      name: LIGHTNIN
      mapDataSets:
        - BLANKS
        - LIGHTNIN
        - U_WALL02
      mapBlocks:
        - name: LIGHTNIN
          width: 20
          length: 10
        - name: LIGHTNI2
          width: 10
          length: 10

So, you can use both ships (the original one and the changed one) side by side as variants - except that the deployment scheme is global and may not work properly (check it if you want!). Appeal to our coders to make deployment (and mapDataSets) possible to be specified for each single variant within a given type of a ship...

Alternative solutions are:
- to replace the in-game Lightning with this version completely,
- to add a new type of human ship to the game (rather time-consuming, think of the research tree, UFOpedia etc.).

If you have extra wishes, like human stairs, try to modify the ship yourself. Using MapView is not THAT complex, however it is rather tedious and needs some practice (especially, you need to add each map manually to config files of the program...). Or wait until I finish with UFOs...