Updated
Breaching Charge mod v.1.2 for OpenXcom (now with french in-game translation) tanks to infini from the OpenXcom Forums.
--updated after valid and good user proposals--
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This mod adds 2 small pieces of equipment to OpenXcom that can break through UFO (and sometimes even XCom Craft) hulls: The Breaching Charge and the Improved Charge.
The later one can be researched after Elerium-115 and Alien Alloys have been investigated.
To use them you have to stand DIRECTLY at the wall and shoot the charge(s) at it. Done.
As the damage of the charges is very high (it has to be to break through UFO hulls) I applied several hard limitations to keep people from exploiting them as weapons:
For the Standard Breaching Charge:
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- You will need 100% (yes, 100%, not 1 TU missing) of your TU to use it, that means you have to set up and plan your moves carefully over several turns
- It is heavy: 18 weight-units are more than a plasma-rifle with some ammo-clips
- You can use it only one time
- It has a maximum range of 1 field
-You need to have both hands free, otherwise you will MAYBE miss and all the effort was wasted
For the Improved Charge:
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-You will need 90% of your TUs, this gives you enough time to move ~one field aside, hopefully keeping you out of sight after opening the hull
-It is lighter than the Standard Charge, but still weights 12 weight-units
-It has two shots, BUT as they are fired at once it still means ONE usage only
-Maximum range is still 1 field only
-You can use it with one hand now. This makes it somewhat more reliable, easier AND safer during the approach phase. This is only a marginal benefit, so don't get careless
Tips:
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-Some mod UFOs have double hulls and need two standard Breaching Charges. And if you are really unlucky a piece of UFO equipment is behind these two walls. The Improved Charge takes care of the double hulls, but still there is a risk of a piece of UFO equipment being behind those walls. Luckily that UFO equipment usually is easily destroyable by many weapons without problems.
-If you use the charge on a hull piece directly next to a door you can widen the door for HWPs to drive through.
-Use the Forced-Fire (CTRL+Left-Click) option for easier targeting. Make sure you enable it in the Game Options.
-Due to game mechanics/limitations the weapon is still able to miss, even though it will not happen often.
-If you are unlucky you open the hull and face several angry enemy guns. Make sure your hull-opening soldier has the best armor available. It also might help a TINY bit to make them kneel if they are using the Standard Charge, it makes you a smaller target... If you are using the Improved Charge you can move >~one field aside WHEN STANDING. Do NOT kneel as getting up takes 8 TimeUnits, which leaves you with nothing AND now you are a better target as well.
-Provide fire support for your brave hull-opening soldier, preferably with weapons that do not harm him/her if accidentally hit.
-There is no need to equip every soldier with those heavy charges, one or maybe 2 charges per team should be perfectly enough.
-Both weapons have a chance of breaking through XCom Craft hulls (50:50), not sure if anyone will use them for that, though.
Installation:
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To install the mod simply drop the data folder from the zip in your Openxcom folder, then enable the WeaponBreachingCharge mod in the game options. Buy the Breaching Charge and use it. Done.
To get the Improved Charge, you will have to wait until you have researched Elerium-115 and Alien Alloys, then you will be able to research the Improved Charge. After a short research period you can manufacture them at the cost of $9,000 and 2 slices of Alien Alloy per piece.
Notes:
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I made this mod as I started to no longer like the old XComUtil option anymore that changed the HE-Pack to a damage of 250 (needed to breach UFO-Hulls), because it made the HE-Pack way too strong. A starting-weapon that can take out EVERYTHING in the game? No way. So I came up with this.
However, after the release of version 1.0 several people proposed that the charge should need a research in Alien Alloys, which admittedly makes perfect sense. Still, I did not want to limit the weapon even more than it already is, so I went for a different and (hopefully) perfect compromise: I added a second, better and researchable charge which needs Alien Alloys and Elerium 115 to be researched. I also eliminated the chance of glancing shots now, for this the weapon damage had to be doubled, Do not worry about that, as this is not a weapon it is irrelevant.
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Made by civilian (aka new_civilian) in October 2014. Feel free to use and modify these files for any purpose you see fit. Credits would be nice. And thanks again to infini (aka 5thAvenue) for the translation and input!
The Mod website seems to have problems (again) so I'll post it here for the time being.
