I need some mod suggestions!

[TaxxiDriver]

Hello! I've only recently been suggested to play x-com series, and found out that this openxcom is just so brilliant! Thanks a lot for keeping up with this kind of great game.
 
I'm enjoying this game a lot, and found out there are some mods on this forum. I have several questions, and need some suggestions about mods.

1. Are all of those mods compatible with each other? I think it would not since it's practically impossible to test all of those combinations about recent mods. It would be nice if there is some kind of confirmed combination that others can safely use, though.

2. I'm looking for two relevant mods (or ways to modify the game), though I'm interested in all kinds of mods here:
- A mod which prevents too many enemies spawning right in front of/next to your ship. I'm playing at superhuman difficulty without that much problem, but I think it's too cheesy to face all those creatures right in front of the ship. It's not challenging: it's rather stressful. I want to strategically challenge the enemies rather than being forced to sacrifice some of my soldiers.
- Somewhat reduced psionic power. This problem is greatly amplified by the above problem. Enemies are right in front of you, so one of your soldier got mind controlled and the mission ends at the turn 2. The loss is too much and heartbreaking (my precious soldiers... oh god...). And also, I do not want my soldier to do the same thing against aliens since it makes the game too easy. I tried the psionic line of fire mod, but then it becomes a too weak threat...
  [Edited: Found out that there is a mod that as it was in XCOMUTIL, only XCOM soldiers suffer from psionic LOS. Any other suggestions?]
- [Editied] Also, Is there any mod where you can focus on the sight of your soldiers? If you visit a place once, then it just becomes 'explored' so you cannot know exactly how far and exactly where your soldiers can cover. 

3. Maybe you can suggest your best combinations of mods (or settings) to me. Always welcomed 

[Arthanor]

Mods tend to work together, but there is no guarantee. Usually, most mods which add new weapons and new races are compatible with each others to almost the full extent (races might interfere with each others a bit when it comes to researching the Alien Origins and other topics). You probably only need one mod that adds terrain and those are the worst for interfering in my experience, since they all tweak maps. The best mod to add more UFOs is "Yet More UFOs", which is compatible with the "Alien Armoury Expanded - Crafts" mod, for the best "lots of different UFOs" experience.

Overall, the best combination of mods for a "still close to vanilla" experience is no doubt the Final Mod Pack. A megamod combining a lot of mods into one and making sure everything is compatible. If you want a new experience, Piratez really delivers. It's pretty much a whole new game with the same engine.

I am working on the "XCom Armoury Expanded", to go with the "Alien Armoury Expanded" mod, to build a set of compatible, modular mods allowing you to define the experience you want.

I don't think there is anything mod-wise that controls the number of aliens at the exit of your craft, unfortunately. You do use smoke grenades, right? And even more useful, grab a mod with grenade launchers, fire a smoke grenade and it will explode instantly, allowing you to move now instead of waiting a turn. Or turn on the option for instant grenades and use regular smoke grenades (but that's a bit more weird).

Regarding psi, it's difficult.. Looking in the ruleset, you can find the psi-amp and "alien psi weapon" and tweak them. The "Psi Needs LoS" mod just adds the requirement for LoS (and it does it to the Mind Probe, making it quite useless imo). You can do other things (ex.: make TU cost higher so psi-power becomes more difficult to spam) if changing the LoS doesn't do what you want. I agree that the LoS thing nerfs it too much for aliens. Some people have had success defining a maximum range, I have not.

There is a "True LoS" mod out there, that requires you to use a different executable. Depending on your computer, keeping track of the full vision range may make the game slower though (not an issue for most, but if you have an old/crappy machine, it matters).

Ouf.. long answer..!

[TaxxiDriver]

Thank you so much for your kind explanation. I'm very impressed.

I think I have to go for the Alien Armoury Expanded and Yet More UFOs mod first. I've wanted to get the Real Vision mod too, but I'm using a laptop so a bit worried that the computer will be sluggish. And I think it doesn't offer fog of war, and (I know I'm asking too much but) a nightvision goggle, please! I had used some of those when I was in the army two years ago. It is very cumbersome but anyway better than your bare eye, so lowering your TUs by equipping it or giving aliens some flashbangs will balance it(nightvision+flashbangs=lol). Well, I think this topic should go to somewhere else, though.

By the way, I guess XCom Armoury Expanded mod is an ongoing project, right? (not available right now)

Overall, the best combination of mods for a "still close to vanilla" experience is no doubt the Final Mod Pack. A megamod combining a lot of mods into one and making sure everything is compatible. If you want a new experience, Piratez really delivers. It's pretty much a whole new game with the same engine.

I'll definitely try those after finishing one more superhuman round with the aformentioned mods.

I don't think there is anything mod-wise that controls the number of aliens at the exit of your craft, unfortunately. You do use smoke grenades, right? And even more useful, grab a mod with grenade launchers, fire a smoke grenade and it will explode instantly, allowing you to move now instead of waiting a turn. Or turn on the option for instant grenades and use regular smoke grenades (but that's a bit more weird).

  I really wish there was some kind of mod to handle this. I use a bunch of those smoke grenades but sometimes you cannot help being shot and watch four soldiers at the front being killed purely by reaction fires in the very first round... That ain't good. Even throwing flares or smoke grenades cause reaction fires, so when there are like 3 cyberdiscs right in front of you, you get a whole barrage of plasmas... It is as if the da** pilot deliberately lands in the worst place. What kind of operation is that..? Maybe I have to try the smoke launcher.

For the psionics, thanks for your recommendation! I think I have to make the TU cost somewhat higher. Is the TU cost the absolute cost or % cost? (I think it is not %). Also, is there a way to define the maximum distance in the ruleset?

I really hope one day many of those mods become a part of the official Openxcom.

[edited: I also wish I could retrieve all items of the dead soldiers. Especially the armors... they love armors so much that they die with it and refuse to take it off...]

[Solarius Scorch]

For the psionics, thanks for your recommendation! I think I have to make the TU cost somewhat higher. Is the TU cost the absolute cost or % cost? (I think it is not %). Also, is there a way to define the maximum distance in the ruleset?

If it contains the flatRate: true flag, then it's in TUs. If it doesn't contain it, then it's in %.

[edited: I also wish I could retrieve all items of the dead soldiers. Especially the armors... they love armors so much that they die with it and refuse to take it off...]

There are some mods that do that, for example Grav Armors by Clownagent, but there are other attempts too (Falko did it, I just can't remember the mod title).

[Arthanor]

The XCom Armoury Expanded is indeed an ongoing project. I wouldn't quite recommend getting the latest version from the forums as it's rather old. I am just about to release a new version though.

Fog of war kind of works, in that if your soldiers don't look somewhere, you're not going to see the alien walking there, even if you had looked there before. There is no "greying out" of areas that are not currently being looked at, however, so it is a bit more difficult to keep track of.

Full line of sight and nightvision are difficult to implement. I know that OpenXCom Extended (check in the forum) can do variable visibility ranges for both aliens and XCom operatives, but regular OpenXCom can't really handle it.

Regarding the issues of disembarking, I have two things to suggest.
The first is: Really try smoke grenades in a grenade launcher. Since the explosion is instant (instead of waiting until you press next turn), it blocks line of sight immediately so the aliens already don't see you when the time comes for reaction fire. It is REALLY useful.
The second is: Alternate crafts. In the XCom Armoury Expanded, I have two more advanced version of the skyranger with side doors. They allow you to check the sides for aliens before disembarking and more easily get everyone out on first turn so they can shoot the aliens. Of course, you'll want to use the instant smoke for the side entrances too, if aliens cover them. It's a trade-off between more avenues of attacks and being more exposed.

Psionic costs is indeed fixed, at 25 TUs. It has the "flatRate: true" property. I have tried to set a maximum range, but for some reason it did not work. For armours, like Solarius, I strongly recommend you check out the "Grav Armours" mod.

Finally, I don't think mods will ever become a part of the release version of OpenXCom (although many of the features from OpenXCom Extended might). However, a well designed, matured mod just needs to be enabled and should integrate seamlessly into the game, so it's not very different.

[Hobbes]

3. Maybe you can suggest your best combinations of mods (or settings) to me. Always welcomed 

For more diversity without any changes to the game mechanics you can try either the new maps of the Terrain Pack and/or encountering mixed crews of the original aliens during missions. The Terrain Pack adds about 15 new terrains, to complement the existing ones on the UFO missions and Terror Sites, using new and reworked sprites and over 700 maps. There's also an separate ruleset that adds new alien missions.
The Alien Remix adds the possibility of mixed crews that can be composed of 2, 3 or even more of the alien races. The mixed crews's composition will follow the game's introduction of the new races.

[TaxxiDriver]

Thank you everyone for all the suggestions. It's really amazing to see this variety of mods in one game

Installed the Nighty version and all the mods seem to work well.

The first is: Really try smoke grenades in a grenade launcher. Since the explosion is instant (instead of waiting until you press next turn), it blocks line of sight immediately so the aliens already don't see you when the time comes for reaction fire. It is REALLY useful.
The second is: Alternate crafts. In the XCom Armoury Expanded, I have two more advanced version of the skyranger with side doors. They allow you to check the sides for aliens before disembarking and more easily get everyone out on first turn so they can shoot the aliens. Of course, you'll want to use the instant smoke for the side entrances too, if aliens cover them. It's a trade-off between more avenues of attacks and being more exposed.

I've had a quick look over the grenade launcher. I think it can also be used purely as a (strong) weapon so a bit worried it is overpowered. Maybe I should look for some new crafts that have side doors or something. Since you do not recommend the XCom Armoury Expanded mod, I think I should find a few seperate mods out there.

For more diversity without any changes to the game mechanics you can try either the new maps of the Terrain Pack and/or encountering mixed crews of the original aliens during missions. The Terrain Pack adds about 15 new terrains, to complement the existing ones on the UFO missions and Terror Sites, using new and reworked sprites and over 700 maps. There's also an separate ruleset that adds new alien missions.
The Alien Remix adds the possibility of mixed crews that can be composed of 2, 3 or even more of the alien races. The mixed crews's composition will follow the game's introduction of the new races.

Those mods look very promising. Doubt if those will be compatible with the mods I'm trying to use (Yet more UFOS). Maybe I have to try them seperately.

[XOps]

Those mods look very promising. Doubt if those will be compatible with the mods I'm trying to use (Yet more UFOS). Maybe I have to try them seperately.

Actually they are compatible. TerrainPack alters terror mission terrain and adds new geoscape terrain. UFO maps are a separate entity. I would recommend the following mods.

Mods that Add Maps
TerrainPack
https://www.openxcom.com/mod/terrain-missions-pack
Luke's Extra UFOs
https://www.openxcom.com/mod/lukes-extra-ufos
Expanded Alien Base
https://www.openxcom.com/mod/expanded-ubase

Mods that add new Aliens
https://www.openxcom.com/mod/anthropod-alien
https://www.openxcom.com/mod/cover-waspite-alien
https://www.openxcom.com/mod/gazer-alien

Mods that add new weapons
https://www.openxcom.com/mod/sniper-rifle
https://www.openxcom.com/mod/light-machine-gun
https://www.openxcom.com/mod/shotgun
https://www.openxcom.com/mod/combat-knife
https://www.openxcom.com/mod/grenade-launcher

Others
Adds a nice middle tier interceptor
https://www.openxcom.com/mod/thunderstorm-interceptor
Adds a nice mini HWP for scouting
https://www.openxcom.com/mod/scout-drone

Mass Accelerator Weapons is pretty neat, but it makes the game easier though and basically throws balance out the window.
https://www.openxcom.com/mod/mass-accelerator-weapons

All of these are fairly simple mods that should be compatible with one another. Or at least they were unless they have been updated since I last played. It has been a while, but this use to be close to the old combination I used before I started my own modding project. Regardless I consider this a good starter combination. The Final Mod Pack has I think almost all of these included with a ton of other stuff, but it is a marathon mod and the tech tree is very different from the original. The above list adds a bunch of stuff without messing with the pacing. If you want a new experience then I would recommend one of the several mega mods floating around. If you want something close to the original, but with a few extra toys then stick close to the above list.

Edit
I regards to your first turn carnage problem (feel your pain by the way) I know of one non mod solution. It is to have the first soldier in the transport prime a smoke grenade and then drop it at his feet. This provokes no reaction fire from the aliens (as opposed to throwing) and will explode at the end of the turn providing some cover. The downside is that this is a gamble as the Aliens can still walk up to the transport and take shots inside if they are close enough  as the smoke does not spread well inside the transport and the Aliens still know your soldiers are there. Still this can be less bloody than having a shootout from the back of the skyranger. I also know the Final Mod Pack has a transport that has cover for your troops although it slows down deployment. I am also working on a transport that has doors as well. I hate when turn one is a reenactment of Omaha Beach.

[pkrcel]

I know of one non mod solution. It is to have the first soldier in the transport prime a smoke grenade and then drop it at his feet. This provokes no reaction fire from the aliens (as opposed to throwing) and will explode at the end of the turn providing some cover.

Used this since ages with some satisfaction, but still....it does not work extremely well cause the smoke on the ramp seems NOT to cover you from beneath.

Demonstration is that when you do this and an alien is close enough on turn 1 (especially on the back-side area of the ramp) they WILL shoot at you no matter what, and usually strike a couple headshot.

Proved again with a couple mutons off-the-ramp yday evening...dropped the smoke, hit end turn, BOOM two headshots, two rookies gone.

Gotta love this mechanic for whic we land NEXt to the small scout and yet do not know where the aliens are....

While I understand this is most of the charisma of difficult XCOM, all these suicidal deplyments really make no sense 

[TaxxiDriver]

Thanks a lot XOps! I think that is a really nice setup for starting modded games.

I will also try that smoke grenade trick when there are too many enemies right out there. Still funny since the best strategy you can take is sometimes just to pass to the next turn without firing any shot even though you see plenty of them...

[pkrcel]

They have full TUs like you but are already (mostly) set up, so they are fulll reaction fire capable. 

The strategy is sound only due to game (weird in this very case) mechanics , and yet is not fully effective...you'll probably take losses anyway, thank god they do not use any area effect weapon until turn 3.

...still having your lander hit a spot for a perfect ambush from the enemy is incredibly dumb.

[yrizoud]

have the first soldier in the transport prime a smoke grenade and then drop it at his feet. This provokes no reaction fire from the aliens (as opposed to throwing) and will explode at the end of the turn providing some cover.

I use this as well, but I'm always wary of aliens which are on higher grounds. It's not very clear how "high" a smoke tile is, so I'm always afraid a sectoid sniping from a rooftop will see the top of an xcom agent, even when this agent is swimming in a thick (but flat) cloud of smoke.

[Arthanor]

@TaxxiDriver:

If you'd like to give transports with side doors a try, I have uploaded a new version of the XCom Armoury Expanded, which has two improved Skyrangers with side doors. It gives you more deployment options, but of course, gives the aliens more shooting options too

Use the crew order to make sure you have the right guys in front of the doors (usually high reactions expendables with some kind of smoke)

There are also a whole lot of other toys in there, some of which would help you deal with deployment (grenade launcher, small launcher smoke bomb), some are just for.. added fun

[Shoes]

I've got a stat tracking mod which can be fun ;p Here is the forum link : https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?topic=1718.0

It mods the executable, which isn't ideal. You can replace a fresh nightly .exe with my .exe, but it will revert the changes I don't have. The nightly was last compiled last week, and I can recompile it if need be. You will only run into errors if significant changes have been made to the code base.

The commendations it adds can be turned off as well. I have made every attempt for this mod to play well with other mods, so using new aliens/weapons/ammos should be no problem!

If running this mod is interfering with others, you can remove it by replacing my .exe with a nightly .exe.

[TaxxiDriver]

Thanks everyone. I've spent a lot of time doing this and that, optimizing my strategy etc. Here are some thoughts of mine:

(1) Just dropping of the smoke grenade worked fine, but I'm pretty much sure one needs a more fundamental remedy of this problem. Indeed, some rookies keep dying. Sometimes it's funny because the map is quite large but all the enemies are just in front of the craft (almost always in terror missions: don't know why). Haven't used any craft mod(thanks, Arthanor! I'll try that later after finishing this) though.

(2) I've got a new record for a barrage of successive reaction fires triggered by just one step outside of the craft. The target was a rocket launcher tank and 4 sectoids got 12 shots on it. The tank luckily survived with 28 hp  . It was a night mission for crashed UFO.

(3) I was testing the infamous 'Superhuman January Base Defense' trigger, and I concluded that without save/load there is no consistent way of defending the base successfully. It is because of the MC. Cyberdisks are dangerous but with a proper strategy, one can deal with it. But MC just depends on random factors, and just one single successful MC can kill bunch of allies, which is too much in January (and of course, in superhuman difficulty). They seemed to continuously use MC even when none of them was able to see my troops, so I really couldn't do much about it. One of my soldiers got a steady stream of MC so I left him with a room where aliens couldn't see, but he still got psionic disturbance afterwards. Too much luck involved in here, so it is inconsistent.

(4) I've seen a lot complimenting the commendation mod. I'll also try it