[WIP][MOD][OXCE] From the Apocalypse 0.31.1

[robin]

Download (v0.31.1): link

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READ OR DIE:
* Fixes and updates will come very slowly.
* Use latest OXCE nightly.
* Do not select "Ironman" when starting a new game, mod is WIP so you
  need to b able to save and load freely to dodge the bugs.
* No savegames compatibility until version 1.0.
* Set OXC language to "English (US)" or "English (UK)".
* Do not start translating things, all text is WIP.
* Expect incompatibility issues with any other mod.

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ART USE PERMISSION:
See "LICENSE.txt"

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COMMENT/FEATURES:
X-Com Apocalypse is my most special game. This mod is my personal
re-imagination of that game and at the same time a tribute to it.
Some designs have been ripped straight from Apocalypse, some are stolen
elsewhere, but some others --such as: plasma weapons, laser
weapons, and Auto-Cannon-- are made entirely by me.

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CREDITS:
See "credits.txt"

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KNOWN BUGS:
* Mod is not harmful but: I DO NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITIES IF YOUR COMPUTER EXPLODES.
* Ufopaedia art incomplete.
* Civilian (police) Robosphere can be zombified (maybe not?).
* Human missions spawn retaliation with UFO, which is obviously wrong;
  need to switch to OXC-Extended to fix this (should be fixed).
* ALIEN GATE battlescape is bugged and crashes with TRANSPORTER CRAFT;... still true?
* Hostile units cannot be zombified.
* Unsure if psi weapons work correctly.

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0.31.1
* improved globe.
* fix: currently Cult Base mission always spawn the first base,
    add spawning of upgraded bases like for aliens gates.
* CONTRACTs now a one-time purchase.
* game: find a way to delay advanced Earth equipment, it should not
    be available from first month.
* graphic: inv SWARMIDS.
* graphic: inv PSYMORPH
* graphics: inv ZOMBIE.
0.31.0
* fix: reduce human enemies vision in darkness.
* graphic: liskoid more contrast.
* graphic: gigantopod more contrast.
* graphic: brainsucker longer legs (redeseigned).
* graphic: bigobs for alien builtin weapons.
* sound: redo all apocalypse sounds.
* soldier transformation memory serum.
* facility: memory lab.
* map: memory lab.
0.30.7
* fix: remove trailing spaces from all ruleset.
* fix: alien gate duration syntax.
* graphic: fixed U_PLANET terrain.
* graphic/fix/game: TRANSP, redesign and updated graphics.
* fix: EXPLOR ufopaedia graphic, icons.
* fix: alien base (gate) mission: 2 stages, remove vertical levels.
* game: alien base (gate) mission: redesign planet and underground maps,
    make them more simple, less is more.
0.30.6
* balance: less UFO probes, more UFO scouts with more enemies.
* fix: XRobotanks can be manufactured whenever you research the weapons,
    but they can be bought only w/ contract and activity report.
* balance: game too easy.
* balance: reduce martial training speed.
* fix: CONTRACTs should disable individual items researches.
* fix: try to make CONTRACTs a one time purchase OR make them pure research?
0.30.5
* fix: STR_TEST_ANIM showing in buy menu.
* fix: STR_ALIEN_ONLY research.
* fix: shorten valkyrie engine.
* fix: reduce number of policemen civilians.
* fix: Living Quarters Ufopaedia entry wrong num of personnel.
* balance: reduce UFO Prober HPs.
* balance: double price of mind bender.
* balance: remove gifting MegaPol Contract at the beginning
* balance: increase ufo research times.
* balance: increase accuracy chaingun full burst.
* balance: removed spitter retracted that does not resurrect. now normal spitter is 2:1 to retracted resurrecting spitter.
* balance: increase power Stun net ammo.
* fix: warean terrain robotank mcd.
* balance: less XS an S missions, majority only 1st month, 50% 2nd, rare from 3rd.
* balance: Dimensional Scan direct result of Dimensional Gates research. Increase manufacture time to reduce revenue.
* balance: Improve non-weapon craftWeapons.
* balance: any UFO research unlocks Dimensional Probe research.
* balance: increase all research times.
* graphic: alien infestation site icon (uses alien base which is wrong).
* fix: STR_UFO_CARRIER weapon range.
* fix: ALIEN REPORT 1 is unclear/hidden/silent.
* fix: Heavy laser not recoverable.
* fix: farm wooden fence wrong die MCD.
* fix: wrong footstep sound on FARMU MCD.
* fix: FARMN_06.MAP too high, cause game crash.
* fix: STR_ALIEN_ORIGINS unneeded, delete.

[jackstraw2323]

Great work. Really looking forward to your mod!

[ThatDude]

Looks great! What is it really about, though?

[MontyDrake]

This looks amazing... I'm without words.

[volutar]

I think, robin, you should make some sort of master-class manual of making such an aesthetically and palette wise pictures for xcom. I can't name any style difference. It's the vanilla itself. Cheers.
(zombie picture can be used for the paperdoll, I guess).

[jackstraw2323]

I am interested in how you're getting your noise patterns to match up so well with original artwork, I'm assuming photoshop has something that does those, but haven't dug in yet as I've not touched ufopedia artwork yet.

[robin]

It all really trivial and cheat-y:
- I paint conventionally with the brush (not pencil) tool, in an RGB image, picking colors from the ufopaedia.act palette so I know that, once I switch to indexed color, they won't stray much;
- I start with medium-dark colors (but not the darkest I plan to use), hard brush,  to draw the overall shapes (so IE in the Chrysalis image: a darkish purple, darkish red and darkish organe, for the three main shapes respectively: coocoon, coocon interior, humanoid);
- Then I start to use lighter shades of those colors with soft brushes, to give the shapes their volumes;
- Finally I draw highlights using the lightest shades, and mark darker shadow areas with light touch of the darkest shades of the original colors, using hard or soft brushes as needed;
- I eventually make the whole thing a little lighter or darker, or and apply a light sharpen filter (didn't do this step for those 2 image above);
- Once I'm done, I use the "save for web (and devices)" option, with "png-8" or "gif", with 256 colors, loading the ufopaedia.act palette and disabling "convert to sRGB" checkbox (this doesn't seem to make any difference, but better disabled).
Done.

Attached the Spitter .psd file.

[jackstraw2323]

Based on your description, neither trivial nor cheat-y, just straight up talent and time

[Hobbes]

Looks great

Will this be an add-on like MiB?

[robin]

It's a total conversion, explicitly based on Apocalypse but not bound by faithfulness, so I can redesign and re-imagine things freely (this is a necessity too, because Apocalypse simply can't be replicated in OpenXcom). When everything will be finished it'll be like TFTD compared to UFO, so a standalone new thing based on the same gameplay foundation.
But it'll take a lot of time to get there.

[jackstraw2323]

Looking forward to it. I'm working on a TC as well and it's definitely a large undertaking to generate all the art assets and code. I'm focusing on getting a playable skeleton in place and the fleshing out all the ufopedia artwork once the rest is set.

[Hythlodaeus]

It's a total conversion, explicitly based on Apocalypse but not bound by faithfulness, so I can redesign and re-imagine things freely (this is a necessity too, because Apocalypse simply can't be replicated in OpenXcom). When everything will be finished it'll be like TFTD compared to UFO, so a standalone new thing based on the same gameplay foundation.
But it'll take a lot of time to get there.

I have two questions:

A)Will the game be completely standalone, not requiring any graphical bit whatsoever from the original game?

B)Will you be willing to license all artwork under a creative commons license (with respective attribution clauses)?

[robin]

I have two questions:

A)Will the game be completely standalone, not requiring any graphical bit whatsoever from the original game?

B)Will you be willing to license all artwork under a creative commons license (with respective attribution clauses)?

A) No, "natural" terrain will likely stay (especially desert, since I love night missions in the desert); geoscape too will probably use vanilla textures; also because I can't mod 24/7 :_( .

B) I don't know how it works, and I'm ripping (look-wise) a bunch of items straight from Apocalypse. We'll see.

/

Screens from terror mission in warehouse. Missions here will be a bit longer than my ideal.. well, when you'll have the alien mine and alien rocket launcher you'll just demolish everything.

[Ridаn]

Wow, that looks awesome.
I didnt play Apocalypse a lot, but this warehouse ramp sure brings back some memories.
Definitly a new thingie on my things-to-be-hype-about list.
Keep up the good work!

[Hythlodaeus]

A) No, "natural" terrain will likely stay (especially desert, since I love night missions in the desert); geoscape too will probably use vanilla textures; also because I can't mod 24/7 :_( .

That's alright. I'm mainly asking because someone inquired in another thread whether it would be possible to have a completely free version of OXC and your TC came to mind. I understand replacing most terrain is a bitch.

B) I don't know how it works, and I'm ripping (look-wise) a bunch of items straight from Apocalypse. We'll see.

As long as it is not a straight sprite rip, it counts as original artwork, as it has a distinctive style of its own. Technically you can license it under creative commons. The only issue would be named concepts belonging to Apocalypse ("X-COM", alien names, weapon names, etc)