[EXPANSION]Hardmode Expansion -- General Feedback Thread

[Solarius Scorch]

I hope you do not mind the added UFO Power Source. Since your original Version didn't had one and it is kinda unlogical to have a UFO without Power Source right?

Yeah, I... kinda forgot.

I can attach them towards the FMP thread if you like, but i will also include my modified original Version, so you have consistency.

Sure! Thanks!

[Harald_Gray]

Well, I've decided to give this mod a try and although I'm only nearing the end of February 1999 I'm beginning to get afraid regarding my research. My problem is that I've failed to locate the alien base I'm (going by the mod's description) supposed to raid to get much of my research started. I've even shot down two supply ships, neither of which followed a course typical for supply runs, so I do have alien food in my storage now, but I saw no base to raid for Alien Reproduction. And I've searched a lot.

So I've cheated a bit and took a peek into my savefile - there's no alien base anywhere in it. I haven't delved into the savefile too deep but I assume the aliens only have a base-building mission so far.

Uh oh, what to do now? Am I supposed to let the aliens build a base so I can raid it? And how am I to tell which UFOs are building it? And isn't that quite a lot of metagaming to get Alien Containment, especially considering I've already researched alien biology and there's alien habitat and alien food in my storage? What the heck do I even need alien reproduction for? It is not like I want to breed them...

Or should I keep shooting the aliens down because I won't need the new tech for quite some time yet? That would feel like I'm being penalized for playing well enough to prevent the aliens from building a base. Or is there something I'm not noticing yet? Anyone willing to advise?

[hellrazor]

Well, I've decided to give this mod a try and although I'm only nearing the end of February 1999 I'm beginning to get afraid regarding my research. My problem is that I've failed to locate the alien base I'm (going by the mod's description) supposed to raid to get much of my research started. I've even shot down two supply ships, neither of which followed a course typical for supply runs, so I do have alien food in my storage now, but I saw no base to raid for Alien Reproduction. And I've searched a lot.

The alien base mission is the first mission the aliens do. It will be in your starting region, were you put your first base.
Typically the alien base mission will occur in all might around 16-20 of January.
This can be delayed a little bit if you shoot down the scout ships.

So I've cheated a bit and took a peek into my savefile - there's no alien base anywhere in it. I haven't delved into the savefile too deep but I assume the aliens only have a base-building mission so far.

If they have it, you should be getting the base soon.

Uh oh, what to do now? Am I supposed to let the aliens build a base so I can raid it? And how am I to tell which UFOs are building it? And isn't that quite a lot of metagaming to get Alien Containment, especially considering I've already researched alien biology and there's alien habitat and alien food in my storage? What the heck do I even need alien reproduction for? It is not like I want to breed them...

Have you seen any Very Large UFO's yet? Since the alien base only gets set up as soon as the battleship enters the athmosphere.

Or should I keep shooting the aliens down because I won't need the new tech for quite some time yet? That would feel like I'm being penalized for playing well enough to prevent the aliens from building a base. Or is there something I'm not noticing yet? Anyone willing to advise?

I would rather let them land and get some Elerium-115 from the UFO instead of shooting it down.
You will need new tech, because the weapons you have will still enable you to fight what awaits you beyond April, but expect heavy losses and some Squad wipes.

In any case, can you provide me with a savegame file so i can check if you still have the alien base mission?

[Harald_Gray]

Hmmm, I took a look into the savefile and I'd say the mission is still active. But I've attached the savefile too, just in case. Thanks for your help with this.

I've seen *one* very large ufo - the battleship that attacked my base. Maybe those floaters were just lazy and thought they could save themselves some effort and take over my base instead of building their own 

About those supply ship - okay, I should have phrased that differently: I've shot down one and took out a landed one too.

Soooo.... I know I'm probably being a smartass but I would like to ask you to reconsider requiring alien reproduction for alien containment. I do understand the reasoning for requiring a base assault, as such a mission makes the game harder. But alien *reproduction*?!? Maybe you might rename it to something like Regeneration Vats and write a blurb about the aliens dying faster than their willpower can be broken unless we gain access to such tech. The current name is so illogical it makes my brain hurt.

[hellrazor]

Hmmm, I took a look into the savefile and I'd say the mission is still active. But I've attached the savefile too, just in case. Thanks for your help with this.

I've seen *one* very large ufo - the battleship that attacked my base. Maybe those floaters were just lazy and thought they could save themselves some effort and take over my base instead of building their own 

Well there is a random chance to get a early Base Attack Mission on Superhuman, in January, so i presume you got this one, be lucky that you actually detected the Ship on radar.

About those supply ship - okay, I should have phrased that differently: I've shot down one and took out a landed one too.

Don't worry you will get the alien base. It will take a couple of days, since shooting down all those scouts actually bumped up the spawntimer quite a bit.
As proof i attached a fraction of screenshot. The base location will be not were it is on the screenshot thou, it is picked randomly in your starting region somewere.

Soooo.... I know I'm probably being a smartass but I would like to ask you to reconsider requiring alien reproduction for alien containment. I do understand the reasoning for requiring a base assault, as such a mission makes the game harder. But alien *reproduction*?!? Maybe you might rename it to something like Regeneration Vats and write a blurb about the aliens dying faster than their willpower can be broken unless we gain access to such tech. The current name is so illogical it makes my brain hurt.

Well the alien reproduction... the naming might be a little bit weird, but it is actually in the vanilla game, it even has a ufopaedia article etc.. but since no maptiles were ever linked to it it could not be recovered.
And i am not throwing away vanilla content, well i tried to make it a little bit logical with the Alien Biology Research description, too why you need Alien Reproduction.
But i guess not everyone like's the logic :>

There is for the moment another reason whx you need to get the alien base, but this will change in future, then you have to do something special ^^, a extra mission for Laser Weapons and such.

On further notice how was your experience with the mod so far?
Any suggestions stuff to add or to change (not Alien Reproduction)?

[Harald_Gray]

Well the alien reproduction... the naming might be a little bit weird, but it is actually in the vanilla game, it even has a ufopaedia article etc.. but since no maptiles were ever linked to it it could not be recovered.
And i am not throwing away vanilla content, well i tried to make it a little bit logical with the Alien Biology Research description, too why you need Alien Reproduction.
But i guess not everyone like's the logic :>

Yep, that would be me 
The thing I would do would be to add Alien Regeneration Vats (or some other such tech) as a separate research topic, one that requires something that can only be obtained by raiding a base, be it a data slate or alien reproduction or whatever. The result would be the same, i.e. the player has to raid a base, but the logic wouldn't grate on my nerves 

On further notice how was your experience with the mod so far?
Any suggestions stuff to add or to change (not Alien Reproduction)?

I'm liking it so far, though it is really too early to judge the mod. The thing I like the most is the fact that I'm only fighting floaters. Early sectoids were something I've always disliked about the original game - they are supposed to be the second smartest race after the Ethereals, so why are they cannon fodder? Maybe I've been lucky but I've only had to fight floaters so far and I like that. I know I'll hate it later, because this means no early psilabs for me, but I like it story-wise.

I'm still trying to make up my mind about flashbangs. I like the idea but it is a bit frustrating to have access to them and no reason to use them (they're weaker then regular grenades so I'll only use them once I can keep the aliens alive).

Oh, and I'll try to remember to post here again after a few more months of ingame time.

[hellrazor]

Yep, that would be me 
The thing I would do would be to add Alien Regeneration Vats (or some other such tech) as a separate research topic, one that requires something that can only be obtained by raiding a base, be it a data slate or alien reproduction or whatever. The result would be the same, i.e. the player has to raid a base, but the logic wouldn't grate on my nerves 

Well you could consider the Alien Reproduction, to be Alien Regeneration, so to say ;>
I could probably rename, with some simple strings changing, but adding new things to be recovered from maptiles, is limited, as far as i know to specific hardcoded MCD types (there are 9 alltogether if i remember right), if there could be more i could add other stuff, but i would not know how.
Also i have no clue about graphic editing and, adding something like regeneration tanks/vats would require some artwork.

What actually could be done and i was also initially thinking of, is make something recoverable as Alien Habitat. And bind Alien Containment to this, which would be way more logical, i presume, thou i would forced to edit some MCD stuff probably.

I'm liking it so far, though it is really too early to judge the mod. The thing I like the most is the fact that I'm only fighting floaters. Early sectoids were something I've always disliked about the original game - they are supposed to be the second smartest race after the Ethereals, so why are they cannon fodder? Maybe I've been lucky but I've only had to fight floaters so far and I like that. I know I'll hate it later, because this means no early psilabs for me, but I like it story-wise.

Well you will think back about those Floaters with joy in a few month. Snakeman will come sooner or later and also Sectoids and some other races later on.
Terrormissions will be pretty hard i hope and a Snakeman Terrormission especially.

I'm still trying to make up my mind about flashbangs. I like the idea but it is a bit frustrating to have access to them and no reason to use them (they're weaker then regular grenades so I'll only use them once I can keep the aliens alive).

Oh, and I'll try to remember to post here again after a few more months of ingame time.

Well the Flashbang greande was one of the last items i added, since it gives you a relative good chance to capture alive alien relativly safely.
How about making Flashbang grenades only avaible after Alien Cointainment is researched?
On the other side you could turn on Alien Weapon Self Destruction, which would make the Flashbang Grenades extremly usefull, to get extra loot and extra money ;>

[Solarius Scorch]

The easiest way to add new recoverable stuff is to hide it inside, say, UFO Navigation (that's what I did with data discs in the FMP). It is best to put it inside some explodey stuff and give the item no explosion resistance whatsoever, to make sure it disappears when the object over it disappears.

[hellrazor]

The easiest way to add new recoverable stuff is to hide it inside, say, UFO Navigation (that's what I did with data discs in the FMP). It is best to put it inside some explodey stuff and give the item no explosion resistance whatsoever, to make sure it disappears when the object over it disappears.

Nice Idea, would probably work. But i actually mode my Story items indestructable, so that the players gets them even if he fires around Blaster Bombs.

[kennyzloj]

Please, check the AC-AP alloy ammo production for autocannon. This ammo are produced as regular AC-AP ammo.

[hellrazor]

Please, check the AC-AP alloy ammo production for autocannon. This ammo are produced as regular AC-AP ammo.

Thanks. Fixed this, goes into new Version.

[hellrazor]

Some Minor Bugfixes seem to be neccessary:

Version 0.85
 - Fix wrong asigned Sprite for Plasmasniper FloorOb
 - Fix AutoCannon Alloy Ammo manufacture
 - Small Fix for Thunder Map (Power Coiles moved 1 tile back, to block walking on them)
 - Small Modification of original Fighter Map (LOS solved from room to room)
 - Added 1 more Fighter Variants with two entries

Modportal Link

Readme attached here

[SDEDEN]

I haven't tried this yet, but I do wonder; is it really necessary/logical to have to raid an alien base for Alien containment? I like the idea of needing to research alien food, a dead and/or live alien, and such, but forcing a base raid and base construction mission in the first month kind of railroads the game's "plot". Wouldn't it be enough to leave it up to a bit of chance how soon you can get your hands on "Alien food"? Maybe you have to wait and find a base or maybe you get lucky and find a big lab ship that has it. IIRC: there is one other mod-added UFO that has alien food, isn't there?

I'm just saying that part of the strength of XCOM is the variability. Other than the monthly terror mission you never know quite what to expect.

[hellrazor]

I haven't tried this yet, but I do wonder; is it really necessary/logical to have to raid an alien base for Alien containment? I like the idea of needing to research alien food, a dead and/or live alien, and such, but forcing a base raid and base construction mission in the first month kind of railroads the game's "plot".

I wanted to make it harder to get. You now have to fight a hard battle in the alien base, to actually get alive interrogations. And those are needed to unlock s Weapons and Crafts later on, and initially the Alien Data Slate.
I will probably change this with missionscripting and let there be a base created in a random region or the starting region of the player, depending on a research topic, probably alien biology. So the normal alien mission will not be interfered with.

Wouldn't it be enough to leave it up to a bit of chance how soon you can get your hands on "Alien food"? Maybe you have to wait and find a base or maybe you get lucky and find a big lab ship that has it. IIRC: there is one other mod-added UFO that has alien food, isn't there?

I'm just saying that part of the strength of XCOM is the variability. Other than the monthly terror mission you never know quite what to expect.

The base mission is the only way at the moment to ensure that the player, get everything he needs for the research.
I do not want to have people complain about not been able to unlock or get techs.

If i recall directly you can even skip Laser weapons and go directly for plasma weapons, if you find a Alien Data Core.

[hellrazor]

Found some time today and made some variant UFO Maps.

First, 3 more Excavator variants: