Re: [MAIN] XPiratez - N10 24-Nov-2024 Aurora's Dawn

[HT]

0.99G.2
- Updated to OXCE+ 3.7 08-Jun-2017
- Fix: no mechtoid corpse = unwinnable campaign problem
- New: Added 6 damage types, updated weapons and armor
- New: 8 brand new faces for Gals (to a total of 96)
- New Soldier Type: Freaks
- Update: More music
- Update: Interface look updates (by Bloax)

Yay, a new update! With even more damage types (how many are there now? Over 10 at least)! And new music, hopefully fixing the issue I had with Piratez' standard battlescape's theme.

I'll have to try this mod soon and see how it compares with X-Files, which also likely get a new update as well.

[KateMicucci]

I'm really enjoying the extended early game and the new missions. (Though I'm still running into the same "problem" where my research can't keep up with my loot and I have assault rifles before bayoneted muskets and clockwork guns are researched)

Separating the castaways from the recruits was a great idea. I now have a core of elites that I can get attached to and cannonfodder filler who don't matter until they rank up.

Sometimes knocked-out people die even with no lethal wounds or adverse weather. This has even happened to one of my castaways. Was there a change to make wounded people take damage even with no lethal wounds? Or does sectograss damage knocked out people?

[Marduk]

I'm really enjoying the extended early game and the new missions. (Though I'm still running into the same "problem" where my research can't keep up with my loot and I have assault rifles before bayoneted muskets and clockwork guns are researched)

Separating the castaways from the recruits was a great idea. I now have a core of elites that I can get attached to and cannonfodder filler who don't matter until they rank up.

Sometimes knocked-out people die even with no lethal wounds or adverse weather. This has even happened to one of my castaways. Was there a change to make wounded people take damage even with no lethal wounds? Or does sectograss damage knocked out people?

As far as i remember reading bootypedia, when a gal gets 4x or 6x health in stun damage, she starts gettubg hp damage, while losing enough health (about 1/3) causes additional stun damage per turn. Add these 2 rules together and you get some stunned people dying eventually for no other reason.

[legionof1]

yes,excessive stun over current hp will cause lethal ticks. The tick is stronger the greater the difference between current and max HP. So a gal at very low hp and with alot of accumulated stun is gona be dead in a few turns without intervention.

Same holds true for enemies.   

[greattuna]

while losing enough health (about 1/3) causes additional stun damage per turn.

It's 25% of lost health for most armors, 50% for pain resistant armors, and 62.5% for pain immune armors. And excessive stun is the primary reason I'm carrying oxygen tanks along everywhere now.


Early game is fun, but helluva confusing. I'm still not sure what I'm doing, so I only got *the mutant alliance* at january 2602, and my mainstay weapon is military shotgun, because 45 damage ain't nothing to scoff at. I'm in general relying on shotguns, strangely enough: heavy shotgun, police shotgun, military shotgun. They have good accuracy at close-medium range, varied ammo and good damage output. I also got negative score at first two months, but I managed to recover from that thanks to two conveniently-landed freighters later on.


I like the new additions, especially the ever-familiar warp damage.

[Marduk]

It's 25% of lost health for most armors, 50% for pain resistant armors, and 62.5% for pain immune armors. And excessive stun is the primary reason I'm carrying oxygen tanks along everywhere now.

I use those only underwater, heavy and backpack only for storage.
I'm using beer or canteens for that usually, rum and hi tech medkits later game, as they have stun remove too.
Once you get into later game and have decent armor reviving/preventing drop of gals that got wounded is quite worthwhile as they might get a lot of stun while at half or more health, and still quite combat capable.

Early game is fun, but helluva confusing. I'm still not sure what I'm doing, so I only got *the mutant alliance* at january 2602, and my mainstay weapon is military shotgun, because 45 damage ain't nothing to scoff at. I'm in general relying on shotguns, strangely enough: heavy shotgun, police shotgun, military shotgun. They have good accuracy at close-medium range, varied ammo and good damage output. I also got negative score at first two months, but I managed to recover from that thanks to two conveniently-landed freighters later on.


I like the new additions, especially the ever-familiar warp damage.

That's pretty slow. Reading or even better, knowing the tech tree from earlier playthroughs should help. One lesson that has really speeded up my equipment progress is learning from my first, gold playthrough about what research really matters or not, especially to not hog or rush research nice looted weapons in early game - use them against challenging opponents, research only if you have no ammo anyway. If you destroy the weapon in research and are left with few clips, they are useless. Use them first, then research, if you need the research more  than others that is. This should allow you some early nice automatics, and those are better than shotguns on gals with good firing skill. In my new green playthrough i have a goddamn tommygun in first half of 2601, and the ammo for that can last a bit.
Contacts are also likely to be your main source of non looted weapons until you get a nice array of researched kustom weapons, and that's not going to happen until well into 2602, if not later, depending how economic your brainer use is and how man you have, so try to get research requirements for all the weapon related contacts you can.
Hunting rifles are the early game sniping weapon, wonder why wouldn't you use them.
Armor is a different story, you probably wantt to rush workshop and metal armor because tac vest's 20 side armor makes it very unreliable.

[greattuna]

Heh. I'm familiar with tech tree... or, rather, was, because my last successful playthrough hails back from very old times.

I would use advanced medipacks, I liked them a lot back in my previous playthough, but they're still pretty far in terms of technology, canteens are too large for my taste, rum is sidelined by that other product made from apples for money, and beer feels too weak for me.


I'm looking at tech tree a lot, but it's too big early on for me to digest. So I've for the first year had 4 brainers doing 4 different interrogations, 4 researching whatever happens to be on top of the list at the time, and 4 researched really important technology. Even then, I only got old earth books from interrogation in... november '01, I think. Or even in december, it was one of the last techs researched from civvies. On the other hand, I have a lot of contacts researched, so I can buy guns from basic pistols to auto rifles to light sniper rifles (which I did buy), to mortars, willie petes (my favorite) and high explosives. Still didn't get eurosyndicate and death realms' contacts, so there's that.

I haven't happened to get a grip on those nice guns you're talking about, exception being CAWS (even then, it only has 2 clips) and few machineguns, which are nice, but not my style. I only got hunting rifles in october\novemeber, while stumbling into ratmen on megascorpion hunt. I know how good this weapon is, especially scoped variant with PS rounds, so I made sure to win that mission. After I'll research back to school, shotguns will get phased out by better guns, but until now, few weapons can match military's 45 damage.

EDIT 1: regarding armor, I already have workshop and blueprints for tac armor, though I'm severely lacking in aqua plastics. So I take every trader guard alive, so I could rob them for that precious 1 aqua plastic. 3 guards make one armor, while most gals still walk in warrior suits (+one gal in looted nurse outfit)

[BBHood217]

Have you tried underwater missions?  If you luck into a sunken USO, that's 200 aqua plastics right there.

[legionof1]

Speaking of new additions, i find the implementation of the new electric type to be inconsistent. Also balance concerns.

1: It contains what was previously lethal and non lethal weapons in the same type. Electro-claw and zapper as examples.

2: Additionally it has inherited the "ignore shock immunity" tag on things like Cattle prod. However most things that had shock immunity, are immune or nigh immune to electric damage. Shock immunity ignore only remains relevant for reapers and boomasuars.

Onto balance.

3: Following from 2 above the electric immunity on cyberdisks has eliminated an entire slew of weapons options to get a cyberdisk corpse further retarding progress on the already RNG dependent gravity physics tech.

4: Mercs got even harder to deal with being as resistant to electric as they are to bullets. Stun batons are only capable of harming merc grunts when wielded by max reaction gals. All other mercs are immune. Prods only average 20 dmg. Even 200% rolls on such weapons are largely ineffective requiring 6ish hits for a grunt and upwards 10-15 for higher ranks.

5:Impalers have gone from top tier stunning tools to sorta equal to cattle prods. Almost any foe with carapace grade armor or better has some significant measure of electric resist. Much the same case with other electric based stun tools. Resist ends up trumping the armor pen against most armored foes. Even 50% armor pen doesn't matter when your losing 25-65% of base damage to resist.

!Rejoice all lovers of wood! The handle has resumed it's rightful place as the best stunning weapon in the game.

Edit: my math for imaplers was slightly off but the nerf bat still swung very hard. Point 5 updated accordingly.

[BBHood217]

Ive ordered a Provost because they never appeared (100mil) and he's due to "arrive" within about a couple weeks. Someone else gave me the provost research topic unlock so ill be able to go straight to breaking him.

I'm in a similar bind right now, only I have to order two provosts because nothing gives it for free anymore.  Merc soldiers and interceptors could also apparently be hired back then, but I get no such option now.

Point is, I never saw a provost and the Academy has completely disappeared now so I'm down to scrounging up 200 million to research one and then break the other.  It's kinda funny that I got annihilator suits long before I'll get my first ghost armor.  Should've gone green.

[legionof1]

Yeah some codexes are more affected by RNG then others. Red is the least hurt because you only need 1 occurrence of dark ones to unlock "voodoo:destruction" and the outfit. You may miss out on some the weapons through lack of encounters with high level deamons, but not having the outfit is largely impossible.

Unlike communion's biosuit being stuck behind the reticulan elder who is only found on the reticulan base version of the imperial probe.   

[Dioxine]

Onto balance.

3: Following from 2 above the electric immunity on cyberdisks has eliminated an entire slew of weapons options to get a cyberdisk corpse further retarding progress on the already RNG dependent gravity physics tech.

4: Mercs got even harder to deal with being as resistant to electric as they are to bullets. Stun batons are only capable of harming merc grunts when wielded by max reaction gals. All other mercs are immune. Prods only average 20 dmg. Even 200% rolls on such weapons are largely ineffective requiring 6ish hits for a grunt and upwards 10-15 for higher ranks.

5:Impalers have gone from top tier stunning tools to sorta equal to cattle prods. Almost any foe with carapace grade armor or better has some significant measure of electric resist. Much the same case with other electric based stun tools. Resist ends up trumping the armor pen against most armored foes. Even 50% armor pen doesn't matter when your losing 25-65% of base damage to resist.

3. Bug. Mismatched resistances on Cyberdisc (hot with electric, the latter should be 1.0)
4. Well, mercs will be mercs, eh. With their great survivability it is easiest to catch them using high-powered AP, Concussive or, best, Acid weapons. There is indeed no easy solution atm.
5. Indeed, this is stupid. Impaler will be fixed to deliver Warp damage (but no armor pen).

[Ethereal_Medic]

Odd question:

What to do when I manage to get my 6 starting lunatics wounded during the first 2 missions?
Since i can't hire hands I got 0 available soldiers to do anything until february/ until I find the right research to hire soldiers.

Is this intended to be absolutely dependent on 6 starting lunatics with no room for failure while managing to kill/capture all foes?
I can't manage to go flawless since this RNG-Game doesn't like me and my hands keep missing 56% shots and usually have shitty accuracy anyway.

[Marduk]

Odd question:

What to do when I manage to get my 6 starting lunatics wounded during the first 2 missions?
Since i can't hire hands I got 0 available soldiers to do anything until february/ until I find the right research to hire soldiers.

Is this intended to be absolutely dependent on 6 starting lunatics with no room for failure while managing to kill/capture all foes?
I can't manage to go flawless since this RNG-Game doesn't like me and my hands keep missing 56% shots and usually have shitty accuracy anyway.

Restart, wait for heal, or wait for recruitment research obviously. Got that problem in the newest playthrough, after a bit more than 2 missions, got out of it through the last one, recruitment doesn't take much brainer-days at all.

[juff]

Yeah, recruiting more hands only takes 4 techs (12 days at max), and the path can be found on the tech tree viewer, https://ufopaedia.org or through trial and error. Granted, that isn't new player friendly, but i don't think this mod is aimed at new players.