Ruleset Editing Questions (& Some m'Orz Qestions)

[Arthanor]

Alright, that answers everything pretty nicely! I was aware of the 50-150% of TFTD and the 0-200% of EU. Also knew HE's quirk (other than AOE) is that it hits under armor (which is usually weaker). I did not understand how In/Ph worked, though. The damage value is quite misleading! No wonder I couldn't kill anything with Phosphorous when I first played TFTD! So there's basically little benefit other than illuminating big patches of terrain with it, right? It's not like you can count on 6 points of damage per turn to kill the enemy for you... (which is a shame, because I would have wanted it to have a more compelling reason to actually be useful)

Fire can be useful, there is a thread somewhere where we were discussing it recently. Fire damage ignores armor (but not damage modifiers), so if you have a 2x2 unit that is not immune to fire, that's ~24 damage per hit which is sometimes more than you can deal otherwise (a good example being sectopods), and it can work really well against reapers. For pure damage dealing in general though, it is indeed not great unless you have a weapon with lots of shots per turn. That's what the flamethrower mods do and it allows you to get a nice arc spread around your target too.

And while I'm at it, I might as well ask: does smoke damage (like making Dye Grenade do 60 smoke damage instead of 10) also determine blast radius, or is there something else to it? Actually, is there any smoke health damage at all, or is does it only build up stunning over time? I'm a bit confused now since armor's damage modifiers do list smoke as if a unit could be strong/weak against it somehow. I can understand 0.0 would mean totally invulnerable, but to what exactly? In other words, what does smoke really do, damage-wise?

The power listing of smoke is also for the area (and I think the smoke density. Not all smoked tiles are equal.). The damage done is 1-3/turn and only affected by the damage multiplier. So if an armor (ex.: Power Suit) has 0%, they don't get that tiny damage. In Piratez, most armors are well above 100% and unarmored units are at 400%, which now deals 4-12 per turn and you'll get soldiers passing out if standing in the smoke. It's just that the vanilla values are very small so it's kind of a non-issue.

Ah, would've been nice if it worked. On a tangential note, can 2 or more UFOpaedia articles pop-up at the same time? For example, you research an Aquatoid Medic and get the Aquatoid UFOpaedia entry proper (provided you never research any Aquatoid before) + some random autopsy due to the Medic's 'geOneFree'? Does this happen or do you get both unlocked but just one pops up? I do not recall getting any more than one at once...

I'm pretty sure you will get the aquatoid entry and also something from getOneFree. An example is researching an engineer where you get the race and also some other stuff, usually UFO stats or something.

I do not know where I had read this, but I remember refuel, repair and rearming priorities could be re-ordered...?

I think someone altered the code to enable this at some point, at my request even. To change it to Rearm, Refuel, Repair so they are completed from fastest to longest. But I don't know of an option for that (even though I would like it rather than having to change the code).

Well, I've exhausted all my questions for now! I should be back with some mOrz later

Thanks for all the help.

Really? I wonder how long I'll have to wait But you're welcome all the same I figure it's worth it to help new modders, since then we all get some new mods

As for your USOPaedia questions, you're sure you're comparing the picture with the ruleset that generated it? If so, that's really weird.. Or are you comparing your picture (with a dated, wrong ruleset, it seems) with the new ruleset from Github (where it would have been fixed)?

[hellrazor]

About researching Aliens, you can do nice stuff with dependencies and such.

Make a specific research only appear after a alive alien was researched. For example.
And trigger additional Mission.

[Orz]

Fire damage ignores armor (but not damage modifiers), so if you have a 2x2 unit that is not immune to fire, that's ~24 damage per hit which is sometimes more than you can deal otherwise

Good to know.

The power listing of smoke is also for the area (and I think the smoke density. Not all smoked tiles are equal.). The damage done is 1-3/turn and only affected by the damage multiplier.

Alright, but to be clear: this is stun-damage only, correct?

I'm pretty sure you will get the aquatoid entry and also something from getOneFree. An example is researching an engineer where you get the race and also some other stuff, usually UFO stats or something.

Perhaps I should have phrased my question somewhat differently. What I meant to ask was: I know the two entries will be added to the UFOpedia, but will they pop-up on screen, one first, then the other (immediately after you exit the first one)? Or will the game just notify you for the first unlocked entry only?

It's a bit of a silly question, I know. I just do not remember getting two UFOpedia entries simultaneously.

I think someone altered the code to enable this at some point, at my request even. To change it to Rearm, Refuel, Repair so they are completed from fastest to longest. But I don't know of an option for that (even though I would like it rather than having to change the code).

It would be very useful if this could be implemented with rulesets.

As for your USOPaedia questions, you're sure you're comparing the picture with the ruleset that generated it? If so, that's really weird.. Or are you comparing your picture (with a dated, wrong ruleset, it seems) with the new ruleset from Github (where it would have been fixed)?

No, that's a screencap from the vanilla game. Sure, it may be fixed now. Regardless, why would the actual data state 110 and UFOpedia 130? I mean, I'm just asking because I want to be absolutely sure that any changes I make to items will be automatically reflected in UFOpedia without me needing to go out of my way and be on the lookout for any errors!

https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Displacer/Sonic

Notes
The UFOpedia.orgrmation on the power of the Displacer/Sonic's weapon is incorrect. Its true power is 110.

Alright, I've been heavily (but lightly) modding the game—just aiming for a more balanced, improved, perhaps slightly more difficult re-playability. And so far, everything works to perfection (considering the hundred little changes and all the cross-referencing between rulesets). I've believe I've satisfactorily got research, manufacture, facilities, items, itemLevels, alienRaces, units and armors down.

I thought I had ufopaedia.rul down too, but I've come upon a slight predicament now. For some reason I'm unaware of, I cannot make Particle Disturbance Sensor and Medi-Kit appear on UFOpedia right from the start. Any thoughts on that?

All I've done was this:

Code: [Select]

ufopaedia:
  - id: STR_PARTICLE_DISTURBANCE_SENSOR
    requires: ""
  - id: STR_MEDI_KIT
    requires: ""
The only other changes I've done were:

Code: [Select]

research:
  - delete: STR_PARTICLE_DISTURBANCE_SENSOR
  - delete: STR_MEDI_KIT

Code: [Select]

manufacture:
  - delete: STR_PARTICLE_DISTURBANCE_SENSOR    #Particle Disturbance Sensor #
  - delete: STR_MEDI_KIT    #Medi-Kit #
And of course, I can already purchase these items as normal. Their UFOpaedia entries just don't show.

[Orz]

Don't worry, I managed to get it done by using the good ol' delete: STR_ID trick!

Code: [Select]

  - delete: STR_PARTICLE_DISTURBANCE_SENSOR
  - id: STR_PARTICLE_DISTURBANCE_SENSOR
    type_id: 14
    section: STR_WEAPONS_AND_EQUIPMENT
    text: STR_PARTICLE_DISTURBANCE_SENSOR_UFOPEDIA
    image_id: UP030.BDY
  - delete: STR_MEDI_KIT
  - id: STR_MEDI_KIT
    type_id: 14
    section: STR_WEAPONS_AND_EQUIPMENT
    text: STR_MEDI_KIT_UFOPEDIA
    image_id: UP052.BDY
I still don't know why it wouldn't work otherwise. Maybe... I'm not using "" correctly? if that's the case, then I'll need to fix a couple other entries in which I've used "" to delete some requirement.

[Warboy1982]

in some cases, "" won't work, because it's adding to an array rather than replacing a string, so you need to delete and redefine.

[Arthanor]

Alright, but to be clear: this is stun-damage only, correct?

Yes.

Perhaps I should have phrased my question somewhat differently. What I meant to ask was: I know the two entries will be added to the UFOpedia, but will they pop-up on screen, one first, then the other (immediately after you exit the first one)? Or will the game just notify you for the first unlocked entry only?

It's a bit of a silly question, I know. I just do not remember getting two UFOpedia entries simultaneously.

Yeah, as far as I know you get them back to back. It just doesn't happen very often since you only need STR_SECTOID once, and you likely got it from a soldier which doesn't give anything else, and then when you research a sectoid medic or engineer, you only get the "bonus" one, since you already have STR_SECTOID.

No, that's a screencap from the vanilla game. Sure, it may be fixed now. Regardless, why would the actual data state 110 and UFOpedia 130? I mean, I'm just asking because I want to be absolutely sure that any changes I make to items will be automatically reflected in UFOpedia without me needing to go out of my way and be on the lookout for any errors!

Are you trying to say that the ruleset should follow the vanilla screencap? If you don't identify what you show, it is very difficult to understand you. This screenshot could have come from OpenXCom (any version of it) and that code snippet could be from any ruleset too. If you don't say anything, the assumption is that they are from the same version, which they weren't.

As you showed, the coelacanth had power 110 wrongly displayed, so OpenXCom devs decided to give the coelacanth the same power, but OpenXCom works better than the original and displays the right info. As far as I can tell, it always displays exactly the info there. The UFOPaedia in OpenXCom will pull its values from the ruleset it uses. There is nowhere for you to overwrite that, except for the "flavour" text that you need to define. If you write technical info (ex.: range or weight) then you will need to correct that as needed. Do it at your own risk

Regarding the UFOPaedia thing, I guess Warboy answered. But that opens its own question: Is the "requires" list actually additive? That would be unusual..

[Orz]

About researching Aliens, you can do nice stuff with dependencies and such.

Indeed! That's what I was aiming for: making live alien captures slightly more useful/important.

in some cases, "" won't work, because it's adding to an array rather than replacing a string, so you need to delete and redefine.

Thanks. Will keep that in mind!

Are you trying to say that the ruleset should follow the vanilla screencap? If you don't identify what you show, it is very difficult to understand you. This screenshot could have come from OpenXCom (any version of it) and that code snippet could be from any ruleset too. If you don't say anything, the assumption is that they are from the same version, which they weren't.

You are absolutely right. I thoughtlessly assumed the screenshot being from the vanilla game was a given. I should have clarified! My bad

As you showed, the coelacanth had power 110 wrongly displayed, so OpenXCom devs decided to give the coelacanth the same power, but OpenXCom works better than the original and displays the right info. As far as I can tell, it always displays exactly the info there. The UFOPaedia in OpenXCom will pull its values from the ruleset it uses.

Fantastic. I seemed to have forgot that OpenXCom is not using the same engine as the vanilla game with all its buggy innards and whatnot!

Now, I do have a question. This time I've tried pretty much everything I could think of, but I've run out of ideas! I must have overlooked something. To make a long story short: I have added all 6 ranks to every non-terrorist alien race. That is, I have added Gillman Medic & Navigator, Lobsterman Medic, and Tasoth Medic, Technician, Navigator & Commander. I have cross-checked to make sure everything was in order between rulesets (items, units, research, etc) quite extensively. I was just now testing if I could research the aliens without problem, so I assigned a couple live aliens to my base's storage using startingBase.rul

Everything works fine (I get the associated UFOpedia entries, getOneFree's, etc), but their names appear as STR_ALIEN_RANK in the research and storage lists.

This happens only with the ones I have added myself, of course. It doesn't happen with an Aquatoid Medic or Lobsterman Navigator, for example.

Is there something I'm overlooking?

[Arthanor]

did you assume that the game would auto-generate those names?

Unfortunately, the game isn't clever enough to realize that it is of race Tasoth and rank Commander and so should be displayed as "Tasoth Commander" You need to define what to display for STR_TASOTH_COMMANDER in the extraStrings section. If I remember well, it is just something like

Code: [Select]

extraStrings:
  STR_TASOTH_COMMANDER: "Tasoth Commander"

[Orz]

Unfortunately, the game isn't clever enough to realize that it is of race Tasoth and rank Commander and so should be displayed as "Tasoth Commander" You need to define what to display for STR_TASOTH_COMMANDER in the extraStrings section.

Much appreciated. I got it done like so:

Code: [Select]

extraStrings:
  - type: en-US
    strings:
      STR_ID: Name
A couple new questions have risen. Although the mod is still being tested and works perfectly for the most part, I have experienced a couple random crashes. Now, I am aware OpenTFTD is still in beta and, as such, should not quite yet fully support modding. Furthermore, I am not even sure if these 2-3 crashes were due to some buggy coding of my own, or some buggy coding in OpenTFTD itself. I have reloaded the game again just to see if I could maybe pinpoint what caused the issue, but in some instances the crash would simply not occur again, so I guess there's no way to be totally sure, right?

Just now I was playing a random skirmish and when the first alien came out (Lobsterman), the game crashed. Earlier, the game crashed after a terror mission came up. (I have not modified the AI, missions or alien deployment in any way.)

Perhaps the following questions should be easier to address:

Is there a way to change TU-cost for priming/throwing grenades separately (say, make Proximity Grenade cheaper/faster to prime n' throw than regular Grenades)? Is this possible? If so, I have not discovered how!

Following the same line of thought: can Psi-Amp's TU-cost be differentiated between Panic and Mind Control or are they absolutely bound under Psi-Amp's singular TU-cost? In other words, could I make Panic cost 25 TUs and Mind Control 60?

And directly related to the above: can psionics be given a range-based accuracy (like weapons) instead of either (a) having you and the aliens be capable of MC'ing anyone across the map from the comfort of one's ship as in vanilla, or (b) reducing MC to line of sight only as in current mod (which makes it a bit underpowered, I must say, for both aliens and human players)? How about something in between?

[Orz]

I have another question now, this time regarding 'raceWeights' (in alienMissions): do the percentages listed under raceWeights have to amount to 100%?

Let's take the following example from vanilla:

Code: [Select]

  - type: STR_ALIEN_RESEARCH
    points: 0
    raceWeights:
      0:
        STR_SECTOID: 70
        STR_SNAKEMAN: 10
        STR_FLOATER: 20
Alright, so that's 100% total. But what happens if I apply robin's Anthropod mod?

Code: [Select]

  - type: STR_ALIEN_RESEARCH
    raceWeights:
      0:
          STR_ANTHROPOD: 10
How does this affect the original code? Does it just add 10% to 100%?  Why doesn't it come in conflict with the other code?

Thanks!

[Warboy1982]

nope, they can add up to whatever you want, it will generate a number between 0 and the sum to make its selection. we (generally) make them add up to 100 because those are nice round numbers that people can easily interpret as percentages.

[Orz]

Thanks, Warboy. That's good to know. I'd still keep it a nice, round 100%.

Now, a small issue has popped up. I've been modding UFO/EU quite a bit. One of the things I've done was completely remove Floaters, Snakemen and Reapers (I've left Chrysallids exclusively for terror missions). I've never kind of liked them very much. Besides, I'm adding robin's 3 new aliens and I don't want to have way too many alien races flying around. The problem I encountered was when I started a new game, immediately after placing the base, I get the following error message:



Sometimes, this doesn't happen and I can carry on playing as normal, but after a few days I'll get the following:



This is of course due to something in missionScripts, such as (for the first example):

Code: [Select]

  - type: recurringTerror
    missionWeights:
      0:
        STR_ALIEN_TERROR: 100
Is there any way to work around that?

Also, although I can rename armors (via extraStrings), they will still appear with their vanilla name when equipping them. For example, I've renamed Personal Armor: Tactical Armor. It appears as such in my item storage, but when equipping it to a soldier it appears as Personal Armor.

Am I missing something?

[Warboy1982]

you'll have to alter the raceweights to remove floaters from the table, you might have to delete stuff first.
as for the armor, there are two written forms, STR_SOME_ARMOR and STR_SOME_ARMOR_UC (UC standing for UPPER CASE)

[Orz]

you'll have to alter the raceweights to remove floaters from the table, you might have to delete stuff first

You mean, raceWeights in alienMissions? Because I had already taken care of that prior to encountering this issue. And I had also already deleted (delete: STR_ID) every instance having STR_FLOATER, STR_SNAKEMAN and STR_REAPER from every other ruleset.

Perhaps the problem lied here:

Code: [Select]

alienRaces:
  - delete: STR_FLOATER
  - delete: STR_SNAKEMAN
'alienRaces' and 'ufopaedia' are the only (?) rulesets which define by 'id:' rather than 'type:", which leads me to believe 'delete: STR_ID' doesn't apply here for some reason (?). So I did a little experiment and changed the above to:

Code: [Select]

alienRaces:
  - id: STR_FLOATER
    members: ""
  - id: STR_SNAKEMAN
    members: ""
And that seems to have done the trick. Or at least the game didn't crash for 2 months (previously it could crash right at the start or before the first month was over). I have only tried once, though, as I should be retiring to bed now. But hopefully this is it.

as for the armor, there are two written forms, STR_SOME_ARMOR and STR_SOME_ARMOR_UC (UC standing for UPPER CASE)

Thanks, that got it done!

[Orz]

So I have tested this crashing issue a few more times after doing:

Code: [Select]

alienRaces:
  - id: STR_FLOATER
    members: ""
  - id: STR_SNAKEMAN
    members: ""
Although the pop-up error message didn't come up anymore, the game would still sometimes crash when entering a terror mission. I couldn't/cannot find any reason why this may be happening since it doesn't seem to be related to 'missionScript' and Floaters & Snakemen have been completely removed/replaced in 'alienMissions' and elsewhere.

So I went back to alienRaces (the above code) and did this:

Code: [Select]

alienRaces:
  - id: STR_FLOATER
    members:
      - STR_MUTON_COMMANDER
  - id: STR_SNAKEMAN
    members:
      - STR_MUTON_COMMANDER
And I have lasted over 3 months without crashing in any terror mission.

The crash is obviously related to the deletion of Floater and Snakeman races and the generation of terror missions somehow. I fail to see the connection, however. Are Floaters and Snakemen hard-coded into the game so that they cannot be actually removed?

How would one go about deleting an alien race entirely then?

PS: A less important question, does the ordering of aliens under 'members' in 'alienRaces' matter? I don't think it would, but just to be absolutely sure.