Mod page:
https://www.openxcom.com/mod/reaver-039-s-armadaIn this mod I have expanded the game's aircraft to a total of sixteen craft, eight of which can be purchased at the start of the game and the other eight are unlocked through research and are manufactured by X-Com. This mod changes the original craft through a combination of tweaks and splitting them into more types.
LATEST VERSION: 1.3.2
Scroll to Reply #9 for info and download.
ChangesThe Interceptor has been nerfed by being split into the swift Interceptor and the powerful Punisher. The original interceptor's best attributes have been spread across these two craft: the new Interceptor carries its speed and range, while the Punisher has its 2 weapon slots and damage capacity. I have tested these craft and they are still quite capable of shooting down alien craft, but you'll have to think strategically in order to pull it off.
The old Skyranger is split into the new Skyranger and the Custodian. The new Skyranger is faster than the old one but carries a smaller fighting force. The Custodian is slower than the old Skyranger but carries an even larger force and features multiple craft exits. This gives you some choices right in the beginning so you can pick a troop transport that meets your needs.
After you complete research in UFO Construction, you will be presented with two options: New Fighter Craft or New Transport Craft. This lets you choose between getting the Firestorm or Lightning first. Furthermore, both craft are capable of both interceptions and carrying troops, though the Firestorm is a far better interceptor and the Lightning is a far better transport. This allows you to just build one craft and save yourself some time and hangars.
The Firestorm now carries 4 soldiers or a tank, and the Lightning carries 16 soldiers or up to 4 tanks. Both craft place the troops on ground level at the start of the mission, facing in all directions. This kind of start gets combat moving much earlier in the mission and can potentially be more dangerous but many times it can actually save the lives of your troops. I find this Lightning to my liking, but there are plenty of other troop transport options to choose from if you don't like it.
The Avenger is nerfed much like the Interceptor by being split into two craft: the Avenger and the Vanquisher. The new Avenger keeps the old Avenger's interception capabilities and is researched after the Firestorm. It is also a capable troop transport, carrying a force slightly larger than the new Skyranger. The Vanquisher keeps the old Avenger's transport capacity but moves a bit slower than the Firestorm so it's not the best interception craft. Still, these ultimate craft are much more capable all-around than the more streamlined Firestorm and Lightning, so you can still feel free to only build one of these and it should provide you with everything you need in a ship.
Everything, except of course patrolling functions.
New Conventional CraftThree of the craft added are patrol craft, and these are able to remain in the air for a long time while also featuring an extended radar detect range. The Sparrow is a long-range patrol craft that can reach the other side of the globe and still have plenty of fuel remaining when it gets there. It has a wider radar range than the Albatross. The Albatross is a slow-moving patrol craft that can remain in the air for up to a week. It has a higher chance of detecting UFOs than the Sparrow does.
The Stormstrike is a light troop transport that moves almost as fast as an Interceptor and carries 4 soldiers, but can't carry a tank. This craft is very useful for catching landed UFOs if you don't want to give them a chance to run away before you get there.
The Marauder is a slow, medium-range interception craft which is a lot more durable than a Punisher. These can be useful for taking out some of the larger craft early in the game, though it can be tricky to catch anything with one. I wanted to give this ship a third weapon but it was too much trouble to use OpenXcom Extended just for one thing. One neat thing about the Marauder is that it can carry 2 soldiers, so if you like to shoot down a craft and go to the crash site immediately, this ship can do that.
New Alien Technology CraftAll of these craft are unlocked through advanced research. They have multiple prerequisites, so just keep researching and you will eventually get them. Research engineers.
The Stalker is an alien-tech patrol craft which moves faster than the Lightning but can patrol as long as the Albatross and doesn't use fuel any faster while moving. It costs far less Elerium to refuel than other Elerium craft, though it still can get expensive if you keep this craft in the air all the time. It has a better radar suite than either the Sparrow or Albatross.
The Heracles is a heavy-duty troop transport able to carry 32 soldiers or 8 tanks, and features a wide exit ramp. If you ever felt that 26 unit slots wasn't enough, then this is the craft for you. It is the slowest of all alien-tech craft but still faster than any conventional craft, and it costs a lot of elerium to run.
The Starstreak is a tiny, lightweight craft that moves much faster than even the Avenger, making it able to outrun even the fastest alien craft by a large margin. With two weapons, it is a highly capable interception craft, though it is a bit fragile. It is also cheap to build.
The Assassin merges the Avenger and Vanquisher into one craft for both jobs, being both a fast and strong interceptor and a heavy troop transport. It is weaker than the old avenger in both roles, but still very capable if that's the kind of ship you want. It is conceivable that you could eventually build an Assassin and get rid of all your other ships, as you would never need anything else.
PicturesThe Lightning splays your troops out for a quick exit:
The Custodian features two exits in the rear, allowing troops to exit more quickly:
Albatross radar range compared to base ship radar range:
Starting Base ChangesIn the mod folder is a sub-folder called 'startingBase' which contains rulesets for changing the starting base. If you wish to use it, you must move the files into the main mod folder. I recommend using it, but it changes more parts of the game, so there is a higher chance of conflicts with other mods.
With these changes, the starting base will have a fourth hangar, and you start with one of each: Interceptor, Punisher, Skyranger, and Custodian. You'll have more funds to start with and countries will pay more, this is to cover the increased cost of using all these ships. You can use these funds to expand quickly early on, making multiple bases and lots of hangars. I have also tweaked the starting equipment.
This change to the starting base is compatible with all of my published mods
and is going to be included in some of them as well.
Localization: EN-US
