Re: The X-Com Files - 3.5: Whispers In The Dark

[Solarius Scorch]

Today a very concise answer - I have lots of stuff to do

When I see a cop who has to empty half a magazine from his gun to kill a rat, scorpion or some other spider

Oh come on, rats are ultra squishy. And arthropods are well armoured.

Isn't your answer kinda a good explanation in itself how certain representations may be misleading in what's a scientist's report?

I really don't see your point, sorry.

Again, no idea, it does seem weird and thus it's why I report it as a potential bug

It looks fine, but please let me know when it happens again. Could be whatever.

Why? I don't recall it using any TU, so it can be turned on even temporarily and then disabled before end of the turn. Sure, it's not the ideal way but it allows adding proper strength suit lights without compromising tactical decisions - everyone's happy.

Not really, because all your people are seen by the enemies for a moment. And become fair game for snipers and chargers.

Yes, and I claim it's not only inconsistent but needlessly gamey and kinda killing th immersion of other, more developed parts. Sure, we could also make agents pick up levitating coins a'la Mario to get them cash or whatnot but it'd be kinda similar (even if more noticeable) kind of immersion breaking. Acquisition of corpses should be only for the sake of research, due to their other practical value (disassembly at manufacturing) or due to their worth as items of extraterrestrial origin that grey/black market should be interested in. The same way XCOM isn't interested in random civilian corpses, surf boards, empty beer bottles etc it shouldn't be interested in random bones, farmer corpses and similar and leave them to council cleaners or whoever is cleaning the action scene after the battle (I did assume it's the cleaners because otherwise - what IS their job?).

I honestly don't understand your issue here. You only take items you can't ignore, like civilian corpses after a situation where you can't wash your hands off it.
Sure you'd rather not care about them, but you can't.

There's just so many more and better ways to provide monetary gain - including some of the stuff you've already added, like actual piles of cash, fancy items, documents and artifacts! No need to go cheap corpse route. I also think that adding items just to penalize players when they're already penalized, for example, for letting that farmer become a corpse in the first place - is kind of trolling and even simply encouragement that the player shouldn't give a crap about items you've took time to add, and just burn them all during the round to avoid penalties.

Meh. doesn't sound convincing to me. I think it's some mental construct I can't really grok.

I guess I can understand that. But may I suggest that the homage be moved onto some other fluff element

...what is your peroblem with this? It's, like, totally random. I'm trying to understand, but it's just whaaaaaa? to me.

I cannot fully commit myself yet but if you'd like and could spot me with a design document of any sort of current research interconnectedness, I could look at it in the future and try work out something here without bothering you with it in any way short of actually implementing it.

I honestly am grateful for the offer, but implementing another person's work of this sort takes as much time as doing it myself, if not longer. I'd rather hear raw ideas.
If you want to contribute (not only to my mod, but to the entire community), I suggest doing making resources - graphics, texts, maps, etc.

Nah, zombie is fine. It's just a matter of consistency. If it's zombies, then advanced zombies are still zombies. Zombie Knight, Zombie Tomb Guardian, Zombie Queen sound alright too. If one needs to underline how much advanced they are to regular zombies, that may be done in the description (and it already is, nearly all of them do underline how those vampires are more brainy, their bodies work better etc) - but currently, it may confuse some players why are they fighting zombies and suddenly vampires, which are very different type of creature normally in most fantastic subgenres.

This sort of consistency is unnecessary, because it's not scientists who give names to creatures. I'm sure at least some of them are mildly annoyed too, but other X-Com personnel doesn't care.
Such clinical precision would be misplaced.

I assume so, yes, the point being that maybe some access to it or relevant tech could be shuffled around because you get items gathering dust in the storage in-game years before being able to really research them. I mean, desperate fight for humanity's survival, we have those super weapons that would really help save so many lives lying around and we cannot even figure out how to use them, yet alone produce anything based on them?

I actually don't ask to be able to go fully plasma straight away - it's just it's a bit silly they're treated as if they'd not exist at all for so, so long, as is in case of sonic weapons. Even some sort of preliminary research that simply would tell me "hey, we cannot make our own (yet) but if you want and can scavenge enough of it - here's the trigger and here's the battery release - give it to our agents" would be great!

Adding some intermediary steps is definitely possible, but doing so in a way that wouldn't eclipse other branches is much harder. And I honestly don't see the need, either as a designer or a player.
Don't want them lying around? Just sell them!

I do recall you having certain qualms about it in the past, but in the end it did end pretty straightforward - currently everyone and everything that can be stunned, interrogated and leave a corpse can also be dissected and things that cannot be dissected don't leave a corpse in the first place.

And what does an autopsy it have to do with vivisection???

But that's the issue that started this part of the whole exchange! I blame my post being so long the mind expunges their content from the memory.

My memory is fine, I am just saying no.
It's not like the RNG can screw you over here, or even seriously inconvenience you. So the negatives prevail.

What.
(...)
The gig is up! In reality I'm your associate from the future/alternate dimension, here to help you introduce changes and improvements lack of which you would regret when reminiscing in your old age! Ohohoh!

Yeah, I totally derped out here... It's a recent addition, I just forgot about it. Only remembered its existence after I saw the resources for it.

But why I can sometimes get both their wrecks and stunned versions?

Like... A corpse and a "living" robot from the same unit???
OMG, if that's true, I must do something about this... would you have a save?

Why? It could probably be hacked in the way vehicle battlescape turrets or those upgraded soldiers could be. Simply have base map spawn armed council security NPCs the way some town maps spawn civilians - and we're set. Probably one of them would have to be non-NPC though, some sort of security captain as I suspect with all-NPC crew the mission would end immediately.

Sorry - I totally misunderstood your point before. Sure, adding extra defenders to base defence missions is possible. But I'm taking a slightly different approach: automatic turrets. Not in the next release yet, but there will be security cameras.

where this time it's not enemies that were stuck in rock but my whole craft. There seems like a 1-tile wide passage on the northern side which shouldn't need widening, but it was still a no-go for a pathfinding, practically making me stuck at the craft in the very beginning of the mission.

Caves being caves are the whole point, sorry
To reiterate: I like them like this!

Yes, but.. I'm not a Cydonian (or am I?) and it has no advantage over any other designs. If it's admitted to general use there's also no reason why the researcher would suggest making fully human model. And it would also mean that I should be able to make all other alien weapons of similar complexity rather than human ones because they're all Cydonian models! Consistency, woo!

The answer is simple: the Cydonian laser is ultra light. Earth lasers are heavier and therefore stronger.

[Barth Gimble]

Thank you for all your hard work on this project. I recently discovered the X Com Files and am very much enjoying it. You definitely succeeded in providing a sense of intrigue for the player as the investigations proceed. I feel as though my agents started out probably being punished for something, e.g. "We got this crank call about some silly thing, send Jackson out there, he's not doing anything anyway," and then suspense builds as the investigations begin coming together to indicate horrible, ominous things are occurring all over the world.

I have a question. For my game I've changed the rank titles of the agents to something I like a little more, but I cannot find which file contains the definition of the "Captain" rank string. All the others are in the file en-US.yml, but I can't find "Captain" anywhere. What file has this definition?

As I said, I really like game you've put together here. Both the gameplay and the themes explored are entertaining and interesting. Given the zillions of details you've implemented, I'm impressed that I only occasionally see a minor bug here or there. Good job.

I abandoned the first playthrough I started because I felt I was doing quite poorly. I didn't quite get the importance of research, and fell behind. When starting my current (second) game, I changed the game start date to one year earlier (December 1995) and feel this has made the experience much better. Maybe veteran players cruise right through and know what needs to be done, but as a new player I've really needed that extra in-game time to make appropriate progress as I discover what's going on.

Overall, I'd say I've only noticed two problems I consider serious. The first is that a lot of unique missions disappear before I can get someone to the scene. They disappear from the globe even when targeted and a vehicle full of agents is on the way. This is pretty frustrating.

The only other design problem I see probably puts me at the other end of the spectrum from some others who have made comments. One can never please everybody, I guess. I'm sort of frustrated at what I consider all the gun porn in the mod. There are dozens of weapons that I wouldn't consider using and don't want, but I'm forced to spend time researching them anyway. It's confusing, trying to figure out trivial differences between very similar items. A better way in my opinion would be much more simplified. A set of guns you start out with filling various roles (smg, rifle, sniper rifle, etc), then an upgrage to "Black Ops" set, and so forth. I realize many players really get off on scrutinizing all the guns, but for me it's just tedious.

I also saw one minor bug I feel is worth reporting. On the Church of Dagon base assualt, the golden statue isn't automatically retrieved at the end of the mission. Agents actually have to pick it up and carry it around. Luckily I got 2 Church base missions and was able to get the statue in the second one, otherwise I would have missed out.

As I said, keep up the great work.  The mod is already very impressive and lots of fun. I'll be following to see what you come up with next.

[Niewiem]

I also saw one minor bug I feel is worth reporting. On the Church of Dagon base assualt, the golden statue isn't automatically retrieved at the end of the mission. Agents actually have to pick it up and carry it around. Luckily I got 2 Church base missions and was able to get the statue in the second one, otherwise I would have missed out.

It worked for me normally - did not pick it up and got it after mission...

[Solarius Scorch]

Thank you for all your hard work on this project. I recently discovered the X Com Files and am very much enjoying it. You definitely succeeded in providing a sense of intrigue for the player as the investigations proceed. I feel as though my agents started out probably being punished for something, e.g. "We got this crank call about some silly thing, send Jackson out there, he's not doing anything anyway," and then suspense builds as the investigations begin coming together to indicate horrible, ominous things are occurring all over the world.

Thank you!
I'm really happy this effect seems to work, at least somewhat.

I have a question. For my game I've changed the rank titles of the agents to something I like a little more, but I cannot find which file contains the definition of the "Captain" rank string. All the others are in the file en-US.yml, but I can't find "Captain" anywhere. What file has this definition?

The relevant string is:

Code: [Select]

  STR_CAPTAIN: "Captain"

It is not included in the strings for the mod, because it is the same as in the vanilla game, so I did not have to add the string. If you want to use a different term, you must add this line to the en-US file and of course edit the translation as desired.

I abandoned the first playthrough I started because I felt I was doing quite poorly. I didn't quite get the importance of research, and fell behind. When starting my current (second) game, I changed the game start date to one year earlier (December 1995) and feel this has made the experience much better. Maybe veteran players cruise right through and know what needs to be done, but as a new player I've really needed that extra in-game time to make appropriate progress as I discover what's going on.

Admittedly, this mod is hard. Wasn't exactly my direct intention, but if you start making things fair for the AI, this is kinda inevitable...

Overall, I'd say I've only noticed two problems I consider serious. The first is that a lot of unique missions disappear before I can get someone to the scene. They disappear from the globe even when targeted and a vehicle full of agents is on the way. This is pretty frustrating.

I understand, but otherwise there would be no incentive to build new bases or research faster transports. The overall balance accounts for this, so it shouldn't hamper your campaign, but it surely is frustrating.

The only other design problem I see probably puts me at the other end of the spectrum from some others who have made comments. One can never please everybody, I guess. I'm sort of frustrated at what I consider all the gun porn in the mod. There are dozens of weapons that I wouldn't consider using and don't want, but I'm forced to spend time researching them anyway. It's confusing, trying to figure out trivial differences between very similar items. A better way in my opinion would be much more simplified. A set of guns you start out with filling various roles (smg, rifle, sniper rifle, etc), then an upgrage to "Black Ops" set, and so forth. I realize many players really get off on scrutinizing all the guns, but for me it's just tedious.

I wouldn't say gun porn, there definitely aren't enough guns for that.
But to the point: f you aren't interested in a particular model, you an right-click it in the purchase screen to hide it. You will never see it again, except in the "Hidden" category.

I also saw one minor bug I feel is worth reporting. On the Church of Dagon base assualt, the golden statue isn't automatically retrieved at the end of the mission. Agents actually have to pick it up and carry it around. Luckily I got 2 Church base missions and was able to get the statue in the second one, otherwise I would have missed out.

Honestly I have no idea what to say to this, as this is physically impossible.
Most likely the statue was somehow destroyed during the mission.

As I said, keep up the great work.  The mod is already very impressive and lots of fun. I'll be following to see what you come up with next.

Thank you!
Expect a new version VERY soon


EDIT: Version 0.9.5 has been released.
- New weapons: Stapler (sprite by Badfella), Electric Prod (Stun Rod is now a more advanced and better weapon), Wrench (sprite by Dioxine), Crowbar.
- New armors: Work Suit (human and hybrid), Seabot (AI).
- New terrains: Rural, Native Junkfarm, Urban Dawn.
- New units: Male Tomb Guard, Female Farmer (both by Dioxine), Dragonfire Turret, X-Com Security Camera (now in all corridors!).
- New mission: Industrial Investigation.
- New Staff Input (by samuelroy21).
- New palettes for Mars, undersea missions and sewers (by Bloax and Dioxine).
- Added ambient sound to underwater locations.
- Added Dog Bark (designed by Ivan Dogovich and Starving Poet).
- Added Ufopaedia articles for most built-in weapons.
- Added an article on the Luxury Car.
- Added several missing Combat Analysis articles.
- Added a cutscene after the Dimension X Wreck mission.
- Added a Corridor to the starting base.
- Increased Terror Mission size to 60x60.
- Shogg villages are height 6.
- More exit tiles in the Vampire Castle.
- Increased Terror Ship crews.
- Added more spawn points to X-Com bases.
- All Hovertanks now require 6 Grav Modules.
- Zrbite is now buyable from Hydrospace Dynamics.
- Tanks underwater are restricted to the Seabot armor.
- Synthsuit is now a bit stealthy.
- New sprites for the UAC weapons (by Badfella).
- Added paperdoll for the Female Doctor.
- Alien Drone weapon is somewhat stronger.
- Vampires got an unarmed attack.
- Improved the EXALT Liquidation and Syndicate Assassination missions (now all civilians start inside).
- Decreased points reward on Asylum Apparitions.
- New hybrid names (cooperation with Dioxine).
- New Hooligan sprites (by Augur).
- New Gunship paperdoll (by Ivan Dogovich).
- Improved Reptoid Commando paperdoll.
- Unified text formats between craft articles.
- Fixed too bright lights on scout drones.
- Fixed incorrect Power Suit torso on female Hybrids.
- Fixed Floater Legionnaire inventory pic.
- Fixed Giant Beetle sprites (by Augur).
- Fixed Skyranger and Skymarshall sell prices.
- Fixed some desert blocks.
- Fixed incorrect terrain texture coordinates.
- Fixed premature access to the Gunship and the BlackOps Smartgun.
- Fixed some minor issues with ammo purchases.
- Many adjustments (thanks BT Axis) and fixes.

This is the first version which was released only on the new mod.io portal. If there's any trouble with the download, please let me know!

And here are some screens with the new stuff:

Worker armour:


X-Com security camera:


New underwater armour for the AI:


New village terrain:








New native "junk farm" terrain (reskinned from Hobbes' "Native" terrain):





New Urban Dawn terrain (vanilla city reskinned with Hobbes' Dawn Urban terrain):

[tkzv]

Electric Prod (Stun Rod is now a more advanced and better weapon)

They have the same damage, Stun Rod is 1-handed and faster, but Electric Prod has better accuracy and costs less energy. Is this that much better?

[Solarius Scorch]

They have the same damage, Stun Rod is 1-handed and faster, but Electric Prod has better accuracy and costs less energy. Is this that much better?

In my opinion, definitely yes.

[Thunderwing280]

Do the X-com security cameras only spawn in corridors or do they spawn in all X-com Facilities, it would make sense but maybe not for the hangar for balancing sake.

[Solarius Scorch]

Do the X-com security cameras only spawn in corridors or do they spawn in all X-com Facilities, it would make sense but maybe not for the hangar for balancing sake.

Only in the corridors. Otherwise the coridors won't be special enough.
And the next step will be: advanced Corridors (with automatic turrets). So the Corridor with cameras is like, level 0 of this building. I might even make more levels up to automatic plasma cannons

[Thunderwing280]

Only in the corridors. Otherwise the coridors won't be special enough.
And the next step will be: advanced Corridors (with automatic turrets). So the Corridor with cameras is like, level 0 of this building. I might even make more levels up to automatic plasma cannons

Sounds cool.

I am a noob at the game though, my current playthrough is the furthest I've gotten, almost eliminating Red Dawn. I still need a leader if I remember but they are such a pain to stun and capture.
I tried the dart rifle but they seem to be really bad for this and I don't want to run my super elite crew with 100+ kills each to stun him. But I don't want to get a bunch of really bad raw recruits to do it ethier.

On another note where to elite soldiers spawn because regular soliders seem really bad for trained professionals.

[tkzv]

I tried the dart rifle but they seem to be really bad for this

Have you tried the dart pistol?

[Thunderwing280]

Have you tried the dart pistol?

No but I assumed it would be just as bad or worse.

[Barth Gimble]

Is is possible to add a smidge of storage space to the one-man fighter crafts? After shooting down a UFO, I get the option for the fighter plane to land there. If it's a really small UFO, with only two or three aliens expected to survive the crash, it's not unreasonable to just have the pilot land his fighter and check out the scene. In these cases, it would be nice to have a sidearm and maybe a healing spray, instead of having to punch out one of the aliens with fists and take its weapon.

Edited:
Doh! That's already possible. Never mind.

[legionof1]

My compliments to the author of the new farm tileset, those are nice farm houses.

[Solarius Scorch]

My compliments to the author of the new farm tileset, those are nice farm houses.

Thank you!
The tileset is mostly myself, but the maps are mostly Dioxine.

[deltatree4]

The new update is great but I think  we need more equipment for breacing walls: like Breacing charge or some kind of hammer. Holigan tools might do the trick maybe with the size of the fire extinguisher. I'am telling you this because in some maps (i.e. sewer) it is really unpleasent to waste ammo on a wall.

Do you think that would be too much difficult or unbalenced to have some Night Vision googles (or even Thermal or Both ) for our troops?Yes I know we have NV in Bio armor but it will be good to have the option to  be more versatile with other armor suit.

Thanks for the time you are spendig with this mod. I' am loving it.