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

[MasterYoghourt]

Just my two cents, but I don't feel like having a reference to COVID in the mod would be a good idea. It seems a bit tasteless to parody/poke fun at a pandemic that is still actively killing people as we speak. I feel like a "four horsemen" sub-arc with Apoc would be cool, and I don't have any issues with a bioweapon plot line in general, but tying it to COVID directly or indirectly through a parody name like RIDER-19 feels disrespectful to people who've been affected by the virus.

Lot of games directly reference to real tragedies like WW2 and there is no problem. Why COVID is different ?

I don't take COVID presence in game as a parody. In this game are many occultistic and paranormal cases, that are speculated or examined in real life. COVID is another mysterious case, with many questions without answer. Example, in my country there is 1 million registered people with cancer disease (my country population is about 37 millions). And every year more than 100 000 is dying from cancer. But nobody is speaking about this, there is no lockdown, no investigation, nobody raises alarm in TV. So why plague is more important than cancer for establishment in my country ?

[Fomka]

...Example, in my country there is 1 million registered people with cancer disease (my country population is about 37 millions). And every year more than 100 000 is dying from cancer. ...

Wait-wait-wait, what is your country? Facts do not match. The worst country by Cancer Death Rate is Mongolia, there are 210 deaths per 100 000 people per year. Your picture is fantastic.

See https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/all-cancers/by-country/

[Mathel]

So why plague is more important than cancer for establishment in my country ?

Not that I think it belongs to a game thread, but the reason would be that cancer does not spread from person to person, so raising alarm about it would mostly be meaningless.

[MasterYoghourt]

Wait-wait-wait, what is your country? Facts do not match. The worst country by Cancer Death Rate is Mongolia, there are 210 deaths per 100 000 people per year. Your picture is fantastic.

See https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/all-cancers/by-country/

That's why it's always good idea to choose proffesional source of knowledge.

See WHO/GCO report : https://gco.iarc.fr/today/data/factsheets/populations/616-poland-fact-sheets.pdf

[MasterYoghourt]

Not that I think it belongs to a game thread, but the reason would be that cancer does not spread from person to person, so raising alarm about it would mostly be meaningless.

Of course not, becouse cancer has got it's environmental origins. So, there are ways to reduce sickness that could be spread through massmedia. Just there is no will in establishment to do this. We can assume that current state is expected to be as it is.

[Xenotrenium]

Warning wall of text incoming - TL;DR: Add new mode to polearms & similar items that allow melee attacks from range.

How does having melee weapons with "reach" sound? Similar to the

Spoiler:

Big ugly Frog

with it's

Spoiler:

Ranged attack tongue that deals stun

one could have melee weapons and creatures with "melee" capabilities.

Each melee weapon could then have a "ranged" attack in addition to it's melee. A pitchfork for instance would be able to reach out one tile and also attack in melee normally. Halberds, Pikes, Spears could have a range of 2, while Whips and similar items could have a range of 3. Explosive-tipped lances (1concussive ammo attack, no battlescape reload)?

Utilizing spears on creatures to avoid reaction melees (I can finally utilize those pitchforks?) might be a thing. Having a wall of pikes brace against an incoming charging reaper (hopefully without the weird stealthy ai behaviour) would be pretty cool. Engaging Black Lotus with pitchforks sounds stupid so there is that, discounting throwing knives and guns of course. In addition, also discounting their poison-tipped Nakinata-wielders (wound stat +++). Deep One Spears would also benefit.

Weapons with reach will also dissuade you or the enemy from taking a step back and simply firing their guns if you give the ranged attack a "snap" mode.

Weapons with reach is obviously very powerful compared to those without, as history shows as well. In game I believe that the close 1-tile melee attack ought to be less accurate\powerful where there are reach attacks to create an "optimal" range. Get close to enemies with reach if you only have short-range melee weapons or stay at a distance if vice versa.

Now why all this? I think it adds a bit of extra flavor to melee, possibly making both strange creature missions more interesting as well as opening up a new dimension for melee combat. I don't know how feasible this is so if something can't be done or there is a good reasoning for why this can't or shouldn't be then I would not know about it.

[Solarius Scorch]

Just my two cents, but I don't feel like having a reference to COVID in the mod would be a good idea. It seems a bit tasteless to parody/poke fun at a pandemic that is still actively killing people as we speak. I feel like a "four horsemen" sub-arc with Apoc would be cool, and I don't have any issues with a bioweapon plot line in general, but tying it to COVID directly or indirectly through a parody name like RIDER-19 feels disrespectful to people who've been affected by the virus.

Yes, this is exactly what I think, and I interpreted the original request to be along the same line.

Sorry if I misunderstood. I would never do something like that, and I believe the mod as is proves it.

[Empiro]

Anyway, here's my unasked for suggestion: megaphones! Sometimes I can't get close to a cultist to stun them without heavy losses, but after taking out enough people I've had them panic and surrender, and that's really satisfying. What if you could use a megaphone to do morale damage (after some requirements are met??) -- the old "we have you surrounded, come out with your hands up, you have no chance!" etc.

I think there are lots of ways to stun enemies already, and I do like that stunning enemies carries an extra degree of risk and difficulty. I do have a different idea for megaphone though -- maybe you can use it to affect civilians / neutrals. Using the megaphone on one should be an automatic hit, and on their turn, they will just move toward your landing site and stay there. It would help greatly in keeping civvies out of harm's way in lots of missions, and also speed things up (once they get close to your craft, they stay there and stop moving, making the end-turn phase go faster). It might not be possible in the current game engine though.

[Mitra Lightbringer]

I played this mod a lot in the last couple of days. I really liked it, but it is getting more and more stressful with UFOs busting my balls and score, and I don't think my Van or Military Jeep can intercept them. I probably researched something wrong and triggered all sorts of things, my best guess is the Alien Hybrid VIP mission. Anyway, I think this mod is great, probably one of the greatest mods in general, not just X-Com. if there was a way to reduce the challenge to like 10-25% of the current level, I would play it again, but like this, it's just suffering for me. Best of luck with your mod, though, and mad props to you, Solarius.

[Mrvex]

I played this mod a lot in the last couple of days. I really liked it, but it is getting more and more stressful with UFOs busting my balls and score, and I don't think my Van or Military Jeep can intercept them. I probably researched something wrong and triggered all sorts of things, my best guess is the Alien Hybrid VIP mission. Anyway, I think this mod is great, probably one of the greatest mods in general, not just X-Com. if there was a way to reduce the challenge to like 10-25% of the current level, I would play it again, but like this, it's just suffering for me. Best of luck with your mod, though, and mad props to you, Solarius.

Well you should probably start over at this point

Before 1999, UFO are super, ultra rare and extremely hard to get and let alone solve, but if you do, you will get a massive leg up.  But you dont have to and do missions elsewhere.
 
use the middle mouse button in research to look up what tech leads to what, this is the most important thing you can do as now you know what you are suppose to catch and do.
Yes, research can trigger spawning but UFO are indenpendent, story arc starting quests can kickstart events or missions with hefty penalties or difficult missions so make sure to take on 1-2 arcs at a time.

There is a thread containing varios tips and tricks you can read, i posted 62 different tricks and tips and i had to trim my posts down because i discovered there is a word limit on this forums so its split to parts. I tried to make it spoiler free as best as i could. I would suggest reading it, alot of things will be clear

https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,8199.0.html

[Solarius Scorch]

Hi Mitra, thanks for the kind words. And which difficulty level did you play on?

End game in general is a little lacking as of now, I'll keep adding to it. I want UFO missions to be a bit less vanilla like, and more based on the current situation (a bit like other arcs, which progress according to time and your research).

[Mitra Lightbringer]

Well, hell broke loose in December of 1998. I had like 20 UFOs in one month. January spawned several -400+ missions at the same time.
Yes, I did trigger UFOs by capturing bunch of aliens and equipment in the special mission Alien Ambush, or something, the one you get from Dossier, or something.
This is second playthrough I had with this mod, kidna fitting it's cult of apocalypse that made me quit gaming for a while again.

[the nomad]

Well, hell broke loose in December of 1998. I had like 20 UFOs in one month. January spawned several -400+ missions at the same time.
Yes, I did trigger UFOs by capturing bunch of aliens and equipment in the special mission Alien Ambush, or something, the one you get from Dossier, or something.
This is second playthrough I had with this mod, kidna fitting it's cult of apocalypse that made me quit gaming for a while again.

The UFOs will not necessarily keep showing at the same frequency, often enough things slow down but it seems you are behind schedule in research. December 1998 is normal time for what is happening. You are kinda racing against time in the mod, while you do not absolutely have to it is best that you have at least promotion II and a 8 crew plane by that time, and ideally promotion III and fighter jets. You will definitely get better with replays and knowing what you should do.

[Mitra Lightbringer]

The UFOs will not necessarily keep showing at the same frequency, often enough things slow down but it seems you are behind schedule in research. December 1998 is normal time for what is happening. You are kinda racing against time in the mod, while you do not absolutely have to it is best that you have at least promotion II and a 8 crew plane by that time, and ideally promotion III and fighter jets. You will definitely get better with replays and knowing what you should do.

I have the Ospey, but it's range sucks. To use it, I would need multiple bases with multiple attack squads. No, thanks, too much effort. I do not want to work even harder, I want to enjoy the game (well, the mod, really).
To get Promotion III, I need to take the HQ of the faction. Without Tritanium, that I just starter researching, it's just gonna turn into endless savescuming session.

Again, Solarius, this is not an insult aimed at you, I really like your work, I'm just tired of the same combat. It's not as fun as it was 15 years ago.

[Solarius Scorch]

Yeah, fully understood. The mod came out as rather demanding on the difficulty side, even though I took some precautions. I guess most of it is due to my personal preferences, and the mod is full of stuff I simply like myself.

Nevertheless, having multiple bases is an absolute necessity. This is not UFO: Extraterrestrials, you're supposed to spread.