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

[Fomka]

Isn't the XM29 OICW grenade a bit OP? Specially considering that the program was cancelled in part due to the low lethability of the grenades...

The Russian Empire would have said “No, its grenades are not powerful enough and therefore it is illegal” and displayed the Saint Petersburg Act of 1868 to forum members.

Just joking, sorry. Has been entertained with the recently learned facts:

Spoiler:

1. German H&K company was sued by its partner for a delay in producing XM-25 weapons for the US Army in 2017.
2. Germans hesitated upon their co-developed weapon would have been considered as a violation of an old international agreement.
3. The agreement was signed in Saint Petersburg in 1868 and forbids any war usage of explosive ammunition that weighs less than 400 gramms per round due to inhuman cruelty of deaths from such an ammunition: an ordinary bullet would suffice.
Some prooflinks:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170325025656/http://www.fox9.com/news/233155258-story
https://en-wikipedia-org.turbopages.org/en.wikipedia.org/s/wiki/Saint_Petersburg_Declaration_of_1868


It seems HK needed an excuse to leave the project.

As for the topic, I think no changes are needed. It's a game, and even early game. But if you want more realism then yes, sniper rifles which fire explosive rounds are nowhere to be seen in real life. Accuracy is too high, can be a rifle, not a sniper.

[The Reaver of Darkness]

I'm not sure if you fixed this since I snatched it, but it has come to my attention that a handobs from your mod has a defect. I have offered a fixed version.

[the nomad]

The latest Oxce gives me errors about multiple recoverable items in Swarmid Large Corpse and Wraith Armor I think. I downgraded to OXCE 7.0 and it worked, but will old OXCE cause problems? I am asking because I remember with an old version of OXCE, safehouses did not work correctly.

[krautbernd]

Solarius, is there any reason base facilities like the access lift, HQ etc. give mana/sanitiy recovery?

[Mrvex]

Solarius, is there any reason base facilities like the access lift, HQ etc. give mana/sanitiy recovery?

Well, Lift because its kinda hard to do your job if you cannot leave or enter the base.... unless you fancy climbing the hangar door each day with a rope.

HQ gives a psychological effect, if you were in a base that actually has a command centre with you and high ranking teammates (If not direcly the Commander), your mind would be alot more at ease, more safety, ensurance and order in case of future missions or base defence.

Or if any other buildings give sanity, it would make sense in universe for soldiers to feel more...secure when their base has alot of structures, big budget, it will make them feel more important to XCOM.

[krautbernd]

Well, Lift because its kinda hard to do your job if you cannot leave or enter the base.... unless you fancy climbing the hangar door each day with a rope.

HQ gives a psychological effect, if you were in a base that actually has a command centre with you and high ranking teammates (If not direcly the Commander), your mind would be alot more at ease, more safety, ensurance and order in case of future missions or base defence.

Or if any other buildings give sanity, it would make sense in universe for soldiers to feel more...secure when their base has alot of structures, big budget, it will make them feel more important to XCOM.

Not asking from a lore standpoint, as these values are only exposed internally / in the debug menu.

I am asking because they are not cumulative - only the highest one is counted:

The facility setting is NOT cumulative, more facilities don't provide more regen. If there are multiple facilities of different type with different regen rate, the best (highest) regen rate is used.

Living quarters/large living quarters already provide a bonus which is larger than that of any other facility apart from the sensorium. Meaning the other boni are kind of pointless, as you need living quarters to begin with. On that account, why do the large living quarters provide a higher bonus than the regular ones?

The reason I am bringing this up is because to me it looks like the values were defined with a cumulative bonus in mind (which would explain why the HQ etc. have small bonuses) when they aren't actually taken into account.

[tr0phygh0ul]

hi, great mod, really like how not only adds stuff from other XCOM games but also paranormal and other sci-fi elements

though i have a question, is the late game grind a placeholder until the remaining arcs are completed? what about the spawn rates for the "final" missions?

[QuybiT]

though i have a question, is the late game grind a placeholder until the remaining arcs are completed? what about the spawn rates for the "final" missions?

As far as the frequency of the final missions spawn, here's the problem. To get to Mars, you will need to fly to the moon and complete about 5 missions, each of which starts once a month (if you're lucky). However, in order to get to the moon, you need to interrogate special ethereals, and they will appear at least a year after the alien invasion. Even if you are ready to fly to Mars, be prepared to spend a year fulfilling a number of conditions.
If I understand you correctly, then these conditions apply to aliens, other arcs are not required

[tr0phygh0ul]

To get to Mars, you will need to fly to the moon and complete about 5 missions, each of which starts once a month (if you're lucky). However, in order to get to the moon, you need to interrogate special ethereals, and they will appear at least a year after the alien invasion. Even if you are ready to fly to Mars, be prepared to spend a year fulfilling a number of conditions.

Sounds a bit too grindy, especially since by the time you enter the invasion phase, you would've probably finished most of the arcs or can't be bothered to deal with minor missions or several landing/crash sites at once

[Solarius Scorch]

I'm not sure if you fixed this since I snatched it, but it has come to my attention that a handobs from your mod has a defect. I have offered a fixed version.

What is incorrect? I compared the shotgun with vanilla sprites and it follows the same order (starting with pointing to the west, for 2-handed weapons).

The latest Oxce gives me errors about multiple recoverable items in Swarmid Large Corpse and Wraith Armor I think. I downgraded to OXCE 7.0 and it worked, but will old OXCE cause problems? I am asking because I remember with an old version of OXCE, safehouses did not work correctly.

I dunno, I am not getting any errors on a recent OXCE (from 13.11).

Solarius, is there any reason base facilities like the access lift, HQ etc. give mana/sanitiy recovery?

The access lift has it because it exists in every base, so denotes the minimum.

While indeed you can't have people on base without having any living quarters, and living quarters indeed have higher values, I left it in in case a new, worse living facility appears in the future.

hi, great mod, really like how not only adds stuff from other XCOM games but also paranormal and other sci-fi elements

though i have a question, is the late game grind a placeholder until the remaining arcs are completed? what about the spawn rates for the "final" missions?

Pretty much, yes. I need to redesign the Cydonian part, but for now it's mostly vanilla missions. It's not the intended design.


EDIT:
Version 2.1 has been released!

- Korean localisation added.
- 3 new Staff Inputs (by Dragor).
- New weapon: Macro Saw (sprite improved by Brain_322).
- New item: Position Marker (by Alex D).
- New HWP armors: Drone Carrier, Hovertank/Carrier (and associated drone types, Position Markers, X-Com Cybermites and X-Com Buzzers) (all by Alex D).
- New unit: Counter-Terrorist.
- New mission: EXALT search warrant (police car by Alex D).
- New maps for Urban Low: police station (by Brain_322), government office, post office.
- Some unique orbital station tiles (by Brain_322).
- New terrain additions and fixes (by Dioxine).
- Ski Resort mission has random snow terrain.
- Proper Bloodhound autopsy pic (by Brain_322).
- Hybrid agents available earlier, from alternative sources.
- Helix Psions get 15 extra armor on all sides.
- Rolled Transport Alternative and Private Transport into one research.
- New lore on the Great Factions.
- Disabled UFO Construction recovery from the Undersea City.
- Shooting at UFOs no longer decreases their crews (for lore reasons).
- Decreased Cydonian activity.
- M.A.G.M.A. Lab must be won before progressing further with this arc.
- Custom scurry sound for crawlies.
- Olympians can fly in any outfit.
- Dogs now have proper dodge.
- Ethereals have better Chem resistance.
- Power Mace is one-handed and has more reliable damage.
- Advanced Rocket Launcher takes all rocket types.
- UAC plasma weapons are slightly stronger and damage morale.
- BFG isn't destroyed in research.
- Bow arrows are 1x3, with new graphics.
- Fixed Bewildered Farmer recovery.
- Fixed Majestic 12 Clue research.
- Fixed Osiron Hacienda loot.
- UAC Portal ramps are passable.
- Battleship walls are less transparent.
- Various tile fixes.
- Minor fixes.


EDIT 2: I forgot to release the submods too. Reuploaded the mod with the submods.

[nicedayright]

Can we revisit ammo availability on some of the early game weapons? I can get access to several 5.56 rifles through cult arms dealers but I can't buy ammo for them until I get specifically the M16 and EXALT operations. I have complete confidence that I'll find an enforcer *any day now* but it would still make more sense to unlock 5.56 clips with any of the acquisition techs for a 5.56 rifle.

[Solarius Scorch]

Can we revisit ammo availability on some of the early game weapons? I can get access to several 5.56 rifles through cult arms dealers but I can't buy ammo for them until I get specifically the M16 and EXALT operations. I have complete confidence that I'll find an enforcer *any day now* but it would still make more sense to unlock 5.56 clips with any of the acquisition techs for a 5.56 rifle.

Are you saying that you can bug guns through cult dealers, but not ammo for them? Hmm... I'll check this stupid thing again. It's seriously over-engineered, at least for my mediocre brain.

EDIT: Maybe now it'll work good... Seriously, it's more of a design issue than a technical one. I just made it so Dagon weapon acquisition gives unlocks the 5.56 clip just like the EXALT weapon acquisition does.

[FireStarTracer]

The thing with illegal purchases is that I'm not sure how you would differentiate that from 'legal' purchases, since it would still be purchased through the same menu in theory.    There also should be some potentail risks/downsides with that approach since its not as reliable as the 'proper' channels.

Perhaps 'illegal ammo purchases' could be put in as a form of loot boxes.   You have to research the connections (so it might be tied to certain promotions - the military adviser who has those connections is a good choice) and this adds a number of purchase option for the 'loot boxes.'   But they're not labeled as 'loot boxes' but somethign else - 'Smuggled Ammo shipment - NATO' or 'Smuggled Ammo shipment - Warsaw Pact.'     They might be more expensive than the 'normal' purchase would be, it probably takes longer too.    And there would be a element of randomness/risk to it.    There's a chance you might not get any ammo at all, or perhaps only part of the shipment.   Or you might not even get the ammo you wanted (maybe supplies were limited or the order got screwed up, or someone deceived you.   Lots of people who sell Ammo online or at gun conventions in America can and will deceive buyers and lie about their wares.) - which is all things I believe that 'ammo-based' loot boxes can kinda do (you get a certain kind of ammo as is).

Smuggled ammunition in a sense becomes 'ammo boxes' that you can buy and have less randomness to them.     I'm assuming this won't be easily broken (XCF funding is still pretty tightly constrained so you might have to juggle acquriing illegal ammo with, say, hiring more recruits or expanding your base for example.  The costs should at least reflect that sort of tradeoff.)

[Solarius Scorch]

I think lootboxes would be too random. When you need an AK47, you want an AK47, without having to purchase 50 crates of random scrap metal until finally you get the gun. We have other mod elements for this.

The only actual feature this alternate path introduces is an alternative way to unlock certain researches. The problem was that 5.56mm was aligned with EXALT, but many such weapons are also used by Dagonites (because much of their area of influence is in NATO). So now Dagon gives you 5.56mm as well.

[nicedayright]

Thanks, that's about what I thought. I just wasn't sure if it was an oversight or some bizarre design choice.