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

[nicedayright]

What a lucky aim! In my experience autofired bullets do not hit a tile where an enemy fell, they fly pass it, at some height.

Well I was above him aiming down, so that might have had something to do with it.

I was extremely worried about getting The Thing homage mission pre-promotion III, but it turns out OICW grenades work just fine.

[Solarius Scorch]

Illegal Trade in The X-Com Files
I have an idea:
I think the governments should sniff out that you are dealing on the black market with [highly] illegal goods. Then the governments should organize a raid on the XCOM-base citing laws forbidding illegal combat-drug/weapon/stuff trade.
An initially inconspicuous government gunship appears on radar: it does a few turns as if searching for something, then heads to your base to carry out a full raid. Your base location was easily spotted by the government using GPS trackers placed into those illegal shipments, which dealings of yours undercover investigators were following for some time..

Nah, governments won't do diddly squat against X-Com... The Council won't let them. If, say, the CIA finds out there's anything going on, the Council will do what it takes to bury the investigation, and then give you a slap for being careless (hence the negative event). But it won't ever get to your base before the Council itself will shut you down for incompetence.

Would you please do an update to these percentages?

Cult of Apocalypse: 90%
Men in Black: 35%
Black Sun: 10%
[classified]: 4%

I think I'll rather remove it, it's served its purpose over the years adn now I can't even remember what was supposed to go where.

What Position Markers, Drone Carriers and Counter-terrorists are about in the 2.1?

- Position markers are placeable items with a camera and a floodlight (to help monitor the battlefield);
- Drone Carriers are HWPs with the ability to create small temporary units in battle;
- Counter-terrorists are special police forces which appear in the new mission.

In other news, I was just here to say how much I love the soundtrack for the Asylum mission.

Love it or hate it, eh?

DRAGONFLY with light turned off during night missions? That could be some modification from WORKSHOP.

Since light around your landing zone makes you a perfect target for all bad boys around the map. I understand if this done on purpose, to make night missions harder and less suited against 50+ cultists, whose basicly have big problems with night fight.

And how about workshop-modification/on-mission-button for HAMVI or VAN/other cars to turn on/off their light?

While you could argue that such lights should be toggable, the engine doesn't allow for this.

But having a workshop project to modify a craft to have its light off is... uh... questionable.

One thing that did occur to me out of thinking about ammo lootboxes though:  Wouldn't it make more sense for the various pro-alien factions (Dagon, Red Dawn, Exalt, etc) to have ammo boxes suited to the weapons they use?

It would, but cult buildings are shared, so their loot is shared too.

Save games from 2.0.1 are compatible with 2.1, right? Or should I restart?

I'm actually a bit further into the game than I've ever gotten previously and the cults are long-destroyed, but I kind of want to see the new EXALT mission

Yeah, there shouldn't be any issues. You can even get the WIP 2.2 from GitHub, as it changes the balance a lot and.. I need testers

[Fomka]

Thanks for the info about Position markers etc, Scorch. Great work, all contributors, looks like a technological miracle!

And it looks like Aliens have little chances to win battles now. Cunny Humans with comparatively pathetic weapons will overwhelm them with  cooperative work and better understanding of a battlefield. The latter allows to concentrate enough attacks on a target.

Recently discovered that a salvo of 8 weak incendiary grenades from Osprey dudes downs a lonely armored-to-the-teeth Gazer with ease. If it stands on its feet after the ignition, it will be low on morale and TUs.

May Aliens hope for some pumping up of their side? I dream of them being able to monitor every enemy novement inside UFOs (and was happy to see the first Turret). Thinking of a creatire with PSI-sense nailed to a ceiling at an UFO's center... Hard to implement. But maybe the Aliens will have a unit similar to the Drone Carrier (if they hasn't already), to be on par?

Dear players, I wonder, how frequent are failures in X-COM base defence missions in your plays? I do not know, how current Aliens can possibly seize any of my bases (sorry, I do not boast).

PS. Ah, the Aliens in this game will never be on par with players. We have brains, not straightforward algorithms, and a Save&Reload option. Do not take my rant on poor unwinning Aliens seriously.

[nicedayright]

While you could argue that such lights should be toggable, the engine doesn't allow for this.

But having a workshop project to modify a craft to have its light off is... uh... questionable.

Could I make the argument for removing them entirely? If the engine won't let us pick between one and the other, I'd argue it makes a lot more sense in general to *not* illuminate your own troops in a hot drop landing zone at night.

[Solarius Scorch]

May Aliens hope for some pumping up of their side?

Yes, eventually.

Could I make the argument for removing them entirely? If the engine won't let us pick between one and the other, I'd argue it makes a lot more sense in general to *not* illuminate your own troops in a hot drop landing zone at night.

I'm considering it. No decision yet.

[Thunderwing280]

What's a good stun weapon to use to capture aliens? I've tried tonfa and stun rod but they just seem really iffy in reliability in stunning.

[Juku121]

Is it truly intended that alien alloys (and other similar materials) are almost always recovered at a 10% alloy/tile ratio?

Because that makes UFO recovery a rather poor source. Given the gating of titanium manufacturing behind the foundry, the relatively inflated prices of smaller projects, and the whole fiddliness of manufacturing ammo for a variety of weapons in the first place, I'm not sure what the idea is here.

Not to mention the hit to my SoD when you need a whole small-ish flying saucer to make ~300 rounds of .50 cal ammo, or worse,  ~150 rounds for a tiny spy handgun...

[Solarius Scorch]

Is it truly intended that alien alloys (and other similar materials) are almost always recovered at a 10% alloy/tile ratio?

Because that makes UFO recovery a rather poor source. Given the gating of titanium manufacturing behind the foundry, the relatively inflated prices of smaller projects, and the whole fiddliness of manufacturing ammo for a variety of weapons in the first place, I'm not sure what the idea is here.

Not to mention the hit to my SoD when you need a whole small-ish flying saucer to make ~300 rounds of .50 cal ammo, or worse,  ~150 rounds for a tiny spy handgun...

These are vanilla rules.

Balance, of course, is always an issue...

[Juku121]

Ah, I forgot. I think I removed a lot of that limit last time I was seriously looking into things, and then retroactively wiped all memory of it having ever been any different.

Anyway, balance has changed. In vanilla, you could probably build everything you wanted under 1000 alloys, even if you splurged. Unless you had a hard-on for fusion balls.

You could expect to get that amount without too much trouble and have surplus to sell, even.

In XCF, you can spend as much on mid-game armours alone. Or aircraft, or minigun ammo, or Pike missiles. Not to mention all the other cool things. And UFOs aren't really all that more prevalent, the game just goes on far longer and has a lot of other mission types.


After some light testing, it might be an artifact of me fighting too many small UFOs. I'd still be happier if we got about twice as many alloys. Especially from the smaller craft, like ~5 vs 2 from the moon lander, ~30+ vs ~15 from a medium scout, 50+ from a large one, maybe less from others. 450+ from a Battleship is perhaps a little too much. But that'd require some precision tweaking. Some big bases might actually be too generous even now.


Finally, Alien Gardens might also need to be relaxed a bit. Getting one (1!) of them after a mission when a Toxigun flask also takes one to build is way too little.

All in all, I propose changing 'recoveryDividers' for Alloys, Plastics and Terramite during non-installation missions to 5-6, and Alien Gardens to about 5.

[the nomad]

What's a good stun weapon to use to capture aliens? I've tried tonfa and stun rod but they just seem really iffy in reliability in stunning.

Knockout grenades and baton shells in my opinion. Even better than dart guns.

[Juku121]

Why are some leader corpses (at least Sectoids and Ethereals) cheaper to sell than regular ones? The NWO guys don't want their former drinking partners' bodies?

Edit: And I've got to give Solarius some credit where it's due. I've tried 2.2 for a bit, and the Council-related fluff is much better explained now. I may still not personally like it, but it's hard to deny that it's them who hold all the cards while occasionally failing to capitalise on that due to infighting.

[Emden]

Hello,

I would like thank developers for such great mode.

And I have a question about Helix Knight and Olympianism trainings.
I'm able to assign agents to Helix Knight training and then to Olympianism training. But I'm able to assign agents to Olympianism training and then not able to assign agents to Helix Knight training. After Olympianism training Helix Knight isn't available.
Is that correct behavior? I just wasn't able to find any answer on forum.

[Solarius Scorch]

Hello,

I would like thank developers for such great mode.

And I have a question about Helix Knight and Olympianism trainings.
I'm able to assign agents to Helix Knight training and then to Olympianism training. But I'm able to assign agents to Olympianism training and then not able to assign agents to Helix Knight training. After Olympianism training Helix Knight isn't available.
Is that correct behavior? I just wasn't able to find any answer on forum.

Hello, and thank you!
Yes, it's a bug. I have already fixed it, and will release the next version very soon.

EDIT:

Version 2.2 has been released!

- New units: MiB Pilot (sprites based on Gaffer's recolors), Alien Cyberwatch Turret (inventory sprite by Brain_322).
- New UFOs: Contact Ship, MiB Engineering Ship.
- New missions: Old UFO Landing Site, Old UFO Crash Site, Alien/MiB Meeting.
- Overhauled MiB Base into MiB Outpost.
- New weapons: Advanced Grenade Launcher, EMP Mine (sprites by Brain_322), Gas Grenade (sprites based on Dioxine's), Gas Mine.
- New ammo: Tactical GL Grenade (GAS).
- New items: Holo-Grenade (graphics by Brain_322), Flashlight (former renamed to Mag-Lite).
- New HWP armor: Outrunner (graphics by Brain_322).
- New transformations: Dagonization, Gun Kata, Blood Boosting, and also Neoderm for dogs.
- New commendations: Infiltrator, Spelunker, Aquanaut, Spacer, Horizon Walker, Dreamwalker, Suppressor, Tasemaster.
- 8 new faces (graphics mostly by Brain_322).
- New map for Urban Low: fountain (collab with Brain_322).
- New big mapblocks for Polar and Jungle (collab with Dioxine).
- New Junkfarm/Native Urban maps (by Dioxine).
- New mountains on the globe.
- New lore articles.
- Overhauled the training system/bonuses.
- Olympians and Proteans can eat the Cake.
- High Bravery (100 or more) partially mitigates Sanity loss with gradually increasing efficiency (script by 8mono).
- Tech sharing decisions now use mutually exclusive researches.
- Tritanium Ammo is much faster to research.
- Networks require level 2 cultist.
- X-Com PAU: General Strategy requires Kiryu-Kai.
- Staff introductions are now events and give presents.
- More diverse sources of Alien Communicator, but it is harder to obtain.
- Turbolaser Shotgun has new graphics (by Brain_322), higher damage and greater E-115 cost.
- New EMP Grenade graphics (by Brain_322).
- Improved Assault Suit paperdoll (by Brain_322).
- Better shield sprites (by 8mono).
- Better Sectopod Laser Repeater sound.
- Advanced Rocket Launcher requires Optronics and not Alien Electronics.
- Glock has slightly more accurate snap shots.
- Makarov shoots slightly faster in snap shots.
- UAC SMG has bigger, but heavier clips.
- Drone Rockets weigh 10.
- Trace Flares are cheaper to make.
- Anzug also gives +5 Throwing.
- Throwing weapons are cheaper to research.
- Terror missions are bigger and with the UFO spawning on the map.
- Underwater missions Heavy Cruiser and Fleet Supply Cruiser are less common.
- Battleships have bigger crews.
- Added external turrets on Terror Ship, Troop Ship, Battleship and Cruiser.
- Added 3 Crisis Troopers to Military Anti-Monster Operation.
- Changed civilian count on some missions.
- Military Officers with pistols have melee weapons.
- Proper map for the MiB Dropship.
- MiB ship tiles reskinned (by Brain_322).
- Mountains can have roads.
- Added 30x30 blocks to some custom mapscripts.
- Smaller map on Spider Nest Underground.
- Better jungle trees (by Dioxine).
- Overhauled Hybrid/Alien Meeting, Hybrid/MiB Meeting and Hybrid Control Center Assault deployments with cleaner mechanics.
- Extra mission set for starting cults after 01.01.1999.
- Tripled the special loot on Osiron Hacienda.
- Overhauled Hybrid strings and added color variants (recolors by 8mono).
- Broken MiB armors recover directly (no manufacturing needed).
- Turrets are always visible.
- Council Commissioner is player-controlled.
- Shotgun Surgeon changed.
- Psi Capture is now optional.
- Overhauled access to the Liquidator Armor.
- Lo Wo can be captured.
- Cleaned up texture 9 terrains.
- Fixed access to Helix Knight for Proteans and Olympians.
- Fixed Heavy/Tritanium Suit hands.
- Fixed unlimited range on spider's flame attack.
- Fixed some issues with armor scripts.
- Minor fixes.

Important notes:
1. Requires the newest OXCE.
2. You may continue an older campaign, but you'll may some items and research related to higher hybrid ranks.
3. Similarly, you will also lose all Knockout Grenades and the relevant research.
4. Some weirdness is expected on old campaigns (like your staff greeting you for the first time), but nothing deal breaking.

This is probably the biggest update I have released. I really hope it works as intended, but the number of moving parts is exceedingly large. Many thanks to all the testers who used the nightly GitHub version and reported lots of issues.
Special thanks to Brain_322 for all the amazing graphics, to Meridian for the help with feature implementation, to Dioxine for a lot of creative input, 9mono for scripting, Noblebright for maintaining the Wiki, and the many members of the XCF Discord community for their continuous support.

[Chuckebaby]

I tried the X com files mod right after I finished FMP and I couldn't warm up to it.
However, I didn't give it a fair chance. I am going to revisit this again as it looks amazing. I'm playing reavers harmony mod right now. then I plan on doing a TFTD but as soon as I finish, i look forward to giving this another try. It looks like an amazing mod.

[coorta88]

@Solarius Scorch

By the newest OXCE for X-com files v 2.2 you mean v2022-01-10 or is there a newer version ? As I tried version 2.2 X-com files for my android phone (which has OXCE v2022-01-10 installed) and for some reason I cant get it to work, fortunately version 2.1b still works fine.

And not to forget, many thanks for your (and other team members) great work on this mod.