Re: The X-Com Files - 3.4: Daggers for Hire

[amokk_gw]

Well I haven't even seen an Arbiter UFO yet. And I generally haven't seen any UFOs with Ethereals as the race.

[Stone Lake]

I think I've seen the battle ship, but for some reason even a simple railgun on my tormentor completly destroys it instead of just grounding it. Not sure what's going on there.

"Aggressive" alien ships tend to "fight to the death", so they get destroyed often.

Well I haven't even seen an Arbiter UFO yet. And I generally haven't seen any UFOs with Ethereals as the race.

Arbiter only spawns after you research MiB commander. Ethereals spawn almost never.
Once you get Eth Commander from the Arbiter, I don't recommend researching it until you get Eth Eliminator / Sentinel for the Avenger.
Just get Ethereal Speaker from Alien Orbital Station.

[Akamashi]

"Aggressive" alien ships tend to "fight to the death", so they get destroyed often.
Arbiter only spawns after you research MiB commander. Ethereals spawn almost never.
Once you get Eth Commander from the Arbiter, I don't recommend researching it until you get Eth Eliminator / Sentinel for the Avenger.

There is no problem exploring the commander's ethereal. Lightning is a great ship. With the introduction of the Spartans, the game became so much easier that I completed the mib lunar base of 8 agents without losing any. But not the first time.  I play ironman super human. The first time I burned the evidence. I think there's no point in specifically waiting for the avenger.

[Stone Lake]

There is no problem exploring the commander's ethereal. Lightning is a great ship. With the introduction of the Spartans, the game became so much easier that I completed the mib lunar base of 8 agents without losing any. But not the first time.  I play ironman super human. The first time I burned the evidence. I think there's no point in specifically waiting for the avenger.

The point was to be able to progress the plot past Alien Orbital Station. But yeah, it seems that you can get Eth Keeper from Alien Orbital Station and progress the plot from there (and get Avenger). I didn't notice that. It pretty much means that path to the endgame is now way less random. Very nice.

[amokk_gw]

Just get Ethereal Speaker from Alien Orbital Station.

What orbital station? Do I get a mission for those? I have never come accross something that mentions an alien orbital station.

[Stone Lake]

What orbital station? Do I get a mission for those? I have never come accross something that mentions an alien orbital station.

It comes later. MiB commander from MiB strike ship -> Ethereal Commander from Arbiter -> MiB master log from MiB lunar base -> Alien Orbital...
Pretty much linear.

[mercy]

Solarius, did you implement Ksennis massive sound expansion extensively?  Were the sounds usable? I'm especially curious about the death-cries. Did you include a lot?  How did you like the quality?

X-Files Resound Mod:
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,8870.0.html

Reason I'm asking is I liked how the older engine versions handled the Sectoid death cries. When I threw a grenade into a group of Sectoids years ago, the engine played multiple death cries, which sounded like a very satisfying chorus.

Unfortunately I checked the Sectoid FX in Resound and found it uh.. well, rather no comment on that.

[psavola]

When I watched Stone Lake's stream, I was impressed with most of the Resound mod. Especially gun sounds. That was a motivation to replay and test for myself. But as you say, at least some alien voices were a bit off. I'd certainly love to see most of this integrated in the mainstream, although both the mods are huge as they are. No problem keeping it separate either.

[Solarius Scorch]

Solarius, did you implement Ksennis massive sound expansion extensively?  Were the sounds usable? I'm especially curious about the death-cries. Did you include a lot?  How did you like the quality?

I haven't. I'm not sure if it would be okay for me to do in the first place...

[Akamashi]

I'm not happy. Not only is the late game already delayed by the possibility of spawning missions once a month. So I also had to wait for the spawn of the orbital station for 6 months after its exploration.  It's been an upsetting 6 months. This needs to be changed.

[Solarius Scorch]

I'm not happy. Not only is the late game already delayed by the possibility of spawning missions once a month. So I also had to wait for the spawn of the orbital station for 6 months after its exploration.  It's been an upsetting 6 months. This needs to be changed.

There is 50% chance... Should I make it 100%?

[Akamashi]

There is 50% chance... Should I make it 100%?

If you don't want to make a predictable 100%, then let it be 75%. I got in for 6 months. This is a very unpleasant experience. I have checked 25 times whether the orbital station is really open for spawn.

[PPQ]

There is 50% chance... Should I make it 100%?

I do not know if this is possible using the engine but I think the best solution would be an incremental system. As in, have it start at 50% and than rise by X% every month such that it reaches 100% after how ever many months you think is balanced as the latest date. So say 10% would give you 5 months, 20% would give you 3 etc.

[psavola]

I do not know if this is possible using the engine but I think the best solution would be an incremental system. As in, have it start at 50% and than rise by X% every month such that it reaches 100% after how ever many months you think is balanced as the latest date. So say 10% would give you 5 months, 20% would give you 3 etc.

This functionality is not provided by OXCE. You would need to define a ruleset separately for each month. A lot of wasted effort.

IMHO, for completion critical RNG things, especially in the late game, the percentage should be at least 75-80. It could still easily happen that you need to wait for a month or two to progress, but at least waiting longer would be unprobable.

[Akamashi]

Ideally, these events should take place every month. But I consider the minimum chance of passing acceptable.

BTW. For more than 6 months, the final mission of the uac does not appear. Luck is not on my side.
((