Author Topic: Re: The X-Com Files - 3.2: The Colors of Sin  (Read 1949790 times)

Offline Arthanor

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #315 on: September 03, 2016, 03:04:28 am »
Well, I compiled a new executable for that tasty night vision, downloaded version 0.3 and set everything up, but something's messed up.

Somehow the "startingBase" isn't taken into account unless I set the mod as a master mod (isMaster: true in metadata). If I do things normally, the mod is loaded fine (I can see ufopaedia articles and stuff) but the starting base I get is the normal vanilla one with a skyranger and 2 interceptors. If I set it as master, it's missing a bunch of strings.

I compared the definitions with the Piratez one and can't find anything borked, so I'm at a loss of what to do. Any suggestion?

Edit: I sort of managed to fool it by setting the mod as master, starting a game, saving, unsetting the master, adding xcom1 to the list of mods and loading in a "modded xcom1" game. But that leaves a few things not working, like skyrangers and interceptors being available from the start which I assume shouldn't be (and a pump action shotgun?), so I stopped playing after reading the pedia articles.
« Last Edit: September 03, 2016, 04:14:18 am by Arthanor »

Offline Solarius Scorch

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #316 on: September 03, 2016, 01:48:13 pm »
1) researching basic stuff may wrk as extended piratez, it should lead to some items buyable, not other ones to be researchd from scratch.

Ummm, that's how it is already...
In fact, X-Files were first in this regard. :P

Same should apply for (ifprogrammed) ak-47, ma-16 and so on..maybe the magun may be renamed .357 magnum or even better .44 magunm (dirty harry would be happy  8) along luger, thompson 1929A may fit as starting crap smg, improved version should be the uzi. The former may have the actual uzi damage (20) latter may have more (25-30?)
(...)
Edit 2: as early-mid game, an IMI Negev may be fine, later something a bit heavy like M60

This falls in the category of "moar weponz". I am not against it, but where would they fit? I don't want to clutter the shop with more and more weapons, because moderation is important. I could give it to enemies, but I'd need some new factions. :P
In short, adding weapons is relatively easy. But they must have a place first.

2) a starting buyable item may be also pepper spray, useful only agains human enemies. :)

I'll think about this one, could be amusing.

Edit: as for 0.3, how, if any, changes from the user Juku121 verison have been implemented? if noy, any of these are planned to be? Thanks again for the great mod!

For now, just some description corrections. (More along the way, haven't finished fixing the strings yet.) Oh, and plasma damage roll modification, although Juku used TFTD damage and I decided to use Gaussian instead, but the result is similar.

Edit 3:In general improved versions of weapons (electric baton) should be researchble and manufacturable, while the basic onles (eg stun baton) shoulb be unlocked in the market after some research on the right contact/dealers.

Yes, it's called STUN ROD. :P

Also, would be nice also to have an operative field suit (mimetic- paramilitary alike), the only outfit to support kevlar vests, quite uncommon to wear it on a "casual outfit". Maybe don't know if it might be doable, but whatever

It's doable, like the Guerilla armour from Piratez which gives some camo. But I'm not sure what to do with it yet.

New version? Good... New game must be started, or old saves will work?

They should work.

First report: animal pen and prison has no ufopedia entry.

Oops. Yeah, they shouldn't have
Code: [Select]
    requires:
      - STR_SICK_BAY
in their Ufopaedia entries. Thanks for the report! Attaching a quick fix.

Up to you.... On splitting the thread. I'll share more if you wish... or shut up :)

I don't mind if it continues here. :) At least if it's not too overwhelming.

On the Taser, did you just eliminate the snapshot or replace snapshot with aimed shot for all values.... nevermind, I'll download and look.

I've only changed snapShot to aimedShot. The stats and general behaviour are the same, except you can't reaction fire with it.

Well, I compiled a new executable for that tasty night vision, downloaded version 0.3 and set everything up, but something's messed up. (...)

Well, I am at a loss...it seems to work for everyone else. I'd like to help, but I have no idea what could be wrong... I think Meridian might be of help. I'll consult Dioxine too.
« Last Edit: September 03, 2016, 01:52:04 pm by Solarius Scorch »

Offline arrakis69ct

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #317 on: September 03, 2016, 02:41:03 pm »
I need to start New Game. In my old Game i have 3 bases in build. But now the rooms are random and building room that i not research....

Not problem to start again

Enviado desde mi ECOO E04 3GB mediante Tapatalk
« Last Edit: September 03, 2016, 03:12:23 pm by arrakis69ct »

Offline Solarius Scorch

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #318 on: September 03, 2016, 04:22:23 pm »
I need to start New Game. In my old Game i have 3 bases in build. But now the rooms are random and building room that i not research....

To be honest I don't understand, but I think your problem is containment facilities. The change between the previous version and the current one is that in the old one there was only one type of "prison", the Alien Containment, while in the new one there are three different types. But this shouldn't cause problems other than you may have Alien Containment before you research it, but it's just a "bonus". And you'll have to build the other two, of course.

I'm still worried about what Arthanor reported... The problem with setting XCF as a master is that is still relies on X-Com rulesets (although increasingly less). And besides, XCF has some high listOrder numbers (particularly the handobs), which is known to cause problems in masters.

Offline Arthanor

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #319 on: September 03, 2016, 06:28:31 pm »
Well, I am at a loss...it seems to work for everyone else. I'd like to help, but I have no idea what could be wrong... I think Meridian might be of help. I'll consult Dioxine too.

Well, I'm at a loss too! I messed around a little bit with the metadata and ruleset names (thinking maybe the ID was too long/shouldn't have '-' or that the ruleset names were too long) and suddenly it worked! Then since I wasn't sure how I fixed it, I removed everything and reinstalled the mod, and it still worked?!

I even removed x-com-files from loaded mods in the config and reloaded as if the game never knew about the mod, and it works. So I don't know.. but the important thing is: it's working :D

Offline Nord

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #320 on: September 04, 2016, 12:35:13 am »
Solarius, please, maybe it will be good to rename research projects "swarmids" and "swarmids corpse" by adding a word "small". Because no ufopedia entry after these projects confuses me. (When large versions is not researched)

Offline Solarius Scorch

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #321 on: September 04, 2016, 04:14:36 am »
Glad it works for you.

Solarius, please, maybe it will be good to rename research projects "swarmids" and "swarmids corpse" by adding a word "small". Because no ufopedia entry after these projects confuses me. (When large versions is not researched)

I'm not sure I understand, I guess I'll need to test it further.

Offline HelmetHair

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #322 on: September 04, 2016, 08:09:05 am »
Moar dakka! ;D

earlier today I had an issue where I went on a black lotus dossier capture mission.

found the dude and stunned him to end the mission... it threw an error string error pertaining to alien containment. no points no capture etc.

thoughts?


Offline Nord

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #323 on: September 04, 2016, 08:42:56 am »
I'm not sure I understand, I guess I'll need to test it further.
Sorry for my bad spelling...
When you encounter swarmids and research them, no ufopedia entry appears. I look into .rul files and discover two kind of swarmids, small terrorist and large terrorist, with ufopedia article, depended from both. Am i right, that article will appear when both species will be researched?

Offline Arthanor

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #324 on: September 04, 2016, 09:01:09 am »
Moar dakka! ;D

earlier today I had an issue where I went on a black lotus dossier capture mission.

found the dude and stunned him to end the mission... it threw an error string error pertaining to alien containment. no points no capture etc.

thoughts?
There are now Animal Pens, Prison cells and something for aliens. You need the right one for the right captive. Presumably you didn't have the Prisons for your human captive.

Offline Solarius Scorch

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #325 on: September 04, 2016, 01:03:35 pm »
Yes, like Arthanor said: if you upgraded from an earlier version, it probably means you don't have Prison Cells and need to build them. Because you can't keep humans in Alien suites.

Sorry for my bad spelling...
When you encounter swarmids and research them, no ufopedia entry appears. I look into .rul files and discover two kind of swarmids, small terrorist and large terrorist, with ufopedia article, depended from both. Am i right, that article will appear when both species will be researched?

Hmmm... This shouldn't work like that. I'll have to do some extensive tests.

Offline Arthanor

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #326 on: September 04, 2016, 10:42:13 pm »
So I played way more than I should have. Well done Solarius! It is indeed the breath of fresh air I needed from Piratez. I think the mod is really cool and despite my original misgivings about having such small teams, I think it works really well to make tense, quick turns.

Although the small teams make me fear the arbitrary T20 cheat turn quite a lot. Fighting 2 vs 10 wandering enemies is manageable. Past T20, even 2 vs 2 can be really risky. Generally, maps and deployments are small enough that this is no problem though.

There's an old map bug with a blocked door that got me to turn 35 or something (blockage under the cursor), for which I attached a screenshot. Luckily, I could snipe the studs from the wall with my Luger and get to the guy on the other side :D

Warning: Incoming comments dump!
(These come in the order I noticed things, so it gives a look at my progression too)

X-Com Origins:
1 - "since national governments were deemed untrustworthy"
By whom? National governments? I doubt they would consider themselves untrustworthy, but maybe each others. The UN staff? Sure, but how do they make the unit and then go to the governments and say: "Well, it's a UN thing, suck it we don't trust you"? A bit more explanation would be good, and if it is indeed the UN staff who don't trust the government and want to run their own thing, it creates the start of an explanation at the hilariously nerfed state of XCom equipment: The governments wouldn't allow something that they don't have a say in to have much beyond paper pushers.

X-Com Global investigation bureau
2 - "seems unusually high and defying scientific explanation"
Being unusually high is quire proper for a spike, that's not really comment worthy. And you mean sociologists studied it and failed to come up with anything? That seems highly unlikely. Maybe say something like: "The first issue to tackle is finding an explanation for a concurrent spike in the number of criminal organizations and religious sects noticeable on every continent."

X-Com Personel
"work in top secret environment_S_"

Chief Accountant Intro:
"and I _as_sure you" not ensure

Stims/Painkillers/Medical Bag/First Aid Kit
Please write down the numbers restored, charges and TU costs. XCom can be a dream for number lovers and not supplying them is akin to not giving damage or TU costs for weapons. It is quite crucial when deciding on what to put in the car.

Personal protection/Uncommon weapons:
This is one of the things that annoy me the most in Piratez: Projects that do nothing but unlock other projects. Personal protection cost me 50 scientist-days, to discover that we didn't get kevlar vests (I kinda knew that!) and now my quartermaster is willing to look into it? 50 scientist-days for is a really long time to wait. Same with the guns: I thought "You can order them as normal" meant I could order them from the shop, but nope, gotta research them first.

The contacts in Piratez that unlock an article and some goods are a lot more satisfying. Getting "progress reports" is a nice idea, but it takes a long time to be told: it'll take a longer time again. It'd be neat to get these very quickly, as a hint of what that project can give so you can make an informed decision on what to pursue. But now they're a bit much of an investment for that. And partial goodies (like a civilian-grade bullet proof vest, or a hunting rifle for the guns one) before the real goodies like actual body armor and fancy guns would be nice.

Leather jacket:
Why wouldn't you wear it? Maybe there's an unlisted downside to it that would be worth saying? So far I've noticed nothing and everybody wears it. What's this constricting thing supposed to mean?

Zombies:
These guys need to be more aggressive once they spot you. I've had plenty just mill around instead of charging me, giving me plenty of time to shotgun them instead of being swarmed and having to run away. I thought they were suffering from the "no melee weapon" bug that the megascorpions had before. I had one walk all the way to me, not attack and then walk away, but no, I eventually got a bite. If aggression would make them too dangerous, nerf their mobility. Zombies are typically slow but single minded. These are a bit faster but confused.

Also, cool music for the alien life forms missions! Perfectly creepy!

Zombie article:
"completely immune to incapacitation" but.. I stunned a few of 'em! Also, facing the zombie hordes and completing the autopsy and interrogation could enable the "We need more manpower" project, which would be a shortcut to getting a minivan. Having material unlocks from accomplishing what your main task is (killing/capturing/studying/interrogating aliens and criminals) would be way more satisfying than the two progressions being separated. This way, you can either rush for the material unlocks, or try to do your job before the paperwork and, if you succeed, be rewarded for it.

Black Lotus Follower:
"These low-ranking members of _the_ Black Lotus"
There seems to be a lot of articles missing before proper nouns of organizations in the text. Also, is that a Cult or a criminal mafia? The article talks like its a cult, but somehow I thought they'd be a Triad. NVM: Found the article about them. If possible, it'd be great if it popped up like some interrogation projects sometimes do.

Reports:
Those are lol worthy and add flavor so I like them, but at the same time it leaves me wondering if there's something I should do about them (especially: "if you don't do something about this ruckus, I promise you I WILL, and YOU WILL NOT LIKE IT." but as far as I know, there's nothing I can do, so it ends up leaving a weird powerlessness/disconnection feeling instead of making me feel like part of the organization.

"Alien Containments"
The idea of separating is cool and sensible, although I was surprised that zombies are animals. I had a zombie mission with a civilian, which I sent a team from a base without prison/pen and I got a missing string (STR_ALIEN_DIES_NO_ALIEN_CONTAINMENT_FACILITY I think? It was so long parts of it were chopped.)

Small shotgun and Luger:
Those have become my mainstay. At 70 firing accuracy (you get that fast with the gym, I'd slow training down if possible), Lugers have good damage (the best you've got?) and great accuracy. Combine with the small shotgun for close up work and you get a great setup for your operatives. I've had wonderful results pinging away at advancing zombie hordes and finishing them off with a shotgun when they get close. Even had one operative take out a few Black Lotus monks and ninja-wannabes alone when I forgot his partner was wounded and sent him alone. Given these, I haven't really felt the need for different weapons, except I'd love a proper rifle.

Promotion I:
Cool! I've shown that there's a real threat. Now they take me more seriously so I can get some better stuff. Erhm.. I finally have permition to go to the local gun shop and get a hunting rifle? *Woot!* But I still can't rent a van or get body armor, or much or anything more useful than I already got.. It would feel a lot better to get promoted if promotion through official channels unlocked some legit stuff (police grade stuff?) or something, not the permission to improvise and buy civilian stuff. That kind of improvisation should be left for unofficial, shady work.

Also, I assume it unlocks harder missions? Or something else did because shortly after I got missions against whole groups in houses in the middle of nowhere that were probably not quite meant to be tackled by two agents with Lugers. Maybe these missions could get a slightly different name (If "suspect apprehension" is the one vs 2 enemies, maybe "safehouse bust" or something could be these?) so we can distinguish them and send proper teams.

Hunting Rifle:
"its overall performance is significantly lower than analogous X-Com weapons" lol You mean it's less good than my completely intangible pipe dream rifle, where I hold nothing and make pew-pew sounds? As the sole rifle I have, I assure you its performance is significantly higher than no rifle :P

First Aid Kit:
Given that it's so big, 3 uses for healing is rather limited. As it is, you often empty a whole one for a single landed hit (that inflicted 3 fatal wounds).

Van:
Finally finished logistics! Should've done that at the beginning, but I expected it to be a pre-report that would say: "Well, two seater cars suck, we should look into getting something bigger" and unlock the van project :P So I got the van and doubling the team size is quite impressive! Only nitpick: It'd be much better if the crew were facing towards the front of the van for the two at the front and towards the side for the two in the back.

Adding this in the craft ruleset for the van fixed it and made it look like the agents got out properly:
(I made the first one exit from the side, so if you have a dog it'll nicely exit by the driver, not as the driver ;) )
Code: [Select]
    deployment:
      - [4, 3, 0, 0]
      - [4, 6, 0, 4]
      - [5, 3, 0, 1]
      - [5, 6, 0, 3]

Which brings us to: why no dog in the van?! We need them doggies! Otherwise what's the point of having them up for buying? Similarly, it'd be cool to fit 5-6 people in a van (not usually a very difficult thing to do) and have them exiting from the back wouldn't look unrealistic.

Kevlar vest:
Woot! Body armor that actually looks like it'll do something useful. That's awesome. The only thing missing is being able to wear a leather jacket on top of it for looks. Also, why does a kevlar vest make you more vulnerable to fire?

Megascorpion:
It'd be nice if the live study gave the autopsy as well (if there is one). I had to bug out of my one megascorpion encounter as I was getting swarmed. I only grabbed a live one. I wouldn't expect the scientists to release it, so.. Or at least get a corpse from the interrogation like the old option did. (I know it's an engine thing, but still, it would be good for all alien life forms)

X-Com Paranormal Activity Unit:
Someone skilled in both biochemistry and exotic physics? That's a bit much to ask for. It'd be much more likely to find an accountant that's also the quartermaster, or a medical officer that also doubles as the xenobiologist or biochemist, or a xenobiologist that's also a biochemist. Although there's a huge stereotype for the scientist, cutting edge theoretical physics has little to do with biochemistry. Having two different people would be much more credible.

If you want to keep them in the same project, just make them a couple. It's not unlikely for scientists to hook up with other scientists while studying and usually, if one gets a job, the other will be looking for a job in the same location. At my university, it's pretty common for a physicist/biologist couple, since both discipline is dominated by one gender.

Yetis/Wendigo:
WTF?! I had a van show up entirely surrounded by these guys. Decision was made immediately to get the hell outta there, but I played a "what if" just for fun and the whole team couldn't bring one down before getting slaughtered. I guess I was just unlucky with locations and spawn numbers (sometimes there's as few as 1 unit, which might have been manageable), but that was shocking. Cool unit though :) I'm looking forward to facing them again.

Monster-Attacks:
Haven't gone to this one yet (first I see, one battle to finish first) but it sounds particularly scary!

Edit: Completed that monster attack tonight, after fighting the biggest zombie horde I've seen to date. Turned out to be gorilla likes (their movement animation blinks, or sparkles.) in a row of apartment buildings (same terrain as screenshot). I managed to save a few civilians who had the wits to run outside. My best soldier (101 accuracy!) was a hero, ran towards a lady in distress with two gorillas in chase, killed one with an autofire, panicked the second with another burst and help from his partner who also spotted another gorilla rushing out of the building. Sadly, desperate luger sniper fire from the other two agents wounded but didn't kill the 3rd gorilla, who mauled my heroic commissar who died a hero's death. The third gorilla was put down shortly after.

After that, the cleanup crew found another gorilla hidden behind the kitchen sink (like screenshot) and shot at it through the window. Of course, my last shot blew out the window, allowing the gorilla to rush out and hurt (but not kill!) my 2nd best agent who then gave it a good wack with his electric club. Last gorilla was found in a fenced up area with boxes along the fence but no access. Luckily enough fire points to take it out. Too bad I didn't pack tazers for the Jurassic Park-like shooting through the fence ;)

Was fun! Very entertaining (great music again) and I felt like the desperate hero a lot more than in Piratez.
« Last Edit: September 05, 2016, 06:28:56 am by Arthanor »

Offline kazek

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #327 on: September 05, 2016, 02:32:07 pm »
Just as I get some free time nice surprise: an update!


Howewer I've encountered an issue right from the beginning. I can't start any cult/suspect mission. I get something like this:

OpenXcom Error
OpenXcom has crashed: Map generator encountered an error: no alien units could be placed on the map. Extra information has been saved to openxcom.log. Please report this to the developers.


After some tests i found out, that it only happens if I modify my soldiers name/flag, and only in cult missions. Strange life form works fine


EDIT1: Nope, nothing to do with changing their name or nationality. Must be specific map, bacause some works fine.
« Last Edit: September 06, 2016, 11:51:44 am by kazek »

Offline Nord

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #328 on: September 05, 2016, 04:04:24 pm »
Balance question: why tommy gun in all means better than a LMG? More damage, better accuracy, faster.

Offline HelmetHair

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #329 on: September 06, 2016, 09:36:52 pm »
Just as I get some free time nice surprise: an update!


Howewer I've encountered an issue right from the beginning. I can't start any cult/suspect mission. I get something like this:

OpenXcom Error
OpenXcom has crashed: Map generator encountered an error: no alien units could be placed on the map. Extra information has been saved to openxcom.log. Please report this to the developers.


After some tests i found out, that it only happens if I modify my soldiers name/flag, and only in cult missions. Strange life form works fine


EDIT1: Nope, nothing to do with changing their name or nationality. Must be specific map, bacause some works fine.

Yep, me too. OXF shit the bed first mission of a new game.