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Author Topic: Re: The X-Com Files - 3.2: The Colors of Sin  (Read 1949941 times)

Offline kazek

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #330 on: September 07, 2016, 12:22:16 am »
Yep, me too. OXF shit the bed first mission of a new game.

Well I've managed to find a workaround. Try switching places between soldiers in equip craft menu and giving them standard armor(suit). It only affects first cult mission (arrest single suspect) other works fine.

Offline Solarius Scorch

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #331 on: September 08, 2016, 01:20:16 am »
Hello and sorry for the absence, I had to take a break from X-Com some stuff to do. :)

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

Thanks, fixed.

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

Good! ^_^

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.

You're right, this should be written more clearly. To-do list, here I come!

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."

Sorry, I got too carried away with the cheesy inspirations. :P I'll use your version, it's good.

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.

Yeah, I definintely should. It's a WIP thing. Well, a barely playable alpha. :)

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.

Hmmm, how about moving the leather coat to personal protection? Would it make it useful enough?
"I'll do what I can to get us some vests, but it'll take time. For now, why don't you try on this fine leather? It's tougher than the suit!"

As for other similar cases, I'll think about it. The early game actually changes a lot.

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?

Well, it's a little heavy and has some small debuffs... Yeah, I'll definitely move it to Personal Protection.

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.

This may be related to the (now fixed) melee bug, although I agree they're not very sharp hunters. I've recently decided to make them rarer, because there were just too many missions with them and these missions are relatively long. The problem is, I don't have alternatives, especially for the temperate biome. I need more sprites to make more creatures!

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

Alien Shooter 2, best isometric shooter ever. :) No, really, I recommend it.

Zombie article:
"completely immune to incapacitation" but.. I stunned a few of 'em!

Right, I think it was a leftover.

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.

I don't really understand. Are you saying there should be another path to the van? Or that both paths should be needed? Or that the zombie path should give you some other vehicle?

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.

Well, let me link to my post on Quora. :)

But I've corrected most cases thanks to Juku's mod.

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.

Maybe I'll add something like this. If I have inspiration. :)

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.

Hmmm, true. Another thing to fix. Or not, I need to think about it. A lot. :)

"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.)

Well, Zombies are more animals than humans. They're mindless, resilient and strong, so putting them in cages seems more logical. They are not humans; they are human corpses at best. I'll actually add it to the description.

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.

Well, shotguns got good with the new mechanic. :) They've been balanced many times, so now at least they work. I still mostly perfer pistols though, but that's me.
Gym training may be slowed, but i'm torn on this; having badass agents is a nice experience too. To be decided.

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.

Would you prefer Logistics and such to be prerequisites for Promotion I? ;)
No, seriously. I'm not sure what else I can do with this model. I'm open to suggestions, I think there's potential here.

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.

The "apprehension" mission was added at the last minute to make an easier start, so the houses are actually your "level 0" threat. ;) Sure, they can be hard to win against, but you can still try!

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

Lol, good point. A leftover from FMP.
But in my file it says "analogous military weapons", so I must've changed it at some point recently. :)

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).

Well, what else can you do? It's the 90's, and you're piss poor! :)
So, works as required.

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.

Sure, why not. Thanks for the code.

Which brings us to: why no dog in the van?!

Because I haven't finished it yet, okay!? :)
No, seriously, I'm in the process of making a dog soldier type. They'll be able to do everything dogs do.

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?

I... can't remember. Need to ask Dioxine, we've probably discussed it and found a Super Important Reason. :P

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)

OK, I'll look into it.

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.

It's mostly a casting issue, the guy already has little to do (for now). And to be honest it was a bit of a parody of the omniscientist trope.

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.

Hey, this actually is a cute idea!

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.

Yeah, very unlucky :) Normally there's like, two.

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.)

Yeah, I've spent hours cleaning the sprites, still not how it should be. :/

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.

Thanks for the input! You know, this REALLY helps. And I promise to work hard on this! :)

@Kazek, HelmetHair: Regarding the crashing map issue: can I have a save please? I haven't encountered this bug.
And SORRY.

Balance question: why tommy gun in all means better than a LMG? More damage, better accuracy, faster.

It's not so bad, but yeah, I'll nerf it a bit.

Offline Arthanor

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #332 on: September 08, 2016, 02:36:36 am »
Nice! Response to my feedback! I'm happy to contribute to what is shaping up to be a great mod, given that it is already pretty entertaining. Don't worry about all the "why doesn't this work like that?!" stuff, it's nmostly meant as a "is this on the to-do list? Because if not I think it would be nice".

Hmmm, how about moving the leather coat to personal protection? Would it make it useful enough?
"I'll do what I can to get us some vests, but it'll take time. For now, why don't you try on this fine leather? It's tougher than the suit!"

As for other similar cases, I'll think about it. The early game actually changes a lot.

Well, it's a little heavy and has some small debuffs... Yeah, I'll definitely move it to Personal Protection.
Yeah, leather coat from personal protection would alleviate the "researching to unlock research" feeling. I'd also list whatever the downsides of the leather coat are in the description if possible, like Piratez does. From the ufopedia, it looks like a pure upgrade even if the text makes you feel like there's a (hiddeb) catch.

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This may be related to the (now fixed) melee bug, although I agree they're not very sharp hunters. I've recently decided to make them rarer, because there were just too many missions with them and these missions are relatively long. The problem is, I don't have alternatives, especially for the temperate biome. I need more sprites to make more creatures!
Interesting, I saw them in the Arctic the most. I assumed it was going to be some kind of "biochemical research base on Greenland gets compromised and lets lose viral zombie plague" story arc. It's funny to learn they're mostly temperate enemies. I actually enjoy the zombie missions as a kind of "do you have enough damage per turn to keep the horde away" which usually is very tense at the beginning and then gets better. It's also great shooting xp.

I compiled an executable when you released 0.3, so it shouldn't have any melee issue. As I said, I'd up aggression and lower TUs to really make it an oncoming horde instead of a sort of hesitating to come this way horde. And having thought about it, I think that as aliens get wounded, they might be more likely to sulk away than try to rush you? Since I always shoot the closest zombie first, it might be why they look indecisive.. Maybe that's something aggression would fix?

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I don't really understand. Are you saying there should be another path to the van? Or that both paths should be needed? Or that the zombie path should give you some other vehicle?

Yes, I think it would be cool to have multiple paths to the same tech. The more rapid, direct "paper pusher/bureaucracy" path you have now, which allows a dependable path to a given tech, and the "dedicated agent" path, where you get rewarded for fighting the enemy instead of fighting the bureaucracy.

Using the van as an example, you could:
A: bit and moan to your supervisor from day 1 that a car and 2 agents isn't enough, until they finally give in and allow you tu use vans.
B: take to the field in the stupid tiny car that your boss is saying is all you can use, kill 17 zombies and, now having the evidence that the job out there is crazy, convince him that you need a bigger transport/field team.

Currently, option A is available: your research team spends their time fighting the bureaucracy instead of researching the alien threat (a bad thing!). But option B: killing aliens and researching them (a good thing! Which should allow you to gain leverage as you are performing and showing evidence to support your existence) isn't there. So you actually get more rewarded for not doing your job!

Similarly, capture and interrogation of a few different human factions (say 3?) should unlock kevlar vests. Your agents are obviously engaging in firefights and you now uncovered significant threats in those networks, so you use that leverage to gain more hardware, instead of, once again, using your support staff to bitch and moan that you need more equipment without doing anything useful.

This rewards active play: going out there and capturing enemies and researching them, instead of passive play: staying put and just waiting for vans and kevlar vests.

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Well, let me link to my post on Quora. :)

But I've corrected most cases thanks to Juku's mod.

Interesting read. English is also my 2nd language so articles are quite intuitive to me. Although I'm learning German now and if English articles annoy you, I can suggest you don't try it ;P I'm happy to help with article writing/proofreading if you'd like.

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Well, shotguns got good with the new mechanic. :) They've been balanced many times, so now at least they work. I still mostly perfer pistols though, but that's me.
Gym training may be slowed, but i'm torn on this; having badass agents is a nice experience too. To be decided.
Shotguns being decent isn't a bad thing, and I'm not sure it has to do with the fix, but rather with the availability of enemies with low armor. Short range bursts are great against many enemies, like zombies, gorillas and basic humans which is refreshing.

As for the gym, it's fairly quick to get quite a few agents in bases and with the small team size, get a lot of spares which do nothing but train. To the point that losing good field agents doesn't really hurt even though rookies suck when you buy them, they train to pretty decent stats by the time you need them. Feeling the hurt when losing a good agent is quintessential to XCom for me.

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Would you prefer Logistics and such to be prerequisites for Promotion I? ;)
God no! Promotions should be based on your field achievements, not how much whining you had your research staff do to get more stuff. What I am advocating is in fact the exact opposite: Promotion should give the basic gear (logistics, protection and medecine) if you don't have them advocating ready. This way, you have a choice: play cautious and fight the bureaucracy for good stuff before going to the field (earlier good stuff but slower promotion) OR going to the field with whatever you have and bringing back proof with bullets whistling by/crazy alien beasts yapping at your heels like the dutyful badass you are, plonking the reports with pictures on the council's (or whoever it is that doesn't want you to use vans and kevlar vests) desk and getting what you need to keep doing the job they can't deny needs doing anymore (so captures gets you promotes which gets you stuff, meaning you get stuff later but you get the whole stuff+promotion faster).

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The "apprehension" mission was added at the last minute to make an easier start, so the houses are actually your "level 0" threat. ;) Sure, they can be hard to win against, but you can still try!
Oh, don't worry I did try! My agents are no cowards! The jump from 2 to 8 is is a bit harsh but it's manageable. Mostly I was asking if there's supposed to be a clue to differentiate the two types of missions as I failed to do so. I'd love to be able to tell so I can get the two guys with my newbies and take out the house with my A-team. Also it'd be nice if there were some document or something to loot from those houses. Either quick study flavor text or stuff that actually gets you somewhere in the story ark. It's manageable to kill 'em all by staying far and shooting but capturing one of the 1-2 special guys that spawn (and usually are too deadly to not fire at) has proven impossible to me so far.

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Because I haven't finished it yet, okay!? :)
No, seriously, I'm in the process of making a dog soldier type. They'll be able to do everything dogs do.
Cool! As I said, ignore me when I ask for something that's already on the to-do ;) or at best move it higher on the list :D

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It's mostly a casting issue, the guy already has little to do (for now). And to be honest it was a bit of a parody of the omniscientist trope.

Hey, this actually is a cute idea!
Glad you like the idea. Could be an interesting way to make fun of the trope by looking for both qualifications in one person, not finding it because it's unrealistic but finding a couple that fits. Employ both part-time (hey, they're young post-docs that have a thing for ufos/aliens, they'd work for food and shelter if that's all you offered them). Then, as the job evolves you can promote them to full time ;)

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Thanks for the input! You know, this REALLY helps. And I promise to work hard on this! :)

I'm glad you like it. I'll keep posting :)

Let me know if I can help with anything not picture/map related (I'd love to, but I'm really not a sprite artist and map view doesn't work on Linux). I think I should be able to get rulesets to do pretty much whatever one needs it to within OXCE+'s significant capabilities.

Offline kazek

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #333 on: September 08, 2016, 11:59:56 am »

@Kazek, HelmetHair: Regarding the crashing map issue: can I have a save please? I haven't encountered this bug.
And SORRY.

No problem! Here it comes.

Offline Solarius Scorch

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #334 on: September 08, 2016, 07:48:28 pm »
I compiled an executable when you released 0.3, so it shouldn't have any melee issue. As I said, I'd up aggression and lower TUs to really make it an oncoming horde instead of a sort of hesitating to come this way horde. And having thought about it, I think that as aliens get wounded, they might be more likely to sulk away than try to rush you? Since I always shoot the closest zombie first, it might be why they look indecisive.. Maybe that's something aggression would fix?

Unlikely, since they already have aggression 5 - the highest in vanilla being 2...
But I changed it to 6, we'll see what happens! :P

Yes, I think it would be cool to have multiple paths to the same tech. The more rapid, direct "paper pusher/bureaucracy" path you have now, which allows a dependable path to a given tech, and the "dedicated agent" path, where you get rewarded for fighting the enemy instead of fighting the bureaucracy.

Using the van as an example, you could:
A: bit and moan to your supervisor from day 1 that a car and 2 agents isn't enough, until they finally give in and allow you tu use vans.
B: take to the field in the stupid tiny car that your boss is saying is all you can use, kill 17 zombies and, now having the evidence that the job out there is crazy, convince him that you need a bigger transport/field team.

Currently, option A is available: your research team spends their time fighting the bureaucracy instead of researching the alien threat (a bad thing!). But option B: killing aliens and researching them (a good thing! Which should allow you to gain leverage as you are performing and showing evidence to support your existence) isn't there. So you actually get more rewarded for not doing your job!

Similarly, capture and interrogation of a few different human factions (say 3?) should unlock kevlar vests. Your agents are obviously engaging in firefights and you now uncovered significant threats in those networks, so you use that leverage to gain more hardware, instead of, once again, using your support staff to bitch and moan that you need more equipment without doing anything useful.

This rewards active play: going out there and capturing enemies and researching them, instead of passive play: staying put and just waiting for vans and kevlar vests.

This is good in theory, but I don't think it's doable without mutually-exclusive research (which may happen some day). You shouldn't get Logistics from somewhere else and have the same article with The Accountant rambling about how she's working her ass off (like usual). At least I don't think it'd look good; maybe I can restructure it somehow.

Also a side note: you're not forbidden from using vans, you just don't have the infrastructure. Because if you had the van from the beginning, people wouldn't use the car. Yeah, it's gamey...

Interesting read. English is also my 2nd language so articles are quite intuitive to me. Although I'm learning German now and if English articles annoy you, I can suggest you don't try it ;P

I remember this two-verse gem, in Polish:

Gdyby nie to der, die, das,
Byłby ze mnie Niemiec w czas!

Which roughly means,

If it wasn't for this der, die, das,
I'd be a German in no time!

:)

Shotguns being decent isn't a bad thing, and I'm not sure it has to do with the fix, but rather with the availability of enemies with low armor. Short range bursts are great against many enemies, like zombies, gorillas and basic humans which is refreshing.

Good.

God no! Promotions should be based on your field achievements, not how much whining you had your research staff do to get more stuff. What I am advocating is in fact the exact opposite: Promotion should give the basic gear (logistics, protection and medecine) if you don't have them advocating ready.

But would you research them at all, knowing you can get them for free later? I just... don't know.

Oh, don't worry I did try! My agents are no cowards! The jump from 2 to 8 is is a bit harsh but it's manageable. Mostly I was asking if there's supposed to be a clue to differentiate the two types of missions as I failed to do so.

Well, one is called "Cult Apprehension", but the other is "Cult Activity Investigation"... Unless I misunderstand...?

Also it'd be nice if there were some document or something to loot from those houses. Either quick study flavor text or stuff that actually gets you somewhere in the story ark.

Yeah, it'd be nice. I'll think about it :)

And thanks for the offer to help! I'm afraid I might actually act upon it... :)

No problem! Here it comes.

I tried it and I started the mission with no problems.
Try disabling Commmendations maybe?

Offline Arthanor

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #335 on: September 08, 2016, 10:11:03 pm »
First off, my apologies for the bad phone use in the previous post. Rereading some of the quotes you are responding to is humiliating! I'll try to do better next time! (On a computer this time, so hopefully it's better)

Unlikely, since they already have aggression 5 - the highest in vanilla being 2...
But I changed it to 6, we'll see what happens! :P
Oh wow! I think there's some kind of AI log to find out why enemies do what they do, but my computer can barely handle OXC(E+) already.. I am increasingly feeling like it's just some self preservation thing that is preventing the wounded zombies from rushing the van, for which there might not be a solution. And it's probably fine if that's what it is, they got some bits blown up and are now crashing about :) It's just hard to tell given the engine.

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This is good in theory, but I don't think it's doable without mutually-exclusive research (which may happen some day). You shouldn't get Logistics from somewhere else and have the same article with The Accountant rambling about how she's working her ass off (like usual). At least I don't think it'd look good; maybe I can restructure it somehow.
hum.. yes, the implementation could be a bit difficult now that you mention it.. :P I didn't think of the Logistics topic remaining there despite it leading nowhere if you already got the van from zombies. I'll try to think of a way. I feel like there might be one (something totally wonky with requires/unlocks!)

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Also a side note: you're not forbidden from using vans, you just don't have the infrastructure. Because if you had the van from the beginning, people wouldn't use the car. Yeah, it's gamey...
The infrastructure? What infrastructure do you need to rent a van? I do it every time I move and I'm no UN agent :P My thought was that the countries didn't want any UN "rogue" agents wandering their territory, and eventually accepted two. Then after enough "work" by the logistics officer, they decided to accept teams of 4. Hence my suggestion that it should be tied to encountering "mobs" of aliens/weird units.

Basically, your two agents go in the field (because that's all that the countries allow you to deploy in their country), find crazy stuff, and you go back to the countries and say: Look, people: There's wacky dangerous stuff you don't want the public to know about, here's some proof *put down reports on table* BUT the good news is we're here to take care of it with specialized people, just let us deploy teams that are big enough to do so.

Maybe the solution is to tie the two together: Logistics requires you to complete a few autopsies first, and the officer uses them as leverage to get the countries to accept teams of 4 agents on their territory?

Quote
I remember this two-verse gem, in Polish:

Gdyby nie to der, die, das,
Byłby ze mnie Niemiec w czas!

Which roughly means,

If it wasn't for this der, die, das,
I'd be a German in no time!

:)
Haha! It's nice to see I'm not the only one thinking that!

Quote
But would you research them at all, knowing you can get them for free later? I just... don't know.
Well, do you want a van today or wait until you complete X autopsies + Y interrogations (which means getting all those with your tiny 2 agent teams!)? I think it could be made such that either choice is valid, depending on the player preference. I'd go for the 2 agents teams, I'd bet others would go for the tech (like how people rush tech in other XCom games).

Quote
Well, one is called "Cult Apprehension", but the other is "Cult Activity Investigation"... Unless I misunderstand...?
Seriously? I must not have paid attention.. I could never remember which one I encountered last, so I assumed it was always the same. I need to pay attention, gaming is serious and my agents wellbeing is at stake!

Quote
Yeah, it'd be nice. I'll think about it :)

And thanks for the offer to help! I'm afraid I might actually act upon it... :)

Whatever you need, even if it's just chains of random fluff article to give in those missions! Just no graphic stuff, since then I'll have to decline any ways :P

Offline Solarius Scorch

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #336 on: September 08, 2016, 10:37:42 pm »
Yeah, a political reason behind no-van-allowed makes more sense.

Now for a break, something fun happened. I wrote some description for Cyberweb weapons, added them, released them with 0.3... And then I found descriptions of the very same items I wrote two months ago, which was completely forgotten. So I had the rare privilege of comparing my work with my own. :D
It struck me how similar both versions were, and I'd like to share the Cyberweb Battery description:

The old version:
Quote
High-powered Cyberweb equipment relies on special batteries that seem to employ some very exotic physics. They do not contain any energy source as such, instead they are able to draw power from some unclear outside source - possibly another dimension. The battery is not forever though: its structure easily crumbles under strain, only allowing for some energy to be transfered before they burn up. Overall the device seems rather experimental, but is very impressive.{NEWLINE}The battery comes in several types, depending on the equipment it is supposed to power. We can reconfigure them if we need to.

The new version:
Quote
This wondrous device is used to power various Cyberweb equipment. The battery does not contain any power source; instead it uses some sort of interdimensional suction to procure the energy from some other plane, possibly another universe. It is not, however, eternal, as the mechanism is delicate and breaks down quickly. On the positive side, the battery is completely invisible to all forms of energy detection, unless it is active.{NEWLINE}The same Cyberweb battery can be used to power various weapons and equipment, but each time it must be calibrated for a particular device. Various configurations are color-coded.

See? It's exactly the same description, sentence after sentence, only with different words. Either I am a very boring person or one with very clear vision. :P

Offline The Think Tank

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #337 on: September 09, 2016, 01:39:25 am »
Hi Sorch! Still really enjoying the mod so far, and most of my issues with it are only aesthetics and stuff, so you have nailed the gameplay aspect! Congrats for that! Now, there are a few weapon skins (that I have seen thus far) that I think could do with a skin change, the most odd one for me is the HK MP5 (which, in my opinion, is a kinda funky sprite atm). I would suggest using some skins from the brilliant Kappa Weapons to replace the more military skins we have in game (such as, if there is an M-16, M-4, MP5 etc.) as these feel like much closer sprites to their original thing, just my opinion though. (Kappa Weapons: https://www.openxcom.com/mod/kappa-weapons-wip)

Offline Arthanor

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #338 on: September 09, 2016, 02:03:59 am »
@Solarius: Someone has a clear vision of what he wants in the mod! Impressive!

@Think Tank: More accurate sprites would be good, as would having different sprites from Piratez to further differentiate the mods. Good idea! But I feel like those are very blurry, or fuzzy. I don't know if they would really be worthy replacements.

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #339 on: September 09, 2016, 02:23:42 am »
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll always upgrade graphics of course, when possible. I'll have a look at these, but during weekend. :)

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #340 on: September 09, 2016, 09:41:25 am »
Hi Sorch! Still really enjoying the mod so far, and most of my issues with it are only aesthetics and stuff, so you have nailed the gameplay aspect! Congrats for that! Now, there are a few weapon skins (that I have seen thus far) that I think could do with a skin change, the most odd one for me is the HK MP5 (which, in my opinion, is a kinda funky sprite atm). I would suggest using some skins from the brilliant Kappa Weapons to replace the more military skins we have in game (such as, if there is an M-16, M-4, MP5 etc.) as these feel like much closer sprites to their original thing, just my opinion though. (Kappa Weapons: https://www.openxcom.com/mod/kappa-weapons-wip)

@Solarius: Someone has a clear vision of what he wants in the mod! Impressive!

@Think Tank: More accurate sprites would be good, as would having different sprites from Piratez to further differentiate the mods. Good idea! But I feel like those are very blurry, or fuzzy. I don't know if they would really be worthy replacements.

Agree on both points :)

Offline The Think Tank

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #341 on: September 11, 2016, 06:53:02 am »
Agree on both points :)
Yeah, the sprites are fuzzy and some have problems in the UFOpedia, but if fixed and tweaked a bit I think they would lend themselves very nicely to the X-Files appeal. Also, may just be a personal thing but the Magnum sprite is seriously bugging me, I changed it out but I do think it has a ton of potential, if it just looked a little..."cleaner"?

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #342 on: September 11, 2016, 02:21:17 pm »
I like new magnum also because it's more in tune with kappa weapons mod, hopefully imwish it will ben jncorporated into the mod...also a youtube playthrough would be vveeeery interesting, hope someone is also...i'm out of time to start one :, (

Offline Nord

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #343 on: September 11, 2016, 05:56:17 pm »
Encountered constant CTD.
Log:
[11-09-2016 17:59:26]   [FATAL]   A fatal error has occurred: code 0xc0000005
[11-09-2016 17:59:26]   [FATAL]   SymFromAddr failed: 487
[11-09-2016 17:59:26]   [FATAL]   SymFromAddr failed: 487
[11-09-2016 17:59:26]   [FATAL]   SymFromAddr failed: 487
[11-09-2016 17:59:26]   [FATAL]   StackWalk64 failed: 299

I think it is connected to one of HQ's mission.
After a day or week after save.

Offline Solarius Scorch

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Re: The X-Com Files - 0.4.2 alpha: Going Postal
« Reply #344 on: September 11, 2016, 09:18:08 pm »
Encountered constant CTD.
Log:
[11-09-2016 17:59:26]   [FATAL]   A fatal error has occurred: code 0xc0000005
[11-09-2016 17:59:26]   [FATAL]   SymFromAddr failed: 487
[11-09-2016 17:59:26]   [FATAL]   SymFromAddr failed: 487
[11-09-2016 17:59:26]   [FATAL]   SymFromAddr failed: 487
[11-09-2016 17:59:26]   [FATAL]   StackWalk64 failed: 299

I think it is connected to one of HQ's mission.
After a day or week after save.

Yeah, sorry about that. Hotfix attached.

EDIT: I checked the kappa weapons and indeed, they need some work. I'm not even sure they're usable at all, since they are drawn completely differently from the vanilla weapons; they are all thin and long, and it makes them very low detail. They wouldn't mix well with XCF, or even vanilla.
« Last Edit: September 14, 2016, 07:53:38 pm by Solarius Scorch »