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

[Dr.Crowley]

I finally managed to get some "The Men In Black" comic scans. Yeah, I mean that old black&white comic from the mid-90th. I wanted to get it when I was a teenager but it became possible only right now. And I found an image on the one of first pages that almost perfectly describes what early monster hunts look like:

Spoiler:

[HelmetHair]

I want to redo them completely, as they don't suit agents at all - they are for army soldiers (US Army soldiers, to be precise).

I think that you should. It could be a real treat to reward some of my soldiers

I finally managed to get some "The Men In Black" comic scans. Yeah, I mean that old black&white comic from the mid-90th. I wanted to get it when I was a teenager but it became possible only right now. And I found an image on the one of first pages that almost perfectly describes what early monster hunts look like:

Spoiler:

This is fucking awesome.

[mumble]

Holy crap, gotta say I think the silacoids are a bit overpowered!!! They can get 3 shots of flame off in 1 turn, and its pretty much impossible to deal with them early on... I think maybe they should have the TU cost for the flame attack significantly higher.

As for commendations, yeah : They are sorely missed right now

[Solarius Scorch]

Great pic, yeah. I'd read this one!

Good call with the Silacoid weapon, it was a bit silly. I nerfed it a little. And it was done literally in the last minute, because

X-Com Files version 0.6 has been released.

- Updated the mod to OXCE+ version 3.7.
- Mission sites now despawn even when targeted by a craft.
- Added descriptions for mission markers.
- Increased penalty for firing two-handed weapons with one hand.
- Finished Syndicate arc.
- Added Luxury Car.
- Added weapons: M60, FN Minimi, SWD, PKM, SKS, VSS Vintorez, M83 Barett, Mauser, AKSU-74, QBU-88, FAMAS, FN P-90, Mac 10, Wildey, Bolt Action Rifle (all big sprites and stats by Dioxine), PSG-1, Smith & Wesson 610, Blackops Magnum, Sniper Rifle (classic), Pulse Rifle (sound by Demidekidasu), Pulse SMG, Pulse LMG, EMP Grenade.
- Added Advanced Healing Spray.
- Added extracting blood plasma from living things.
- Added missions: EXALT Liquidation, Syndicate Reactor Raid, Syndicate Assassination, Abandoned Syndicate Lab, Syndicate Secret Archives Raid (terrain by Hobbes), Syndicate Data Seizure, Syndicate CEO Arrest, Syndicate HQ, Blood Moon, Black Moon, Soul Harvest, Hybrid Purge, Gang War, Black Lotus Party, Jarhead Terror and Jarhead Factory.
- Added units: Megaworm (by Robin), Abomination (by XOps), Jarhead (by XOps), Black Lotus Footman, Black Lotus Mandarin, Church of Dagon Supporter, Syndicate Security Captain, Syndicate Supersoldier, Syndicate Walker, Syndicate CEO, Armoured Car, Snakeman Beastmaster, White Werewolf, Black Werecat, M.A.G.M.A. Minitank, various civilians (mostly armed security and such).
- Increased Sectoid armour (proportionally to their psi).
- Increased Silacoid fireball TU cost.
- Agents now receive salaries by rank (Rookie: $15000, Chief Agent: $85000).
- Rebalanced most weapons.
- Cleaned up and fixed all armours (stamina recovery, dodge etc.).
- Arasaka 3000 is more expensive and less available.
- Increased accuracy on all miniguns.
- Durathread is cheaper.
- Dogs have NV of 15.
- Streamlined Red Dawn spawns with the new random member engine.
- Added some new blocks for Farm (tractor by Bullet Designer) and Cyberweb Lair.
- Added Scarab craft for Syndicate.
- Added Secret Files.
- Added Dossiers: Gertrude Ellison, Natalya Sernovich, Tyvarius Stienburg, Thomas Erickson, Anthony Barker, Drako Aldramier, CHAD (all by Mumble), Piotr Wiśniewski (by The Reaver of Darkness), Gunter Meyer (by The Think Tank), Purple Lilly (by Dioxine) and Taman Shud (with help from ssfsx17).
- Making ammo for BlackOps weapons now requires blackmailing them first.
- Added random loot to cult bases.
- Added Monstrous Tooth to cave junk.
- Strange Life Form events can now be ended with suficient research.
- Small fixes to cultist loadouts.
- Modified tech levels.
- Laboratory is more expensive.
- New Synthsuit graphics (by Nord).
- Blasters are red.
- Added custom pictures to many natural weapons.
- Improved inventory TU costs.
- Bigger monster missions start appearing a bit later.
- Some Ufopaedia pictures converted to custom palettes.
- Fixed overly expensive Shadowbat.
- Fixed (hopefully) cave terrain.
- Fixed some routes.
- Fixed mixed races.
- Various minor fixes.

Like any 0.X version, this one is more beta than usual, so please report any bugs. And other stuff too, also good one!

EDIT: Don't forget to replace all the files (including Standard and Common folders, the .exe etc.), not just the mod.

[HelmetHair]

Unless I have direct control over the salaries of my troops via promotion and there is an obvious and real benefit to promoting a soldier this is not a good idea in my opinion.

[Solarius Scorch]

Unless I have direct control over the salaries of my troops via promotion and there is an obvious and real benefit to promoting a soldier this is not a good idea in my opinion.

Nah, the money is not an issue. It's not X-Piratez, the differences aren't that great, and you don't have that many people in the beginning.

[mumble]

With the silacoid, its not just the TU cost...its the range, the explosive radius, and the TU's. I'd consider reducing the flames down to flaregun size, and cutting the range by maybe 4 tiles too.

Silacoids were never supposed to be a ranged combatant, and its just plain unfun trying to snipe something with that much arrmor, when it floods the entire area you are in full of flame at the slightest provocation, when you need a crap ton of shots just to kill one ANYWAY. It might be doable with lasers or plasma, but with kinetic weapons, it just feels mind numbingly stupid to fight them, as even a couple TNT blasts don't seem to phase them. This said, if you made the TU cost something like 70 or 80%, it should be fine, but whatever it was before (30%?) it made it seem like it was more of a dragon than a lump of graceless mucus. I dont think such a slow, clumbsy creature could spit fire anywhere near that effectively : Perhaps with a big cost, crappy accuracy, and less range, but I imagine the silacoid, if it ever had this ability, would be more a wonky attempt to squirt its juices somewhere with questionable effectiveness, than spitting fire on you like a lama from hell.

I got an entire team (in a dragonfly) wiped by JUST them, and their crazy fire attack.

Also, possibly limit how many shots they have? Is this doable?

As for the wages, I think the numbers are very reasonable : A top brass person gets 4 x what a rookie used to get, compared to piratez where a top ranked person took an insanely hefty chunk out of your income.

[Dr.Crowley]

X-Com Files version 0.6 has been released.

Oh gosh, it's update time!

[Slaughter]

I remember meeting a Silacoid like in month one. Two agents in a car with pistols and shotguns. It was like a horror movie, two of them trying to shoot the monster, and retreat from its attacks.

Spoiler:

They both ended up turning into Churrasco

[Solarius Scorch]

OK, OK... I'm releasing the biggest update ever, and all I get are complaints about OP Silacoid...

I'll have a better look at it, but I didn't want it to stall the entire update. It's already weaker, so we have progress, right?

[mumble]

Jesus christ, that sounds terrifying 

Especially because pistols and shotguns LITERALLY BOUHNCE OFF IT!!! Seriously, is there a single way to kill a silacoid that early in?...maybe magnums, but besides that, I dont see a way.

This reminds me : Can we get demolition equipment like in piratez? I always did like having a sledge hammer for wall breaking, or as a very, VERY last ditch effort to break open armor. Perhaps even with research behind it, justifying the purchases as "renovation equipment" for the base....

OK, OK... I'm releasing the biggest update ever, and all I get are complaints about OP Silacoid...

I'll have a better look at it, but I didn't want it to stall the entire update. It's already weaker, so we have progress, right?

Sorry solairus, but it was a pretty damn traumatic experience. I did plenty of shots on them with a drone shotgun tank, agents with black ops shotguns, blackops rifles and assault rifles, and a couple TNT bundles, and NOTHING killed it. It seemed like there was literally nothing I could do, which would of been ok if it didn't incinerate me from across the map. Silacoids were always tanky as fuck, but it was tolerable since you could literally just play keep away till they cracked.

Sorry, but I think that with the change, they didn't even feel like silacoids.

What is the current TU cost in this update anyway?

[Solarius Scorch]

50% TUs for snap, 60% for aim.

OK, OK, I'll get to it pretty soon. I know it should be fixed, I just never got around to do it... Like with a thousand other things.

As for hammer-like weapons, I will add them, but I'm still waiting for the option of terrain damaging melee being introduced in the game. Which may or may not happen...

And this is what I'm doing right now - see attachment. (Guess what it'll be?)

[Dr.Crowley]

Well, grenade unpriming is a good feature but needs to get used to it. I spent all TUs twice just because I blindly pressed "unprime" instead of "throw". All this in a middle of the second M.A.G.M.A. Lab mission 
I hope I didn't messed all researches... Hmmm, maybe capturing a living Trooper and Megazombie will be a good idea. Anyway, I'll report back if I'll find something odd.

Geez, I really need some sleep.

[HelmetHair]

Just remember to eat 

Sleep deprivation is a bitch.

[mumble]

Looks spooky and scary...is it skeletons? Vampires?

Also sorry, not trying to beat up on ya, but it really seemed pretty glaring in terms of balance, which is why I complain so bitterly haha.  I think the splash size is the biggest factor, was it instead something like the scorpion SMG from piratez (lights the impact spot on fire, and NOTHING more) than it would be fitting, but the giant napalm blast with a 3 long radius mean its very easy for it to kill several troops in 1 go. Also, spitting small bits of flaming goo, which are inaccurate would actually be more fitting, than the napalm blasts

Part of my problem was just that : 3 people being burned alive in 1 turn , from 1 shot, or even fire spilling away from the impact zone, and still killing an agent

...Sorry to go on an almost 1 page discussion about it, just trying to help.

 new update does look amazing however..