Bugs, crashes, typos & bad taste

[Marrik]

Ever since the new countries were added in the most recent version, the end-of-month report gets cut off because there're too many countries. Has anyone else had this issue?

[tarkalak]

Ever since the new countries were added in the most recent version, the end-of-month report gets cut off because there're too many countries. Has anyone else had this issue?

According to Merridian it should be fixed in OXCE. You may need newer version or the daily. You should be able to scroll, but no scrollbar will be visible.

See here:
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,10510.0.html

[Juku121]

On bows: as said, compound bows have adjustable draw weights (better ones have a rather large variance, even) and traditional ones can be bought to match the user. They have to have a specific weight in any case, so it's not as if the current system is any more 'realistic'. Probably too niche a thing to bother with, though. Kinetic energy is not the best measure of injuries, anyway.

On countries: given that there are so many now, there's the issue of income getting increasingly homogenised across the board since the initial sum must be below 1M or whatever it is currently. So the big difference between the US and Kazakhstan is how high they can go, eventually. Gone are the days of picking a sponsor the RNG gods gave you and sucking up to them. :'(

On bad taste: Why is the S&W M610 longer-range than than the Magnums? 10mm is considerably less powerful a round than .44 Mag, and the Magnums have quite a bit longer barrels to boot.

Also, who is responsible for the terrible gun fashion crime of not having DE's in .50 AE? I think Mark VII in .50 came out already in the early 90s.

Captured armored cars are dying because we have not built an 'alien containment'. Never knew it was Sectoids driving those.

Is there a technical reason why containers and a bunch of other crap are set to battleType 10 instead of 0? Because these just clutter up the equip screen for no good reason I can see. Or are there plans for smuggling ammo crates into special gun-running missions?

Also, that is one ill-fitting coat right there.

[Solarius Scorch]

Points accepted on the bows, but this game is not that conductive for fine details regarding archery. Simplifications have been made.

S&W M610 has a longer range because it's a bit weaker, and the Magnum is already too much of a no-brainer for many people.

DE is not .50, because it would be identical to Magnum. :]

Armoured cars have prison type 1, not 0... So should require normal prisons. It's my bug.

Containers are type 10 because some people like transporting them with actual vehicles.

The coat looks bad, WTF... But might be the filter.

[Juku121]

The DB shotgun is using the pump-action handob from Piratez (though IDK who the original author is). I think the Piratez DB sprite would be a better fit.

[Solarius Scorch]

The DB shotgun is using the pump-action handob from Piratez (though IDK who the original author is). I think the Piratez DB sprite would be a better fit.

All right, why not. It does seem closer.

[Vakrug]

Is Boom Box even working? I tried to use it several times with 110 brave agent using range attack (which should yield 110 stun damage), including on a just recovered from stun cultist, and yet I don't see any effects. And what does [Random Type => Flat Damage] below damage properties means?

Same problem with Hadriex Gun. I use it with my agent with 97 psi strength, which should yield almost 50 psi damage, but I don't see any effects. If damage type is psi, does this means that psi resistance is takin place during damage calculation? If so, then this 50 psi damage is nothing especially if you consider what is required for an ammo.

In the description of a scout drone there is this line "... it is fast and allows ground units to quickly scout out enemy positions and act as a spotter without risk to X-Com personnel." Common logic suggests that scout drone can do something special. But in reality even a dead rat can be a spotter. Maybe it would make sense to give an actual bonus to scout drone, like if scout drone sees an enemy unit right now, then other agents will receive 75% penalty for shooting that unit (instead of normal 50%)?

[Juku121]

Another slightly strange thing: BO LMG (the first one) is available without the MG license, while among the RL guns only the PKM can be had without. How come? Right now, this means the rest will never be bought, barring the truly heavy stuff.

Perhaps it would be good to give another cult deal one of the machine guns, like M249s for EXALT. Maybe M60s, even.

Is Boom Box even working? I tried to use it ... and yet I don't see any effects.

It's kinda like the flag in Piratez, boosts morale and gives a little extra TU to people in the area of effect.

And what does [Random Type => Flat Damage] below damage properties means?

No randomness, damage=power.

Same problem with Hadriex Gun. I use it with my agent with 97 psi strength, which should yield almost 50 psi damage, but I don't see any effects.

I suggest you do more tests before concluding something doesn't work, because a lot of the damage is really random in this game. Or just shoot your own agents.

If damage type is psi, does this means that psi resistance is takin place during damage calculation?

I don't think so. Edit: Except for the damage being resisted by 'psi resistance', which is usually 1.0 and thus irrelevant. /edit

In the description of a scout drone there is this line "... it is fast and allows ground units to quickly scout out enemy positions and act as a spotter without risk to X-Com personnel." Common logic suggests that scout drone can do something special.

It can. AIs have +10 max TU, and scout drone armour adds +20. AIs can also be resurrected (well, unless they get blown up really bad) without losing their stat/commendation gains and for little cost. So they're far more suitable for recon by fire than anything else you have at that point.

Moreover, they have night, thermal and anti-camo vision (for those pesky ninjas). And tank immunities (no fatal wounds, panic, zombification).

Sadly, they can't run any more, but at least they can't get tired, either.

But in reality even a dead rat can be a spotter.

Yes, but a dead rat is dead. And a live one is most likely a target, since it's probable it got spotted in return. A scout drone can be a target much better than a lot of your other units.

Maybe it would make sense to give an actual bonus to scout drone, like if scout drone sees an enemy unit right now, then other agents will receive 75% penalty for shooting that unit (instead of normal 50%)?

If only that was possible... I have long wished for spotting to be actually somewhat 'realistic', for both sides. Getting another 50% penalty when firing at an unseen and unspotted target would be ideal.

Unfortunately, ohartenstein is stuck with sniper code only being meant for 'alien death sniper' type enemies, no matter how other modders (ab)use it. Which, combined with the fact that a hit gets you spotted no matter the distance or vision, makes for some really strange and confusing sniping and counter-sniping.

[Juku121]

League Node missions seem to double-arm the 'whistleblowers' since they already get their default equipment from the unit definitions.

[Vakrug]

It's kinda like the flag in Piratez, boosts morale and gives a little extra TU to people in the area of effect.

Item description (including in additional info) says completely different thing. At least Boom Box is training bravery...

I suggest you do more tests before concluding something doesn't work, because a lot of the damage is really random in this game. Or just shoot your own agents.

I have done more then 1 test. Can someone confirm that it really works? My main concern was about psi resistance.

If only that was possible...

Strange that it is not. Penalty for shooting a unit seen only by someone else was not present in the base game. So I assume OpenXcom introduced it. In either case it is bad to mix item abilities descriptions with usage suggestions.

[tarkalak]

Is Boom Box even working? I tried to use it several times with 110 brave agent using range attack (which should yield 110 stun damage), including on a just recovered from stun cultist, and yet I don't see any effects. And what does [Random Type => Flat Damage] below damage properties means?

Same problem with Hadriex Gun. I use it with my agent with 97 psi strength, which should yield almost 50 psi damage, but I don't see any effects. If damage type is psi, does this means that psi resistance is takin place during damage calculation? If so, then this 50 psi damage is nothing especially if you consider what is required for an ammo.

In the description of a scout drone there is this line "... it is fast and allows ground units to quickly scout out enemy positions and act as a spotter without risk to X-Com personnel." Common logic suggests that scout drone can do something special. But in reality even a dead rat can be a spotter. Maybe it would make sense to give an actual bonus to scout drone, like if scout drone sees an enemy unit right now, then other agents will receive 75% penalty for shooting that unit (instead of normal 50%)?

The Scout Drone has 5 anticamo, so it can see Black Lotus Assassins from 9 instead of 4 tiles away. And similarly for the rest of the camouflaged enemies, it can see them from 5 hexes further than your other agents.

[Juku121]

Item description (including in additional info) says completely different thing.

Item description says: "...really gets your blood pumping!" How you get that it's completely different from a TU/morale boost is anyone's guess.

Additional info outright states: TU damage multiplier -20%, Morale dmg multiplier -100%. This is as clear-cut as it will ever be.

I have done more then 1 test. Can someone confirm that it really works?

And why do you think I did not do any tests? I shot the thing at my own agents and several enemies, with various configurations of psi skill and psi strength. High psi strength puts people to sleep with 1-2 shots. Low psi strength does very little. Psi skill does nothing.

What tests did you do?

My main concern was about psi resistance.

Psi resistance in this case is an armour stat and has little to do with actual psi. It's mostly in effect for tanks and other mechanical foes, even Ethereals have no direct psi resistance (their shields do, however).

Strange that it is not.

Game features are not fruits, one cannot just go and pick some that seem 'natural'. There are a gazillion things that might be considered 'strange' in OpenXcom/OXCE as a tactical game, but are either never brought up, considered and rejected, or put in the drawer as 'perhaps some day'.

This is not JA2 v1.13, where everyone and their dog threw their pet idea at the code(rs).

In either case it is bad to mix item abilities descriptions with usage suggestions.

What's so 'bad' about it?

If you want to split hairs like that, the description says what the drone can do, it does not suggest that you do it.

[Vakrug]

Additional info outright states: TU damage multiplier -20%, Morale dmg multiplier -100%. This is as clear-cut as it will ever be.

And stun damage is 0%!  Only now I noticed... (How I hate this misleading values in main pages...  ) Now I will test to see if you need to hit an enemy unit to train bravery...

And why do you think I did not do any tests? I shot the thing at my own agents and several enemies, with various configurations of psi skill and psi strength. High psi strength puts people to sleep with 1-2 shots. Low psi strength does very little. Psi skill does nothing.

Good to know. I will give this thing another try.

What's so 'bad' about it?

Because pretty much every ally unit can be described as "it can spot enemies".

[Juku121]

How I hate this misleading values in main pages...

Well, yeah, a limitation of the engine. That's a part why the extra info button was added.

The Boom Box is outright benevolent compared to incendiary grenades and the like.

Because pretty much every ally unit can be described as "it can spot enemies".

Okay, but the description is not "can spot enemies". It is 'can spot enemies quickly' (which is true for the stage of the game you're likely to use scout drones in) and 'can spot without risk to X-Com personnel' (which is also true since even the scout drone will most likely 'live', no matter what happens next.



Edit: Another one for the 'bad taste' section: the Ufopedia claims M60 is "...recently being phased out in favor of lighter SAWs". That is untrue. Light machine guns were never a replacement for GPMGs like the M60, and while it was starting to get replaced by the M240 in the mid-90s, that was another GPMG, and the transition took a looong while.

Well, okay, I lie. There was a time when the US replaced their M60s with M249s. But that was in the 80s, and only in the infantry squad. That transition was roughly as complete as it would ever get by Desert Storm, half a decade prior to the events here.


Edit2: Note that this is also only the US. There is only ever one SAW involved, since a) SAW is a role not a weapon type (except in colloquial use and as an older designation for the M249) and b) SAW as doctrine is primarily an American thing due to their 'rifleman' obsession. Nor was there any general movement away from GPMGs in the 90s.



Edit3: I still find it strange that you can get access to heavy machine guns and secret squirrel weapons before finding any channels that sell RPG-7s. I mean, it's probably the #2 weapon the cult gun runners ought to have a great stock of.

[Akamashi]

https://openxcom.mod.io/the-x-com-files

I downloaded version 2.5 from here. If you start the game again, then there is a confusion of names and nationalities of fighters. Country flags are always wrong.