A thread for little questions

[Delian]

Do you have a sav? On what turn did that hunt end? What was your cold res?

[shinr]

It was a while ago and it hadn't occurred to me to report it back then, so no save.

But the armor and items the Gals wore were Durathread with Fancy Shawls and Hellerium charms.

[Delian]

You did not have enough cold resist, because it was nerfed. You think you didn't take any hp damage, you simply weren't looking carefully enough.

[Tamren]

Durathread isn't cold resistant because it shows a lot of skin. If you want cold resistant armour in the early game your only real option is warrior armour, or better yet agressor armour if you are red codex. Also shawls have limited cold protection, if you want something heavier duty try wearing an expensive fur in the body slot or craft the fur into ushanka hats.

[the Ring Dang Doo]

Hi guys,  I played X-Piratez all the way through back in 2018 (I think) and recently started it up again.  I'm having a blast, and my gals are doing fine...But I have no interceptors and haven't received my "hull" ship.  I have done the tiny drill and chosen my codex.  I have interrogated pilots and researched Test Flight.  I have researched Plastasteel, Ship Engine, and I believe Ship Junkyard, as I can buy Seagulls, ship engines, etc.  I have not been offered the chance to research Back to School or Interceptor Assembly.  What am I missing/who must I capture and interrogate?

I'm playing the old version from 2018, if that matters.  Thanks for any help.

[eharper256]

Hi guys,  I played X-Piratez all the way through back in 2018 (I think) and recently started it up again.  I'm having a blast, and my gals are doing fine...But I have no interceptors and haven't received my "hull" ship.  I have done the tiny drill and chosen my codex.  I have interrogated pilots and researched Test Flight.  I have researched Plastasteel, Ship Engine, and I believe Ship Junkyard, as I can buy Seagulls, ship engines, etc.  I have not been offered the chance to research Back to School or Interceptor Assembly.  What am I missing/who must I capture and interrogate?

I'm playing the old version from 2018, if that matters.  Thanks for any help.

Considering how old your version is, I would imagine your best bet is to use the in-game tech tree viewer (if it was a feature back then) or build your own Xpedia. Unfortunately, I have only chronicled the most recent ones in my thread.

[the Ring Dang Doo]

It was not a feature back then.  Is it now?

[eharper256]

Yes, of course, I wouldn't mention it otherwise.

Middle clicking a tech in research, or searching things from the Geoscape's Other Items dropdown takes you to it.

[boss300]

I had a fight with humanists and they all seemed to completely ignored smoke/darkness. Did they get some kind of vision buff?

[nicedayright]

Which humanists? Some of the higher tier ones definitely have NV/Thermal values, but there are simpler explanations. You might have been the victim of "Sniper/Spotter" coding. Basically, some enemies are coded with a "sniper" tag which lets them take shots at targets they can't see as long as they're visible to a friendly unit. Then there's unit light. Some outfits have a "glow" to them (from the rare earth elements used in their construction, presumably), which can be hard to notice in night vision mode, but is definitely bright enough to draw fire. Hitting L on turn one will disable these lights, making stealth easier.

[Dispector]

I had a fight with humanists and they all seemed to completely ignored smoke/darkness. Did they get some kind of vision buff?

Like nicedayright said, it is most likely Sniper/Spotter mechanic. It was one thing that's been driving me crazy until I understood they way it worked (it is still annoying as hell, mind you). I think most humanists except the most basic ones have both Sniper and Spotter. However, it is worse than them just sharing their fields of vision. As soon as a Spotter sees one of your units (or is hit by one of your units, or even outright killed by one of them without ever seeing the killer), all enemies will know the position of this unit for a certain number of turns (depends on how good a Spotter the killed enemy was), even if he runs half a may away from the spot. Snipers will be able to shoot at this unit without seeing him or even without a direct line of sight. As you are dealing with humanists, they will also be happily spamming you with grenades.

Therefore, if you are used to fighting at night (which is optimal for most enemies in the early game), you'll have to change your tactics. Fighting humanists (as well as Spartans, and most other enemies later on) at night is actually harder due to Sniper/Spotter mechanic, because as soon you hit an enemy at the edge of your field of vision, the humanists from all over the map will know the location of the attacker and start taking potshots at him and showering him with grenades. Hiding in the dark and breaking line of sight no longer works. You have to make sure the enemy is physically incapable of shooting/throwing grenades at your current position to feel more or less safe. Hiding in buildings or under densely growing trees may more or less save you from grenades, but not from rocket launchers. Be ready for some losses.

[nicedayright]

I'd forgotten the sniper/spotter mechanic was that unforgiving, but it is *kinda* fair, even if in an unfair way.

You can't expect a military force to blunder around while getting shot at from the darkness. They're going to return fire/throw grenades in the general direction of the muzzle flashes.

So you have to adjust your tactics. You can't slowly advance across the field killing them one by one. Treat it like an ambush. Get to the point where you can see enough of them to make a difference, then light 'em all up at once. I like to get my gals into an overwatch position and then light up the night with one or two incendiary grenades. I'm not sure whether reaction fire doesn't trigger the vision mechanic or if it's just messing up with the AI's order of operations, but if I start shooting on *their* turn I don't tend to take return fire right away.

[John___Doe]

Reacting at night is certainly not safe. Spotters spot from reaction fire, and snipers can snipe off of that. You are only safe from sniping during your turn, because enemies cannot snipe with reaction shots.

[boss300]

Makes sense but seems kinda overtuned. Being able to share vision — reasonable. Knowing where I was on a unit who died without seeing me — much less reasonable. Staying spotted for more than one turn/even if you move — absolutely stupid.

Do they get full accuracy shots as if they can actually see to the tile? Or do they take the inaccurate shots that I take when I do sniper/spotter tactics?

It would be a lot cooler either 1) used the information to try and get actual vision rather than firing from across the map 2) they shoot/throw grenades squares in a 5x5 area where I took the shot from rather than the exact spot, and don’t get to follow me if I move.

That adds back counter play where, ideal is if a Gal has enough TU, you can take a shot on a turn and move away from that spot (which snipers/grenade throwers are going to have trouble with due to high TU costs, unless they are super size).

In that state I think it would be cool for all enemies to have the mechanic.

In either case, I don’t like that they know where I go when I move, and on subsequent turns. That sucks, right? Obviously coding this stuff is non-trivial or even impossible, in concept at least it could be improved.

[John___Doe]

Spotting lets enemies target a unit they can't see. They still take no-los penalties, are limited by range, and so on the same as the player would be.