[TC][OXCE][I.D.T.] Terminator: Tech-Comm - Alpha

[Hobbes]

"I'll be back"

REROUTE: ALTERNATE POWER.
MAIN CPU RESTART SUCCESSFUL.
ALL SYSTEMS OPERATIONAL.
MISSION PARAMETERS: REACQUIRE TERMINATION TARGETS.



It is 2027, nearly thirty years after Judgment Day.

The war against the machines has entered a dangerous phase: in 2025 the resistance attacked Cheyenne Mountain in a gamble to destroy Skynet's Core and end the war. After months of preparation and gathering the necessary forces, the resistance forces were able to overcome the complex's massive defenses but the A.I. had long predicted such a move and had already relocated itself to a currently unknown location prior to the attack.

Although successful in taking the complex despite the heavy casualties, the Resistance's victory become a phyrric one after the battle: Skynet immediately launched a counter-offensive worldwide to terminate key resistance units and bases, taking advantage that many assets had been redeployed for the Cheyenne Mountain offensive. While Skynet also failed to take down the Resistance, both sides were left exhausted by the fighting.

For the past year Skynet has reduced its activities, allowing the Resistance groups to recover but reports indicate that the machines have been developing new technologies and mass producing new Terminator units and Hunter-Killer craft, and getting ready for a new offensive destined to crush the Resistance and drive humanity into extinction.

However, at the insistence of John Connor, one of the Resistance's most successful leaders, the human factions have decided to combine their efforts into an elite unit charged with researching the machines' technology in order to defeat Skynet and win the war for human survival.

This unit was known as Tech-Comm.

Requires the latest OpenXCom Extended version.

Mod Portal link - https://openxcom.mod.io/idt-terminator-tech-comm

Discord link - https://discord.gg/XJFn8Try5x

[Hobbes]

GAMEPLAY TIPS
Skynet Hunter-Killers (HKs)
* Aerial HKs are used for several roles: Fighter, Scout, Interceptor, Bomber and Transport, with a few upgraded version of each:
** Fighters are designed to detect and engage human craft
** Scouts are used to locate human ground targets, including Tech-Comm bases
** Interceptors will both intercept attackers and attempt to locate their launching base for missile counterattacks
** Bombers are used for Interdiction missiles, which can also destroy facilities by aerial bombardment
** Transports are used to launch ground attacks, as well as to supply missions between bases
* Hunter-Killers (HKs) in intercept mode (using their radars) will attack any Tech-Comm craft detected, so be very careful in sending undefended transports on missions
* HKs can also escort other HKs
* HKs are spawned mainly by Skynet bases (each base type spawns different HK missions)
* HKs almost always take off/land from Skynet controlled areas
* Pressing 'T' while on the globe will display a list of detected airborne HKs
Skynet Bases
* There are 3 major types of bases: Factories, Workcamps and HK Bases, each with a different role:
** Factories build up to 6 HK Bases, Workcamps, or Supply Convoys
** Workcamps perform missions to eliminate the human population in the region, including Infiltration missions
** HK Bases perform anti-Resistance missions and strike against Tech-Comm bases and craft
* Skynet bases have sensors to detect any resistance craft that enters its radius. Once a hostile is detected, the base will launch HK interceptors against the human craft
** If the interceptors fail to detect your craft, they'll switch to try to find the Tech-Comm base that launched them - if they are successful, your base will suffer a tactical missile bombardment that can destroy facilities, and it will continue marked for further retaliation attacks
* There are at least 2 Skynet bases in your starting region, in addition Skynet also starts with a Factory placed randomly around the world each month.
* The Skynet Core is placed randomly on the world and it will be the location of final mission, once it is implemented
* Skynet has control of certain areas on each region - placing your starting base on those locations will increase your detection chances of HKs & machine bases and reduce flight time, but it will also increase Skynet's chances of detecting your craft and your base!
Tech-Comm
* Tech-Comm fighter craft can escort transports by choosing the fighter and clicking the transport as its target
* In addition to Interceptors/Transports, there are now both recon craft and AEW (airborne radar) craft - starting base has been modified with additional hangars and stores.
* Use the recon planes (Viking, Mohawk, etc.) to detect the Skynet bases
* Fuel pods give an extra 50 fuel units to craft - they can give a big boost in range to craft with small internal fuel capability (interceptors), but a smaller boost that already have a larger fuel capacity (transports)
* Pilots and crew have a 75% of surviving a crash - survivors will return to the base after a number of days (check Transfers tab on Basescape to see if they survived)
Resistance Missions/Alerts
* There are two types of Resistance missions, which can be identified by their marker color on Geoscape: Sector Sites and Global Sites
* Sector sites (pink) are generated when Skynet launches attacks on resistance targets and they have a time window of 3-5 days to respond
* Global sites (blue) are generated by the resistance and consist on attacks on Skynet facilites to recover intel/tech, or to neutralize missile bases and other targets. Global sites have a time window of 30 days before they disappear, allowing for additional bases to be built if required to reach those sites

TO DO LIST
* Add existing terrains to missions - in progress
* Implement new mission types (Destroy, Escape, Extraction, Defend, Recover) - DONE
* Finish Tech-Comm Base terrain & Base Defense mission - DONE
* Finish Base Facilites with appropriate sprites - ?
* Design Skynet bases terrains - progress
* Add NPC Resistance fighters and & civilians to missions - in progress
* Design individualized sprites to Tech-Comm craft - DONE
* Implement Research/Manufacture - in progress
* Redesign Hire/Purchase - in progress
* Add/write Intelpedia articles - in progress
* Design/Implement storyline - in progress
* Add missing items (medi-kit, stun-rod, motion scanner, flares, etc.) - DONE
* Implement other regions than North America - in progress
* Implement several new features from OXCE/OXCE+ - in progress
* Remove any text strings related to the original game - in progress

HELP WANTED
* More Terminator unit types
* Tracked/ground HK
* Turrets for landed/crash aerial HKs
* Replace XCom's image backgrounds
* Images for the Intelpedia articles
* Rebalance crafts/ufos/units/items/armors based on combat results
* Images of all sectors for their respective Intelpedia articles (see https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,6018.msg93638.html#msg93638)

[Hobbes]

More images for Tech-Comm:

[efrenespartano]

Haha hey, that was earlier that I expected.

I'm going to download it tomorrow, when I come home. I hope this works on my phone, too.

Enviado desde mi Blade A510 mediante Tapatalk

[yergnoor]

I hope this works on my phone, too.

The version of OXCE +, supporting hunter-killer ufos, has not yet been ported to Android. For this mod, they are necessary.

[efrenespartano]

The version of OXCE +, supporting hunter-killer ufos, has not yet been ported to Android. For this mod, they are necessary.

Crap.

Well, I hope they ported fast, I play OpenXcom more on my phone than my PC.

What is the current version of OXCE + for PC and what is the Android version? Does the behavior of normal UFOs really change so much compared to Hunter-Killer UFOs?

Enviado desde mi Blade A510 mediante Tapatalk

[Gordonmull]

Thank-you!!!!!!!!

My Saturday afternoon is set then. Was going to start tidying the garden but now seem to have a bottle of beer open and Tech-Com running!

A few (very) initial comments:

The start screen is awesome. I know it's a minor thing but it sets the scene.

Spoiler:

I was hoping you'd include the theme tune!

OPTION SETTINGS RECOMMENDED
* Automatic Night Vision (no flares installed yet)
* HK landing alert

I'd also leave off Storage Limits for Recovered Items, in the Geoscape section of the Advanced options too otherwise the game will force you to sell stuff off. Also, I can't seem buy anything until 10 days have passed to build 3 more general stores to bring the storage capacity from 100 to above 202, which is the amount of gear we have stored at the beginning.

I'll likely have more to say when I resurface from the goodness.

[Hobbes]

Spoiler:

I was hoping you'd include the theme tune!

I think it was Gifty that chose the musics - you're free to suggest new ones, although I don't want the download to get too big

I'd also leave off Storage Limits for Recovered Items, in the Geoscape section of the Advanced options too otherwise the game will force you to sell stuff off. Also, I can't seem buy anything until 10 days have passed to build 3 more general stores to bring the storage capacity from 100 to above 202, which is the amount of gear we have stored at the beginning.

I've increased the starting storage to 300 to temporarily solve this issue until the facilities/items are redesigned - the download link has been updated, includes also a couple of fixes to bugs

[Gordonmull]

Hello again! Downloaded the latest version and played 4 missions during January. The only mission I didn’t take that I could reach this month was the HK crash site due to waiting for reinforcements.  Seems very playable, I had an extremely fun afternoon/evening and I’m looking forward to the rest of what you’ve got planned! Thanks very much for what you've given us so far.

I think it was Gifty that chose the musics - you're free to suggest new ones, although I don't want the download to get too big 

Awesome choice Gifty! Yeah, more music is needed but I wouldn’t know where to begin with that!

I know it’s Alpha so there’s stuff I’ll not bother to mention for obvious reasons, and some of it will undoubtedly be pipe dreams and totally beyond the engine but here’s some notes I made while playing. Hopefully some will be helpful.

Geoscape

The air war is very cool and I love the idea of having aircraft with mutually supporting roles but it’s a bit fiddly to control. It would be really nice to have a way to order multiple craft to fly in formation with matched speed to a single waypoint. This is probably wishful thinking but I thought I’d mention it anyway.

I thought I was going to lose my returning Viking at one point when all my interceptors were refuelling/re-arming but I remembered I had turned on the “Force craft launch” option, so that saved my bacon, I launched a Talon and breathed a sigh of relief. Given how busy the skies can be this is a handy option.

Some kind of marking to show Skynet controlled territory where Tech-com bases are likely to be assaulted would be handy. Maybe a map of the situation in the UFOpaedia?

A side-effect of the idea of building bases to reach mission zones means that I can, for example, build a base near an area that I can’t reach from my initial base and then transfer my craft over to it, both perfectly safely and beyond the craft’s operational range. It seems a little cheaty given your efforts to make air travel more tactical. Maybe very long transfer times, to simulate perhaps moving the craft via sea or suchlike. Dismantled and moved by truck? Perhaps tied to a workshop project “Dismantle craft for transportation” and then reassembled at the other end? Some kind of in-flight refuelling mechanic?

Battlescape

Something that occurs to me regarding the pilots: If we are going to be having dedicated pilots as part of the killable crew of the craft, would it be possible to make evac from the Battlescape impossible or harder if the pilots are killed or wounded? It would also be nice for them to be able to advance in rank somehow, despite spending their mission on the Osprey and never firing their pistols. In addition, the rest of the unit gets promoted fast due to the sheer number of pilots.

For the first mission I imagined I would be sending a squad up against one or maybe two Terminators, who would be seriously hard to take down and maybe winning with half my squad on their feet if I played well. It played a wee bit different to that with my guys up against 8 machines. I’m not complaining, though! It was an enjoyable first encounter.

My first mission on Experienced difficulty was supporting the resistance and the second a supply drop. Both went relatively smoothly with the loss of 2 soldiers per mission. I was beginning to think it was a bit easy, with half the small army in the Osprey tooled up with the M82A1 and HEAT rounds I thought the Terminators fell disappointingly easily. I was one-shotting them frequently with it. (Might just have been RNG weirdness, though.)

Then my third mission to urgently support the resistance saw 5 deaths and I learned to respect the automatic weapons of the Terminators when one burst took down 2 squad members as they bunched up coming out of the Osprey. This one was way harder. The LZ was very hot and there were 15 machines not the 8 or 9 of previous missions.

The Skynet factory mission was even tougher: 7 KIA and 2 wounded. I won't give away the numbers I was facing. It’s a nice terrain and, yeah a total bloodbath thanks to a wide, empty landing zone. My first positive score, though, despite casualties! I'm not going to say much else about it to avoid spoiling for others except that gameplay wise it went very smoothly.

I’m looking forward to armed resistance fighters, though. I’d forgotten how irritating normal civilians are.

Anyway, thanks again for your work, it is very much appreciated.

[Hobbes]

Geoscape

The air war is very cool and I love the idea of having aircraft with mutually supporting roles but it’s a bit fiddly to control. It would be really nice to have a way to order multiple craft to fly in formation with matched speed to a single waypoint. This is probably wishful thinking but I thought I’d mention it anyway.

This is a quote from the update to OXCE+ that Meridian posted today, I've updated the download link in the first post:

Feature 5: User option to allow escorting friendly craft

With this option turned on, you can now tell your interceptors to follow your transports, for example.

The escort will fly at max speed until it reaches the escortee and then it will match speed with the escortee.

It will also consume less fuel while escorting, based on escortee's speed... but not less than 50% and not more than 100%.
I.e. interceptor speed = 7000, transport speed = 2000
When escorting, the interceptor will consume fuel based on speed 3500 (because speed 2000 was below 50% of 7000)

Btw. 50% fuel consumption is also used when patroling, for those who didn't know that.

I thought I was going to lose my returning Viking at one point when all my interceptors were refuelling/re-arming but I remembered I had turned on the “Force craft launch” option, so that saved my bacon, I launched a Talon and breathed a sigh of relief. Given how busy the skies can be this is a handy option.

I agree, I'll add it to the recommended options

Some kind of marking to show Skynet controlled territory where Tech-com bases are likely to be assaulted would be handy. Maybe a map of the situation in the UFOpaedia?

Wouldn't that be too much of a spoiler to reveal on the UFOPaedia?

Those areas are fixed, but at the same time they're mostly spread out through the region so you'll still need to do a lot of recon even knowing where they are.

A side-effect of the idea of building bases to reach mission zones means that I can, for example, build a base near an area that I can’t reach from my initial base and then transfer my craft over to it, both perfectly safely and beyond the craft’s operational range. It seems a little cheaty given your efforts to make air travel more tactical.

That is exactly my idea - if you can't reach a location, you'll need to build a new base (and dismantle it afterwards if it's not necessary anymore). You're absolutely right about craft being more 'tactical' but I also want bases to be more 'tactical' or expendable, reflecting the nature of having to be constantly moving your location.

Maybe very long transfer times, to simulate perhaps moving the craft via sea or suchlike. Dismantled and moved by truck? Perhaps tied to a workshop project “Dismantle craft for transportation” and then reassembled at the other end? Some kind of in-flight refuelling mechanic?

I'll keep those in mind once base building is more fleshed

Battlescape

Something that occurs to me regarding the pilots: If we are going to be having dedicated pilots as part of the killable crew of the craft, would it be possible to make evac from the Battlescape impossible or harder if the pilots are killed or wounded? It would also be nice for them to be able to advance in rank somehow, despite spending their mission on the Osprey and never firing their pistols. In addition, the rest of the unit gets promoted fast due to the sheer number of pilots.

If it's possible I'd have to ask. But one issue cames to my mind: it be too frustrating for the player to have to always reserve 2 (or more) soldiers in the background? And the "what-if" scenarios: what happens if only 1 of the crew is killed? Or if the only pilot alive is on the other side of the map, because this is an Extraction mission?

I just recently added code that pilots can gain experience from dogfights btw.

For the first mission I imagined I would be sending a squad up against one or maybe two Terminators, who would be seriously hard to take down and maybe winning with half my squad on their feet if I played well. It played a wee bit different to that with my guys up against 8 machines. I’m not complaining, though! It was an enjoyable first encounter.

My first mission on Experienced difficulty was supporting the resistance and the second a supply drop. Both went relatively smoothly with the loss of 2 soldiers per mission. I was beginning to think it was a bit easy, with half the small army in the Osprey tooled up with the M82A1 and HEAT rounds I thought the Terminators fell disappointingly easily. I was one-shotting them frequently with it. (Might just have been RNG weirdness, though.)

Then my third mission to urgently support the resistance saw 5 deaths and I learned to respect the automatic weapons of the Terminators when one burst took down 2 squad members as they bunched up coming out of the Osprey. This one was way harder. The LZ was very hot and there were 15 machines not the 8 or 9 of previous missions.

The Skynet factory mission was even tougher: 7 KIA and 2 wounded. I won't give away the numbers I was facing. It’s a nice terrain and, yeah a total bloodbath thanks to a wide, empty landing zone. My first positive score, though, despite casualties! I'm not going to say much else about it to avoid spoiling for others except that gameplay wise it went very smoothly.

An encounter with a single mission was also my original plan until I tried it out a couple times and realized this is not 'enemy unknown' scenario anymore. It's the 20th year of the war and Tech-Com starts better equipped with personal weapons than XCom did when compared to the aliens.

The Supply Drop and Resistance Support missions are supposed to be easy and they'll also give you additional weapons and supplies once that is implemented. The next type of Resistance Defense mission is also supposed to be hard like you experienced. In the future those Resistance missions will also have different types of objectives (escape location, defend resistance facility, extract resistance forces, destroy Skynet target). And the different Skynet bases will also have different designs.

I’m looking forward to armed resistance fighters, though. I’d forgotten how irritating normal civilians are.

I'll add tonight the resistance fighters since that's easy work

Anyway, thanks again for your work, it is very much appreciated.

No problemo. Thank you for the feedback

[efrenespartano]

Hi, everyone!

I've downloaded the mod con my PC in the morning, I've played some missions, and it's awesome!
The Terminators and the HKs are really tough, my first assaults were very difficult. On route to a mission site, my Osprey were intercepted by a scout, but it manage to down the HK. As Gordonmull say, it's very exciting the air combat. My fighters were busy.

I know it's an alpha, I just want to inform about some problems I've encounter with the armor sprites of my soldiers. I don't knew the reason, but some parts of the body are invisible. xD
And sometimes, an error appears, only on New Battle. I've attached some screenshots. 

I really liked this mod. Totally worth it! Thanks for such a great mod, keep up with the great job. 

P.S. I'm going to install the mod on my Android later, so I can test it.

[Hobbes]

I know it's an alpha, I just want to inform about some problems I've encounter with the armor sprites of my soldiers. I don't knew the reason, but some parts of the body are invisible. xD
And sometimes, an error appears, only on New Battle. I've attached some screenshots. 

I've fixed both bugs, the soldier body parts and the New Battle error.

And I've also added NPC Resistance fighters, in addition to new rank icons

Download link on first post has been updated.

Glad you're enjoying

[Meridian]

I've fixed both bugs, the soldier body parts and the New Battle error.

What was wrong with the body parts?
Maybe you can help here too: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5999.0.html

[Hobbes]

What was wrong with the body parts?
Maybe you can help here too: https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,5999.0.html

Wrong image dimensions on my case, most likely his as well.

Just uploaded another update - Base Defense is now working, although base building and facilities aren't finished yet and I haven't had time to add the sprites for the new facilities. Tech-Com bases are now on the surface.

Starting base now consists of:
* Access Lift (20x20)
* Housing (20x20)
* Stores (20x20)
* 3 Hangars
* Missile Defense + Grav Shield + Small Radar

[Gordonmull]

We're starting again with the storage limit exceeded. 202/200 this time. The ability to buy smoke and other grenades would be good too, or is that part of a bigger plan?