Good well everyone! Thanks to this awesome port of UFO Defence, I've come with a splattering of small mods based upon ideas I've had for years since I got that UFO Defence CDROM 20-odd years ago.
Powersuit UpgradeI always thought the Flying Suit was nothing more than an Elerium-fueled backpack slapped onto the existing torso plates of the Power Suit. This tiny mod implements that theory with the price of upgrade being the difference in manufacturing costs betwixt the Power Suit and the Flying Suit.
https://openxcom.mod.io/power-suit-upgradePurchase LasersAfter research is complete on Pistols, Rifles, and Heavies the commander may now choose to purchase at significant cost from the open market laser weaponry en masse.
As OXCE scripting capabilities develop, hoping that we will be able to unlock this from the market when a set number of units are sold from manufacturing. Now wouldn't that be swell?
https://openxcom.mod.io/purchase-lasersDifficult HovertanksI always thought it would be fun to link autopsies/interrogations to the usage of alien corpses for the manufacture of war equipment. The new XCOM series of games actually does this with style, realistically salvaging all available resources for tactical benefit.
Now with this mod, the commander must research (in addition to the vanilla requirements) a Cyberdisk Autopsy OR acquire the Autopsy via chance Medic Interrogation in order to unlock the Hovertanks for manufacture.
If the commander has not completed Cyberdisk Terrorist research (Cyberdisk Interrogation) via chance Medic Interrogation then ONE Cyberdisk corpse will be required per Hovertank.
If the commander has completed both Cyberdisk research articles, then normal manufacture will be allowed of Hovertanks without the Cyberdisk corpse requirement.
This is a slightly more complicated set of conditions requiring OXCE to work correctly.
https://openxcom.mod.io/difficult-hovertanksDifficult Cydonia UnlockThis is a small modification that will require the commander to complete all vanilla research topics under UFOs, UFO Components, Alien Life Forms, and Alien Research in order to unlock the final research: Cydonia or Bust.
https://openxcom.mod.io/difficult-cydonia-or-bust-unlockNo Perfect CopiesAnother difficulty increasing mod. After playing the recent re-imagining of XCOM, it does make one curious about the reasoning for vanilla gameplay elements like the difference between a Hovertank Launcher <-> manportable Blaster Launcher-the difference in damage there. The theme of this mod is that the aliens' technology, by and large, is superior to what the far less advanced humans can dream up in a year's time or less. Reverse engineering can happen, but the alien weaponry is always going to pack a bigger punch. Like the example before, a HWP Fusion Bomb is 140 damage, but the man/alien-portable Blaster Launcher is 200 damage, the only Battlescape weapon that can puncture a UFO. It stands to reason that it's not strategically "realistic" that a resistance force of rock throwing apes could manufacture PERFECT COPIES of alien technology and weaponry.
This mod removes the ability to manufacture all alien technology. It allows the commander to continue manufacturing alien-DERIVED equipment and craft weaponry but 1:1 copies of alien tech are out.
COMPATIBILITY MINDER: This mod hinges its functionality on the fact that the vanilla game logic makes it completely impossible to capture a Cyberdisk Terrorist.
https://openxcom.mod.io/no-perfect-copies