UFO:Alien Invasion
General => User modifications => Topic started by: Neonin on June 25, 2012, 01:12:59 am
-
This mod became incompatible with the game and has been discontinued. Unfortunately I do not have the time to work on a new version, but many thanks to those who tried out the original mod and left suggestions!
-
Hi Neonin, this is cool. I'm glad you're distributing it. You may not know this, but we actually have an infrastructure for loading mods with the game, so that you don't have to overwrite the original files. (This is only supported in 2.5-dev.)
If you put your directory into /ufoai/mods/, you can then bring down the console (` or ESC) in game and type ui_push mods. You can then choose to load your mod.
Your personal folder in /mods/ should mirror the /base/ folder. So if you put your mod in a folder called /neonin_graphics/, it should look like this:
/ufoai/mods/neonin_graphics/pics/
/ufoai/mods/neonin_graphics/ufos/
Basically, the only thing you'd need to change is to tell users to unzip your folder into /ufoai/mods/neonin_graphics/. If you do this, I'll create a sticky in this forum with user mods and link yours in it.
-
Thanks H-Hour! I've updated the original post to add instructions for 2.5 Dev. I'll keep following the games progress (obviously, since I like playing it!) and when 2.5 becomes the stable version I'll edit out the instructions for 2.4 :)
I've also added in the Pilot, Worker, and Scientist ranks to the original post as I forgot those last night.
-
I've added a few simple mods to change the ranks and insignia to a few of the more recognisable national armies, for those who like that sort of thing. Personally I enjoy being a multinational organisation, but I know some people like the familiar insignia :)
The army insignia mods are only supported by 2.5 Dev, as creating two different lots of zip files to support 2.4 when it will be replaced at some point seemed like wasted effort. I can still supply versions that work with 2.4 if you message me but will not be "publically" supporting that version.
-
Coming up in NeoTweaks V2.0:
- New simple loading screen, replacing the V1.0 one.
- "Stealth" aircraft, darkened skins ala current Spec Ops helicopters etc.
- Lowered brightness of nation overlay to non-eye-destroying levels.
- Re-designed starting base to be slightly more defensible.
- Complete weapon stat overhaul.
- Modified weapon skills.
- Reworked research tree.
NOTE: NeoTweaks is basically a modified version of the game to my own personal preferences, you may not like some of the changes made so use at your own discretion! :)
-
A couple of sneak peeks at V2.0:
Tweaking the tech tree the hardcore way... on the living room floor!
(http://aylan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ufo/techtree.jpg)
A new addition, the Firebird MkII Dropship:
(http://aylan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ufo/firebirdmk2.png)
-
Your new Firebird skin looks like my suggestion ^^:
http://ufoai.org/forum/index.php/topic,6701.0.html
-
Bloody hell, you're right... I did see that topic a while back but it totally slipped my mind. I went with the blue because I used a similar colour for one of the spears in my PHALANX logo, but it is almost identical to the one you used! Great minds think alike :)
Also, one last sneak peek for today:
(http://aylan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ufo/xaser.jpg)
-
WARNING: HERE BE SPOILERS!
With that out the way, if you're still interested...
NeoTweaks V2.0 Tech Tree
(http://aylan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ufo/neotweakstech.png)
You can view the full version by clicking this... (http://aylan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ufo/neotweakstechfull.png)
-
Cool. Glad to see someone taking advantage of all the modding capabilities in this game.
-
Well, I can't model, I can't really draw, and my coding knowledge is limited to very basic C and C++ from fiddling around with MUDs in my youth, but tweaking scripts is definitely something I can do!
-
V2.0 is nearly ready for release. Just need to finish editing a couple of things and writing up the version notes (that's the bit taking all the time now, fully documenting all the changes!) and then I'll stick it up for download. Hopefully should be by the end of tomorrow! :D
-
RELEASE DAY FOR V2.0!
Finally, after a couple of weeks pouring hours and hours into tweaking and modding the game, I can present Version 2.0 of the NeoTweaks mod! If you choose to test it please let me know if you find any bugs or problems so I can fix them for everyone, and I hope you enjoy playing as much as I do with it!
Below you fill find some descriptions for new additions to the game that don't have corresponding UFOpaedia entries yet due to a current limitation on editing text in a mod.
New Item/Tech Brief Descriptions
- Advanced Terran Materials
- Requires: Alien Materials
- Brief Description: With our knowledge of how the aliens construct their materials (and they have some truly incredible ideas regarding alloys and bonding) we think we can create a new set of materials using these techniques based entirely on ones we can find here on Earth that will be both stronger and lighter than their predecessors. This will enable us to modify and improve our existing equipment.
- Plasma Physics
- Requires: Plasma pistol recovered from battlefield
- Brief Description: It appears the aliens use some sort of plasma-based weaponry. We should investigate this and determine how plasma may be used in such a capacity immediately to enable us to properly study the alien weapons recovered.
- Particle Physics
Requires: Plasma Cannon, Particle Beam Pistol recovered from battlefield- Brief Description: The aliens have brought out some heavier weaponry that is devastating on the battlefield and seems to be based on particle physics of the type used in the large particle accelerators of the early 21st century. We should take another look at the physics involved to allow us to study this new type of alien weapon properly.
- Advanced Wave Optimizations
- Requires: Aerial Laser Cannon
- Brief Description: As our knowledge of laser weaponry has increased since our first pistol prototype, we feel we can now look at ways to further enhance the laser beam into higher frequencies in the hope of creating a new class of laser weapon.
- Firebird Mk II Dropship
- Requires: Advanced Terran Materials
- Brief Description: We now have new materials for use in construction and should examine whether we can improve on the original Firebird craft by using these materials.
- Saracen Mk II Interceptor
- Requires: Advanced Terran Materials
- Brief Description: With the advent of new, lighter materials thanks to the study of how the aliens construct things, we feel we can look at improving the basic design of the Saracen Interceptor to increase its abilities.
- TITAN Rotary Electrocannon
- Requires: Electromagentic Rifle
- Brief Description: After carefully examining the Electromagnetic Rifle we feel it should now be possible to scale up this weapon for our aircraft using a modified SHIVA design, enhancing the range and damage of the original to very useful levels.
- Plasma Cannon
- Requires: Plasma Cannon recovered from alien UFO, Plasma Blaster
- Brief Description: Our knowledge of the aliens plasma weaponry has developed to a point where we feel confident enough in our abilities to try disassembling one of their aircraft plasma cannons. Once we learn how they work we can hopefully fit them onto our aircraft and use the aliens own weapons against them.
- Sparrowhawk Plasma Missile
- Requires: Plasma Grenade, Advanced Terran Materials
- Brief Description: Since we now understand how the aliens use plasma to create such devastating weapons, we feel with our new advanced materials we can construct a plasma-based missile that will fit on our standard Sparrowhawk racks, greatly increasing their power and usefulness.
- TR-20 Plasma Rocket
- Requires: Plasma Grenade, Advanced Terran Materials
- Brief Description: By combining our advanced materials and the aliens methods of creating plasma weaponry, we would like to enhance the standard TR-20 rocket to make it far more deadly in combat.
- Plasma Explosives
- Requires: Plasma Grenade, Advanced Terran Materials
- Brief Description: After witnessing the destructive power of plasma grenades on the battlefield, we think we have sufficient knowledge of their construction to improve the projectiles of both the rocket launcher and the grenade launcher.
- Xaser Pistol
- Requires: Advanced Wave Optimizations
- Brief Description: Our research has paid dividends and we can now begin construction of the first Xaser prototype, which should offer us better range and even more accuracy than our basic laser weapons.
- Xaser Rifle
- Requires: Xaser Pistol
- Brief Description: Now that we have a new class of weapon we should work to scale it up and provide our soldiers with even more firepower on the battlefield, so we would like to look at improving the basic Xaser design into a rifle.
- Heavy Xaser
- Requires: Xaser Rifle
- Brief Description: As the aliens continue to field more powerful weapons and sheath themselves in advanced armours, we have a proposal to improve the Xaser weapon design even further with a truly impressive weapon of great power and range that should enable us to at least keep a level playing field against the invaders.
- Aerial Xaser Cannon
- Requires: Heavy Xaser
- Brief Description: We now feel we have enough knowledge and experience creating Xaser weapons to scale up to a model designed for our aircraft, which should allow them unparalleled range and firepower compared to the early weapon we equipped them with.
Notes on Weaponry
Laser Weapons
Lasers are very accurate and have a greater range than standard projectile weapons, along with a decent ammo capacity meaning more time between reloads. However, they don't generally cause as much damage as projectile weapons and due to their construction are unsuited for bashing enemies in melee combat.
Plasma Weapons
An alien technology we cannot reproduce in the workshop, plasma weaponry is generally more accurate and does much greater damage than our projectile weapons. They are also more study in their construction and can be used to bash enemies in close combat. However, they lack the range and accuracy of laser weapons and their ammo capacity is rather lower.
Note on plasma explosives: These weapons are dangerous. Plasma explosions are much more deadly than their standard counterparts, especially our newly-developed rocket for the rocket launcher which should only be utilized in environments where destruction of property and civilian casualties are not an issue!
Xaser Weapons
A marked improvement on laser weapons, xasers use a higher frequency beam that pushes into the ultraviolet range for more damage, and a series of enhanced mirrors and focusing devices deliver greater range and accuracy than before. The power requirements of these weapons means their ammo capacity is lower than that of laser weapons, and their somewhat delicate construction means they can't be used to bash enemies.
Particle Beam Weapons
Devastating weapons of alien design, particle beam weapons have better range than plasma weapons due to the sheer power of their beam, which is capable of cutting through a layer of material like brick or sheet metal. Their damage potential is higher too, but their accuracy suffers as they are unwieldy weapons and difficult to keep under control. They do have an improved ammo capacity compared to plasma weapons, but they are unsuitable for bashing enemies because of the intricate and delicate parts used to create and focus the beam.
-
There was a slight error in the initial upload of the mod that caused games to black-screen after clicking the Campaign button. This has now been fixed and the correct upload is now in place, so if you downloaded it before this message was posted please replace it with the new one! The link is the same.
-
There was a slight error in the initial upload of the mod that caused games to black-screen after clicking the Campaign button. This has now been fixed and the correct upload is now in place, so if you downloaded it before this message was posted please replace it with the new one! The link is the same.
May I suggest sharing MD5 "checksum" of the package, so players can check if their download is corrupted?
-geever
-
May I suggest sharing MD5 "checksum" of the package, so players can check if their download is corrupted?
-geever
My apologies, I worded that poorly. What I meant was that in the original upload there was a coding error in one of the script files, not an actual problem with the uploaded zip file.
I forgot to put "rs_" before one of the pre-requisites I added late last night in research.ufo, which caused it to fall over when it tried to start a new game :P
-
Xaser Weapons
A marked improvement on laser weapons, xasers use a higher frequency beam that pushes into the ultraviolet range for more damage, greater accuracy, and increased range. The power requirements of these weapons means their ammo capacity is lower than that of laser weapons, and their somewhat delicate construction means they can't be used to bash enemies.
If you want to be physically correct, you should not say that UV radiation allows for increased range, it's actually the reverse. Atmosphere of Earth is not universally transparent, for wavelengths shorter than about 5cm, it becomes rather opaque, and transparent only in a few windows of transparency.
Visible spectrum is located on the top of such window, and in the UV range trasparency rapidly decreases. For the Xrays and gamma radiation atmosphere is very opaque: at the sea level, 1km thick atmosphere layer provides shielding equal to 20cm thick steel plate. That's why nuclear explosions cause giant fireballs and powerful shockwaves instead of short and invisible gamma ray flashes: atmospheric absorption of gamma rays, which causes them to heat the air right into the plasma state.
PS: Of course, UV will be more effective than optical radiation when delivering the actual damage, since more energy will directly go into breaking molecular bonds, and less into simple heating.
-
Interesting to know Sandro, thank you. Science was never a strong point of mine hehe. I've updated the post to change the explanation slightly and if/when it becomes possible to edit the text in the game via a mod I'll be sure to bear it in mind :)
-
Don`t worry, the Science is not strong point for almost all peoples, that`s why there are so many fantasy games and books, like new XCom from firaxis.
-
Haha yeah... I always liked the approach of Master of Orion 1 & 2, have a whole bunch of cool-sounding technology names but don't even try to explain how they work! :P
-
Hmm, it appears that adding in aircraft, even if you just reskin them, is not possible with the current mod system after all. Everything works fine except for the game crashes whenever you try to go to the Aircraft tab on the Market (at least that's the first error I've found) due to the fact that the aircraft types are hard-coded (specifically in src/common/scripts.cpp).
This means I will have to remove the Firebird and Saracen Mk II variants, which will be done in an update to 2.1 shortly. However, in mitigation of the loss of those aircraft, 2.1 will feature some new tweaks to change the aircraft stats and how/when they are available, along with what size hangar they need...
-
Hmm, it appears that adding in aircraft, even if you just reskin them, is not possible with the current mod system after all. Everything works fine except for the game crashes whenever you try to go to the Aircraft tab on the Market (at least that's the first error I've found) due to the fact that the aircraft types are hard-coded (specifically in src/common/scripts.cpp).
Unfortunately parts of it are hardcoded for the maps' dropship support...
-geever
-
Never mind, I fixed it in V2.1 which is now up for download. If you're using the V2.0 version please upgrade so you don't end up with a game that crashes! Just unzip as before and replace any files it asks you to. Patch notes were also updated.
V2.1 Notes
- Modified aircraft values.
- Saracen Interceptor now researched after Advanced Terran Materials, now only requires a small hangar.
- Herakles Dropship now researched after Alien Propulsion and does not require Alien Base.
- Tweaked Electromagnetic Rifle to make it more useful compared to Sniper and Assault Rifles.
-
Coming up for V2.5 some time in the future (having too much fun playing again):
- More tweaks to weapons to try and make every one useful in some way.
- Modified campaign starting conditions.
- Starting base facilities and layout dependant on difficulty level.
- Adjustment of item availability on market to encourage early production.
- Possible move of some starting weapons to Tier 1 with enhanced capabilities.
Some of the plans for V3.0, which will be worked on if/when Mattn kindly has a look at a bit of code to allow more objects to be added to the game:
- Aircraft armour variants that modify stats in different ways.
- New base defences.
- Stungas grenades for Grenade Launcher.
- Improved SAM Base missile types.
- Personnel armour variants.
- Another look at reworking the tech tree.
If you're a modeller and think you could help... stop looking at this topic and talk to the Devs! They need you! :P
-
Don't know if the mod works with latest game updates, but I updated the game today and DL'd UFOneo to try it out, but if I launch with own bat or with selecting mod in vanilla game, whenever trying to start a new campaign I get a CTD.
-
I put this folder in my UFO 2.5 dev directory and run the .bat but it dosent seem to load. Any thoughts?
-
So I like the idea how you adapt alien technology to be used without alien materials. If there would only be a way to get more antimatar, or at least werehouse for it be bigger. Those ačien fighters use antimater for fuel right? And maybe change this game so new aircrafts could be added.
Unfortunatley i couldnt use mode. Game says "window mods not found".