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Design / Usermod & tinkering (updated 7) (incompatible with master branch)

« on: May 24, 2019, 01:42:42 pm »

After writing the previous feedback post about 2.5 I got 2.6 compiled with help from geever. Since then I got addicted to the game and also discovered the rather awesome ufo scripting and modding interface. With that I proceeded to make a user modification, with new skins for the unarmoured Tamans, rebalancing of the default equipment, and a couple of new items. I also started looking at the C/C++ code and managed barely to make a starmap for the geoscape, or basically just a new background. Instead of the rotating cube, it's now a spherical background with a space texture using the same equirectangular projection that the other celestials have. Also reworked the geoscape userinterface a little bit and made some other slight changes. This probably sounds more than it actually is, it's just a couple of edits. I'll probably link the mod to this thread later, and also rewrite it to a cleaner format. Now just making this initial post and coming back to tidying up later.

Here's a couple of images, one with a version of the new skins for the Tamans, and another one showing the geoscape panel. (The geoscape screenshot doesn't have the spacebackground update.)

Image links

https://pasteboard.co/IfDm8Jl.png - taman skins
https://pasteboard.co/IfD1xXk.png - geoscape panel
https://pasteboard.co/Igfj4ei.png - geoscape starmap background
https://pasteboard.co/IgmPhdZ.png - another starmap
https://pasteboard.co/IhMTFlD.png - New alien, no lighting. Clearly needs some work.
https://pasteboard.co/IhMTOgT.png - New alien, lighting enabled. Discrepancy between no lighting / lighting version.
https://pasteboard.co/IiyRUyG.png - UFOpaedia adjustments
https://pasteboard.co/IiyTal1.png - Statistics screen attempt
https://pasteboard.co/Il0dt6Q.png - Additional AR for start of game
https://pasteboard.co/Il0dpTg.png - Another additional AR for start of game
https://snag.gy/c4brXM.jpg - new civilian model, female
https://snag.gy/yidHue.jpg - new civilian model, female (gl)
https://snag.gy/46BELT.jpg - new civilian model, male (this obviously still requires some more work)
https://snag.gy/YhZ91a.jpg - new civilian model, male (gl, this version looks better)

Uploaded mymod directory to an FTP incase someone wants to check it out: http://www.elisanet.fi/ns/mmod.zip
I also forked the UFOai repository on github: https://github.com/n832sv/ufoai
The geoscape modification requires altered cpp files, and currently the version I made is broken, it doesn't work correctly. I don't know why yet. But if you're curious you can look at the repository here. (By the way if any part of these changes I've made to the usermodification or the cpp code were to be included in the mainline development version, that would be great. Of course it would be preposterous to expect that any of the random dabblings that I've engaged in would be deemed of sufficiently high quality, but I just wanted to say that in advance.)

Usermodification:
So this is mostly about the skins and imagefiles, the modifications to the .ufo files. Brief list of the things I tried to do:
Modified geoscape userinterface aesthetic changes, added a modified phalanx logo to the panel.
Added 3 new grenade items. Two fragmentation grenades instead of the default one, a HE grenade and an EMP grenade. Their stats are quite different from normal, and probably require adjusting.
EMP grenade Is supposed to be unlocked after bloodspider research, and it's also supposed to do no damage to humans/aliens other than bloodspider & hovernet. But currently it's unlocked from the start.
Added 1 smg It's basically a duplicate of the already existing smg with slight adjustments
Rebalanced the majority of the items for early game Which includes changes to timeunit costs and such
Unarmoured tamans have new skins Which were also shown in the images
Some civilian skins are redrawn albeit hurriedly
A new difficulty setting for campaign Although this is actually supposed to have healingrate 0.1, but the default code doesn't support that, I changed the hospital file for lower than integer healing support
Base skin quickly redrawn I also made all the geoscape markers smaller and adjust size when zooming, but that also includes changes in the cpp files

Some attempted changes in the codebase
So I have almost no experience with c/c++ and essentially none with OpenGL andthe geoscape adjustments I made with the starmap, don't work as intended currently. I'd need to figure out how to change the spaceball from being orthographically represented into being displayed from inside of the model (around the camera), but so far I have not figured out how to do that.
healingrate support for lower than 1 values. The rationale is that there's a big step from losing a unit to recovering in a couple of days, so I wanted to make that so that recovery takes a long time. Although it's not that the default settings are unrealistic or anything
A tweak to the reactionfire system It's currently not working very well, it still does introduce a random component to the otherwise deterministic system. I plan on changing the currently random variance to be based on a random roll versus mind skill later on.
Geoscape markers scale/zoom Which is pretty tiny

I think that's pretty much all that I tried doing so far. So for the most part I'm just making these changes for fun and playing with them personally, not really expecting anyone else to take interest in these, especially given how quiet the forums are, it's not like there's much of a community going on. But of course feedback regarding the usermodification and the intended cpp changes would be interesting. Also I guess the usermodifications subforum would be the correct place for the thread considering the mod, but then it's also about the code changes, which are more related to design. Anyway, let me know what you think, if you have opinions. Personally I think the taman skins are pretty good, the rest of the changes are kind of sketchy, but most of them correspond with my personal preferences or tastes more  than the default settings, although they still require a lot of adjusting.
Update to the user-modification:
Modified civilian skins Primarily female civilians
Shevaar Removed pants 
Added new alien 'strigoi' It's basically a taman body with new skin + modified taman head with new skin, doesn't have text descriptions and uses taman names + shevaar sounds
Changed some item values Made some changes to the default item values, but most of this tinkering is kind of sketchy

Some additional tinkering with imagefiles like civilian skins.
Updated UFOpaedia. I'm not sure if the revised version is better or worse, I think it's okay. I probably should learn some additional methods, currently I'm kind of stuck with using background color and such features for decoration. There's also an attempt at changing the UI look of the statistics screen. Images of both in the imagesection above.

Mod:
-Added 2 new ARs
-Added 1 new grenade for aliens, it's probably unbalanced and broken, might be removed later
-Modified skins for Shevaars, and the new alien
-Some text descriptions are missing, alien research reports are work in progress (image missing, text is brief)
-Modified initial alien skill templates

I'm a bit worried that the content I've made shifts the atmosphere of the game even further towards 'SWAT' theme instead of 'X-Files, aliens and so forth'.
Taman skins probably should get those tattoos back at least, they're still WIP anyway...

C++:
-Modified cl_actor.cpp and g_actor.cpp so that weapon proficiency affects TU cost of firing. This is a bit problematic because aliens have higher skills.
-Shortened bounding box definitions for units
-Reworked some of the geoscape space background stuff. It's still distorted and I don't know the syntax to fix it. Sun is not synchronized with the background.

Had some trouble with github. I'm probably not using git / gitkraken correctly. Might not be possible to easily merge the files with anything, given that I've made errors with git handling.

Uploaded blend file for the female civilian with some other sourcefiles to the same ftp: http://www.elisanet.fi/ns/suit2.zip
Incase someone else wants to create similar models, or new skins. Notably the sourcefiles for UFO:Ai animations found at the contribution section are mostly in proprietary .max and .bip formats, the only blender format available was powerarmor, so I used that one for the civilians
-Created a new nationlayout, with 7 unions and 13 countries
-Scaled costs up by a factor of 10
-Maybe some other minor stuff I don't recall
Images:
https://pasteboard.co/InX53xv.png
https://pasteboard.co/InX4Y6j.png
-Added a template system and templates
-Extended possible ranks
-Now each nation has their own templates for recruitable units
-Unhired employees get randomly deleted before updating monthly budget (but the percent is currently hardcoded)

Unfortunately it seems likely that the usermod no longer works at all with the development version of the master branch because of the templates,
and it also seems that the git branch requires the usermodification to work, because it expects the templates, so there's this issue for now, but at least when I've briefly tested this,
the usermod seems to work this git branch. Maybe there can be somekind of merger later. Also here's two images:

https://imgur.com/a/hTa2Pqo
https://imgur.com/4iCGbbJ

2

Design / First impressions, general feedback (rewritten)

« on: May 07, 2019, 11:59:54 pm »

Preface: Found UFOai and installed it from debian repository. XCOM:Tftd is one of my favourite games, and I wanted to check UFOai out.

First impression: 3D models and modern graphics. Units appear plastic and the overall mood seems off. The essential gameplay mechanics seem to be the same as in the older versions, but some of them are lacking or malfunctional. UI seems a bit tasteless, screenshots from developer version though looked very promising. Somehow this game seems to be lacking all of that darkness and suspense you could find in TFTD, which engaged your intuition. Apocalypse version though had similar problems with look and feel, which hurt that game quite a lot. After getting used to the interface and getting over the negative first impression, the game started to seem interesting. I think the mood of the game is quite terrible it's like one of the primary problems I have with it, hopefully the developer version has improved in other areas in addition to the interface appearance.

Later experiences: After getting hooked into the game and spending way more time with it than what is healthy, some ironman/maxdifficulty attempts later, I came to realize that a large fraction of the comments I made in the post were unwarranted or already had a solution in options, but many of them seem very valid. I got used to the graphics and even started liking some of them. I think there are lots of good things in the game, even though my initial first impression was very negative. I do think that in many ways the gameplay mechanics are of a lower grade than in TFTD, but the are some additional features and additional content which make up for that, somewhat. Then, it was a commercial project, with funding and hired people to work, like professional artists lead by someone with design responsibilities. The algorithms maybe were older, the computer slower, but certain things still count under and on the surface.

I noticed that there are few people on irc, not a lot of posts on the forums, and the 'last' and 'monthly' development update news was sometime in 2018. It seems the project has stagnated (Game seems complete, too). Had I realized that the project is not going on strong, I would've probably abstained from making critical points, but I only realized that after writing the initial post. I'll list specific points below.


Geoscape & campaign

Geoscape polygons: They're big, and kind of tacky. I find them tasteless and too big. I think if you'd replace them with some minimalistic and tasteful symbol it would be better.
Seeing what the UFOs are immediately seems off.
Aerial engagement system: There doesn't seem to be a system and it's hard to make sense out of the engagements. The engagement system in TFTD was actually pretty good in comparison to this.
Geoscape panel is unpolished: It has this giant symbol that explains the navigation and on this version it has the same kind of ugly interface and it's lacking buttons.
Instant purchases: A conveniency, when you realize you've forgotten something and aliens show up, but it also hurts the mood. Besides some of the things still do take time.
UFOpaedia tutorial contents and categorization The UFOpaedia contents seem to be written like as a tutorial for the player and the information stored with in it, is arranged in that way. It's kind of offputting.
Government favour system? This was lacking from the xcom series too. Apocalypse tried to create a simulated ecosystem. Government happiness gives off a feeling that it's lacking a background logic. Did the aliens infiltrate the governments? Political resistance developed? Improvements here could be fun. Maybe you can't be friends with everyone? Some in-detail contacts with other organizations?
Purchases linked to specific nations? You could link the purchase system with specific governments, bad/good standing unlocking/blocking access to groups of products. E.g. aliens infiltrate a certain country and you lose some business transactions. (Replay value might increase with variable starting relationships & available items).
Ordering multiple items Now this is a very tiny feature, but for an example ordering 50 units of each grenade type at the beginning of the game is sort of tedious clicking. But it's not really an issue.
UFO Flight patterns UFO flight patterns and behavior are perhaps too simple. It's possible to lure UFOs within base defense range exploiting this. (E.g. Transporter out, gunboat attacks, repeat, or idle/retreat).
Prebuilt base I think it's too prebuilt. It's fun to try out different of starting configurations, though additional freedom may allow offstep from the intended rate of progression.
Off-duty training of units? A facility where you could have units improve some skills with time, if they're not wounded.
UFO Yard & UFO dismantling This system seems pretty interesting.
Is the production cost for items equivalent to the purchase cost in workshop? It might be nice if you could produce at least some items cost-effectively.
Flight path prediction and failure to intercept with short range craft armament If a craft is faster than a UFO, it flies ahead of the UFO due to path prediction. (E.g. Saracen equipped with shivas fails to intercept. Manual control avoids the problem, benign).
Geoscape aircraft menu? A new menu button to list and select any aircraft from the geoscape?
Powergeneration and consumption? Maybe powerplants could generate power and different facilities would have varying rates of consumption? (Compare laser, radar, storage).
Available recruits disappearing from list? Instead of remaining as an available recruits indefinitely, units would disappear from the list.
Variable quality of available recruits Perhaps being in good standings with specific nations would result to chance at recruiting improved units?
New facilities and related abstractions? New facilities for the management fun, finding intermediate abstract products (storage, power, manufacture, materials, communications..)
Towing downed UFOs and transfer crafts? Instead of UFOs appearing in the yard, a lifter craft to tow them? Transfers on actual airships which would risk being attacked?





Moodbreakers?

"Tactical modern firearms combat". Less "SWAT", more "X-Files"? A lot of the mood set by aesthetics, names and also the storyline content, implied background logic, including the name 'phalanx', seem to create this atmosphere of tactical combat based on modern firearms. This is a game with UFOs and aliens and alien species (also), and I think it would be good to try and shift the theme.
The standard interface is unpolished The interface looks a bit clunky. There's a green/gray contrast color theme going on, which was 'trendy' around the time UFOai was developed, but the choice of tones also seems unrefined.
Weird map details Some maps and map details simply come off as weird. (Fun: What I think are Svalbard Global Seed Vault remains appear on antarctic?)
Not having shroud, i.e. being omniscient about terrain kind of kills the mood too: I suppose this is due to the 3D mechanics.
Vision system Vision and detection system seems to be lacking. Worrying about what lurks in the shadows and getting ambushed is part of the suspense I was expecting, which didn't happen.
(Note: This involves that I've disabled shaders, as they don't seem to function correctly on my hw)
Alien and item models Taman wearing red T-shirts? "Generic" early guns. The list of aliens seems uncreative and lacking.
Upgraded bloodspider and upgraded hovernet seem redundant and repetive This is probably because someone has to make an animate models, and it's easier to take a pre-existing model and tinker with it a bit, than to create something new, so it's understandable. I think it would be nice if people got creative and came up with something fresh to replace at least one of those "new" hostiles, with something different.


Geoscape/Tactics

8 units per craft is very challenging: This is mostly an artifact of that I don't save the game and that I chose the highest difficulty (which many of you probably have tried?), but often times 8 units is not tactically sufficient. Especially because you end up losing some units anyway and although it sounds gruesome, but it's a game, so you might want to keep some units more than others, but with only 8 units on the mission everyone tends to get involved. Later you get at least 12 units per mission with the Herakles (I've not progressed further yet?), but it might be better if you started off with 10 and got 16 later.
Maps and missions incomplete pairings: Some map:mission pairings are not sensible. I'm assuming everyone is aware of this. a craft gets downed somewhere in the wilderness, you'd think you wouldn't run into civilians etc and that the mission environment would match that. But of course someone has to make those maps which is a lot of work, and then pairing them properly also requires that there's a system in place for generating the mission details based on geoscape location. I think the latter is present, but maybe flawed.
Maps are tactically kind of inconsistent I think it's good that there is variation between maps, but the requirements of particular missions can change a lot, and combined with the mission-map pairing system, this sometimes introduces difficulties.
There should be a way to arrange the order of the units on the transporter: So you could move units up and down the list, and that should affect the order in which the units spawn on the craft, so you have certain units exiting the craft first, and others later etc.
Craft inventory An (incomplete) craft inventory system was present in TFTD, and an improved version would be nice for UFOai.
Storage inventory? Perhaps the items in the storages could show up on the battlescape, and could be lost during basedefense?
Crews of downed and landed crafts? Alien crews could sustain injuries in the process of crashing or being hit?


Battlescape

Camera controls feel uncomfortable: This was my first impression, but I got over it after a couple of hours. Unit selection is erratic when clicking something on a lower level. If camera coordinates are outside horizontal bounds of the map, selection doesn't work properly.
Launchers and lobbing, arcs Maybe the way the arc is generated could be worked on. (Roll option makes up)
The enemies seen icon could explain how many the selected unit sees
Missions where units start outside craft: The automatically placed units get in wrong places, which could be improved on by simply having the units start inside the ship every time.
No vision, detection probability, nor lighting based detection system: Seeing this game with 3D models, but lacking such essential gameplay mechanics, makes me appreciate the old game a bit more.
Alien behavior seems odd For an example in base defense missions some aliens wander outside going to the edge of the mission area, facing the end of the zone, not particularly doing anything.
Some hostile units appear to behave as if they're aware of the location of units which they can't see Not knowing how it works under the hood, I suspect at least some if not all of the units have this. This creates certain issues, such as, the enemy units choosing to seek engagement in some circumstances, and avoid it in others. Being aware of this can help countering and/or exploiting the pattern.
First aid? It might be nice if the units could perform limited first aid on themselves. Units could have a first aid skill, some units might specialize. (Notably TFTD had a nicer unconscious/wound/firstaid system).
Encumbrance The problem is that encumbrance lowers time units, instead of (mainly) increasing TU costs for movement. Easily fixed by lowering effect on total TUs and instead increasing movement costs. (Note: Costs are low integers, which might cause issues and require scaling TU cost baseline).
Line of fire - Line of sight If a unit sees a hostile they should have LoF (With exceptions). Probably an artifact of the vision/detection system not working/existing properly. Partially because LoF check starts at center of model, while it should be higher (jawline?), also ignores crouch/stand. Partially because no aim location option (high/low).
Maps of variable elevation perform poorly 3D maps with lot of variation in elevation have a lot of issues with line of fire / line of sight equivalency and the layered clipping model/stratification. Maps with straight surfaces and right angles perform best.
Reactionfire is unrealistic and deterministic I'd prefer a random component to interrupts. TU cost of turning could be a thing here too.
(Also think: Alertness, partial vision, noticing something, reacting and intuiting how to act, and performing the action.)
Smoke too reliable There should be limited visual cover from a small amount of smoke. It's too effective and too exploitable.
Smoke dispersion and thickness Gradual dispersion and disappearance of smoke, different levels of visibility. Probably requires a vision/detection system.
LoS doesn't affect CTH Which is unrealistic and exploitable. (Smoke, garden 'walls') (Exceptions like partial LoS could exist).
Hit probabilities & number of shots & TU relationships This I guess is a question of taste and wanted level of realism. My preference would be lower than current TU cost for automated firing, with lower accuracy. This is not a system level issue, as it's a question of parameters in some configuration files.
Unit conditions and status enhancing effects?
Most games have some variant of effects which modify how a unit or a character functions. UFOai could improve in this regard.
Flammability? Incendiary ammunition creates a patch of fire, which then goes away after a set amount of time. It would be more interesting if some tiles were flammable and burned for a while, and other tiles wouldn't, things would catch fire and it would spread. Levels of intensity?
Stamina/endurance? Think this part is self-explanatory.
Aiming / Using optics for aiming? Separate aim step? Using a scope would produce a narrow LoS.


Bugs?
Odd behavior triggered by alien in a base without containment The "Odd behaviour" research item gets triggered by an alien captured into a base without alien containment. When you start researching, the item disappears due to missing prerequisites. I suspect it doesn't trigger again.