Messages

1

Discussion / Re: Base from scratch

« on: November 15, 2010, 09:23:40 pm »

The story text definitely suggests that you're taking over an old base, it's in the "Good Luck" email somewhere I think.

2

Mac / scratch compilation: game.dylib not found by binary, but it's there

« on: November 14, 2010, 11:24:16 pm »

Compiling the 2.4 dev code, finally got it to compile all the way. ./configure && make && make install worked and I have /usr/local/bin/ufo running. Splash screen, intro video, campaign briefing all work. Geoscape looks great, everything works the same as the official 2.3 build until I try to enter a battle, and nothing happens. Console output says this:

Code: [Select]

------- Loading game.dylib -------
not found at '/usr/local/lib'
not found at '/Users/andrea/Documents/UFOAI-2.4-dev/base'
not found at './base'
not found at '/usr/local/games/ufoai/base'
********************
ERROR: failed to load game library
********************

This is despite the fact that it's right there, and I even ran a file commant to verify that it's a library:

Code: [Select]

andrea-10:ufoai andrea$ ls /usr/local/games/ufoai/base
0base.pk3 0media.pk3 0pics.pk3 0textures.pk3 game.dylib
0maps.pk3 0models.pk3 0shaders.pk3 0ufos.pk3 i18n
0materials.pk3 0music.pk3 0snd.pk3 0videos.pk3

andrea-10:ufoai andrea$ file /usr/local/games/ufoai/base/game.dylib
/usr/local/games/ufoai/base/game.dylib: Mach-O dynamically linked shared library i386
I'm running a make macinstaller right now to test whether I'll get this issue in the .app version as well, but it's taking a while and I'd really like to have a working unpackaged binary if possible.

EDIT: make macinstaller failed with:

Code: [Select]

Finalizing ufomodel...
done
(Q)@cp README /Users/andrea/build/ufoai/contrib/installer/mac/ufoai-2.4-dev-macosx-universal
/bin/sh: -c: line 0: syntax error near unexpected token `@cp'
/bin/sh: -c: line 0: `(Q)@cp README /Users/andrea/build/ufoai/contrib/installer/mac/ufoai-2.4-dev-macosx-universal'
make: *** [copynotes-ufoai] Error 2
Apparently build/mac_installer.mk has this section:

Code: [Select]

copynotes-ufoai: package-dir-ufoai
        (Q)@cp README $(MAC_INST_DIR)/$(UFOAI_MAC_PACKAGE_NAME)
        $(Q)cp COPYING $(MAC_INST_DIR)/$(UFOAI_MAC_PACKAGE_NAME)
I'm guessing that's not right so I'm editing it and trying again.

3

Tactics / Re: IR-goggles

« on: November 10, 2010, 10:36:13 pm »

From the git webclient, which I'm guessing is the current dev version:

Code: [Select]

  78         weapon_mod irgoggles
  79         {
  80                 firedef
  81                 {
  82                         name    "_Scan"
  83                         firesnd weapons/irgoggles
  84                         splrad  10
  85                         range   9.5
  86                         time    12
  87                         shots   1
  88                         irgoggles       true
  89                 }
Looks like the effect covers a radius of 10, centered either 9.5 spaces away in the direction faced, or the first wall/obstacle that's 9.5 spaces or fewer away, depending on exactly how the irgoggles effect is coded. Anybody able to chime in from experience or coding knowledge?

4

Discussion / Re: second hand weapons?

« on: October 20, 2010, 07:22:23 pm »

The way I've got my loadout is if the soldier is carrying a weapon that's not good for close-range engagements (sniper rifle, grenade/rocket launcher, etc) they get a sidearm. For weapons like the GL that need both hands to fire but only one to carry they get the machine pistol so that they can simply draw, fire, holster since the MP is one-handed. Big weapons that need both hands to carry (like the RL) are paired with the SMG -- if they have to drop their primary weapon, they might as well get the best secondary, and its two-handedness doesn't matter in that case.

Obviously, I'm still playing with earth tech, otherwise I'd be trying the plasma pistol out.

5

Tactics / Re: Your Tactics

« on: October 17, 2010, 09:03:26 am »

New game, so only conventional weapons available, not even lasers. Most kills fall to soldiers with GL, SMG, or flamethrower. Add sniper or assault rifles for extended-range, and I call it a well-rounded plan. Grenade launchers get a machine pistol sidearm (one-handed FTW). 3-round airburst is just insane. 15 TUs is a lot, but it's pretty close to a guaranteed kill. Machinegun is great on the first turn if you have a favourable position, but thereafter is useless since TU usage is too much to lug it around or engage with RF, and aliens never end a turn in the open.

6

Discussion / Re: Suggestions

« on: May 20, 2008, 01:16:12 am »

2. During a mission you can not save the game, the reasons I accept and think are good ones. What I would like to see, as some relief to this is an 'Auto Save'. Before a mission, after one, on exit, and at the end of every year slot one could be used to create an auto save.

The game actually does automatically quicksave just before you start a mission.
The rest, I imagine that someone familiar with the code can make a patch, reusing the code that saves before a mission.

7

Discussion / Re: Ideas for new technologies

« on: May 18, 2008, 05:49:48 am »

Ion weapon would be the particle tech tree. Ions = charged particles.

8

Coding / Re: Question about campaign structure

« on: May 15, 2008, 08:11:53 am »

See http://ufoai.ninex.info/wiki/index.php/Gameplay_Proposals/Campaign for more details, but essentially the new campaign system in 2.3 is less deterministic than in the previous version. There is a pool of factors that affect the missions that can be spawned, among them the player's actions. You still have a limited number of mission (or event) types, but the specifics can and do differ.

9

Tactics / Re: How to Avoid Night Missions

« on: May 13, 2008, 10:43:10 am »

#2 a skill for the soldiers called "night fighting," with the higher the skill the lower the penalties to fight in the dark (and even a bonus at higher levels). This would make it more advantageous to fight at night as opposed to the day time in some situations.

A human soldier should never fight better at night than during the daytime, at least on an absolute scale. They could have a significantly higher night fighting skill (if implemented) than their enemies, which would make them fight better at night in a relative sense. In other words, they'd fight worse anytime it's night, but might have better chances to survive/win the encounter at night because they have the better night fighting skills.

Personally, I think night missions are part of the game, and I play them when they come up. It would be nice to be able to see something though, using either a personal circle of light ala X-Com, or flashlight as has been suggested, but since lighting in maps is pre-rendered, I won't be holding my breath on this.

10

Coding / Re: Mac build status

« on: May 12, 2008, 11:54:46 pm »

make macinstaller, even after the patch, doesn't quite output a completely working binary -- the maps that got downloaded aren't the right ones for 2.3, at least that's what it seemed like to me. Binary works perfectly, until it's time to start a mission. Dropship will land, screen goes black, nothing happens. Pulling up the console says that it can't find the required map. So until they upload a mappack for 2.3 (or fix the Makefile to point to the right URL), compiling the maps is the way you'll have to go.

11

Coding / Re: Suggestions for UFO2Map utility

« on: May 11, 2008, 09:21:13 pm »

My comment on nice was based on behavior I noticed in 2.2.1, ran make -j and I couldn't get anything done.

Thanks for the lesson. I'm afraid all my knowledge is self-taught, and I'm just beginning to compile my own packages. Make is still mostly arcane to me, I'm usually able to figure out what the Makefile targets do, but some of the syntax is just way over my head.

12

Tactics / Re: Use of flamethrower

« on: May 10, 2008, 12:03:06 pm »

The flamethrower is built for close quarters engagements, and that's where it excels at, which means indoors. Outside they're a sitting duck which is why I always equip mine with a decent pistol to use at range.

13

Mac / Re: Update 2.2.1

« on: May 10, 2008, 11:52:17 am »

The 2.2.1 map pack is actually available for download in the usual sf.net page where you can download source and binaries. The problem is in the 2.3 dev version, since they use all-new maps and they've not been pre-compiled yet (as far as I know). So just head over the the main download page, and when they give you a choice between linux, windows, and source, look for the map pack.

14

Mac / Re: Need PPC help

« on: May 10, 2008, 11:48:07 am »

I suppose that depends on how easily an Intel Mac can be told to compile for PPC only -- I don't know if universal libraries can be used, or if a whole cross-compilation environment needs to be set up. Or if the utilities you mentioned are friendly to open source programs (i.e. nothing in the EULA that says resultant binary is for personal use only, can't be distributed yada yada). I would volunteer if I had a PPC machine, but unfortunately I don't.

15

Coding / Re: Suggestions for UFO2Map utility

« on: May 10, 2008, 11:38:27 am »

Does the Makefile even check to see whether a compiled map already exists before running? I didn't notice that it does. And to find out how much time it took, just type 'time make maps'. If you're running a multi core/processor setup you might also want to enable parallel compiles with 'make -j maps'. 'time make -j maps' does both at once, and if you want to be compiling maps and still be able to do things without having your computer as laggy as 1400 baud, prefix it with 'nice -n 10', to put it on a lower priority: 'nice -n 10 time make -j maps' if you're getting everything on your hotdog. Note that though you can pass both nice and time simultaneously, it's useless for benchmarking.