Messages

1

FAQ / Re: How to see inside base?

« on: July 30, 2017, 04:09:54 pm »

As for me, a skirmish map featuring all or most of the available buildings would fulfill the need. Or perhaps two maps, one featuring the default starting layout, and another one featuring all the end-game building (with a spoiler alert).

By the way, there could be a UFOpaedia page on base defense tactical considerations that would copy all the bits that are sprayed out in the various building pages, and would explicitely mention that some tactical scenarios are available for wargame training purpose (with the name of said skirmish maps). These would all be small maps, populated by the first opposed aliens. The system would be available after first ground mission(s).

2

Feature Requests / Re: NPC national soldiers and zoom-in to aliens speed

« on: July 30, 2017, 03:55:01 pm »

I really hope that one day, multiple teams could be implemented, not only PHALANX's and Alien's. The more the actors on a map, the more of corpses at the end.

But right now, the feeling of immersion (for the few who are sensible!) could be improved by adding to maps some statics featuring corpses and gore, especially on city maps (allegedly more populated). For instance, on the Lab map, add a few dead security guards, etc. The same for wrecked versions of cars. This would "only" imply to modify the maps, I think.

Later, as an intermediate measure, a "team" of corpses could be dynamically added upon entering a mission (I don't know if this is currently possible, though). This would allow the number of corpses to be dependent not only on the mission's type (Harvest and Terror would be more gruesome), but also on population density (as defined by the mission's location), or even on the number of days the mission is available for. This shouldn't impact game flow much, as those people would be dead already.

3

Feature Requests / Re: Aircraft to be able to follow

« on: July 30, 2017, 03:38:58 pm »

Hello, I already submitted a similar feature request on Bugtracker, thinking it was useful to avoid extra micro-management when:
1) You want to follow an UFO until it's above a landmass, and said UFO has an erratic flying path (no interception location can by easily scheduled);
2) You want to escort another PHALANX craft, whether to be ready to assist it in case of an aggression, or because your transport follows your flying radar craft.

Even if this feature is not implemented, perhaps the Alien AI should detect that an aircraft is "following" its own ship, and decide whether the mission can go on or must be aborted. For instance, what should be a Supply ship's behaviour approaching its base on Earth when it's closely tailed? Decision could be distance-related.

4

FAQ / Re: How to see inside base?

« on: June 07, 2017, 07:34:36 pm »

Hello!

Still, you could have like a dummy mission map, that would display your current map with one playable actor at a given position (entrance or CC). The Battlescape would be called from within the base management screen (window 'Building').

If there is one thing that is not shown in the UFOpaedia, it's the various levels of any multi-level building, as well as its footprint at the surface. Before the first base attack, you can't know that this building will hinder line of sight, or this one is best to build if you want a clear view to decimate the invaders from afar. Indeed, on my first base defence, I spent several dozen of minutes to investigate my base (before terminating the last Aliens). I would have prefered to spend this time while not in a combat mission. What buildings have doors to the surface? What have flat tops? Why build large hangars along the map's borders. How a Workshop or a basic Radar Tower may lure some Aliens on the surface and diminish the pressure on the Entrance... (etc.)(v25)

I even once designed a base with small hangars and quarters built so as to cut the surface in two (both buildings block the passage on the surface) to force the Alien spawned and trapped there either to use the large hangar to enter the base, or to await destruction by indirect fire.

Either use a 3D engine in the UFOpaedia to display and rotate true models, or rather, as I said, allow to enter a dummy mission from within anywhere (Base management window, or even Geoscape, when you select a base).

5

Artwork / Re: Herakles-class Heavy Lifter Redesign

« on: March 30, 2017, 11:52:24 am »

If a new design is arrive into the game then I can imagine it as a new, 4th gen. dropship, [with] 4 advanced ufo engines to build.

"4th gen" as in "makeshift", like the Dragon then. Heracles carrier could still be of Terran tech (derived from existing craft), with alien tech (engines) implants, rather than of a brand new design.
It's cargo is an armored (and profiled?) container, or at least inspired by what could be an armored, standard container.
Perhaps I read Geever the wrong way.

- It would be nice if the size allows to use the model in base attacks (inside the hangar), as requested in Feature request #5230  -  Like X-COM should show aircraft in the hangar[/url]

Well, on the middle path, the carrier could take off and flee, just as the fighter craft, thus letting the pod on the platform.

This could even be always the case when in current game, any craft can take off and take cover. Now, another base cell would be designed: "large hangar with Heracles at base", and when a base is attacked, the game would check if any Heracles is affected to a given large hangar and has returned to the base. If so, this new cell would be used instead of the default, empty "large hangar" one. Now... should we spawn soldiers in the pod?

6

Feature Requests / Re: "Red" encumbrance level over 80% weight

« on: March 05, 2017, 02:11:13 pm »

If a new level of encumbrance was to be implemented, I'd rather be for a much higher penalty.

Given a new recruit with 24 TUs is reduced down to 12 TUs, with current system, I'd have a faster soldier with say 36 TUs reduced to about 12 TUs as well when 80% encumbered. That would mean a -24 TUs penalty. That would also mean that slow recruits would be unable to move before reaching 100% encumbrance.

7

Translating / Re: translation in french

« on: February 28, 2017, 12:12:32 am »

Hello!

2- New points:
2a - Laser fire modes:
MSGID #2128 - Wave Fire -> Tir continu (short for 'tir à onde continue')
MSGID #2129 - Pulsed Fire -> Tir pulsé
I would keep using 'tir pulsé' even when the surgery is less cosmetic.

2b - Needler fire modes:
MSGID #2079 - Short Burst -> Rafale courte
MSGID #2080 - Cannonade - > Tir de neutralisation (Suppression Fire)
MSGID #2081 - Needle Stream -> Rafale libre
Indeed, we could use the same as for the machine guns ('rafale courte', 'rafale libre'), and we only need to find a translation for the intermediate burst mode. A 'rafale libre' would occur when you spend about all your turn acting on the trigger.
I like 'Volée' but in game, all the fire modes work the same except there's more or less needles.
Note : 'tir de suppression' is not a military term in French.

2e - Shotgun:
MSGID #2145 - Shotgun -> Fusil à canons sciés
MSGID #2146 - Single barrel -> Simple coup
MSGID #2147 - Double Barrel -> Double coup
I think it's the usual naming for dual barreled hunting guns (you have two triggers).

3 - Aircrafts:
3a - Stingray: 'Manta' looks pretty appealing to me, even if the animal is slow and peaceful.
3b - Starchaser -> Chasse-étoile: yes, closest translation (the stars being those UFOs).
I think that both proposals are okay because the player has the possibility to rename its aircraft at will, so no offense would last for long!
3c - Firebird: this naming is not a genuine PHALANX one, anyways, so we could stay with the English word instead of translating it (and this would add some diversity).

4 - Not retained proposals:
4a - Aimed Shot -> 'Tir au poser': btw, 'tir au jeter' is the military jargon for 'tir instinctif', as it seems... It was a try, anyways. Let's stay with 'Tir visé' and 'Tir instinctif', then.
4b - Transport Ships: in English, we have a Dropship (MSGID #46), a Lifter (MSGID #48), and a Transport (MSGID #50). I kept Lifter -> Transporteur for diversity's sake, and because the Heracles is not a transport by itself, it lifts and conveys a detachable transport module like a flying truck would convey a container. Now, do we really need diversity here?
4c - Dismantling -> Démantèlement: you are right about the general destructive connotation. However, 'démontage' has two meanings: the separation of an element from a greater whole (unmount), and the disassembly of a system into parts. Both could be reversible. The later would correspond better to a dismantling. If you prefer, the UFO is 'désassemblé'  and during the process, some systems are secured, 'démontés de l'OVNI', and stored for later use, the rest being scavenged as "Alien Materials". So, what about 'désassemblage'/'désassembler' instead? This wouldn't prevent us to sometimes use 'démonter'/'démontage' in some few texts.

5 - The Excalibur project: did you see that the Excalibur project's paragraph is not used in French as so many times as it is in English (for all pre-invasion (starting) equipment texts)? Could it be that the French version was to long?

8

Tactics / Re: Long range firefight or close combat?

« on: February 16, 2017, 12:28:46 am »

I figure that the 'emp' is the electromagnetic rifle, 'emr', then? 

9

Discussion / Re: thx

« on: February 16, 2017, 12:08:07 am »

Hello,
I think we shouldn't know if an enemy unit is ever dazed or not!
But flashbangs should affect every actors and not only the enemy. To be partially protected or immune to their effect, through constitution or visor/helmet, would be another thing, of course.

10

Translating / Re: translation in french

« on: January 18, 2017, 07:23:22 pm »

Hello Damyen,

I'm fine with all of these.

But as for the item's name, did you change "poignard à plasma " to "couteau à plasma" too? Or only in the messages? "Couteau" looks less martial than "poignard".

About the "Patrouilleur", although the naval counterpart would be smaller than an "Escorteur", perhaps here, "Escorteur" could have a try too?

Lastly, how do you intend to translate the future Ripper-UFO? We don't know anything about its design and role yet, but better be prepared. "Éventreur" as in Jack-the-Ripper, or "Défonçeur", "Corvette"?

11

Windows / Re: Dont see the box lines on inventory

« on: January 18, 2017, 06:40:11 pm »

Not sure, but isn't it normal that the XIV button is absent at the beginning of the campaign? (v2.5)
I've thought that it would appear only after prerequisites are met (given alien interest and/or given researches), and the player is informed about the virus.
However, as XIV is not implemented yet, the button may appear under unclear circumstances.
In any case, you shouldn't be infected, or should you with v2.6?

12

Translating / Re: translation in french

« on: January 16, 2017, 11:07:30 pm »

Hello Damyen,

* Stun grenade: the concern with "grenade incapacitante" is that it's already in use irl for nerve gas, and irritating gas (such as the anti-alien gas in game). And here, this is quite an euphemism, but to incapacitate means to put a soldier out of combat without killing him fast, even if it hurts and may leave him with dire after-effects. On the other hand, how to call the purpose of throwing a gas grenade amidst civilians? "Assommer" looks weird, hence "neutraliser" (or to prevent them from frolicking all around), or when possible,  "rendre inconscient". In this case, it should be ok that they are still alive.

* Plasma blade: yes, "poignard à plasma" seems good to me too, but as I was reading the UFOpaedia research entries again, I stumbled upon a phrase I had mistranslated. It's about Navarre wondering how a plasma blade could work, and even how such a close-quarter weapon could prove useful when you have plasma guns (preliminary report), and then when he says he was wrong thinking about a knife (post-research report), and that's a single-use weapon. Precisely:
"We were wrong to think of the plasma blade as a knife. In essence, it is a one-shot anti-armour weapon, like the Panzerfaust"
I'd translate this as:
"Nous nous trompions en croyant avoir affaire à une sorte de couteau à lame de plasma. En fait, le « poignard à plasma » est destiné à percer les armures en un coup, comme le Panzerfaust"
I mean that Navarre once thought that it was like a laser saber with a blade made out of plasma that would be erected out of the handle for the duration of a close quarter assault.

* I wouldn't use "Croiseur" to translate the alien Gunship. I agree that "Canonnière" looks weird at first and even second glance, because the French call "Canonnière" the Gunboat in the naval sense only, if I'm not wrong, whereas the US use it for planes and heavy choppers too: the famous AC130 is called a gunship because it has porthole (side) guns.
In-game, we don't know about any ground support role for the Gunship-UFO, and the weapons on the model are directed forwards, but the fact is that this aircraft is larger than a transport. The nearest navy-equivalent to the Gunboat in size would be the Patrol Boat ("patrouilleur"), but a cruiser would be much, much larger. "Croiseur" could translate the future alien Battleship, however, even so if it's FTL-capable.
Perhaps its UFOpaedia entry fails first hand to inform us why this heavy interdiction aircraft (as it seems to have been specifically designed to destroy any atmospheric flying threat) is called a Gunship.

* I'm sure I can get accustomed to "Arachnobot": Arachnobot. Arachnobot. Arachnobot...

* As for the plasma encased ammunition, as we have "balle chemisée à tête creuse ou à noyau de plomb", I guess that "munition chemisée à plasma" (short. "munition CP") would be better, indeed.

13

Translating / Re: translation in french

« on: January 14, 2017, 10:42:45 am »

Hello, a last thought... what about the translation of the "stun family"?
In game, an actor may be rendered unconscious for turns (knocked out, stunned), or loose all of its TUs (dazed, stunned). Indeed, the English version uses "stun" a lot.

At first I translated en:flashbang into "grenade assourdissante" as in irl French army.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenade_(arme)
Another candidate is "grenade incapacitante" but it would also be the case of the gas grenade.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/M84_stun_grenade
Then, I went for "grenade étourdissante" because of the effect it causes in  game.

To be stunned as in knocked out is translated as "assommé" and derivatives.
To be stunned as in dazed by a flashbang, or surprised, is translated as "étourdi". I figure that it could be the case even if flashbang is translated into "grenade assourdissante".

MSGIDs:

• en:flashbang(s)
  fr:grenade étourdissante 832-835, 841, 884, 888, 982-984, 1269, 1271, 2071
  
  
• en:stunning
  fr:étourdir 1034
  fr:neutraliser 1301
  
  
• en:stunned
  fr:(a perdu) connaissance 2259, 2262, 2265, 2268, 2271
  fr:inconscient 2803, 2900
  
  
• en:dazed
  fr:étourdi 2908
  
  
• en:stun
  fr:assomer 955, 1004, 1311
  
  
• en:stun rod/gun/damage type/shot/charge
  fr:bâton/fusil/Dégâts/Tir/Charge assomant(e)(s) 1000, 1001, 1034, 2135, 1035, 1128, 2132, 2136
  
  
• en:stun gas
  fr:gaz incapacitant 115

14

Translating / Re: translation in french

« on: January 04, 2017, 06:11:42 pm »

Happy new year to all!

A last try (please, take this what it is: comments that make things going on, and let's continue to share our thoughts)

• Arachnoïde/Arachnobot (Bloodspider): the reason why we should abandon "blood" is that the name becomes too long; "cybernétique" would have an even greater length. Besides, cybernetics are the science of the communication and control, and not a synonym to robot, a non-biologic construct (granted, the hovernet does include some biologic mass, only in the same way we could figure a DNA computer, and a psi transponder) (cf. cyborg, rather a cybernetic organism, or an augmented animal).
  You could see "Arachnoïde" as "Araignée mécanoïde" too...
  However, what about a compound with "cyber" (despite the above!): "Cybertique" (Cybertick) and "Cybertique de combat" (one letter longer than "Arachnobot")? (It needs to be played and played again with this change before it can be seen fit)("Tique" is the French name of the arachnoids in the Starship Troopers movie).
  To my sense, both "arachno" versions are quite close to "Aérobot" (and "Arachnobot" is even closer): same general hearing/spelling, same acronym (A, AC or AB, ABC), and that doesn't look like a military habit to take the risk of getting confused by the naming.
  
  
• Lance-plasma/Blaster (Plasma Blaster): if we read the technical data, the main and important difference between this heavy weapon and the plasma rifle/pistol is that it spits forth a continuous stream of hot plasma instead of a plastic "jacketed" projectile. It spits it like a napalm flamethrower (except the plasma travels allegedly faster than pressurized liquid (or pressurized gas, as in PHALANX C90 flamethrower). Eventually, it too launches a huge projectile at short range (like the other plasma weapons). That makes it a virtual counterpart to the flame thrower, except that it has an attack mode more, a kind of "delayed ball" of fire. Indeed, the adequate naming for this weapon is strongly related to its current and future (?) fire modes.
  I see this weapon as still under work in process, anyways ("beam" range seems to large, and spitting simultaneous, yet "slow" beams is something hardly conceivable). So please, no "Fusil mitrailleur" unless it is made able to launch rifle-like plasma projectile in automatic mode.
  "Lance-plasma" (as in "lance-flamme") still has my preference, and why not "Lance-plasma lourd" if it's not too long.
  
  
• Broche/dard/lame plasma (Plasma Blade): I've came to finally understand your point; I figure that blade/sword/saber in your mind would rather stand for a permanent blade, or at least a multiple usage weapon.
  Hence, you/we would focus on the single fact of piercing armor and penetrate the body with something evanescent (a narrow, plasma spray), thus "embrocher". Yes, it's definitively not like a laser saber, even if Navarre once thought about it, and "Lame/Épée plasma" should still appear once, both in the preliminary and after-research reports.
  However, "dard" evokes more a missile, and "broche", although correct could evoke a jewel too (at worst, "broche" is better than "dard", or rather, a neologism "embrocheur"). "Dard" is also used for the high temperature gas or liquid projectile from a shaped charge, not the whole weapon. If we want to depict the gesture, why not "poignard". Granted, it's a blade item, but it primarily evokes a fist's gesture, and a handle too. Not to mention that "poignarder" is quite the same as "embrocher d'une seul main". Doesn't "Poignard à plasma" looks a better candidate than "Lame (à) plasma"? (Then, it wouldn't be necessary to talk about "lame" or "épée" anymore, except if the handle is very large for a dagger (the monomolecular weapon is already between a dagger and a short sword in length, anyways.). We would have "Poignard de combat", "Poignard monomoléculaire", and "Poignard à plasma".
  
  
• Caserne/Quartiers (Quarters): I still disagree with you, but perhaps, I'm persnickety a little. I think it's a matter of scale.
  "Quartiers (de troupes, d'officiers)" are more the place (the building) where any personals (not only the troopers) rest when not on duty, their housing, even if it can be used for a block of such buildings in large installations. It's a synonym to "casernements". When place is scarce, it's the living section of a fort, for instance. This should be the translation for "barracks" (the building).
  "Caserne" once had the same meaning (e.g. "la caserne du fort de Douaumont") but since after WWI, it seems that it's always depicted the whole installation (in this case, it means the place were any military stay when not on maneuver/on the field), be it for an army regiment, a national guard squadron, or a fire section. As far as I remember, you never say "Je retourne à la caserne" when you leave the mess or your office (a building) and want to return to your dormitory (another building), except when the dormitory is built at another location, another building block or postal address). This should be the translation for "barracks" (the site). A board ships and in tiny places, it should rather be "quartiers" (when there are corridors and passage ways instead of streets
  Now, when a "caserne" is made out of several buildings blocks, each own may be called a "quartier", with the same meaning of a civilian block; indeed, when a base is razed or reused by civilians, "caserne" is dropped and "quartier" is used instead (as a remember).
  Here are two links; the first one is about old photos of the barracks in the fortress town of Verdun, the second one is about barracks in the WWI forts.
  https://verdun.jimdo.com/photos-d-hier/les-casernes/
  http://www.fortiffsere.fr/forts/index_fichiers/Page1465.htm
  Perhaps we need an advice from a military?
  
  
• Entrepôt (Store): shouldn't the proper military term be "magasin"? In a base/fort/"caserne", it's where the quartermaster stores any combat and day-to-day furnitures and items. It has a more specialized meaning too: ammunition workshop and storage.
  http://www.fortiffsere.fr/verdun%20intervalles/index_fichiers/Page758.htm
  
  
• Fusil électromagnétique/Bolter (Electromagnetic Rifle/Bolter): If the name has to be short, I'd rather have "Fusil électrique" than "Fusil magnétique". Magnetic and electric fields are bound together as in any electromagnetic converter, but in the case of the Bolter, although magnets or electromagnets are welcomed to achieve a greater propulsive force on the projectile (or its sabot), as usually shown in physics classes ("rails de Laplace"), there is virtually no need of them to build a force. Any deformable circuit will tend to stretch out (up to its breaking point if frail) when a DC current runs through it (consequence of Lenz's law). Although this is caused by the own magnetic field built by the current, there is no macroscopic inductor (external magnetic source). In the railgun's case (here, the Bolter), the only deformable part is the sabot (or a projectile's "carriage"), and it's accelerated until electrical contact is lost. Although using an external magnetic source is theoretically useful for adding a much stronger field to the circuit's own field, this would last only as long as it's uniform in the rails' region.
  Hence, I'd rather use "Fusil magnétique" when a magnetic source is needed (either magnets or coils), and this is the Coilgun in game (or "fusil à induction").
  
  
• LGHP/LGAP, LRHP/LGHP (HPGL, HPML): I finaly found  that "HP" in "AT4 CS HP" (a version of the M136) means "High Performance". Hence, in French, we should have "LGHP" and "LRHP", that are more general than my last "LGAP" and "LRAP" ("AP" for anti-personal). As for what "high performance" really means, it's not a localization concern but it could be related to the reduced size of the grenades, the multichambering allowing a fast rate of fire, or a signature-less weapon system (sound, light, thermal), but that would need some textual change.
  https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT4
  https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance-grenades_individuel_modèle_F1
  
  
• Aircraft names: You are probably right. English is UNO's working language anyways, and modern PHALANX is an UNO agency. What "wrongs" me is that "Heracles" comes from nowhere: it's not English ("Hercules" would), and the Greek transliteration would be "Héraklès", which I use. Plus, several other names aren't English either: "Stiletto" is Italian I think; "SHIVA" comes from India; "Raptor" is Latin. As for the missile launchers, "Sparrowhawk" and "Cicada" are English, as is the "Raven" ECM suite; someone already gave us "Épervier" for the former and "Corbeau" for the later, and I'd obviously propose "Cigale" for the second. Also, "Sarracen" was translated into "Sarrasin" long ago (or by myself?).
  
  Should it be needed, I've found that:
  
  - "Firebird" comes from Russian folklore (a kind of phoenix). "Oiseau de feu" already exists in classical music, video games and anims, and I remember about a "Renard de feu" in the movie "Firefox".
  
  https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oiseau_de_feu_(homonymie)
  
  - "Starchaser" or "Chasing Star" comes from Hopi mythology, this blue moving (pursuing) star being either planet Venus (in cyclic meaning) or a comet (in apocalyptic meaning). It embodies one of the many invisible nature spirits, or Katchinas, named Nanga Sohu (lit. Chasing star). "Étoile bleue" (Blue Star), "Étoile filante" (Shooting Star) or "Étoile du Matin" (Morning Star) could be the equivalent in French. If these names sound weird for planes, remember the "Étoile céleste" (White Star) destroyer class in Babylon V. And why not straight "Nanga Sohu" or "Vénus"?
  
  http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/esp_leyenda_hopi07.htm
  
  - "Stingray" could indeed rather mean "Raie" in French, as "Pastenague" seems to be specialized for the Common Stingray and family (Dasyatidae). Note that one synonym for the common stingray is the blue stingray, and blue is the in-game Stingray's hue. Btw, "Raie" is the name of a Boron vessel in the X2-Threat universe.
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingray
  
  Or we keep with English for these three aircrafts, and the Sarracen.
  
  

15

Discussion / Re: The green smoke waving around

« on: December 20, 2016, 11:09:51 am »

Rather a feature request then, as a remainder.