Topics

1

User modifications / Armour Values

« on: July 15, 2012, 12:12:26 am »

I was wondering about the resistance values of the armour in the game, specifically those listed in armour.ufo. Where it lists a number after a damage type, is that number a percentage or an absolute value?

So for example, an assault rifle shot does 42 points of damage, +/-5 so a maximum of 47. Normal alien body armour lists its protection against normal_medium as 20, so does this mean the damage is reduced by 20% or 20 points?

Also, how does it stack with the natural resistances of the various alien types?

2

Newbie Coding / Multiple Sound Files for Messages

« on: July 14, 2012, 10:15:08 pm »

Based on Crystan's idea to have voiceovers for the Geoscape messages and an observation I made that it might be better to have multiple options for each message so you don't get bombarded with the same phrase over and over again, I was wondering if something as simple as this would do the trick in cp_messages.cpp:

Code: [Select]

if (playSound) {
const char *sound = NULL;
int msgClipNum;

msgClipNum = rand()%4+1;

switch (type) {
case MSG_DEBUG:
break;
case MSG_STANDARD:
switch (msgClipNum) {
case 1:
sound = "geoscape/standard1";
break;
case 2:
sound = "geoscape/standard2";
break;
case 3:
sound = "geoscape/standard3";
break;
case 4:
sound = "geoscape/standard4";
break;
}
break;
case MSG_INFO:
case MSG_TRANSFERFINISHED:
case MSG_DEATH:
case MSG_CONSTRUCTION:
case MSG_PRODUCTION:
switch (msgClipNum) {
case 1:
sound = "geoscape/info1";
break;
case 2:
sound = "geoscape/info2";
break;
case 3:
sound = "geoscape/info3";
break;
case 4:
sound = "geoscape/info4";
break;
}
break;
case MSG_RESEARCH_PROPOSAL:
case MSG_RESEARCH_FINISHED:
assert(pedia);
case MSG_RESEARCH_HALTED:
case MSG_EVENT:
case MSG_NEWS:
/* reread the new mails in UP_GetUnreadMails */
ccs.numUnreadMails = -1;
switch (msgClipNum) {
case 1:
sound = "geoscape/mail1";
break;
case 2:
sound = "geoscape/mail2";
break;
case 3:
sound = "geoscape/mail3";
break;
case 4:
sound = "geoscape/mail4";
break;
}
break;
case MSG_UFOLOST:
switch (msgClipNum) {
case 1:
sound = "geoscape/ufolost1";
break;
case 2:
sound = "geoscape/ufolost2";
break;
case 3:
sound = "geoscape/ufolost3";
break;
case 4:
sound = "geoscape/ufolost4";
break;
}
break;
case MSG_UFOSPOTTED:
switch (msgClipNum) {
case 1:
sound = "geoscape/ufospotted1";
break;
case 2:
sound = "geoscape/ufospotted2";
break;
case 3:
sound = "geoscape/ufospotted3";
break;
case 4:
sound = "geoscape/ufospotted4";
break;
}
break;
case MSG_BASEATTACK:
switch (msgClipNum) {
case 1:
sound = "geoscape/basealert1";
break;
case 2:
sound = "geoscape/basealert2";
break;
case 3:
sound = "geoscape/basealert3";
break;
case 4:
sound = "geoscape/basealert4";
break;
}
break;
case MSG_TERRORSITE:
switch (msgClipNum) {
case 1:
sound = "geoscape/alien-activity1";
break;
case 2:
sound = "geoscape/alien-activity2";
break;
case 3:
sound = "geoscape/alien-activity3";
break;
case 4:
sound = "geoscape/alien-activity4";
break;
}
break;
case MSG_CRASHSITE:
switch (msgClipNum) {
case 1:
sound = "geoscape/newmission1";
break;
case 2:
sound = "geoscape/newmission2";
break;
case 3:
sound = "geoscape/newmission3";
break;
case 4:
sound = "geoscape/newmission4";
break;
}
break;
case MSG_PROMOTION:
switch (msgClipNum) {
case 1:
sound = "geoscape/promotion1";
break;
case 2:
sound = "geoscape/promotion2";
break;
case 3:
sound = "geoscape/promotion3";
break;
case 4:
sound = "geoscape/promotion4";
break;
}
break;
case MSG_MAX:
break;
}

cgi->S_StartLocalSample(sound, 1.0f);
}


The rand() function requires stdlib.h is defined in the includes but I'm assuming that's already in the code somewhere. My C++ coding is very rusty but I think that's all it would take to generate a number between 1-4 and then use that to select a sound file. To start with a quick copy/paste and rename of the original files would allow the code to work until the actual sound files were created.

Then again, this game is far more complex than anything I've ever fiddled with before code-wise so I don't know if this would do something horrible, and getting this stuff to compile on Windows looks like a pain in the arse just to test something as simple as this. Perhaps one of you experienced coders could look at it and see if it seems viable?

3

Bugs in stable version (2.5) / Heavy Template Low Accuracy

« on: July 13, 2012, 11:31:13 pm »

In the team_templates.ufo file the template "Heavy" is the only one whose lowest possible accuracy range is 2 instead of 20. I noticed it when I was playing 2.4 as well I think, occasionally a soldier with good Heavy skill would have a hideous accuracy (3 or 4, never saw 2) but just figured it was a "feature" of people good with heavy weapons until checking the file out myself.

4

Discussion / You know you've played too much UFO:AI when...

« on: July 12, 2012, 03:12:04 pm »

... you have a dream where an alien comes round the corner right in front of one of your soldiers and you're praying it doesn't have enough TU left to swing that plasma blade it's clutching!

5

Feature Requests / SAM/Base Defense Range Geoscape Toggle

« on: July 09, 2012, 01:05:50 pm »

I'm sure it's been suggested before but unless I'm missing something already in the game I can't find any way of doing this...

It would be nice to have a toggle similar to the radar range one for the Geoscape that shows the SAM site and base defense intercept ranges, which would aid in planning out where to put SAM sites etc. It is possible to do that now but you have to wait for a UFO to show up on radar before the coverage appears, which isn't ideal.

6

User modifications / MAX_OBJDEFS

« on: July 07, 2012, 01:36:12 am »

While adding new things to the game I appear to have hit a hard-coded item number limit, as the last item I added causes my loading screen to go black and the log to throw up this error:

Com_ParseItem: MAX_OBJDEFS exceeded

Is this constant something that could simply be upped in the official code to give us modders more room to play with, or is it a more complex issue than just bumping up the number?

7

User modifications / Couple of questions

« on: July 06, 2012, 11:36:06 am »

Just a couple of questions I have regarding the extent of modding capabilities currently available, so I know how far I can go in editing stuff without touching the code files and recompiling:

1 - Is there any way of editing the files that contain ufopaedia text and mail messages? I've found the .mo files in the i18n directory but it doesn't edit properly with Notepad or Wordpad.

2 - Is it possible to add new base defence buildings using tweaked, existing models? I tried and had the building showing up no problem but ran into an issue with assigning the weaponry.

3 - Are the skills hard-coded or is it possible to change them? I can change the name they appear with but the equipment window still shows Skill: Sniper even after it's been changed to Pistols because it seems to be pulling the information from the weapon script file where the skill type is set for that firedef rather than a string from somewhere else.

Having a blast playing around with the modding opportunities even with these queries, so thanks for adding the possibility to the game!

8

Bugs in stable version (2.5) / Couple of 2.5-dev Bugs

« on: June 28, 2012, 11:39:57 am »

This is based on the 27th June nightly build:

1 - Every mission is displaying as (No nation) except Terror missions.
2 - Nation happiness is not changing at all.
3 - One mission in Russia pulled up the map "Italy"... not sure if that's a bug or just a peculiar name for a map.
4 - No sign of Electromagnetic Rifle research at start of game, possible just changes to research tree?

9

Bugs in stable version (2.5) / No Saved Games (IGNORE)

« on: June 26, 2012, 02:29:07 pm »

Last night I was playing with the 25th June build and saved a couple of games. When I loaded up the game this morning both of them were missing in the "Load" option of Full Campaign. I assumed I'd buggered something up with my fiddling or it might be something to do with having 2.4, 23/06-2.5, and 25/06-2.5 installed, so I wiped all installations and downloaded 26/06-2.5. I played for an hour or so earlier today and saved two games.

Just loaded up the game and once again the save games are missing. Bug or idiocy on my part?

Oops.

Once I loaded up my mod the savegames appeared again. Didn't realise they didn't show up in the list if you forget to load up the mod you were using with them! My apologies.

10

User modifications / [ABANDONED] NeoTweaks

« 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!

11

Artwork / Phalanx Logo

« on: June 21, 2012, 11:10:33 pm »

Just a little something I was fiddling around with in my spare time cause I like messing with things like this. If this isn't the right section for fan art please feel free to move it to a more appropriate section!



Also fiddled around with rank images based on the logo. I'm aware that there are new images used in 2.5, but this is based on the rank progression in 2.4:



I forgot about these ones: