1
Discussion / Alien Interest
« on: May 29, 2012, 02:44:23 am »
Is there a console command to check the current Alien Interest level?
News:
New board
Show Posts
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
Pages: [1]
2
Discussion / Automissions - under the hood (v2.4)
« on: May 20, 2012, 03:43:31 am »
Which things exactly determine the outcome of automissions?
1. I assume more soldiers is always good?
2. What about weapons? Does it matter if I bring knives or plasma rifles?
3. Do soldiers' skills play a role?
4. If I give a PB Pistol to my sniper, and not a sniper rifle, does it make a difference?
5. Does the equipment in soldiers' backpacks affect the outcome?
6. Does the time of the day affect the outcome (with the possible advantage for the aliens)?
7. How come the automission option is not always available? At first I thought it was about the map size, so that the autoresolve wasn't available for the smaller maps. But that's not always the case. Although it seems at least 2/3 of the time when autoresolve isn't available, it's a small map. What gives? Is it a bug?
1. I assume more soldiers is always good?
2. What about weapons? Does it matter if I bring knives or plasma rifles?
3. Do soldiers' skills play a role?
4. If I give a PB Pistol to my sniper, and not a sniper rifle, does it make a difference?
5. Does the equipment in soldiers' backpacks affect the outcome?
6. Does the time of the day affect the outcome (with the possible advantage for the aliens)?
7. How come the automission option is not always available? At first I thought it was about the map size, so that the autoresolve wasn't available for the smaller maps. But that's not always the case. Although it seems at least 2/3 of the time when autoresolve isn't available, it's a small map. What gives? Is it a bug?
3
Feature Requests / Hidden soldier traits! (but revealed later)
« on: May 15, 2012, 12:11:44 am »
The key surprise element in the early X-Com games was the Mind Control thing, and you'd find out the hard way how your favorite killing machine operative was prone to alien mind control, and you'd have to fire him, if not do a kamikaze attack right on the battlefield. So, it got me thinking, what if each soldier had 2 hidden traits, and they would be revealed after a semi-random number of missions or kills, like, after 10-20 missions/kills. I envisioned these traits to be such as:
Diagnosed PTSD
Increased morale drop whenever a fellow soldier or a civilian is killed. You might want to think twice to send this guy to the Final Mission, whatever that may be in the future. Picture a dramatic verbal fight between this guy and his CO once he finds out he's not going be a part of the last battle.
Talented [weapon name] operator
Boost to the hit chance with one particular weapon (only if the weapon has been researched). At later game, you might get rookies with bonuses to newer weapons (since they've heard rumors of them and they can't wait to try them out), while you'd still have those seasoned machine gunners and such, adding flavor to the mix.
Dislikes [weapon type]
Slight penalty to the hit chance with all weapons of this type. Penalties to reaction fire. Note that this could be possibly circumvented by using certain firing modes or ammo types since they rely on various proficiencies.
Medic
Unusually skilled medic sometimes gets more healing done with the same amount of TUs. This chance goes up over time as the medic gains battle experience.
Alert gunner
Slight bonus to the hit chance when doing reaction fire. Slight bonus to the chance of doing reaction fire. Weapon is fired only if the hit chance is 70% or above, or whatever. Or possibly the trait triggers when an alien is just about to fire. Hit chances and reaction fire chances are increased when soldier is confirmed to have the perk.
Fast aim
Aliens have harder time interrupting a soldier who can wave his gun as if it were a pencil.
Hates [alien race]
Extra damage against a certain alien race since one such alien killed the soldier's brother / mistress / random nice lady next door / jaywalked. Can you picture a necklace made out of Ortnok toes? Needs autopsy research.
Fears [alien race]
Less likely to do reaction fire against a certain alien race, since he's seen them do inhumane things to human beings first hand. Smaller chance to hit these aliens. Severe to-hit penalties at close ranges.
Quarterback
Slightly increased throwing range and accuracy. Bonus gets bigger once the soldier is confirmed to have the trait.
Diagnosed antisocial behavior / dislikes crowds
Penalty to morale when in a team with 5 or more soldiers. Bonus to all skills when 4 or fewer members in the team. Trait would need to be checked again every time an agent dies.
Sniper
Option to spend more TUs to do an extra-aimed shot with select few weapons. With increased accuracy, of course.
Die hard
Generally more damage resistant than others. Faster health stat growth.
Nyctophobic (fear of the dark)
Unless the soldier is wearing infrared goggles, his morale is decreased, his aim is worse and he's more likely to do reaction fire during night missions.
Likes [operative name]
Soldiers can grow to like other soldiers. Increased accuracy when the buddy soldier is in the same team on a mission. Incur (recoverable) penalties if the buddy soldier dies.
Patriot
The soldier requires no upkeep as soon as the trait is discovered since he has donated his entire funds to PHALANX to fight the aliens. Instantly gain 10,000 credits or such.
Security specialist
Bonus to all skills during base defence missions.
Recon specialist
Lowered AP cost for infrared goggles as soon as the trait is discovered.
Diagnosed PTSD
Increased morale drop whenever a fellow soldier or a civilian is killed. You might want to think twice to send this guy to the Final Mission, whatever that may be in the future. Picture a dramatic verbal fight between this guy and his CO once he finds out he's not going be a part of the last battle.
Talented [weapon name] operator
Boost to the hit chance with one particular weapon (only if the weapon has been researched). At later game, you might get rookies with bonuses to newer weapons (since they've heard rumors of them and they can't wait to try them out), while you'd still have those seasoned machine gunners and such, adding flavor to the mix.
Dislikes [weapon type]
Slight penalty to the hit chance with all weapons of this type. Penalties to reaction fire. Note that this could be possibly circumvented by using certain firing modes or ammo types since they rely on various proficiencies.
Medic
Unusually skilled medic sometimes gets more healing done with the same amount of TUs. This chance goes up over time as the medic gains battle experience.
Alert gunner
Slight bonus to the hit chance when doing reaction fire. Slight bonus to the chance of doing reaction fire. Weapon is fired only if the hit chance is 70% or above, or whatever. Or possibly the trait triggers when an alien is just about to fire. Hit chances and reaction fire chances are increased when soldier is confirmed to have the perk.
Fast aim
Aliens have harder time interrupting a soldier who can wave his gun as if it were a pencil.
Hates [alien race]
Extra damage against a certain alien race since one such alien killed the soldier's brother / mistress / random nice lady next door / jaywalked. Can you picture a necklace made out of Ortnok toes? Needs autopsy research.
Fears [alien race]
Less likely to do reaction fire against a certain alien race, since he's seen them do inhumane things to human beings first hand. Smaller chance to hit these aliens. Severe to-hit penalties at close ranges.
Quarterback
Slightly increased throwing range and accuracy. Bonus gets bigger once the soldier is confirmed to have the trait.
Diagnosed antisocial behavior / dislikes crowds
Penalty to morale when in a team with 5 or more soldiers. Bonus to all skills when 4 or fewer members in the team. Trait would need to be checked again every time an agent dies.
Sniper
Option to spend more TUs to do an extra-aimed shot with select few weapons. With increased accuracy, of course.
Die hard
Generally more damage resistant than others. Faster health stat growth.
Nyctophobic (fear of the dark)
Unless the soldier is wearing infrared goggles, his morale is decreased, his aim is worse and he's more likely to do reaction fire during night missions.
Likes [operative name]
Soldiers can grow to like other soldiers. Increased accuracy when the buddy soldier is in the same team on a mission. Incur (recoverable) penalties if the buddy soldier dies.
Patriot
The soldier requires no upkeep as soon as the trait is discovered since he has donated his entire funds to PHALANX to fight the aliens. Instantly gain 10,000 credits or such.
Security specialist
Bonus to all skills during base defence missions.
Recon specialist
Lowered AP cost for infrared goggles as soon as the trait is discovered.
4
Feature Requests / Ufopaedia and the lacking equipment information
« on: January 17, 2012, 06:42:48 am »
Note: I'm playing the latest stable release, the Nov 2010 release, I believe.
I for one would like to see more information on researched buildable aircraft and aircraft weapons, just so that I don't have to build that aircraft or a weapon to see the stats. The aircraft info in my opinion lacks :
- the weapon and equipment slot counts
- maximum weapon mount size for each slot
- the aircraft armor/HP (assuming there are differences)
- weapon damages and ranges for aircraft weapons, to say the least
and... well I forgot. Too much to remember. It's especially the aircraft that bother me, because they take such a long time to build, and right now I'm doing research on the 3rd researchable craft, soon to be building one just to find out its characteristics. Not fun being in the dark like this
I for one would like to see more information on researched buildable aircraft and aircraft weapons, just so that I don't have to build that aircraft or a weapon to see the stats. The aircraft info in my opinion lacks :
- the weapon and equipment slot counts
- maximum weapon mount size for each slot
- the aircraft armor/HP (assuming there are differences)
- weapon damages and ranges for aircraft weapons, to say the least
and... well I forgot. Too much to remember. It's especially the aircraft that bother me, because they take such a long time to build, and right now I'm doing research on the 3rd researchable craft, soon to be building one just to find out its characteristics. Not fun being in the dark like this
5
Feature Requests / Simple but (hopefully) powerful UI tweak
« on: January 17, 2012, 06:25:45 am »
(See the attached screenshot)
See those tiny triangles with which you can browse through bases? I want them in every window. That is, in Transfer, Production and Buy/Sell windows at least. I believe it would make things easier in a good way.
See those tiny triangles with which you can browse through bases? I want them in every window. That is, in Transfer, Production and Buy/Sell windows at least. I believe it would make things easier in a good way.
6
Feature Requests / Request: Miserable burst-fire sounds and slow animations.
« on: March 10, 2009, 04:58:20 pm »
Ok, I've had enough with the current burst sounds for Assault Rifle and Machine Gun. Full Auto sounds fine but the controlled bursts... they're miserable. I assume the game tries to employ single shots in rapid succession to create a feeling of burst fire? Which is bad, BAD! The intervals between shots are uneven and unpleasant to listen. This has to change and I'm ready to do it, audioediting-wise. Does all this sound ludicrous? I think I'll name the burst sound files, for example, assaultrifle_3.wav for 3-round AR burst. Assaultrifle.wav is the original sound file, _3 notes the bullet count. Shouldn't be that much work (thinking only Assault Rifle and Machine Gun here).
How much work in the code would it require to take advantage of these new separate (and probably more fluid sounding) sound files for different fire modes?
The philosophy I was thinking was that if burst sound file exists, make the game use it. If not, create the burst sound the traditional way.
Also, animations are slooow. Soldiers walk. Maybe it is a stroll through the park. Maybe it's combat and soldiers and aliens should run. Ok, I know, running would require making new animations. What I'm asking is a way to increase the animation speed. Christ, it feels like forever to see a soldier to crouch. Or perhaps there already is a way to increase the animation speed during tactical?
How much work in the code would it require to take advantage of these new separate (and probably more fluid sounding) sound files for different fire modes?
The philosophy I was thinking was that if burst sound file exists, make the game use it. If not, create the burst sound the traditional way.
Also, animations are slooow. Soldiers walk. Maybe it is a stroll through the park. Maybe it's combat and soldiers and aliens should run. Ok, I know, running would require making new animations. What I'm asking is a way to increase the animation speed. Christ, it feels like forever to see a soldier to crouch. Or perhaps there already is a way to increase the animation speed during tactical?
Pages: [1]