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Discussion / Let's Play: Tactical Bootcamp

« on: July 05, 2015, 05:06:54 pm »

Hi everyone, remember me? Today I did something I always wanted to do after the big weapon/stats rebalance: a sort-of Let's Play/Tactical tutorial mix-up. I recorded an episode on 2.6-dev today. Hopefully I'll get more episodes out down the line.

There won't be a lot of role playing in this one, as I'll be focused on teaching some tactics on the battlescape. But if you'd like to adopt one of the soldiers, let me know and I'll rename it after you for future episodes.

Let's Play UFO Alien Invasion: Tactical Bootcamp #1

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Tactics / Tactics guide at ufopaedia.org

« on: September 03, 2014, 01:07:48 pm »

A long while ago, the good folks at ufopaedia.org agreed to add a listing for our game. I did some initial scaffolding and wrote a few articles in preparation for 2.5's release. But unfortunately I had to move on from the project before very much was done.

Recently, I've noticed a lot of tactics discussion in the forum. Although very incomplete, the guide still provides some valuable information -- especially the articles on Squad Composition and Reaction Fire.

The strategy guides at ufopaedia.org are all wikis. I hoped that this could be the go-to source for strategy information, maintained by the community of players, so that the developers don't have to be responsible for maintaining it. I wanted to get more in place to kick it off, but that probably won't happen. So, players, please have a look at the guides of others games, then use, update and extend the guide. Too much of the information on the forums is fragmentary, incorrect, obsolete and scattered across years of posts.

Strategy guide at ufopaedia.org

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Announcements / 2.5 branch created - nightly and source-code builds effected

« on: September 26, 2013, 12:54:51 pm »

We have now created a branch for 2.5, which means our repository is now effectively on 2.6-dev. If you download regular nightly builds, you will notice in the next nightly that the save game location has moved to a new 2.6 directory, so you will need to transfer your save game files. If you compile from source, this will occur the next time you update your source.

We have also begun merging some aspects of UI2 into 2.6-dev. If you want to continue stable play, we encourage you to use the 2.5 branch for the time being. We will hopefully provide some release candidates in the near future for you to play with the latest fixes. But remember "near future" is relative to our generally slow pace, so they may not be available terribly soon.

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Windows / MOVED: bug @ alien transfer - latest 2.5

« on: September 06, 2013, 11:50:30 pm »

This topic has been moved to Bugs in development version (2.5-dev).

http://ufoai.org/forum/index.php?topic=7950.0

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Announcements / Important save game update

« on: September 05, 2013, 11:30:10 pm »

We have just made a change to the directory where save games are stored. If you want to continue to use your 2.5-dev savegames with the latest version from git or the nightly installers, you must copy them manually to the new location. Otherwise the game will be unable to find them. The path depends on your operating system and is written in our FAQ.

Files that end in .savx need to be placed in a new subdirectory called campaign. Files that end in .mpt need to be placed in a new subfolder called "multiplayer" (for multiplayer teams) or "skirmish" (for skirmish teams). If these new directories do not exist, just create them.

For example, on Windows you will find the files in \Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\UFOAI\2.5-dev\. You must create the folder "campaign" at \Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\UFOAI\2.5-dev\campaign\ and move the save files there.

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Offtopic / Open-source RTS 0 A.D. is running an indiegogo fundraiser

« on: September 05, 2013, 11:40:42 am »

They've got beautiful artwork, but they're asking for an awful lot. It's a flexible funder, so they'll get whatever money they can raise. Still, I was surprised to see them ask for $160,000.

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Mapping / Village revamp

« on: August 27, 2013, 12:59:48 am »

I've been working on revamping the village map theme. To do this, I'm just taking the existing assets and trying to put them into a more logical layout scheme, add better tactical cover and firing positions, and do a tiny bit of polish on the visuals. I've put up some of the shots at Desura and our Twitter account, but I figured I'd add them here as well.

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Discussion / Disruptive changes to stat calculation in latest 2.5-dev

« on: August 08, 2013, 12:10:33 pm »

As part of our ongoing efforts to rebalance the campaign for 2.5, I've just pushed some changes to how soldier experience points are gained and how stat growth is calculated for these experience points.

These changes may be disruptive to ongoing campaigns.

Updating your copy of the game to after these changes will apply the new stat calculations to your soldiers, who have accumulated experience points under the old system. As a result, your soldiers will likely become much more powerful after their first combat mission. Using my own late-game save as a test, I found the following stats saw dramatic changes:

Strength: your soldiers will become very strong.
Mind: your soldiers' mind stat will become very high. You'll probably see sudden jumps in rank.
Accuracy and weapon skills: these will jump and, if you're late in the game, can even reach the max 100.

The rate of growth for stats has been adjusted, along with the number of UFOs you are likely to face, so new games should not have these balancing problems. If you're early in your 2.5-dev campaign, the effect should be minor and I would suggest updating and continuing to play.

Further refinements are in the pipeline with regards to how ~~accuracy~~ and speed are calculated, but these should not prove as disruptive. The accuracy calculations have now been adjusted so that high stats have more impact on improved accuracy.

You can read the rationale and data behind these changes in the proposal in our wiki.

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Discussion / Heavy skill gone in 2.5-dev

« on: August 05, 2013, 04:43:56 pm »

As of this commit today, I've removed all references to the heavy skill which appear in the UI and research texts. For those who are playing a game compiled after this commit, please keep an eye out for any mentions of the heavy skill I may have missed. This doesn't include generic references, just references to the skill which is no longer used.

OK: The machine gun is a heavy automatic assault rifle.

BAD: The machine gun requires a heavy weapons specialist.

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Translating / New help texts

« on: May 07, 2013, 12:26:26 pm »

I just wanted to let our translators know there's a bit of new text that needs translating. The texts are not very long, but there are ten of them. We've just committed a series of new ufopaedia texts that explain basic game concepts and mechanics.

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Offtopic / New Jagged Alliance

« on: April 13, 2013, 12:21:31 am »

Looks like all those GOTY awards for the new XCOM have energized interest in the tactical turn-based strategy game. Word of a new Jagged Alliance in the mix.

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