Messages

31

Mac / Re: Bug ? Base Number Limitation and unable to select Aircraft when clicking UFO

« on: February 28, 2008, 01:01:33 am »

1.) after building 8 Bases - even in easy - it is impossible to build another one. it is also impossible to demolish one or to demolish buildings.
2.) after you build more than 13 aircraft, the following happens when you click on an arriving ufo: you can only select from the first 13 craft from the bases in the timing order that you built the bases. If you have more than 13 Firebirds, you can only select the first 13 for a mission site, in order of building bases. (there is no scroll bar or such, nor can you deactivate e.g. Firebirds for hunting the UFOs ...)
4.) comparing with the original x-com / ufo game, I am still missing (very badly) the night flare or something like a maglite.

* The 8 base limit is intentional, though obviously the ability to demolish would be better

* scroll your mouse wheel over the list of aircraft, so see more.  Yeah, i know, it's not obvious... I've filed a feature request on that one

* flares are in the works.

32

Feature Requests / Re: feature sujestion: blood on off option?

« on: February 28, 2008, 12:56:37 am »

there's not an option, but you could replace the "blood" image(s) at base/pics/sfx/
with a transparent targa to accomplish the same thing.

33

Design / Re: On the subject of more base buildings....

« on: February 27, 2008, 01:24:04 am »

It will be more tedious to manage your bases if you have to scrub through various levels to see what you have.

I do think there is too much stuff competing for base space currently.  But there are other ways to deal with the issue.

34

Artwork / Re: Models Needed

« on: February 27, 2008, 01:18:10 am »

brief descriptions of the 3 dropships at the top of this page:
http://ufoai.ninex.info/wiki/index.php/Vehicles_%26_UFOs

35

Design / Re: UGV Control Facility

« on: February 27, 2008, 01:15:03 am »

...Small UGVs on small hardpoints, small or medium UGVs on medium hardpoints, etc. etc...

"Small", "medium", and "large" UGVs are all size variations in a 2x2 square unit?

36

Linux / Re: Why is this game only avalible for Fedora though Livna?

« on: February 25, 2008, 04:38:59 am »

You should probably ask on a Fedora forum.

37

Discussion / Re: Recoil?

« on: February 25, 2008, 01:58:30 am »

Or am I missing something?

I think you missed my whole post, except the word "complicated".

Shevegen complains that a binary "can or can't carry" model of encumbrance is simpler than real life, (example of lady struggling with a bag of rice.)

I respond to Shevegen and say that all the game rules are simpler than the reality that they correspond to, so it's irrelevant to point that out.

38

Feature Requests / Re: Geoscape - incorrect textures

« on: February 24, 2008, 05:21:13 am »

Always, I guess.  I just downloaded the game today, and it's like this every time I load.  Tried a bunch of different options, as well (tex. resolution, compression, etc).

It's just me, huh?  I'll try the linux version on my office machine, hopefully I'll have better luck with that one :-)

Well, it's not that way on mine.  Those are 3 unrelated (and oddly chopped) textures replacing part of the map texture.

You might want to try turning on the 3D geoscape, with IIRC is under the "game" part of settings.

39

Discussion / Re: X-Com veteran's initial impressions...

« on: February 24, 2008, 05:17:25 am »

...all the aliens are always on the first floor.

I frequently see aliens on the roofs, though most of them are usually on the main level.

40

Feature Requests / Re: Geoscape - incorrect textures

« on: February 24, 2008, 05:12:58 am »

The Geoscape view has an incorrect texture right in the middle, where Asia is supposed to be. 

Windows XP Media Center Edition
Pentium M 1.86 GHz (Dell XPS M140 Laptop)
DX9, I think
UFO AI 2.2 (just downloaded today)

I've attached a screenshot (sorry, PNG wouldn't fit under 512 K)

Wow.  Is it always like that, or is that a one-time glitch?

41

Discussion / Re: Did I just beat the game?

« on: February 24, 2008, 04:33:41 am »

awaah!   
Hurry up and finish the next installment already!

If you are so impatient why don't you learn how to model, or code, texture or make maps so you can help finish the next installment.

42

Design / Re: CURRENT STORYLINE -- SPOILERS!

« on: February 23, 2008, 08:52:05 pm »

...If I understood well, XVI is something between a virus and a worm. It has to expand to as many organisms as possible. This means that it needs to have a genome able to adapt quickly to different situations and hosts. The more variable is XVI genome, the better is and the faster it is able to infect other specimen.This implies that two different XVI infected, would likely have two XVI infection units with different genome. If there are billions of infected hosts, it is very difficult for the original XVI to don't have rivals.

You don't understand.  It doesn't much matter how varied the XVI genome is.  It's specifically stated that genetic tinkering is (at least sometimes) required to allow it to flourish in a new host species.  But the XVI entity is a being united not by a similar genetic code, but by a shared consciousness.  As long as the individual XVI organisms:
1) have the genetics for the ability to psionically communicate, and
2) are close enough to communicate

... the XVI will remain a single consciousness, and spawn no rival entities.


P.S.  It's irrelevant to the point, but "natural selection" i.e. "survival of the fittest" is not a law, on par with Newton's description of motion.  You can't define "fittest" in any testable, concrete way... at best you have a tautology: "the fittest" = "those who survive long enough to reproduce the most" ...  therefore we just have a single, self-evident statement-- not something testable or falsifiable.

43

Discussion / Re: Encumbrance

« on: February 23, 2008, 08:32:16 pm »

...the XCOM way of dealing with encumbrance.

For those of us not in the know, could someone describe how XCOM did this?

Something simple like ( AvailableTUs + Strength - TotalWeight) would work for me.

Forgive me if i'm rehashing old stuff, but i haven't found anything else about this.

Something like nemchenk is describing makes sense to me (but not in concert with "recoil").  It seems that TUs are one of the most important things to a soldier's survival and victory, thus the player would probably be interested in ways to optimize how many TUs each soldier has.  Currently it's totally out of his hands.

How it could work:  Every significant item has an "encumbrance value" (hereafter abbreviated "EV")-- sort of a hybrid between "weight" and "unwieldiness".  This slight abstraction make it easier to fudge the numbers for balancing purposes, and we don't really care about "weight" anyway -- but about how much an object slows the soldier down.  Heavy armor would have the highest EV and stuff like pistols, grenades and small-arms clips would have 0, or a very low EV.

You add up the EV of all a soldier's equipment.  If the number is higher than the soldier's strength, the difference is subtracted from his TUs.

But the player shouldn't have to do any math.  Along side the soldier in the equipment screen should be an interactive meter that displays his TUs with the current equipment, compared to his max possible TUs.


Thus the player has easily accessible the strategic options to outfit a lightly-armed/armored speedy scout, a slow-moving juggernaut, or anything in between.  I.E. it's not an attempt to achieve greater realism through more number-crunching, but an attempt to expand the strategic options available to a player.

IMHO something like this would justify the existence of a Strength better than the combination of all other ideas i've seen for using this stat.  It has an interesting and significant effect on the game.

44

Feature Requests / Re: Feature: reload and TU

« on: February 23, 2008, 06:56:02 pm »

it's a good idea, please file a feature request with sourceforge.

45

Discussion / Re: Someone is selling this game on EBAY

« on: February 23, 2008, 06:54:31 pm »

It's not a problem, as long as they include the source or provide easy access to it.