Squaddie Perseus

Ah, my apologies. I misunderstood that while reading the description and was expecting something more akin to what I had experienced with prior versions. That is my fault and I apologize for my silly question. Thank you.

It's been a long time since I checked on this mod (or Xenonauts in general), and I'm glad to see it's still being developed. That being said, I can't seem to get it to work properly. Whenever I install the mod, two things occur. 1) The main menu is some sort of Frankenstein of the vanilla main menu image and the new one included in your mod, Drages. 2) When I start a new game, the game starts me with infinite amounts of all weapons, ammo, and armor, (including the Archelon, three of them to be exact, with singularity missiles) but I don't actually have the tech for any of that. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing wrong as I'm simply extracting the files to their own folder and then copy-pasting the folder into the game's mod directory and then activating the mod via the mod tools. I'd really like to see what's changed and give feedback where I can, but as it is, I'd rather not fiddle when I having such strange problems. Is any one else having this problem? I looked through the thread and didn't see anything.

Sleep well, Drages.

1) Ah. Thanks for clarifying what I needed to modify. Will do so soon and report the results when I get a chance. 2) I understand the difficulties of keeping things in a project as large as this together and properly implemented. 3) Ooooh. What will CE 0.33 allow you to do?

Heh. Again, sorry but thanks for understanding. I wasn't exaggerating when I said every shot hit. It seemed that every shot out five, at least, missed, and those were from a cannon using harridan. The ones with the rifles had pinpoint accurate 3 round bursts that tore my tank apart. And yeah, I brought kinetic weapons with me with the intent to steal their neutron weapons to use on the androns. Problem was, I could hardly hit them because they were all airborne, which really throws off the accuracy of early game weapons even when your lieutenant rank sniper is on the field. And which accuracy values would I edit? Would it be the ones for the neutron weapons or are there values for each harridan rank? Looking at the Weapons_GC file, the accuracy for neutron rifles is 60, when compared to say...a laser rifle's 50. That doesn't strike me as that big of a difference, but I don't know how the chance-to-hit is calculated so I could be wrong. Ah. Well, I'm glad you caught the ufo crew issues. Yeah. Harridans in the early game are pretty much unkillable because of their hoverpacks and just general ability to hit any target perfectly (even Caesans and Wraiths miss with their Ion and Pulse weapons, but Neutron weapons never seem to miss, especially when in harridan hands).

Okay, sorry for my tone in the last post. It was just frustrating cause the alien weapon stats were through the roof. And are you sure? Let me check the file. *Checks the file.* Okay, according to the file you specified, the neutron rifles does 60 points of damage, which would be consistent with what I saw. The problem is that "200+ points" was cumulative based on one burst by a harridan and that was against a tank. Xenonauts themselves don't survive the super accurate bursts of the neutron rifles. Sorry about my last post, as it was partly brought on by frustration as I spent a least a half hour trying to even harm a harridan, only to have my tank ripped apart and my soldiers killed in one hit because jackal armor does nothing. As for the crews of UFOs in the next version, that's good to hear as Androns + Harridans seem to be unbeatable early game at this juncture, short of swarm tactics. As for the bursts, okay, yeah that makes sense, but the bursts of the neutron rifles are so accurate that it probably just FELT like that because the damage was so high. Oh, also, you have the Neutron cannon damage type labeled as "chemical" instead of energy.

Hey Drages, just taking a quick bit of time to let you know that I'm messing around with the latest .98 version of the mod, and frankly, I'm having fun but the balance is still horribly tipped in favor of the aliens in a way that makes progression exceptionally difficult/painful. Specifically, Neutron weapons (those oh so nice weapons your mod gives to Androns and their little sniper buddies) are brutally overpowered. How overpowered? I had to give up my first Andron mission before I even saw the Androns because the neutron weapons were just tearing apart my troops, which included a defender tank. I've exhausted all research avenues and I know I'll have to deal with the Androns, but the problem is that I don't WANT to deal with them because the neutron weapons are ridiculously overpowered, as in kill-defender-tank-with-ease-even-though-corvettes-only-just-showed-up overpowered. I can't get my troops close enough to shoot them because their LOS is extreme even with the nerfs that are stated to be in the patches and hotfixes (which I do have installed according to the game's mod manager). Combine that LOS with the one-shot-regardless-of-anything neutron weapons and I'm pretty much stuck. In fact, it's made the game more frustrating only because it's basically gating the tech in such a way that the only way to GET new research is a meat grinder approach, which doesn't work in Xenonauts for a variety of reasons (veteran troopers are to valuable, limited number of recruits, etc). This has made fighting even Caesans annoying (and I say that having raided a Caesan outpost before corvettes appeared, so my ballistics using troopers got an introduction to warrior rank Caesans and yet prior to the corvettes the raid wasn't a chore, just challenging) because it seems that anything above a guard can burst fire 3 times in a turn, or rather, the number of bursts their heavy plasmas allow combined with the damage is annoying because I have no way of getting the tech needed to protect my troops from those weapons. You've made Androns CRITICAL to new armor and weapons research, which makes sense to me, but for the love of Gollop and Solomon PLEASE nerf the neutron weapons. They make it impossible to get the tech needed to advance in the game. They really do, and I'm literally just sitting her shaking my head saying "Yeah, that's balanced. A rifle should do 200+ points of damage to a tank when the alien drone equivalent barely scratches it." In fact, looking at the XML for the weapons stats, I can say that in my old pre-patch .98 run, the Neutron weapons were more dangerous than the Ion weapons or Pulse weapons because my armor could at least protect against a few shots from those and the aliens that used them were at least more likely to miss (as opposed to harridans who almost NEVER miss). I apologize if this comes off as...well, I can't quite find the word but I suppose "frustrated" will have to do, as it is frustrating to be doing well and then suddenly come upon against something isn't so much a new challenge to be overcome as a "*Bleep* you, your fancy new tank is now worthless, as is everything else you've done up to this point." event. A challenge I'm fine with and I think others who use the mod would agree with me. What I'm not fine with is failure being the only option once Androns and their buddies show up because there is literally no way to get close enough to the harridans to hurt them. I beg that you take this into consideration, if not for a hotfix for this version (I'll look at modifying the values myself if need be), but for version 0.99, as an early game encounter shouldn't be so impossible and it's jarring to go from "outwitting Caesans and Sebis with smarts" to "Nothing works cause Harridans can practically see through walls."

I'm honestly very excited about this game. If it weren't for the 2012 game I wouldn't have found OpenXcom or Xenonauts and I've enjoyed all three to no end, both unmodded and modded. And frankly, I think the new direction is really interesting. All the X-COM likes I've seen, if they have sequels, explore what happened after an XCOM victory, as opposed to a defeat. And I agree with the Apocalypse similarities, but that's a good thing and I honestly felt like Apoc was unfinished and that...well, it just didn't feel QUITE like an X-COM title for some reason (and again, I say that as someone who found the classics thanks to the remake, and yes, I love OG X-COM as much as new XCOM). I understand some people's concerns, especially in regards to the stealth mechanics but if they're expanded properly (which from screenshots the devs have released may be the case) it won't be a problem. In fact, I've found that most X-COM likes lack proper stealth tactics in some way, Xenonauts and to a slightly less degree 2012 XCOM being the exceptions, and even then there was room for improvement (I never understood how peaking around the corner at a group of mutons who had their backs turned alerted them, sectoids I could accept cause they're psionic, but mutons...questionable). As for some of thixotrop's complaints...Civ V's multiplayer was never a problem for me, largely cause I don't buy games for multiplayer and I never even once HEARD of any such problems with 2012 XCOM and I got the game within that 10 month time period (in fact, I got it about a couple months after release if I remember correctly). Drages does raise from valid concerns, potentially, but we don't know the full scoop. I get what he's saying about air-combat, but frankly we just don't know yet. For all we know, the Avenger may carry some fighter craft (which it probably would) and is probably armed itself. And as for detection...well, it wasn't easy to detect the supply barges at first in any of the X-COM/XCOM games. Even with the aliens occupying the planet, they may not be able to find XCOM as they're using the alien tech against them. That or early on, we're just not really worth their attention cause we're not that big a threat to their NWO yet. Heck, for all we know, we may order the Avenger around the globe, hitting targets where we can. One day we may be in Brazil, the next we may be in Germany, always having to keep one step ahead of the alien searches. Heck, what if the Avenger can be assaulted while it's landed? From what Mr. Solomon has told us so far, it's entirely possible fuel may be a problem that we have to manage. We don't know yet, but we'll know more in the coming weeks, and with E3 I'm sure we'll get a lot of information. Further, in regards to the tech, as other people have pointed out, XCOM got steamed rolled (which is probably what happened with most people's Impossible Ironman runs) so I doubt they had the time to develop plasma weapons or other advanced tech, and even if they did, how would they be able to properly maintain it if they're on the run and no real support yet? That's where we come in and start to turn the tide. Plus, the reveal trailer doesn't tell us a lot about what tech we're going to have at the start. For all we know, the laser sniper rifle we saw in the trailer may just be a tier two weapon like it was in the last game and we'll have to make due with a propellant based ballistic sniper rifle at the start. I mean, really? How many of us have given the cutting edge weapons to our bests troops while everyone else got stuck with last-gen gear? Plus, Advent troops noticeably DO have laser weapons, but given that they're an (alien) government funded force, it makes logical sense they would have weapons better then propellant based ballistics, but still not as good as plasma guns (after all, wouldn't want potential rebels getting your top-tier guns from disloyal or otherwise corrupt officers, would they?) Really, we're just speculating at this point and I realize people are questioning the "aliens control things" bit but look at it like this: Okay, they've won. The ethereals were small in number. Their minions...we don't know the exact number but they were numerous but not as numerous as humans. What's more, as the game takes place 20 years after the game over ending of the prior title, the aliens are applying a CLASSIC occupation strategy, which is to swing the populace's views in your favor so they WILLINGLY work with you. Again, look at the trailer. There are recruitment posters for the Advent security forces being proudly displayed on the streets and they noticeably have no problem with the snakewoman in the trailer (who may have been their CO for all we know). At one point in the video, when an ethereal is show on an electronic board, there are Advent troops noticeably in front of it in the poster. Further, Solomon has said that in this game, we're working to expose the truth and rally people to revolt. This says to me that the actual number of alien troops is rather LOW when compared to the number of humans, thus the need for human troops. Also there does seem to be a bit of Deus Ex thing going on here, with a LOVELY (sarcasm) gilded surface hiding a rotting and corrupted interior. The aliens are billing themselves as something along the lines of the Federation from Star Trek or the Citadel from Mass Effect (the latter may be more comparable) but it's clear that's not the case. Remember what was said by the ethereals at the end of the last game? How they were looking for a species that could "ascend as they had failed to do"? Well, I think it's safe to say their experiment is still happening. Look at the trailer. It happens outside/near a genemod clinic. Anyone remember meld and what that could do to a person's physiology? Heck, there's even evidence to suggest that cybernetics are freely available. I've always wanted a game where I could send a squad of Adam Jensen's to ruin somebody's day. Sorry if this all comes off as rambling, but I can safely say I am super excited about this and I'm trying to scour as much information as I can, as any proper XCOM officer would do.

Hey, Drages, I just found a problem with the alien drones and their wreckage. The wreckage is sold after a mission and so you can't build the Scimitar/Savior tanks. This is kind of a problem because the tanks are kind of a must have, especially with Androns and Harridans given how powerful their weapons are.

1) Well, I haven't really tried out the enriched alloy ballistic weapons yet, but that's largely because I'm trying to hunt Androns so I can make a Savior tank or two and go from there and Androns are rather immune to ballistics at this point. Can't wait to see what the AP (or as your mod's files calls them, Gauss, and nice bit of scientific accuracy there while keeping with the lore ) MAGs do to Androns though. AP ballistics tore the early Sebis and Caesans apart so....*very evil grin* 2) Well...I'm kind of a spastic saver when I play games like this, partly cause I try to be really meticulous and careful. And I load if I lose a good soldier, especially over reason I consider to be the AI say...appearing to shoot through the wall (had this happen more than few times with Harridans and Androns) or when it seems that an alien moved beyond it's TU threshold, but this largely holds true early on, mostly because of the Sebi "blood grenades", they're just incredibly powerful and losing one of your starting soldiers can be a major problem because their stats are above par at that point in that game, or if something happens to the female soldier who has stun batoned two Praetorians into comas (for obvious reasons). As for air maneuvers, I tend to save before and after waves, unless I'm going after something crucial, like intercepting a landing ship that's about to perform a terror mission.

Yes, including enriched alloy ones, but the plasma weapons are a higher tier than any of those, so the moment I could make plasma weapons I had my engineers pulling double shifts to get those new plasma weapons produced. And these are the basic plasma guns, not the AP ones, just so we're clear. I'm glad I did that. With just Lance weapons the mission would have taken much longer. It was actually nice to have an easy mission for once, cause I know I probably won't be seeing another like that for a while.

1) I don't think it's any nerfing you did. A prior cruiser mission that took place during the day had Sebis and their vision was good enough for them to pose a real threat. I think it was the darkness of the night that helped me win this mission. As for the plasma weapons...yeah, they do have a noticeably shorter range than the Lance lasers, but their power makes up for it. Assuming you can get close enough to reliably burst fire that is. 2) I don't have enough drone parts yet. Haven't been lucky enough to down UFOs with light/medium drones in the past in-game month. Bought to change that when the next Andron ship shows up. Besides, the Defender has done me well. I'm not just going to toss the old girl aside just yet.

1) "A" save? That would be quite difficult. I'm not sure you'd get the same results if you intend to to test the fight yourself. Oh, and I basically did this without a vehicle, cause my defender got stuck behind a van that was sitting outside the Charlie. 2) I'd say the Sebis were under equipped. They could shoot me when they had a chance, but being Sebis, their long range accuracy was terrible, and most of them were warriors, with a few guards/soldiers with a leader or two thrown in for good measure so their armor wasn't the best at dealing with plasma weapons/Lance lasers. Oh, and Reapers, including bulls, regulars, and rhinos. And from what you can see, my armors didn't resist everything. The Sebis could hurt my troops when they got close enough (or in the case of the heavy weapons guy, bombard him with plasma cannons). I think for once the darkness worked in my favor. If you combine the naturally near-sighted Sebillians with the vision impairment of a night mission, they have trouble hitting targets. Hell, when they killed the local forces, two of those were from point blank Matergy/Vindicator bursts and one from a Reaper bull. If this had been during the day, this may have been a different story.

So uh...I just had my first terror mission...after just making 5 plasma rifles and 3 plasma pistols for my best soldiers. The sniper and heavy weapons on this mission (who are also part of my "best soldiers") had Lance laser weapons. This is the result: In short, they tried to ruin my reputation with Central America. I got max funding from this. And I just learned how to make the plasma torpedoes and missiles and the plasma aircraft gun...and I've got a Bic-Lancer and 3 B17s. Is it sad I'm starting to feel sorry for the aliens? Oh, and I admit to playing on Normal (cause I suck at playing X-COM style games at anything harder ), but honestly, this terror mission was the easiest I had in forever. I've had UFO raids on Corvettes that were tougher than this both in Vanilla and this mod. So...thanks Sebis. When this war is over, all my personnel can retire filthy rich.

This is an interesting proposition. I'll have to think on this. There is one thing I have to say, when an UFO shoots down my craft how I feel kind of depends on the UFO in question. If you think about it, the UFOs have a logical loadout for their purpose. Take for example, the Carrier. It's got plenty of AA defenses, as a carrier should, but at the same time, it's weapons seem to be a bit powerful for craft of its type, as logically, you would want to keep a carrier out of direct combat. Yes, I realize that carriers, lore wise, serve multiple functions (IE: troop transport, hanger for smaller craft, etc), but at the same time, a ship like this is something you would keep out of direct combat because it's armor would naturally be thinner to accommodate the numerous hangers and supply stores, as opposed to the Landing Ship, which is a dedicated land assault ship, which is supposed to be heavily armored.

1) Confirmed. I added the period and it worked. Edit: Unfortunately...selecting the Wolf armor in the workshop causes a crash. I'd say fix the armor crashes first, as being able to make new armors is a bigger priority than inspecting a corpses' backpack. 2) If you need lore writers I'm willing to help when I can. I actually like to write in my spare time, so that's a plus.

Yep. I understand entirely. And what's worse, if you fix something, it may break a dozen other things. Anyway, if we fix this bug with the Androns, will that require a new game or will it be save friendly?

Agreed. Kudos to Draku for catching what several of us missed. Ugh. This is why I love and hate programming. It's the little things.

1) Was that it? Was that really it? *Looks at researches.xml, sees the error now that you've pointed it out, facepalms so hard there's a rather large detonation* How did several of us miss that when we were doing so much testing and searching the game files? UGH!! So, if we fix this, will we have to start a new run? 2) Oh, I'm not complaining, but I thought I should let you know. 3) No rush. There are probably larger bugs.

Yes, and as we've found, these parts aren't recognized as something that can be researched. The only Andron parts I've been able to research are the Hub parts I've salvaged, but the parts from say...a guard, don't qualify as something that can be researched according to the game. Thus, we can't acquire wolf armor or new vehicles and/or weapons. Also, Drages, you may want to check the Corsair research. I researched it last night and it unlocked the Marauder instead.

Again, I've tried using stun batons, both regular and advanced. They don't work. I've had three shield troopers all armed with advance stun batons just pummel an Andron guard (remember, that's the most basic Andron) and deal at least hundreds of points worth of stun damage to no effect. If you tallied up all that stun damage, you could take down at least three, maybe four, Xenomorph Praetorians, which REQUIRE at least 3 troopers pummeling them with standard stun batons to bring down in one turn, and even then you have to hope the RNG is kind. Further, missions involving Androns NEVER have alien stun weapons in them. From all the testing I've done with stun weapons being used against Androns, they just don't work. Androns have an insanely high stun threshold and it's not physically possible to bring one down using stun weapons, regardless of how much you hit it. Oh, and when it came to trying to stun that guard, it went on for two turns and it was still standing when the shield troopers were out of TUs on the second turn. It just can't be done.

We need to let Drages know then. This has basically stagnated the tech tree and made anything above a Corvette a suicide mission most of the time. What's more, I've now got Cruisers and Carriers to content with, so having Wolf armor is now a must, and no longer an option. Besides, I've got enough resources to outfit all my troops with Wolf armor so...yeah. This needs to be fixed. Should we PM Drages?

Yep, as I said above, just got parts, and I don't have any "Advanced" ballistic weapons. Never mind the fact that all of said weapons are heavy weapons or sniper rifles or a magnum revolver...so not exactly a good choice of gear for an entire team.

Um....Like I've said several times before, the stun batons do nothing. Androns have a higher stun threshold then they have health. A basic Andron guard will take several times the stun damage needed to bring down a Xenomoprh Praetorian and will continue to be an active threat. And I say this having used both regular and advanced stun batons on Androns to literally no effect. Testing Spear now. EDIT: Just brought down an Andron guard with Spear weapons (which took 5 of my guys firing at it at incredibly close range) and just got parts. It's impossible to get an intact Andron body for research.

I've got time now (2 of my classes were cancelled today) so I'm going to test Spear.