Policenaut

@Max_Caine The download link doesn't work anymore. Could you reupload it if possible? Edit: Nevermind, I found the experimental download in the other thread.

That's the variant I've experienced the most. Overall it seems to either freeze/crash when almost finishing the loading and when clicking OK after finishing a GC mission and trying to return to the Geoscape. It can also freeze before even loading when trying to load a GC save when already in the Geoscape. These are all caused by the ambient sounds according to the tests I did above.

Some crash testing ahead: Windows 7 Laptop - cannot reproduce crashing when loading GC saves Windows XP PC - can reproduce crashing when loading GC saves XP PC has better graphics card and processor. XP uses Intel processor and W7 laptop uses AMD processor. Both are 32bit systems. Test on Windows XP PC - each test was repeated multiple times. #1. No ambient sound mod enabled - no apparent problems #2. Ambient sounds without fix - freeze/crash during load of GC save from main menu and when switching to Geoscape, random crashing afterwards on Geoscape more details later below #3. Ambient sounds with fix (group 1 instead of 2 + modmerge improvements) - worked fine when loading from main menu, had one crash when changing to Geoscape, random crashing afterwards on Geoscape more details later below #4. Ambient sounds with alternate fix 1 (#3 + looping ambient sounds use group 2 with no repeattimer) - worked fine when loading from main menu, ambient sounds no longer looped and hard CTD which created a .dmp file when changing to Geoscape - .dmp file here: XenonautsCrashDump(Ambient sounds with alternate fix 1).dmp #5. Ambient sounds with alternate fix 2 (#3 + looping ambient sounds use repeattime="0" instead of repeattime="0-0") - worked fine when loading from main menu and doesn't seem to crash most of the time when loading Geoscape, random crashing afterwards on Geoscape more details later below #6. Ambient sounds with alternate fix 3 (#3 + looping ambient sounds use repeattime="0.01-0.02" instead of repeattime="0-0" or repeattime="0") - worked fine when loading from main menu and doesn't seem to crash most of the time when loading Geoscape, random crashing afterwards on Geoscape but much less than with repeattime="0-0" or repeattime="0" more details later below #7. Ambient sounds with alternate fix 4 (#3 + no looping ambient sounds) - worked fine when loading from main menu and doesn't seem to crash most of the time when loading Geoscape, random crashing afterwards on Geoscape but much less than with looping ambient sounds more details later below During all tests except #1 after completing a GC mission via loading a GC save from the main menu and returning to the Geoscape, and then trying to load another GC save would cause the game to crash every time during load. Test #6 and test #7 was able to load saves sometimes but never more than once before crashing and the loaded save would be more crash prone. During all tests except #1 after completing a GC mission from a GC save from the main menu and then returning to the Geoscape, the game would randomly crash after fast forwarding time for a bit on the Geoscape. Test #6 and test #7 had much less crashing but it could still happen. During all tests except #1 the switch to Geoscape could sometimes crash, test #3-7 experienced it much less than test #2. Test #4 always crashed. Loading a Geoscape save from the main menu and then never loading another save seems to never trigger any of these crashes. There was no apparent difference between quicksaves, autosaves and manual saves during my testing. The logfile.txt never reported anything of note. Summary: It seems that the prime cause of the crashing was the looping ambient sounds using repeattime="0-0" and group="2". Changing looping ambient sounds to use repeattime="0" seems to improve it somewhat but the problem still remains. Changing looping ambient sounds to be above 0, i.e repeattime="0.01-0.02", seems to improve it even more but there's still a chance of crashing. Removing the looping ambient sounds completely was similar to changing them to use a repeattime above 0. Not using any ambient sounds at all seems to work flawless. I could load saves any number of times without any issues. There seems to be some inherent problem with repeattime that the ambient sounds use. I'm not a programmer but my guess is that the timer data is not properly saved in the GC save file which causes the crashing. I have no idea why the Windows 7 laptop, which is less powerful than my Windows XP PC, never experienced any crashing. Is it an Intel/AMD issue or is it related to the operating system? However, I will later upload a version of the tropical/swamp tileset to steam workshop/nexusmods without ambient sounds and update the Ultimate Ambient Sounds to include those ambient sounds. I will also change it to use the data in test #6. It should hopefully reduce the crashing when loading GC saves for people who experience it but it won't fully eliminate it. There's nothing I can do to fix the bugs related to the ambient sound system repeattime and the sound system in general. Thanks to everyone who helped investigate this issue and hopefully this gets fully fixed in a future X:CE update.

@Solver I think I found the cause of crashing. It is the group="2" element in the ambient sounds entries that marks them as "music". Since the game is only supposed to play one music file at a time adding more might cause a memory leak. I tried changing them to use group="1" which is used for all non music sounds. This seemed to fix the crashing and also the bug that made Geoscape music not play after GC missions in the experimental xenonauts.exe you posted in the 0.34.2 thread. I will update my mods with this fix and I suggest that the ambience forest mod included with X:CE gets this fix as well and that the ambient sounds commentary in sounds_gc.xml is updated. *Edit: The geoscape music bug still happens, scratch that. I can't seem to replicate the crashing on the laptop I'm using now though so I will do some further testing on the PC which I actually experienced the crashing on, before I upload this potential fix.

I will upload an update to the tropical/swamp tileset without ambient sounds and put them in the UAS instead. I will also add some fixes to the UAS Charon pointed out. They might not fix the crashing but at least reduce it. Lastly I'm going to test if putting the ambient sounds in group="1" (used for all sounds except music) does something. At the moment they use group="2" (music) because that's what the instructions for the ambient sounds system said to use, but it might be that the music group of the sound system gets overloaded when it's supposed to switch to geoscape music.

Cool, thanks for confirming it works. Glad the loadouts fix helped you with inserting new sounds to an existing one.

It might be possible since it worked with the loadouts.xml. Please report back if it works when you've tried it.

Still lets you edit the entry without overwriting the original file so it's not exactly useless. Some files like loadout.xml don't even work with the modmerge system though, at least it's possible to edit sounds without overwriting the original files.

Change the modmerge from update to replace and remove the modmerge inside the <wave> element. Then copy paste all the original <wave> elements and add your own as well. It will make your mod overwrite any other mods that edit the same sound though.

Yeah, so it's similar to psionic attacks. However, you would still have to see your target unlike the aliens but since it uses "high frequency waves" to attack the brain, it bypasses walls etc. Robotic units should be immune to this effect as well.

Alright, should be fixed if possible though. I have an idea of implementing a psi-amp like weapon and it wouldn't matter if you use it on aliens, but if you'd use it on your own troops you'd get weird negative numbers that could confuse players. Speaking of that, would it be possible to add a functionality to make a weapon 100% accurate at all ranges, have a percentage based success to inflict damage and able to skip LOS calculation. I could probably make a hacky version with 999 range or something and play around with accuracy values, but it would not be able to skip LOS calculations.

Are they even affected by resistance? Optionally they could be changed to not cause damage below zero.

Also a suggestion, could the apDamage and moraleDamage be changed to be percentage based instead? I noticed that you could end up with negative time units, percentage based damage should fix that.

Is it possible it could be made to work with explosions and gases in future versions of X:CE? I'm creating a flamethrower that uses the rocket bulletType and I want it to cause moraleDamage instead of suppression.

Thanks!

As the title says apDamage and moraleDamage don't work with the bulletType="rocket". It works as intended with bulletType="normal" but I have not tested it with the other bulletTypes and they might be affected as well. I haven't tested if they work with gases in gas_gc.xml so that is worth checking out too. Also if possible, could a string be added for moraleDamage that is similar to the one for apDamage that says SLOWED when hit, but with something like FEARED instead.

How do you use the new entries for asian town, town1, town2 and town3 properly? There are spaces in the names for soviet town and asian town in the townmask_guide.png, but the soviet town tileset folder is named soviettown, i.e without spacing. Is the correct usage naming the tileset folders the following: asiantown, town1, town2 and town3?

This is most likely caused by an alien spawnpoint inside a "building grid". It's pretty much guesswork which map it is (most likely in one of the map packs). If I encounter it myself I'll fix it for the Xenonauts fix pack. If you happen to remember which kind of UFO was on the map it can help narrow it down as well.

Yes I think so: * Updated maps in Skitso's Ultimate Megamix pack, fixing issues with stairs in desert scrap yards.

No, I reported the same bug here:

A small bug with the item transfer preview. It won't show up properly until you first select a destination in the drop down menu. If you want to for example send it to the base destination that gets preselected you still have to go and select it in the drop down menu or the transfer preview won't kick in. I've attached some pictures to make it a bit more clear.

It is currently not possible to properly mod the loadouts.xml because the <Loadout> elements are missing the name="" attribute making it impossible to modmerge. Furthermore the xcesettings folder includes a loadouts.xml with a MODMERGE="replace" in the top <Loadouts> element which overwrites any other mods trying to edit the loadouts.xml. I've fixed this by adding unique name="" attributes to each of the loadouts in the loadouts.xml in the xce folder making it possible to modmerge and additionally made the loadouts.xml in the xcesettings folder properly use the modmerge system. SOLVED: Use MODMERGECHILD and MODMERGECHILDCONTENT or MODMERGECONTENT to delete the parts you want to replace and then use the same method to insert them again.

Ambience forest mod is not active on tropical or swamp maps. Bad load orders shouldn't cause crashing in Xenonauts compared to the Bethesda Gamebryo/Creation engine for example. It can cause features of one mod overwriting another if they replace the same thing, but that's about it. Most tropical and swamp maps are larger than the maps in other tilesets, a lot of things can catch on fire and they have ambient sounds. The combination seems to cause freezing issues for some people, but not for others, which seems to indicate it might be related to system specs? Loading ground combat saves (especially quick and autosaves) can also cause freezing either during load or when you complete the mission and click OK to return to the Geoscape. If you experience freezing try completing ground combat missions in one go and don't use quick or autosaves.

When an item gets replaced by a new technology through research, its statistics entry in the Xenopedia inherits the statistics of the one replacing it. So far I've only noticed this happening to the Xenopedia aircraft weapons entries for the Autocannon, Sidewinder Missile and Avalanche Torpedo. The grenades and rockets don't feature statistics on their Xenopedia entries so they're unaffected by this. Edit: This is pretty much the same bug as here: Sorry for the duplicate bug report.

@Solver Any ETA on a public release including the fixes for multiplePerTurn, non reaper melee and working Geoscape music after GC? I'm cooking up a "vanilla Xenonauts expansion" and it mostly needs the multiplePerTurn fix so I'll have to wait for that fix to go public before releasing. No need to rush it though since I still have some work left before releasing.