Khall

Been busy lately so this was on hold for a while, and I was finishing off my portrait mod. But finally got round to finishing the recoloured industrial props and started on the roads and vehicles. I might create some dirt or small farm ground tiles (like the middle east tile set) for inside village areas. I'll play around and see what I come up with. I might even get this completed one day

I've removed the top level directory, so it should install as a modular mod now. I'm aiming to at least double the amount of female portrait, so there's 44 in total. I think it should work, XNT uses an older version of this mod as far as I know. If the modular version doesn't work you can just add this to the XNT folder manually using the instructions for vanilla above (remember to add it to the files in assets/mods/XNT, not assets)

This mod adds 74 new portraits and unlocks 18 custom ones to bring the amount of male portraits up to 115 from 36, and female portraits up to 36 from 22. This mod is for people who want more variation in portraits. but in the default art style. What it does: Male: - Adds 10 new African portraits (13 from 3) - Adds 14 new Asian portraits (19 from 5) - Adds 19 new Mediterranean portraits and unlocks 2 custom portraits (29 from 8) - Adds 21 new Northern portraits and unlocks 12 custom portraits (53 from 20) Female: - Adds 2 new African portraits (5 from 3) - Adds 2 new Asian portraits (5 from 3) - Adds 2 new Mediterranean portraits and unlocks 1 unused portrait (10 from 7) - Adds 4 new Northern portrait and unlocks 3 unused portraits (16 from 9) Some Examples: The new portraits were created by mixing and matching different elements of existing portraits in photoshop. I'll still need to create more female portraits (which are a lot harder to do than male) and I'll do some more male portraits as well when I feel like it. But there's enough in it to consider it completed. Installation instructions for X:CE: 1. Download the mod and install using the mod installer in the game launcher or unpack the mod in assets/mods Installation instructions for Vanilla: 1. Download the mod and extract it 2. Just add the downloaded "soldierimage" and "soldierimagefemale" folders to their respective folders in "assets" 3. Open "soldiernames.xml" with notepad 4. Change this <Ethnicity name="afri" count="3" /> <Ethnicity name="asi" count="5" /> <Ethnicity name="med" count="8" /> <Ethnicity name="nor" count="20" /> to this <Ethnicity name="afri" count="13" /> <Ethnicity name="asi" count="19" /> <Ethnicity name="med" count="29" /> <Ethnicity name="nor" count="50" /> 5. Open "soldiernamesfemale.xml" with notepad 6. Change this <Ethnicity name="afri" count="3" /> <Ethnicity name="asi" count="3" /> <Ethnicity name="med" count="7" /> <Ethnicity name="nor" count="9" /> to this <Ethnicity name="afri" count="5" /> <Ethnicity name="asi" count="5" /> <Ethnicity name="med" count="10" /> <Ethnicity name="nor" count="15" /> to allow use of the new portraits. Credit: Thanks to llunak for doing the modularized version and Theon Greyjoy and Ogaburan for working with me on the portraits Download: http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/downloads.php?do=file&id=53

I've been really busy lately, so progress on anything mod-wise has been extremely slow. Though I should have some more spare time soon. That said I've done currently got 7 new female portraits and 3 new male portraits. So I'll move it to completed soon once I get a few more done. And thanks for the modularized version

Oh yeah you're right, i forgot to update that bit when i started the females. Add the downloaded "soldierimages" and "soldierimagesfemale" folders to their respective folders in assets

I found it quite balanced personally, the increased pellets means more reliable damage at all ranges (e.g. You have 6 chances for a pellet to hit at 20%, instead of 3), usually at least 1 pellet will hit even at medium range, and reducing pellet damage to 3/5 instead of 1/2 give each shot higher damage overall compared to vanilla. I gave the 1.5x modifier to the carbine for balance between them. The carbine is easier to get close with, but even with burst shot, has lower overall damage than a shotgun blast, so there is a tradeoff.

I've just started work on the female portraits, and i'll convert it to modular system sometime, but right now as long as you follow the installation instructions, there should be no compatibilty issues with other mods, all it does is add pictures and change a few numbers which is very easy to do manually

I did that and got the same error with the xenopedia images so i did the same there as well. It said it installed correctly, but it CTDs when i try to start up. I'll keep playing around with it to figure it out

Ah thanks! I'm having problems installing it, though I might be doing something wrong. I had problems installing your file, so I looked to see why, and as far as I can tell the zip file isn't to have any toplevel dictionary, so I rezipped the files without it. I then go to the launcher, and click install mod and choose the zip file. I then get 2 errors: And the mod only installs up to the 2nd error (projectiles/alenium_rocket) I checked the permissions of the files with the example mods llunak did to see if there was any difference and there wasn't. I'm still a little naïve about the modular system, but I don't see why it isn't installing

Remember it takes TUs to turn as well, so a shot that takes 20 TUs will take 21 if you also have to turn towards the target (e.g. north to north-west) to shoot.

Thanks! Unfortunately, I would have to go through both mods and merge the changes to each file individually, which is a lot of work only to make it compatible with that one particular mod. Though I did include a text doc. with the mod listing the changes I made to each files, to make it easier for people to merge this themselves with their own mod combinations. It'll be easier to combine them once I get round to converting it to the modular mod system, when I get the time. Also feedback on the balance would be appreciated.

I've done some more male portraits in my spare time: - Added 1 new African portrait - Added 2 new Asian portrait - Added 2 new Mediterranean portraits - Added 2 new Northern portraits - And completed my first female portrait As you can see from the last picture, I have also finally started work on the female portraits. I also noticed when I was looking through the female portraits that there is 1 Mediterranean and 3 Northern portraits going unused due to wrong values in "soldiernamesfemale.xml". I've updated instruction in the OP as always, including how to add and unlock the new and existing female portraits Once I've done a bunch more female portraits I'll add this to the completed mods, though I'll still make portraits occasionally.

Here's a concept I was thinking of doing myself, but have no time to do It's a industrial map centred around a single large factory at the outskirts of a city, in a less urban area than a typical industrial map. The dropship would start at the bottom of the map, where you would have to cross a road, go through the outer perimeter, which will have crates,barrels, etc., stockpiled, and then into the factory itself. It should have quite a nice increasing progression in terms of cover and combat distance, where the aliens will usually be in a better position. The UFO will be on the other side of the factory, in a wooded area. Should maybe be a medium sized map Here's a quick sketch: I haven't got the proportions of each area quite right, but you get the general idea.

Yeah, that would be great , I haven't had a lot of free time recently to do all this. I've included in the download a "compatibility" text file, which should list all the changes to each file. I did that ages ago to help people merge this mod, glad its coming in useful Yeah, its very easy, in "items.xml" change entry "weapon.rifle" to unlimited from normal, and change entry "weapon.ak47" to normal from unlimited. That should work. The only minor thing is that the xenopedia image will still show the AK47. I used the AK47 so that the carbine and rifle would look visually distinct from one another and so they would have separate sprites in ground combat, so you can instantly differentiate between them. Rather than them both being variants of the M16. Let me know if there's any issues

I'm not entirely sure, but i think that while everything else should work, it won't retroactively unlock content on previously completed research projects. E.g. If you have already researched lasers, you wont get access to the laser carbine, but when you research plasmas you will get access to the plasma carbine. This shouldn't apply to the ballistic carbine and other stuff availiable in unlimited quantities though. I think that will be the only issue with existing saved games, you could get around it (in the example above for instance) by changing the entry in manufactures for (e.g.) laser carbine to normal, instead of unlockonresearch.

It should still work with CE using the above installation instructions, I just haven't yet converted it to the modular system which would allow easy compatibility with other mods

This mod adds the carbine weapon type back into the game to fill the gap between rifles and shotguns. Carbines use existing carbine assets (which are currently used for shotguns in vanilla), and changing the existing shotgun role to use new assets. Carbines are lighter, shorter range versions of rifles, trading effectiveness at longer ranges for higher rate of fire and mobility. The old shotgun's 1.5x reaction modifier has been reassigned to carbines. Carbines use new sounds and current carbine sprites in ground combat. Stats (brackets are rifle stats)Weight: 3kg (5kg) Reload cost: 20TU (25TU) Ammo: 20 (20) Range: 15 (20) Only 3 Aim modes: Snapshot TU 22% ACC 40% (Snapshot TU 28% ACC 45%) Normal TU 30% ACC 70% (Normal TU 40% ACC 80%) Burst TU 40% ACC 40% (Burst TU 55% ACC 45%) Damage: 5/6 of equivalent rifle damage Has 1.5x reaction modifier Shotguns are largely the same except: Pellets: 6 (from 3) Damage per pellet: 3/5 of original damage Weight: 4kg (from 3kg) Has 1x reaction modifier (from 1.5x) This means an overall increase in damage and reliability, at expense of 1.5x reaction modifier and slight increase in weight. Upgraded shotguns now use the new assets and sounds, using the equivalent rifle sprite in ground combat. Regarding the new sounds, the carbines were made by modifying the sounds of the equivalent tier pistols (which also have an unused burst sound) to make them sound different than the pistols, more what shots from an automatic would sound like, but less powerful than rifles, so they sound unique. The upgraded shotguns's sounds consist of two components. A heavily modified version of an equivalent rifle shot, so it sounds more powerful, and a short sound similar to the "pump" of the ballistic shotgun. This was done by modifying and mixing in reload sounds, e.g. the plasma shotgun has a "latch" sound to simulate the plasma stream being cut off, and MAG has a charging up sound after it fires. This makes the shotguns have their own identity and feel powerful to use Other changes: •AK47 now replaces ballistic rifle, with modified sound and using the AK47 ground combat sprites •M16_short is used for the ballistic carbine, with modified sound and using the default rifle ground combat sprites •Incendiary grenades have been added, using modified art and projectiles of stun grenade •New rocket projectiles for upgraded rockets •New xenopedia images for each weapon tier •Alien weapons now use different projectiles depending on type Some images Let me know if there's any problems. Credit to Lt_Parsons for creating the original shotgun images, of which I modified slightly. V1.09 compatible To install, download the mod, extract it to the assets folder and let it overwrite. Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3cxgz6teikzhsau/Khall%27s%20Carbine%2C%20Shotgun%20%2B%20extras%20mod.rar I'll do a modular version for the CE edition once I get the time and figure out how to do it

I think this is what you're looking for, more realistic armours which you can also use with this, also from Jsleezy http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/6662-Jsleezy-s-Real-Armors

Some new portraits added working with Ogaburan and Theon Greyjoy: - Added 1 new Asian portrait - Added 2 new Mediterranean portraits - Added 5 new Northern portraits Sample: Updated instructions in OP

Have you thought about re-adding the bonus to morale from proximity to other soldiers, with a bigger bonus from higher ranks? It seems like a good way to combat low morale, and indirectly psionic attacks. If you have low morale, don't send off soldiers by themselves, keep privates close to higher ranks etc. Seems like it has potential.

I lost the XMLs, but for projectiles I highly recommend lightgemini's pack http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/10837-MOD-Projectiles-images-Replacement?highlight=projectiles My particle cannon projectile is just a modified version of one of the projectiles in that pack. Here's my projectile. https://www.dropbox.com/s/tneu2zdbzct34jf/New%20PL%20Projectictiles.rar

This was quite a few builds ago, I'm not sure if it will still work without some modifications to it. The code is what I used in "weapons_gc". You could try overwriting the existing data for it, and remember to do the rest of the stuff to implement it. e.g make sure there is an entry in "items", "manufactures" etc. Check the modding forums for more info. I might make a standalone mod for it If I have time (I've already done xenopedia images for it). I'll send you the projectiles I used As far as I can tell, items in ground combat had their own health. When it took more damage than its health (through overdamage) it would be destroyed. But I don't really know, that's my impression of it. It was never really used in the end, so I don't know if its still active.

Particle beam is, rebranded as the singuilarity cannon. DHVRL wasn't added, but can easily be implemented. I implemented them both ages ago in earlier builds (before the particle beam was implemented proper) http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/8341-Implementing-Particle-Cannon-and-DHVRL

I just checked as well, that's weird. In excel (which I used to edit it) it looks fine, but in notepad it does seems to be repeated. I'll see if I can clean it up later today.

Adjusted it slightly so the buttons bigger and the end turn smaller, and a bit more of a gap between them https://www.dropbox.com/s/or1qu9be4s4j4r9/Select%20Next%20Soldier%20UI.rar I'll send a PM with my request.