kabill
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Posts posted by kabill
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On 8/19/2018 at 4:52 PM, Skitso said:
Great to see you again kabill. Hope to mod with you once again.
Alas, I'd been thinking of revisiting the random map project for X2 but there might not be a map editor available. Guess you'll have to work double hard on map making as Official Game Mapper instead then! :P
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I think that's an important question (and probably worth putting on the Features thread rather than here as Chris is more likely to see it there). As I see it, there are two options:
- A fast, largely automated system which gets on with the business of producing ground missions with minimal friction;
- A strategic minigame which can stand on its own as an interesting and engaging set of systems.
The latter is not inherently better than the former, but I have inferred from what Chris did in X1, and the suggestion of having a turn-based system in X2, that he is more inclined towards the latter and I've made suggestions which - in my opinion anyway! - would make that concept work better.
If I'm wrong in my assumption, then actually I think X2 would be much better with a system similar to the original 1994 X-Com. A turn-based system is only worthwhile if there's some interesting/difficult decisions to be made and so the system needs to have sufficient complexity (and dynamism) to produce those. Without those, a turn based system is just making things slower and more cumbersome, without adding anything in return.
That's kinda my concern about the idea that Chris outlined in the first instance: a turn based system that doesn't actually have much more to do in in than 1994 X-Com's and which is therefore slower and more cumbersome for no benefit. If it wants to stay turn-based, I think it needs refinement (maybe using some of the suggestions I've made). Otherwise, I think it actually just wants to clone the original X-Com's system, with improved functionality for multiple-aircraft interceptions, because that was a sleek, frictionless system which just got on with the business of generating crash missions without intruding on the game at all. It's great, if that's what you want (balance issues notwithstanding), and it owes most of that to not being turn-based.
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As a continuation of what I have been writing on the Air Combat features thread, I'm presenting here an example of how air combat might work, using Chris's original suggestion as a base and making some adjustments to address things which - in my opinion anyway - are problematic with it. I'll start by outlining some of the rules and then and example of it in action.
Rules
The basic rules are drawn from Chris's outline in the other thread but with some adjustments. Note that all die rolls are assuming six-sided (d6) dice, because that's what I have to hand.
- There are 3 combat ranges (long, medium, close) each divided into three bands for the purposes of movement.
- Weapon attacks have a chance to hit based on range: Long = 6+ / Medium = 4+ / Close = 2+
- Weapons have fixed damage. Some weapons have a maximum range. Some weapons apply a modifier to the to-hit roll. Regardless of modifiers, a roll of a '1' always misses and a '6' always hits.
- UFOs and aircraft have a number of hitpoints. When all hitpoints are depleted, the UFO/aircraft is disabled.
- Each turn is processed as follows: the UFO randomly generates its move (towards or away from the player aircraft) which is applied immediately; the UFO randomly generates its attacks for the turn but does not resolve them; the player moves and attacks with their aircraft in any order; the UFO resolves the attacks it generated at the start of the turn.
- If an aircraft is already at maximum distance from the UFO, and the UFO moves away from the aircraft, then the distance moved by the UFO is subtracted from the aircraft's movement for the turn (representing it using some move to stay within the combat zone). Similarly, if an aircraft is already at maximum close range and the UFO moves towards it, then the distance moved by the UFO is subtracted from the aircraft's move (reopresenting the fact that the aircraft cannot easily escape from the UFO because of it's aggressive move).
- At the end of each turn, the UFO charges 1 or more jump points. If the number of jump points reaches 5, the UFO jumps to high speed and escapes.
Setup
The player has intercepted a hypothetical corvette with two planes: a light condor equipped for close assault; and a heavier foxtrot equipped for long-range engagement. Their stats are:
Condor: 5+2 HP (5 base + 2 for alloy armour module); Speed 4; Evasive (-1 to be hit); 1 autocannon (2x1 damage, ammo 3, close range only); 2 avalanche torpedo racks (5 damage each); afterburner utility module (on one turn only, move up to two additional bands; can be used before or after attacking)
Foxtrot: 6 HP; Speed 3; 1 autocannon (2x1 damage, ammo 3, close range only); 4 stingray missile racks (3 damage each, +1 to hit); flares and chaff (on one turn only, reroll all successful attacks against the aircraft once).
Corvette: 20 HP, Speed 2; 4 plasma beams (1 damage each); 1 plasma cannon (5 damage); ion burst (hits all aircraft within targeted zone automatically, 1 damage, targets cannot move or attack next turn); drive overcharger (charges an additional jump point if used)
The corvette is not limited by ammunition but can only use its 4 plasma beams plus one of its other three weapons/utilities each turn. As such, there's a number of things to randomise each turn:
- Does the corvette move away from (1-3) or towards (4-6) the attacking aircraft
- Does it overcharge its drive (1), attack with its ion burst (2-3) or attack with its plasma cannon (4-6)
- Does it spread its attacks (1-4) or focus fire on a single aircraft (5-6)
Example (please excuse the quality of the diagrams!)
On the first turn, the Corvette rolls to keep its distance from the attacking aircraft and overcharge its drive, meaning it will gain 2 rather than 1 jump point this turn. Because it is using its drive overcharger, it only gets to attack with its plasma beams, which it rolls to focus fire on my Condor (right hand aircraft). This doesn't leave me with many options - I can only move forwards with my Foxtrot 1 band this turn, and 2 with my Condor, which I'm happy to keep back anyway this turn as it's under heavy fire. So I move the aircraft forwards, and hold my fire as I'm at long range and likely to miss (in retrospect, I should have fired a stingray volley with my Foxtrot as with the overcharge it won't have enough turns to fire all its missiles now, but I forgot at the time). The UFO fires its plasma beams and, needing 6s to hit, misses with all of them.
Starting the second turn, the Corvette now has 2 jump points, meaning I only have three turns (including this one!) to shoot it down. The Corvette this turn rolls for an aggressive move towards my aircraft, rolls to fire its powerful plasma cannon at my Foxtrot, and splits is plasma beams between my two aircraft. For maximum damage, I could advance my both my aircraft forwards but that is especially risky for the Foxtrot which would be facing up to 7 damage (enough to disable it) from 2+ to hit attacks (note that if I could fire all of my weapons in the same turn, the obvious move would be to advance both aircraft to close range and fire everything which would almost certainly disable the UFO. But because I can only fire 1 missile rack from each aircraft, I'm limited to 12 damage maximum which is not enough to defeat the Corvette and I would have to suffer close-range fire. This is why I think limiting player attacks per turn is really important). Instead, then, I opt to drop my Foxtrot back to long range, but it will still fire a stingray missile because I have fewer turns than I have ammunition to attack with now anyway. I need a 5+ and sadly miss. With the Condor, I take more of a gamble, charging it into close range and relying on its alloy armour, evasiveness and luck to keep it safe (it can only take 2 damage max this turn anyway). I attack with one avalanche torpedo rack and a cannon burst (which gets two shots), hitting on 2+. All my attacks hit and I get 7 damage on the UFO. The UFO then fires in return. Needing 6s against the Foxtrot, again I get lucky and everything misses. Needing 3s against the Condor (usually 2+ but with a -1 penalty for it being evasive), it hits with one plasma beam, causing one damage.
On to turn three. The Corvette now has 3 jump points, so there are maximum two turns left. It rolls the same actions as last turn: advance, plasma cannon targeted against the Foxtrot, and plasma beams split between the two aircraft. This isn't great. I only have two turns to bring the UFO down and my Condor by itself doesn't have enough firepower, so I need something from the Foxtrot too. But the Foxtrot is once again under heavy fire and a few unlucky rolls could kill it. I decide to take the gamble, moving the Foxtrot forwards so it's just outside of close range, but I also deploy its flares and chaff, which means hits against it this turn will get rerolled. At medium range, I can then attack with a rack of stingray missiles with 3+ to hit, and they just do, causing 3 damage (total now 10). The Condor is in less danger, but I would still like to minimise its risk. Here my afterburners come into play. I move the Condor to the edge of close range, fire my second and final avalanche torpedo volley (which hits for 5 damage) and another shower of cannon spray (1 hit and 1 miss, total 16 damage now). Then I use my afterburners (which can be played after an attack) to move back another band, into medium range, to reduce the chance of being hit by the Corvette. Now the Corvette's turn, it attacks my Foxtrot needing 4s, hitting with one plasma beam and the plasma cannon. This would be enough to kill the Foxtrot, but it's flares and chaff force rerolls. I get lucky: the plasma beam still rolls a hit but the plasma cannon misses, so the aircraft is safe. Against the Condor, needing 5s, one plasma beam hits (total 2 damage) and the other misses.
We're on to the final turn - if I don't kill the Corvette this turn it will escape. Fortunately, my gamble last turn paid off, netting me some extra damage without cost, and leaving both aircraft in a position to move into close range to attack even if the Corvette moves away. Need only 4 damage in total, with another stingray and 4 autocannon shots at 2+ to hit is more than sufficient. Victory!
Reflection
This probably all looks very complicated, but consider that all the player would be doing is moving their aircraft and issuing attacks, so in play the basic system would be quite simple. In any case, I think this prototype shows how it can produce some dynamic combat situations and create situations where there are some difficult/interesting choices to be made. It also affords scope for some "special move" utility items and provides roles for different weapons and aircraft. I reckon something like this could work very well, then.
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Sorry, was adding comments for my benefit as much as anything else to make sure I didn't miss anything.
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The random map packs have been re-uploaded to the forum and can be accessed through the Downloads tab.
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This mod has been re-uploaded to the forums and can be accessed via the Downloads tab.
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This mod has been re-uploaded to the forum and can be accessed through the Downloads tab.
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The pack has been re-uploaded to the forums and can be accessed through the Downloads tab.
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This mod has been re-uploaded to the forum and can be accessed through the Downloads tab.
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This mod, along with the Armour Resource Pack, has been re-uploaded to the forum and can be accessed through the Downloads tab.
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This mod has been re-uploaded to the forums and can be accessed through the Downloads tab.
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This mod has been re-uploaded to the forums and can be found through the Downloads tab.
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This mod has now been re-uploaded to the forum and can be found through the Downloads tab.
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This mod has been re-uploaded to the forums and can be found through the Downloads tab.
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This mod has now been re-uploaded to the forums and can be found through the Downloads tab
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That's good to know, thanks.
QuoteAnd of course, looking forward to your Xenonauts 2 mods... wink wink
I don't have a PhD to be skiving off from any more, so I wouldn't hold your breath :P
(But I did spend a lot of my limited free time this year writing sadly more or less redundant mods for Stellaris, so you never know!)
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1 hour ago, Solver said:
Kabil - if you have the original files to simply re-upload for the Armour Resource Pack and Fire in the Hole, that would be absolutely excellent!
Is there still a limit on the maximum upload size? I remember when the Armour Resource Pack was originally uploaded, you had to do something special to make it work because the file was so big (~1gb).
In any case, I think I should have all the original files. I recently migrated computers, and so I need to extract them from my old machine. But they should still be there. I'll see if I have time to sort it over the weekend.
Also, very good to see you. You're one of the absolutely top contributors to the Xenonauts community with your excellent work.
I am apparently experiencing all the nostalgia feels right now. Who knew I missed kicking about here quite so much?
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Thanks folks
Seems like I should be ok to re-upload stuff then. I do remember the forum update, and thought things were being migrated, but guess I missed that not finally happening (it does explain why people were bothering me about the Armour Resource Pack on Steam).
QuoteAbout mods.. i think most of the useful mods are already inside X-CE. Others are mostly outdated by the base game and X-CE versions, so they would bring more problems and questions to new comers. I think the best option is, if there is mods which works fine with final version of the X-CE, it should be inside X-CE.
Maybe. Some folks might not want to use XCE for some reason, so having them available elsewhere is not a terrible thing. But I have no issue with them being bundled as well (is that still a thing? I remember some bundling at one point but I thought it got reversed later. But maybe not. It's been a long time.)
QuoteAs the X-Division development finally finished.
I'm genuinely in awe of the fact that you finished building this. It seemed to be so very big, what you were making, that finishing it would be an impossible task. So well done!
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So it's, err, been a long time. I've been summoned by someone asking about mod availability on the site. Looking at the downloads tab, it looks like all the mods got wiped at some point. Is there a particular rationale for that? Although they're all available through Steam Workshop, it would be nice for there to be space where folks without a Steam version of the game can download them too. But I don't want to start uploading things if they were wiped with a specific purpose. So advice welcome.
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On 11/12/2016 at 4:52 AM, joedenver said:
hi kabill, could you plese reupload the alternative ufo interiors ? the old download url is not working anymore
Won't be able to look at this for a few days but will try and get it done no later than the end of next weekend. If it's not up by then, poke me, because it means I forgot.
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1 hour ago, thixotrop said:
Yes they look great already, with its detail and the feel for reality in the textures. However, it looks a bit blocky. What I mean is the knife-cut edge of the river and the terrain level change. Some piles of rock are blurring that at some spots but in general it is blocky. Do you plan to change that?
I actually think they're ok. But now you mention it, I am inclined to agree there's a certain 'blockiness'. I think it's mostly being caused by the sharp edges produced where the ground meets a change in height (e.g. where the ground connects with the dip into the river) where there's almost perfect straight lines. Don't know how much work this would be but it might be worth looking at texturing the ground around these transition points, to make it less sharp. (Does any of that make sense. I can't find a better way of describing it.)
1 hour ago, drages said:X-1 does not allow very quality sprites because it's 2D and units are very little. X-1 Androns fit well to the X-1 atmosphere. I think the only fail was the caesans at X-1 and new caesans are enough alien!.. I can say that X-2 is doing very well at visuals..
I appreciate the technical limits and they're probably why the Androns in X1 feel so compacted to me. Although I think it was their waddle/shuffle movement animation which I found most problematic - they never felt like deadly killing machines but instead... I don't know. Not deadly killing machines, though.
In contrast to the X2 Andron model, which feels like it will have nice, clompy, robotic movements and looms large over the other models in a (satisfyingly) intimidating manner.
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8 hours ago, drages said:
I can say that i liked the models pf aliens very much.
Ditto, really like the alien designs and I can clearly see the follow-though on the point made ages ago after X1 released about making the alien silhouettes distinctive. The Andron in particular I really like - if I'm honest, the X1 Androns looked a little strange, while the new design has a really solid feel to it.
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Finally had some time to look at this. Using most recent build (as of 28/10/2016).
Not sure I really have anything new to say. The game ran fine on my machine - smooth and no lag except (except with burst fire but that seems obviously a consequence of it not being implemented fully yet). No crashes or serious bugs, though I may well have gotten lucky. PC specs, for reference:
AMD FX(tm)-8530 Eight-Core Processor 4.00 GHz; 8.00 GB RAM; AMD Radeon HD 7800 Series
On an aesthetic level, I really like it even in its early, unpolished form. The new soldier designs are strong and the environment has a nice rugged feel to it. It also still feels very 'Xenonauts' - that might just be a consequence of it using a lot of the same assets but even putting that to one side I think it had a very familiar feel to it which is pleasing. I'm not sure how taken I am with the new Psion models but I think that might just be the fact that they're a very similar colour/texture to the environment.
In terms of gameplay stuff, I didn't have any trouble at all with the auto-crouch mechanic and would be quite happy for it to stay. Some of that might be due to map design - the demo map has a lot of cover so you're never really in a position where you might want manually crouch in the open anyway - but even so I didn't miss the busywork of having to manually crouch soldiers. Didn't have any overwatch fire so cannot comment on that. Otherwise, again, felt very familiar - balance seemed perfectly in line with X1 experiences.
In terms of UI, I assume a lot is currently placeholder. However, I did find the cover/grid overlay surrounding the cursor a little excessive, especially given how much cover there is. I'd be inclined to make it smaller, change the cover icons, or have a key toggle the cover displays (I wasn't having any difficulty identifying cover locations even without the overlay - while it might be useful for new players my feeling is that experienced players won't need it other than occasionally).
All in all, then, I'm not sure I saw anything glaringly problematic. There's obviously plenty of issues but none which got in the way of my playing. But maybe I got lucky? Or maybe I just have a high tolerance for early-build issues. Like, the AI turn camera is pretty dreadful at the moment - it's more or less never showing what's going on - but then I recall that X1 had all kinds of camera issues 'til not long before final release so it's not something that bothers me much. So yeah, maybe not the best person to give feedback on that. Honestly, I think I'm just excited to see it, and I'm impressed with how much it seems to capture X1 considering it's been built on an entirely new engine.
(Oh, one thing, seconding the comment above about the 'opt-in' box being unclear which state indicates opting in.)
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15 hours ago, Chris said:
The AI in the first build is gonna be relatively primitive ... however the AI in the finished game should be significantly better than that in Xenonauts 1.
And to whet your appetite, here's a preview of how the new main menu screen background looks. Still early days but I think 3D has a lot of promise!
That's gorgeous. Really nice recreation of the original Xenonauts menu screen.
Just so you guys know; I'm not even installing Civ 6 until after the release date so we can make it.That is wise. I have loads of work to do over the weekend and pretty much had to drag myself out of the house this morning rather than play it.
Air Combat System Example
in Xenonauts-2 General Discussion
Posted
Yes, definitely. I probably should have been clearer about this: my point here wasn't to suggest that this is the exact system you want. It's instead only to illustrate some of the points I've made elsewhere to highlight why I think they're important. If there's some interesting and/or useful thoughts in there, then that's all I was looking to do. I just figured it would be better to demonstrate through example rather than in abstract, to make those points more tangible.
Air combat was more or less the only bit of Xenonauts I was never able to satisfactorily mod. The conclusion I came to seems to be the same as you with X2 (i.e. that it needs to be turn-based). So it's like picking up an old project. I'll add that your initial outline is a much better framework than anything I'd managed to think up at the time, so if I'm enthusiastic it's because I can see a lot of potential in it!