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I have been looking at the files that one can extract and thus presumably mod via the 'Game Mods' method which is currently implemented. Is there a way to add actual weapons with spectres to the game through this as it stands? Please let me know what your experiences with this method of modification have been so far. For those that need background information here is the wiki post describing how to use the Game Mods method: Method

This is my first crack at it. I've changed the suppression, damage, range, and mitigation numbers. I'd like to use a different projectile too, but I'm not sure how all that works. Anyway I've done the best I can with what they give us to work with. In reality, it's difficult to imitate a shotgun with buckshot without being able to mod the to-hit formula too. Below is the bit of XML to replace. The shotgun now has the effective range of a pistol and does a lot of damage, however, it has poor penetration. I also lowered the magazine capacity to 8 from 12. <Weapon name="weapon.shotgun" bulletType="normal" emptySound="Empty Click 1"> <props range="10" hands="2" recoil="0" weight="5" isHeavy="0" clipSize="8" reloadAPCost="15" reloadSound="Weapon Shotgun Reload" reactionModifier="1.4"/> <SingleShot sound="Weapon Shotgun Single" delay="0.6" suppressionValue="27" suppressionRadius="2"> <Set1 ap="9" accuracy="83" /> <Set2 ap="11" accuracy="90" /> </SingleShot> <BurstFire/> <GUIImage name="gui/weapons/Shotgun.png"/> <GroundImage name="grounditemimages/shotgun.png"/> <Ammos> <Ammo name="ammo.ballistic.shotgun" type="kinetic" damage="60" mitigation="4"> <Projectile spectre="projectiles/bullet/bullet" speed="1200"/> <Impact spectre="particles/bulletplume/bulletplume"/> </Ammo> </Ammos> </Weapon>

I've been interested for a while learning how to make new weapons and equipment for Xenonauts, and having had some successful attempts, I would like to share what I did to create a new gun for the game. At this point, I'd like to give a big shoutout to Gauddlike and Quartermaster. I found their posts and the work they did on the Xenonauts wiki very useful. The design brief I set for myself was to create a stun rifle, basically a ranged version of the stun baton. It should be researched (after Alien Biology is researched) and manufacturable (both rifle and ammo). The weapon is a high-powered rifle, adapted to fire a dart which delivers a powerful electrical shock to the victim. First place to go is weapons_gc.xml, where you set up the stats for the weapon. <Weapon name="weapon.stungun" bulletType="normal" emptySound="Empty Click 1" reactionModifier="0.8"> <props range="26" hands="2" recoil="0" weight="6.5" isHeavy="1" clipSize="1" reloadAPCost="15" reloadSound="Weapon Precision Rifle Reload" /> <SingleShot sound="Weapon Sniper Single" suppressionValue="0" suppressionRadius="0"> <Set1 ap="21" accuracy="75" /> <Set2 ap="25" accuracy="95" /> <Set3 ap="28" accuracy="120" /> <Set4 ap="31" accuracy="150" /> </SingleShot> <BurstFire/> <GUIImage name="weapons/ballistic/alternative/PSG1.png"/> <GroundImage name="grounditemimages/assaultrifle.png"/> <Ammos> <Ammo name="ammo.ballistic.sniper" type="kinetic" damage="1" stunDamage="40" mitigation="100"> <Projectile spectre="projectiles/bullet/bullet" speed="1200" delay="2.5"/> <Impact spectre="particles/bulletplume/bulletplume"/> </Ammo> </Ammos> This is basically a cut-and-paste of the precision rifle entry, with some of the stats adjusted, a new name (weapon.stungun), and an alternate graphic used for the weapon. Note that the weapon has an absurdly high mitigation value and a very low damage value. This is because I found out that stun damage is currently dealt in addition to actual damage. No actual damage = no stun damage. So I set it to cause 1 point of damage, and to ensure it caused that point of damage, it mitigates all known armour. EDIT: Also please note I am using the ammo type for the precision rifle. This will come in important later. After the weapon is made, it has to be registered with several other files to make it a usable item. You have to add it to weapons.xml.This adds it to the base layout, along with statistics which will be displayed when you click on it. <Row ss:AutoFitHeight="0"> <Cell ss:StyleID="s63"><Data ss:Type="String">weapon.stungun</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s63"><Data ss:Type="String">weapons/ballistic/alternative/PSG1</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s63"><Data ss:Type="String">weapons/ballistic/alternative/PSG1</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s63"><Data ss:Type="String">ballistic</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="Boolean">1</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="Number">1</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="Number">260</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="Number">1</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="Number">1.25</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="Number">6.5</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="Number">5</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="Number">2</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s63"><Data ss:Type="String">ammo.ballistic.sniper</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="Number">18</Data></Cell> </Row> You then have to add it to items.xml. This registers the item with the game in general. <Row ss:AutoFitHeight="0"> <Cell ss:StyleID="s69"><Data ss:Type="String">weapon.stungun</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="Number">1000</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Unlimited</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">weapons/airplane/rocket</Data></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="String">Item.Dispose.Destroyed</Data></Cell> </Row> Take a look at the third data row “Unlimited”. This variable when set to unlimited will make the item appear on the solider screen straight away. (I do this for testing purposes). Now, we're not done yet! The name weapon.stungun is understood by the game, but may be confusing to the player. There is a file called strings.xml, where I then put a description string for weapon.stungun so it comes up all pretty if I mouseover on it. <Row ss:AutoFitHeight="0"> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">weapon.stungun</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Stun Rifle</Data></Cell> </Row> Then finally, you have to add spectre files for the weapon so soldiers can carry it in the ground combat. To do that, from the /assets directory go into the /units/xenonaut/ directory. Then for every armour type (basic, jackal, wolf), go into the respective directory (e.g. for jackal /units/xenonaut/jackal/) and create a new directory with the weapon name as defined in weapons_gc.xml. So I created a weapon.stungun directory ( /units/xenonaut/jackal/weapon.stungun/ ), then copy and paste the most appropriate soldier spectre file from the other directories, or make up your own spectre file if you have unique art assets. (so I copied soldier_spectre.xml from weapon.sniper as the rifles look the same). At that point, I've done enough to create a new weapon. If I now start a game and go to the solider tab in the base, I will see the stun rifle. If I mouseover on the stun rifle, it will give up the description “stun rifle”. I will discuss research and manufacture in my next post (when I have written something worthwhile).

(Note: if you have no skills at programming then don't leave just yet!) So why no make a thread about it, to help Chris. For those of you who don't know how to change the movement speed(the speed at which the walking animation scrolls across the screen) It is very easy. Go to: folder where you have desura installed/Desura/Common/xenonauts/assets/config.xml Open the config file with the notepad program.(Or a similar text editing program). Use the programs "find" function to locate MoveSpeed(or just scroll down and use your eyes to find it.) You should see this: <MoveSpeed>300</MoveSpeed> And the number 300 is the default speed of the kickstarter demo. Just replace 300 with any number you want and save the changes. Any change will take effect when you start up the game. Now my personal preference is 245. I can't say the troops are sprinting or running per say in their animation. I think it looks more like light jogging. So the slower speed does look like they are moving with each step(as opposed to reverse moonwalking or floating). Then again i have really bad eyesight so please do say what you think of this speed, and post your own number if you found one that you like more.

I've been playing the game for a while now, and I love it. I went through the classic X-Com routine of naming every single soldier, customizing their loadouts, and then watching them die horribly the moment they stepped off the dropship. The only problem is that I want more. Now that every soldier has their own preset name, face, and nationality, I don't feel like I have full control over them any more. I remember that in the original game, there were plenty of editors that you could use to edit your squaddie's stats, but from what I've seen so far Xenonauts is much more moddable. Is there any way of changing a soldier's name and such within the game files, or will I have to wait for an editor post-release? P.S. I don't have a lot of modding experience. If you have any advice, please put it in "layman's" terms.

X-COM is my favorite game of all time. Complex and replayable almost 20 years later, the game is peerless. Neverwinter Nights was my second favorite, not because the game was awesome but because the toolset helped YOU make the game awesome. Perhaps the toolset for this game could be released like the Aurora toolset for NWN. Ohh I would love to mod a jagged alliance 2 remake.... edit: Nevermind lol

Does anyone know where the research and completion text descriptions for technologies are stored? I was able to find the popup images in Desura\Common\xenonauts\assets\xenopediaimages under 'new' and 'popup' but when I look elsewhere in 'Research', I see nothing in the folder. I had expected the text to be there. I even checked to make sure I have "Show hidden files and folders" turned on, but no luck.

In the most recent builds a new file, gas_gc.xml, has been added to the game. This file is used to add different smoke effects when explosions occur. The different gasses/smokes have a number of properties that can be modified to change how they affect your soldiers and aliens. To start find the file in the assets folder of Xenonauts and it using Notepad. You should see a file with about 8 different types of smoke/gasses. The first three are hardcoded to the game and linked to environmental effects whereas the remaining five are the result of weapon explosions. Each gas entry has a name, an animation associated with it, and a number of properties that have an effect on how your soldier interacts with it. The properties include how much damage it causes per turn, stundamage, how quickly it dissipates, and how it affects your ability to shoot into it (this parameter is not currently functioning). It is important to note that the damage/stundamage caused by smoke is not currently mitigated by armor (to the author's best knowledge). To provide an example of how to add a new gas/smoke we will be adding the smoke grenade to the game (image files exist, but not currently implemented). None of the existing gas/smoke entries is currently a viable option for this weapon, because they give a potential smoke grenade a very strong offensive use because they do a lot of damage or stun damage. Additionally the other smoke/gas entries dissipate too quickly. To add a new smoke grenade effect add the following to the file around the FragGrenadeSmoke entry: <GasType name="SmokeGrenadeSmoke"> <Anim name="particles/lightsmoke/lightsmoke" /> <Props damage="0" stunDamage="0" dissipationChance="20" accuracyReduction="25" LOSReduction="3" /> </GasType> This creates a special type of smoke that will look like grenade smoke, but will not cause damage to the target, will better obfuscate your solders, and take longer to dissipate. Now that we have this new type of smoke, we need a method to deliver it to the battlefield. Namely we need a smoke grenade. Before proceeding, save and close gas_gc.xml. Open weapons_gc.xml next and find the entry for "weapon.grenade.smoke". The outline for the weapon is there, but has not been fleshed out yet. Replace the entry with the following: <Weapon name="weapon.grenade.smoke" bulletType="grenade" emptySound="Empty Click 1"> <props range="10" hands="1" recoil="0" weight="1" clipSize="1" reloadAPCost="0" /> <SingleShot delay="0.85"> <Set1 ap="20" accuracy="50" /> </SingleShot> <BurstFire /> <GUIImage name="weapons/ballistic/grenadesmoke.png" /> <GroundImage name="grounditemimages/grenade2.png" /> <Ammos> <Ammo name="ammo.none" type="chemical" damage="5" stunDamage="5" mitigation="0"> <Projectile spectre="projectiles/grenade" /> <Impact spectre="particles/smallgrenade/small_grenade" gasType="SmokeGrenadeSmoke" fireChance="1" smokeChance="95" radius="5.1" sound="Weapon Gas Grenade" /> </Ammo> </Ammos> </Weapon> The main effect of this smoke grenade can be seen in the line that begins with "<Impact". As you may have noticed, we have set the type of gas that the explosion it creates to our new smoke. The other properties control what the explosion looks like, how big of a radious the smoke will fill, the probability that an affected tile will be filled with smoke (95%), the sound of the explosion, and the probability of a tile having fire in this (I made this 1% because that actually happened in basic training during a training excercise). Once you are done save and close the file. To fully add the weapon, add an entry for the smoke grenade to weapons.xml with the following values (in order of how they should be entered for a single row: weapon.grenade.smoke, weapons/ballistic/grenadesmoke, weapons/ballistic/grenadesmoke, ballistic, FALSE, 5, 10, 1, 0.5, 1, 1, 1, ammo.none, 0 Once you save and exit weapons.xml, add an entry to strings.xml for what the smoke grenade should be referred to as. Namely add the following two values in a new row: weapon.grenade.smoke and Smoke Grenade. The final step is to allow you to play with it in game by adding an entry for the Smoke Grenade to the Items.xml file. Add a new line with the following values (in order of how they should be entered for a single row: weapon.smoke.grenade, 0, Unlimited, weapons/airplane/rocket, Item.Dispose.Destroyed. Once you save this file, open up Xenonauts, start a new regular game, and equip the new grenade to your soldiers. Note: You can stop at this point if you want if you do not plan on equipping the smoke grenade as the sole weapon and use it from the quick throw option. However, if you stop here, this is not a full implementation, because you have to create the special spectres (files that control how the soldier's movement is portrayed) for a soldier equipped with the smoke grenade for each armor. If you want to fully implement it do the following: Go to the folder "/assets/units/xenonaut" in your Xenonauts directory. You will see folders for each of the armors listed. For each armor (except "none") open the folder and create a new folder within it titled "weapon.grenade.smoke". Copy the file "solder_spectre" from the weapon.grenade.frag folder for that armor and then paste it into your new folder. Once you have done this you have fully added the smoke grenade to the game. Hope you like the new tactical option!

I asked on the kickstarter page if this was possible, but got no reply. I stumbled on this by going through the forums, very excited by it. Is it possible to modify the actually tiles?

Just a query to see if a particular mod would be possible as things stand with the game. Like EU, I imagine there will be a pretty sequential storyline leading to a final battle. Once completed, this would end the game. What I'd like to know is if there is a way to either not complete the game at that point and progress to another mission or to add in missions of your own along the way and return to the game once done. An example would be that one of the alien races had a goal of their own. Preventing them attaining that goal would be a key mission, but you'd want to return to the main storyline once it had been completed.

^

Considering my initial interest in this game I've been very quiet on the forum.....although considering that the goldhawk website has been blocked at my workplace not entirely surprising. Anyway, to the point of my thread, what are people's thoughts on Total Conversions....perhaps somewhat limited given the nature of the Xenonauts game, but there is potential for other ideas using the base xenonauts engine. Perhaps an invasion by the hordes of Chaos with a kind of magi-tech theme for research options...or you could be defending the earth against to Goa-uld (sp?) from Stargate....or perhaps have a post-nuclear world?

I want to mod Xenonauts... but I need artists and an assistant EDITOR. All group members will have a say in how the mod is developed, and I will be responsible for publishing the content. The main rule all the members need to respect the members must respect each other. Who would like to join? Questiosn for GAMEMAKERS: Does <alienAttribute Mean the Number of aliens per mission? Where do you edit hired soldier stats? (Already know where starting soldier stats are... is this the same file?)

8/28/2012 XenoArmory is now updated to function with V14 with a couple of other updates. You can load the current data that Xenonauts is using, edit them, and update the working files for Xenonauts. It is still a bit limited, but for those that want to modify the parameters of the existing weapons it works just fine. You can download the installable version here: https://www.box.com/s/86qhy7knbmm3a96vccyg You can get the code here (In VB.Net 2010): http://www.box.com/s/1bc1cf349d327c993d62 Before Using: Replace the current strings, weapons, and weapons_gc files with the ones in the zip file that you can download here: Fixed Files What it can do: This program can load the current data from Xenonauts, display it, allow editing, and can replace the existing files that Xenonauts uses to run. What it can't do (yet): You cannot add weapons, delete weapons, nor change the name of weapons. Adding weapons will not likely come anytime soon, because you have to generate spectres and that will take some time to implement. Steps to getting the Xenonauts data up: 1. After starting the program click on "Forms... -> Weapons". An empty form will pop up. 2. Once the form is open click on "Load -> Current Values" which is the top left of the form that just opened. You will now see all of the weapons listed on the left and the values displayed of the first weapon in the list. 3. To edit a specific type of ammunition (certain weapons have multiple types) click on Select Ammo and then whichever ammo you want to work with. 4. To flip between weapons click on the name of the weapon on the left side. "Save -> Save As..." will allow you to save a data file with a root name of your choosing. For example if I select a file location and typed in "QM" the resulting files would be "QM.xml" and "QM_gc.xml" that correspond with the weapons and weapons_gc files. "Update -> Replace" replaces the files that Xenonauts is currently using with new ones based on the data for the weapons that you are currently manipulating. In case of error...... The files that are replaced by the program are sent to your computer's recycling bin.