Can Enemies carry shield type weapon with 1 handed pistols?

[drages]

Yep.. i want to give enemies something like forcefield with giving them invisible shields.. so they need to carry them with one hand if we think like our soldiers..

I will make something like that to our soldiers too and its very easy.. easier then normal shield.. but the problem is, can enemy use somekind of that?

[Game_tester]

good idea ...

enemy take shield from dead solder for example ...

or they can have energy shield ...

[drages]

hahah yeah it works!!! i didnt think it would but i just tried and i couldnt kill a noncombadant ceasen with shotgun bullets ...

The shield will protect their front but enemies always looking to us so.. wow.. it opened new ideas in my mind... i can make every enemy weapon "1" handed and give them a shield.. can u imagine with a heavy forceshielded wraith armored to the teeth...

omg.. omg.. i love this game modding..

but still i got some questions..

1. How can i change the shield "bullet hit" effect.. is it stardart? is there a way to make it per different shild types?

2. How can i make the shield 360 degree shielding?

[kabill]

Not sure about 1. As regards 2, you can set this in config.xml but you can only set it for all shields (i.e. you can't have different shields with different angles of protection).

Also, glad to know this works. It's something I've been meaning to check out for a long time.

[drages]

Not sure about 1. As regards 2, you can set this in config.xml but you can only set it for all shields (i.e. you can't have different shields with different angles of protection).

Also, glad to know this works. It's something I've been meaning to check out for a long time.

thx kabill..

the shield command for enemy:

<Equipment>

<PrimaryWeapon name="weapon.AlienPlasmaPistol" />

<SecondaryWeapon name="weapon.forgefield" />

<Belt>

<Item name="ammo.alienplasmacell" />

</Belt>

</Equipment>

and the game uses the same sprites as first weapon.. so u dont need to create another enemy sprite sheet for shield..

------

by the way.. i tried ranged healing.. gave a weapon just -damage but the range showed red and when fired no bullets fly and i couldnt move my soldiers (clicking to ground didnt move the soldiers, after end turn it became normal again)

I didnt see any special command at medicit.. so ranged healing is closed by hardcode i guess.. do i miss anything?

[kabill]

I've never tried it myself but I pretty sure from what other people have tried previously that ranged healing isn't possible.

[Gurbo]

It's an awesome idea. Make an extra alien subclass, either Riot or Crowd Control, the name doesn't matter, carrying a shield, a special more powerful pistol and grenades. They can be fought by spreading around it and making them face the first shooter and killing with the second/third, so they would provide a nice strategic challenge.

With changes to the AI, they could work even better, imagine one of those, crouched and with another AL shooting from behind the cover they provide.

If you make them an item, picking one on the field wuld be very useful, as I assume they would be better than the tier 2 human ones, and that could open the research for a 3rd shield... I'm thinking of a 2-handed shield with an incorporated shotgun/carabine. If the mod you're preparing doesn't have "upgrading" tiers but diversifying ones, you could find a nice fit for the integrated gun.

EDIT: @Kabill, because I think you know a lot about the game's coding. When you carry two shields, or in the case of the one I proposed, a 2-handed one, does it cover more degrees than a single shield?

Edited November 6, 2014 by Gurbo

[kabill]

EDIT: @Kabill, because I think you know a lot about the game's coding. When you carry two shields, or in the case of the one I proposed, a 2-handed one, does it cover more degrees than a single shield?

No, it wouldn't make any difference. It's also worth noting that carrying two shields might be (have been?) removed in v1.5: it's already been removed in XCE as an exploit and it's quite possible this will carry over when the main game is updated.

[Gurbo]

Don't worry, I've been preparing by equiping everyone with spares and dropping them for their main guns on the first turn.

I just thought that when carrying 2 you could put them on a wedge config giving a bit more cover on the sides and increasing the effectivenes against frontal shots by using it as sloped armor in WW2 tanks.

Then I have a nice idea of what to write on the Xenopedia entry for the new shield

Anyway, I never saw that as an exploit, carrying 2 shields is a very viable strategy on a battle if your only role is to spot enemies and taking the first shot(s). The exploit, IMHO was being able to throw grenades while doing it.

That reminds me of a HUGE realization I had about how to slightly improve Transport ships in mods that give too many setup choices. Would it be too dificult to add a couple of weapon crates on the ships so the soldiers can restock or change setups on the go?

EDIT: And this is a LONG shot and I guess it's hard coded to make it impossible, but carrying a shield on your back much like Pavise shields on late medieval crossbowmen would be awesome too.

Edited November 6, 2014 by Gurbo

[Ichthyic]

Anyway, I never saw that as an exploit, carrying 2 shields is a very viable strategy on a battle if your only role is to spot enemies and taking the first shot(s). The exploit, IMHO was being able to throw grenades while doing it.

agree 100%, and I never bothered to even carry two shields after the first time I used that on a scout, since I also usually wanted to build reflex and accuracy stats, and pistol and shield against non-grenade tossing aliens was the best way to do that.

you should indeed still be able to carry two shields, but that should simply disable being able to toss grenades. even light sticks.

[Gurbo]

agree 100%, and I never bothered to even carry two shields after the first time I used that on a scout, since I also usually wanted to build reflex and accuracy stats, and pistol and shield against non-grenade tossing aliens was the best way to do that.

you should indeed still be able to carry two shields, but that should simply disable being able to toss grenades. even light sticks.

I only used them until I got the upgraded ones. Basic shields are worthless.

[endersblade]

I stopped using shields because frankly, they never worked for me. Either the shield carriers never got shot at, or the aliens would hit them from an unprotected angle. It was seriously just not worth the effort or loss of damage, when that shield carrier could be carrying something more effective than a pistol.

In the extremely rare cases the shield would get hit, the shield would be destroyed and most likely the soldier would get killed shortly thereafter. I think I may beef up the shield hit points or something. I like the idea behind them, especially with my dart gun mod, their utility is really nice. And being mobile cover for other soldiers is certainly nice.

Putting shields on aliens is interesting. Again, currently they would eat up all of about one shot before being destroyed (wouldn't stop spit against a machine gun), so it seems kinda pointless. If shields were made more effective, I could get behind the idea. Especially if there was some way yo make energy bubble shields, UFO:ET style.

[Ichthyic]

Either the shield carriers never got shot at, or the aliens would hit them from an unprotected angle.

shield guys you can use to directly threaten and control the movement of weak aliens, especially once you have at least buzzard armor.

fly your shield guy right into their face. no, literally... right in front of them. if you use 2 shield guys, you can trap an alien into a single square without them being able to move.

that's how I always trained up my new recruits mid game.

-shoot down a scout or corvette.

-sight the aliens with flying snipers

-fly your shield guys to exposed aliens that aren't using heavy weapons or battle rifles

-make sure they have some tus left for snap.

for real training, give them weak pistols, to just move fast, give them a good pistol.

also, once you clear all the aliens outside of a ship, create a line of 3 shields say 3 or 4 paces from the entrance to the ship, and have them kneel. put the rest of the guys you want to train behind them in a line, standing.

put everyone on snap.

wait a turn.

then have your heavy or tank blow the door.

end turn, and watch the shooting gallery commence. never once lost a guy this way, or even got any serious injuries.

...but yeah, this DOES NOT WORK if you are facing aliens with heavy weps, grenades, or precision rifles. heavys either do too much damage too quick, or they use that "ball plasma" attack; grenades ignore shields, and precision rifles will get blocked, but your guy gets supressed, so no reaction fire.

so, strategy limited to scout class or corvette class only I'm afraid.

higher level classes shields not terribly useful, no.

Edited November 9, 2014 by Ichthyic