Jump to content

[1.65/X.CE V0.35.0] X-Division 1.00 Beta (1.00.11c)


Charon

Recommended Posts

48 minutes ago, Sir_Dr_D said:

I was talking about the alien missions. Like when aliens fly around doing a research mission, or a scouting effect.  What effect do those missions have on the campaign? Like do they have an effect on when the next phase happens, or the number of ships in the air?

If you miss any ufo, there is a chance to see it at next wave. If you don't act about something, any ufo or mission, it just lowers your score at the end of the month. There is no big deal if you miss something.. You can't win everything at this mod..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/11/2018 at 5:36 PM, PALU said:

Edit: Is there a way to keep track of what kind of craft a ground mission targets? Alien crafts come in waves, and it can be several RL days in between a craft being shot down to the ground mission occurs, as crafts shot down later may be engaged earlier due to light and travel distance factors. The mission briefing would be useful for this, if it was accessible to such info.
There are two kinds of info I would like to refresh:
1. What kind of craft is it (medium scout, corvette, cruiser, etc.), as that affects what kind of initial wave I'm likely to encounter.
2. What kind of mission was it on? As far as I can see all cruisers look the same, for instance, regardless of whether they were on a bombing mission or something else. This affects the amount of risk I should be willing to take to capture Operators, and all operators look the same.

?

Im not really sure what you are talking about, but the Quantum Cryptology Center reveals the mission and target of any UFO spottet in its range. It gets available as soon as your first successful base raid mission.

 

On 8/11/2018 at 5:36 PM, PALU said:

Edit 2: I just noted that the research category for melee weapons in the X-Pedia is called "EMPTY".

Yes, they are in the EMPTY category because no category has been specified for them. I temporarily put them under MELEE WEAPONS for now.

 

On 8/11/2018 at 5:36 PM, PALU said:

sufficient knowledge to research alien explosive

explosiveS

On 8/11/2018 at 5:36 PM, PALU said:

Sebillian Chieftain Autopsy

The Sebillian Chieftain Autopsy has revealed that the chieftain has a pinkish hide and are among the largest of their kind. They also wear a fair bit of armor, including a helmet. The examination of the body has revealed a few weaknesses of the species, but the concrete gain comes not from the body but from the armour. Since the Sebillian Chieftain is covered in more armour than its underlings, it does not come as a great surprise that we are able to extract more Light Fibres from the damaged remains than from the inferiours, 4 Light Fibres from each body, to be precise.

2 light fibre. Same for the ceasan chieftain.

4 hours ago, PALU said:

Sebillian Physician Interrogation

The Sebillian Physician provided to have a broader knowledge about Sebillian aligned aliens than the Sebillian Medic. In practical terms, we have gained sufficient knowledge to start researching the fearsome zombification process.

mention the medikit update, as well as the bonus damage ?

4 hours ago, PALU said:

Xenomorph Facehugger Analysis
<Much guesswork here, as I don't actually have any hard info, including what the mature form is called, and whether killing the zombie aborts the maturation or hastens it. Edit: The Alien movie was released in May 1979, and so potentially in existence in September 1979...>

This Xenomorph creature is something out of a science fiction horror movie, Commander. The small, fast creatures hatch out of eggs and scurry around looking for prey. In fact, they're sufficiently small that they're not recognized as threats. Once they find a victim, they jump up and latch onto the face of the victim, and immediately injects it with most of its internals. After a short time of gestation, during which the victim becomes a "zombie", the mature form of the creature burst forth from the chest of the victim, immediately ready to seek out new victims.
Our analysis has also identified some common weak points among the Xenomorph family, resulting in a slightly improved damage against them.

Once a facehugger is released from an egg it starts to look for its nearest pray to infect. Eggs can be killed to prevent facehuggers from hatching. Manual fire is needed to dispose of this creatures although they still trigger reaction fire. The infected host hosts an imperfect Praetorian version of its Phase. The host can be killed but the imperfect Praetorian will hatch nevertheless. After 5 turns it will morph into a queen of its Phase, then into the Queen of the next Phase and so on until the ultimate queen is born after like 20 turns. The higher the Phase, the shorter the chain.

849366798_TheHiveXenomorphs.thumb.png.6bfc44b856fe29510adb3af1b7a4c4ba.png

This rarely happens though because the player is either strong enough to dispose of the praetorian early on, or has to retreat immediatly. This chain prevents being able to run away from a praetorian though, as giving it enough time to hatch into a queen makes the mission very difficulty all of a sudden ( terror sites ). You can also mention that facehuggers due to their frail nature will die naturally after some turns. Too much fresh air i guess ><.

 

 

 

 

 

4 hours ago, PALU said:

Sebillian Soldier Vivisection
<The image should be changed for a green one>

I rather wanted to make a theme out of it. When they are not feeling comfortable/lower hierachical status they are turning red. Remember the operators who turn red when captured ? Something like that. Normal "soldier" sebillian dont turn red because of their status, and some sebillians are permanently red.

 

4 hours ago, PALU said:

Xenomorph Marble Drone Analysis
<I don't know enough about the various xenomorph unit particulars to describe them. I've seen their weaknesses differ significantly, and there's one bugger that tends to explode whenever I try to catch it>

They behave pretty similarly to the common Xenomorph lore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Im impressed. I like the entries.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sebillian Physician Interrogation comment: Is that the point when you suddenly get better medkits? I haven't been able to see when that happens, though it would make sense. I don't know about "the bonus damage", so I can't comment on that, as I thought only vivisection gave a bonus. Do interrogations provide a bonus as well (it would provide an incentive to interrogate ones that don't provide any new tech), or does interrogation of captives provide a bonus only if they don't have any vivisection projects?

Very good points/info on Xenomorphs. I'll have to look take some time to look it over before trying to update it. Is there somewhere I can look to see what the vulnerabilities of the different Xenomorph versions are so they can be described?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, PALU said:

Sebillian Physician Interrogation comment: Is that the point when you suddenly get better medkits? I haven't been able to see when that happens, though it would make sense. I don't know about "the bonus damage", so I can't comment on that, as I thought only vivisection gave a bonus. Do interrogations provide a bonus as well (it would provide an incentive to interrogate ones that don't provide any new tech), or does interrogation of captives provide a bonus only if they don't have any vivisection projects?

Very good points/info on Xenomorphs. I'll have to look take some time to look it over before trying to update it. Is there somewhere I can look to see what the vulnerabilities of the different Xenomorph versions are so they can be described?

In both cases i would suggest looking into game files. For the researches you need to look into the researches.xml. For the weaknesses you can look into the aiprops.xml. Both can be opened with a text editor, and i suggest sublime text 3 for it.

Unbenannt.thumb.png.8a18e8453060a8fe969f18465a2532a7.png

Unbenannt.thumb.png.90a4310b091bdcf69650beacbcdab072.png

 

 

 

 

Drones and Warriors share the same AI, but their fundamental different tools they have available make them behave fairly different. They are front line warriors.

On 8/3/2018 at 12:59 PM, Charon said:

I rather think that this "dumb" behaviour is a testament to the different AIs we were capable to write. Drone and Warrior Classes have one AI, Praetorian have another, Queens have another and the Empress has another. In every step you will see a gradual more "intelligent" behaviour. The Drones and Warriors are shock troopers, they are supposed to fullfill their role and then die, Praetorian are more capable, looking out for better approaches to stay out of LOS and take on lonely targets, Queens have more of a hit and run tactic, they priority is more their own safety while popping deadly shoots behind corners and support shock troopers, once the front line units have been used up they will also retreat and Empresses ... lets just say they are a very special treat. They are also Ravagers, Stalkers and Rogues, which have a different, more stealthily AI as well.

Just google Xenomorph >unit< lore and you will find enough for everything, but the acidlings. The timeline for X-Division are fairly "young" and "early" stages of the xenomorphs and their hive behaviour. They dont "really" have "individual" recognisable xenomorphs yet, and a higher queen spawn cycle to increase the chance of a successful establishment on earth.

 

Edit: Something of note would be that Praetorian hatch out of wraiths. So maybe this bioweapon has gone a little out of control ?

deadbody3.png.f26c2ca949f73add83e137ae46928ab4.png   deadbody.png.ccef030f37c1432e0c5885f709f7fe13.png

Queens hatch out of praetorians, although it is more like shedding the skin.

deadbody.png.c2959a2078d13bc00eb2016a70a6cc72.png  deadbody.png.f3655b5e02a41bcb3263cbb8e5b7a0a0.png  

It is unknown how an Empress is made.

 

Edited by Charon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, drages said:

If you miss any ufo, there is a chance to see it at next wave. If you don't act about something, any ufo or mission, it just lowers your score at the end of the month. There is no big deal if you miss something.. You can't win everything at this mod..

I am just interested for narrative reasons. If the aliens do scouting and research missions, it must be to benefit them in some way. Is there any way these missions benefit them? If research missions don't really effect their progress. then my headcanon says that the aliens do the research to benefit their society, and not the war. It is one of the reasons they are on earth. But then those pesky XDivision guys start getting in the way.

 

A wiki entry said that the longer a scouting mission is in effect, the more it brings up the value of the ticker. I am not sure if that is true.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I lost my internet connection immediately after my previous post.

Edit: I don't think hatching out of wraiths is a sign of it being out of control, but rather the indifference of the aliens when it comes to losses.

Here's the X-Pedia candidate's I've made up in the mean time (including some techno-babble). It starts with an alternative description of the Xenomorph Facehugger Analysis.

Xenomorph Facehugger Analysis

This Xenomorph creature is uncannily similar to the creature in the recently released "The Alien" sci-fi horror movie, Commander. The small, fast creatures hatch out of eggs and scurry around looking for prey. In fact, they're sufficiently small that they're not recognized as threats when stationary, although they prompt reaction fire when moving. Curiously, local forces seem to be less jaded than our soldiers, and have been seen engaging these even when they try to hide. It can also be noted that the eggs can easily be destroyed if encountered before hatching, but both the eggs and the facehugger require manual aiming to be engaged.
Once a facehugger find a victim, it jump up and latches onto the face of the victim, and immediately injects it with most of its internals. After a short time of gestation, during which the victim becomes a "zombie", an imperfect version of the Praetorian form of the creature burst forth from the chest of the victim (and, unfortunately, eliminating the zombie will result in a premature release of the monster, not its death), immediately ready to seek out new victims. We believe this Praetorian to be capable of evolving into gradually more lethal forms of the creature unless killed, possibly all the way to its ultimate form.
If a facehugger fails to find a victim within a few turns it will die due to a combination of oxygen toxicity and depleted energy resources (they are not Alenium enhanced, which is about the only thing that is not terrifying news about these creatures).
Our analysis has also identified some common weak points among the Xenomorph family, resulting in a slightly improved damage against them.


Scout

The Scout is an alien craft that, unsurprisingly, seems to be used primarily for scouting missions by the aliens. Its hull is made up of an alien alloy with remarkable strength and resilience. We have picked the scout clean in our research, and apart from the discrete components that are readily removed (unless destroyed in the crash or the battle for the craft), we have devised a protocol for extraction of further components which be believe will eventually be useful for systems and crafts of our own. Thus, we are able to extract 2 Alien Control Systems, 2 Light Engines, 3 Alien Computers and 1 Light Weapon System from it, as well as 4 units of Alien Alloys and 2 units of Alenium.

Light Scout

The Light Scout is a highly manoeuvrable alien craft that seems to be used primarily for scouting missions. Its hull is remarkably resilient, given its almost flimsy looking thinness.
Picking the Light Scout clean in our research, we have come up with a protocol for extracting further components beyond those readily removable for the craft when it is recovered (unless those are destroyed in the crash or battle, of course). Unfortunately, devising the disassembly protocol isn't a perfect process, so the trial-and-error involved resulted in all of the parts from the examined craft to be damaged beyond repair. We can expect the same thing to happen with all disassembly protocol processes: the first sample will not yield any components.
Our disassembly protocol will yield 1 Alien Control System, 1 Light Engine, 1 Alien Computer, and one Light Weapon System, as well as 2 units of Alien Alloys and 1 of Alenium.

Fighter

The Fighter is a highly manoeuvrable craft apparently intended for escort and interception missions. These craft seem to actively target our craft, which we can exploit by sending our interceptors up and wait for them in a fuel saving holding pattern, rather than chase them around as we have to do with other enemies. While none of the alien crafts are designed for operation within an atmosphere, the Fighters are still more than a match for our F-17 fighters, so just waiting for them isn't going to guarantee a victory.
Shooting these fighters down will provide us with a Downed Fighter, as well as a modest amount of precious Alien Alloys and Alenium.
We hope we will be able to eventually be able to repair and remake these craft to use them against the aliens. If nothing else, they can be sold for a decent amount of money, should we be strapped for cash, so excess craft beyond our own expected needs are very welcome both for that reason and for their Alien Alloys and Alenium.

Corvette

The aliens have started to field larger crafts than scouts, as you have seen, Commander. The Corvette can take considerably more punishment than the scouts and pack a much larger punch.
However, once our troops have secured one of these, we can pick it for parts. We have devised a disassembly protocol that will provide us with 3 Alien Control Systems, 2 Light Engines, 2 Alien Computers, and 2 Light Weapon Systems, in addition to 5 Alien Alloys and 2 Alenium.

Bomber Corvette

The Bomber Corvette seems to be dedicated to attacking and destroying ground targets. The craft itself is slightly slower and has a lower turn rate than the base version of the craft, but the fire power is greater.
The disassembly protocol for the craft provides us with 2 Alien Control Systems, 2 Light Engines, 1 Alien Computer, 3 Light Weapon Systems, and 4 Alien Alloys and 2 Alenium.

Medium Scout

This unit seems to be an improved version of the Scout that's faster, more durable, turns faster, and accelerates faster, but seems to fill the same role as the Scout seen previously. However, it seems to be crewed by higher ranking aliens.
Our disassembly protocol provides the following from a craft: 1 Basic Alien Control System, 3 Light Engines, 3 Alien Computers, 1 Light Weapon System, and 4 Alien Alloys and 2 Alenium.
Note that the Basic Alien Control System is a more advanced version of the Alien Control System found on earlier crafts: we expect this improved version to be required for more advanced aircraft of our own.

Strike Corvette

The Strike Corvette seems to be an improved version of the Corvette, crewed by higher ranking aliens.
We can now disassemble these crafts into 2 Basic Alien Control Systems, 2 Light Engines, 2 Alien Computers, 3 Light Weapon Systems, and 5 Alien Alloys and 2 Alenium.

Bomber Cruiser

The Bomber Cruiser seems to be the aliens next step up from the Bomber Corvette. Rather than just improving the craft, they have deployed a larger, nastier craft. About the only good thing about them is that they're slow and slow turning (in alien craft terms), but getting hit by one of their missiles is likely to be a pilot's last mistake.
The disassembly protocol we have established allows us to recover 2 Basic Alien Control Systems, 2 Light Engines, 2 Alien Computers, 5 Light Weapon Systems, and 6 Alien Alloys and 2 Alenium from each craft.

Light Cruiser

The Light Cruiser is larger and nastier than the Corvette, and sports a larger crew.
We are now able to disassemble each of these crafts into 2 Basic Alien Control Systems, 3 Light Engines, 3 Alien Computers, 3 Light Weapon Systems, and 6 Alien Alloys and 2 Alenium.

Heavy Fighter

As if the Fighter wasn't bad enough, the aliens seem to have replaced their Fighters with Heavy Fighters. As far as we can tell, they fulfill exactly the same role and behave in the same way. Shooting them down will award us with a Downed Heavy Fighter, some Alien Alloys, and some Alenium. It can be noted that we gain these resources if we shoot down escorting Heavy Fighters, even if we are unable to take out the escorted craft.
Given our efforts with the Fighter, we have reason to believe we should be able to turn the Downed Heavy Fighters against the aliens. If not, we can at least make some money from them.

Extreme Landing Ship
<The DSB Engineering info for this craft only states the input, but no results, so this is based on the stub on the research page>

The Extreme Landing Ship seems to be intended for base establishment, and they possess a nasty "wave" attack of their own. Once we are able to assault it on the ground our troops face stiff opposition from a larger number (as expected) of nastier aliens than other ground missions would suggest. Terror units and advanced versions of the known "animal" aliens have been observed.
The disassembly protocol for these craft, should you be able to acquire another one, provides us with 2 Extreme Alien Control Systems, 1 Light Engine, 1 Light Weapon System, 1 Alien Computer, 3 Heavy Engines, 3 Heavy Weapon Systems, 3 Alien Large Computers, and 7 Alien Alloys and 3 Alenium.

Basic Alien Control System DSB

This DSB protocol allows us to downgrade a Basic Alien Control System to an Alien Control System. Why would we want to downgrade a system? Well, if we are in desperate need of Alien Control Systems for the aircraft we can produce, we may well need to use what we can to allow us to continue the fight (and provide us with new craft to gain system from), rather than sit on our hands and wait for the eggheads to come up with suitable aircraft that use the newer component.
However, be very careful when ordering disassembly jobs, as we cannot put it back together once the process has started (aborting it will cut the production cost from progressing, but the system being worked on is lost. This goes for every manufacturing process, by the way, so consider whether you actually want to abort jobs, rather than suspend them by reallocating the engineers).

Alien Phaser Technology
<Moved from Alien Plasma Technology and adapted accordingly. The Phaser technology description is made up to fit, of course>

Studying the innards of the Alien Phaser Pistol and Phaser Rifle has given us a basic understanding of the science behind extraterrestial directed energy weapons. We remain some distance from replicating phaser-based weapons ourselves, even in a laboratory setting, but our work rases the tantalizing possibility of battlefield laser weapons.

A brief explanation of the generation of a phaser bolt is as follows: firstly, the weapon draws energy from an Alenium power cell and uses it to power a powerful array of energy radiation emitters each tuned to a different frequency. The radiated energy is then enhanced and multiplied in a multiplier channel where it bounces back and forth between mirroring walls in a process that both produces additional photons, and also aligns the phase and polarisation of each wavelength, i.e. the same basic process as the known lasering effect, but somehow managing it for multiple wavelengths at once. The apparent purpose of the multiple wavelengths is to both utilise the effect that different wavelengths are blocked by different size particles (and the others are thus not affected), and to counter any mirroring effects of the target, by having some of the radiation targeting wavelengths that are not reflected. The end result is intense heating of the targeted area that rapidly converts the spot into plasma which both causes additional damage to the target through heat propagation, and removes the obstructing matter to allow the radiation to reach the next layer below (the radiation seems to be tuned to produce a proportionally larger amount of radiation in wavelength to which typical plasma is transparent).
The main difference between the pistol and the rifle is the size of the energy generation/replication array (affecting the power generated), and the length of the multiplication channel (affecting the beam coherence, and thus effective range). Sadly, we are nowhere near an ability to reproduce this spectrum energy generation effect, as the materials involved in its generation is beyond our ability to produce or repurpose (we can't strip weapons for these parts, as they're too delicate: they're sturdy enough when fitted in place, though). Study of more types of weapons using this technique may be of use, as would any information we can gain from captives or the aliens' computer systems.

In the meantime, our efforts would be better focused on the development of battlefield laser technology, as the principles behind "ordinary" lasering is well understood. We have learned enough from studying the power distribution and lasering systems of the weapons that we believe we can replicate them in our own designs, making building man-portable laser weapons from these new alien materials a theoretial possibility.

We should also be able to study the Phaser technology further to gain a more advanced understanding of it.

Laser Weaponry

We've done it, Commander! We have finally developed the technology required to develop energy weapons of our own. This means that we can now start the research into the practical production processes of Laser Rifles, Laser Pistols, and ground Vehicle Pulse Lasers. To produce more advanced Laser weapons we need to perform further research, but we are have all we need to start it.

Alien Grenade

Our study of the Alien Grenade has borne fruit, Commander. We are now able to start developing a new armour, tentatively named Fox, that should be better able to withstand the effects of these explosives, as well as providing some modest increased protection against the alien weapons using ballistic and energy principles.

We have also been able to come up with research for the development of our own Alenium enhanced explosives.

Division Technology

The X Division has used the lessons learned from studies into Alien Ballistic Technology to devise our own improved ballistic weapons, which we call Division Technology. This theoretical and technological underpinning allows us to start the development of actual weapon systems: a ground vehicle mounted machinegun, a heavy machinegun for soldier use, and shotgun, rifle, and pistol versions, all improving on the standard ballistic weaponry. In addition to this, we have also laid the groundwork for the development of advanced research to produce additional ballistic weapon models.

Alien Ballistic Technology

The first study of alien ballistic weapons is now finished, Commander. While ballistic weapons is nothing new, after all, that is what humanity has used since the invention of gun powder, the power of the alien weapons is unprecedented. Since we now have a basic understanding for how the aliens use their materials and chemical compounds to produce their ballistic weapons, we should be ready to start the development of our own brand of improved ballistic weapons. We may be able to conduct further studies into more advanced usages of alien ballistic technology, but we need to review the research notes to determine if we actually have everything we need to start such a project, of if we need to acquire further information to do so.

Alien Stun Grenade

The Alien Stun Grenade is uncomfortably effective in stunning our troops, but at the same time pleasantly effective at stunning theirs. We have now gained a sufficient knowledge of the chemical and biological principles behind its effect to start a research project aimed at the production of stun grenades of our own.

Alien Lightning Technology

Given how effective Alien Lightning weapons are at stunning targets, we would very much like to replicate that functionality in equipment of our own. However, it seems study of the equipment isn't sufficient, but we need at least some support from interrogation of captives with an appropriate knowledge.

Despite that slight disappointment, we have still made sufficient headway to be able to immediately launch research into both the deeper, more advanced, aspects of the Alien Lightning Technology as well as advanced studies on the Alien Phaser Technology.

Alien Flamer Technology

The study of how the aliens manage to produce weapons that throw flames at a significant range has fascinated some scientists with a more pyromanic leaning than I though we had in our staff. Apart from that rare case of satisfaction among our staff, however the results have been surprisingly meagre. We may have been able to improve on our Division Technology, but we need to review the research notes first to determine whether we have all the basics in place to start, or whether we need additional information.

Advanced Alien Phaser Technology

More in depth studies of the Alien Phaser Technology has not allowed us to replicate the technology this time either, Commander, but it has allowed us to start researching improvements of our Laser Technology, which is almost as good.

Advanced Lasers

This research has provided the groundwork for practical research into how to improve each of our Laser weapons into something we intend to call Mk-2 versions. While the Mk-1 Laser weapons require Alien Alloys for their production, the Mk-2 versions will also require Energy Cores gained from processed alien energy weapons. The "Core" is a bit of a misnomer, however, as it isn't a discrete item, but rather more like a kit of components. Fortunately, alien weapon components are more general than human made ones, which allows us to piece together a Core kit from multiple simpler alien weapons.

Heavy Alenium Explosives

The research into Heavy Alenium Explosives has resulted in a range of new research topics. We can now research ground vehicle Alenium fueled cannons and rockets, aircraft Alenium fulled torpedoes and missiles, as well as upgrade kits for Alenium Rockets and Explosives.

Sebillian Data Hack 2

Gaining some access to the Sebillian computer system, limited as it is, should have given us enough information to improve on several Division weapons to allow us to research Mk-3 retrofits of Mk-2 versions. We need to review the notes to determine which weapons we are able to improve upon, however. It is likely we need additional access to encrypted Sebillian data to be able to improve on the remaining weapons. At a guess, we have recovered about a third of what we would need to cover all Division weapon systems.

Reaper DNA Analysis

Analysis of the Reaper DNA has provided us with one of the components to improve on the chemical gas technology, although we also need to know how alien toxins work to actually start.

Caesan Data Hack 1

The information we retrieved from the Caesan computers, while not complete, ought to allow us to start research on retrofits for some of our Mk-2 weapons to Mk-3 versions. We need to review and cross reference the information to determine exactly which systems we have enough information for, and which ones require access to additional information (probably, again, via encrypted files in a Caesan computer system). A rough estimate indicate this haul has provided us with about a third of what we would need to cover the complete range of Laser weapon systems.

Sebillian Data Hack 3

Our hacking into the Sebillian computer system has provided us with some ballistic weapon information which we think may be used to research retrofits of some Division Mk-2 weapons. It is likely additional Sebillian computer system access is required to cover the whole Division range, but we estimate this find covers about a third of the data we need.

Andron Computers

The Computer "brains" of Androns are fascinating, Commander. While we can not claim to fully understand how they work, we have gained an understanding of how we can put them to work, i.e. what we can use them for.
We believe we can research an exoskeleton/armour, as well as more advanded conventional armour. At least, this research provides the control prerequisites for it. Similarly, it should be possible to employ the AI to control new base facilities, although they, too require research into the functionality that would be controlled.

Advanced Division Technology

We have now advanced our knowledge of Alien Ballistic Weapons yet another step to allow us to research improved Mk-2 Division weapons. These weapons will use "Ballistic Cores" gained through disassembly of alien ballistic weapons as a fundamental part of the design. Thus, these weapons will require not only Alien Alloys, but also Ballistic Cores to be manufactured.

It can be noted that the "Core" part of the "Ballistic Core" is a bit of a misnomer, as it's more of a parts kit than a discrete item. Alien weapon parts have a more general use than human made ones, which allows us to piece together a "Core" kit from several weapons. The larger and more complex the weapon, the more parts we can recover.

Advanced Alien Ballistic Technology

Further study into the working of Alien Ballistic Technology has allowed us to reach the point where we can research the ground rules for how to improve of our Division Techology to the next level.

Robodog Guard Disassembly

The Robodog Guard is a puzzling enemy unit. While a quadruped makes a lot more sense than the bipedal Andron, it still doesn't make a lot of sense to mimic biological functionality to this degree, down to a bite that is less lethal than it could be.

By studying the remains of a Robodog Guard we have found out how to use the "corpse" of a Robodog Guard to retrieve one Ballistic Core and one Energy Core.

Sebillian Data Hack 1

The successful hacking into the Sebillian computer system, while not a complete success, has nevertheless gained us access to files containing important information on Alien Ballistic Technology. We are still compiling and cross referencing the information, but it ought to provide insight sufficient to initiate research on several Division Mk-3 retrofits. A quick estimate is that the overall data covers about a third of what we need to improve on the complete Division weapon range, so further hacks are likely needed to cover all bases.

Caesan Data Hack 3

After successfully gaining access to some encrypted files on a Caesan computer system we now think we have sufficient information to research retrofits of some Laser Mk-2 weapons into Mk-3. We still haven't organised the data, and so are unable to pinpoint exactly which system we have enough information for, but that should be done when you read this, Commander. A ballpark estimate is that this provides about a third of the data we need to retrofit all Laser Mk-2 weapon systems, so addition access is likely to be required for a complete coverage.

Caesan Data Hack 2

Gaining access to some of the Caesan computer system's encrypted files has not been in vain, Commander. The files contain a wealth of information on Caesan Phaser Technology which we believe can be used to research retrofits for our Laser Mk-2 weapon range. Currently we haven't indexed and cross referenced the data, so we cannot say exactly which retrofits we are able to research. The initial impression is that this set of data covers about a third of what we need to research retrofits of all Laser Mk-2 weapons, so it's likely further computer access is required to cover everything.

Flamethrower Technology

The Sebillians use Flamer weapons that throw flames at large distances, and we are nowhere near the ability to do the same. However, we have been able to improve on our basic flamethrower technology to produce an Alenium powered version that dishes out twice the damage while also mitigating some incendiary armour (important, as incendiary protection doesn't degrade), with a higher accuracy. The Alenium is still a heavy weapon, though, and thus suffers from the movement penalty common to heavy weapons, while having a short effective range (almost guaranteed to require movement to get into range). It also have fairly substantial production requirements in the form of 2 Ballistic Cores and 2 Energy Cores.

Alien Neutron Technology

The Alien Neutron Technology doesn't seem to be an upgrade of the Alien Plasma Technology as complement to it, primarily used by the alien elite castes, i.e. Harridans and Wraiths. The weapons provide a slightly longer range than the Plasma weapons do, while dealing roughly the same amount of damage. Since Neutron and Plasma weaponry have some clear commonalities, this research should provide some of the groundwork required to research the advanced version of both technologies, although it's most likely not a strict requirement for Plasma Technology advancement.

The Neutron Technology was named well before we had much of an idea of how it worked. About the only thing we knew was that it wasn't electrically charged like Plasma, and so the Neutron name stuck. However, it doesn't actually fire single Neutrons, but rather photons (like Phasers), but arranged in a peculiar arrangement of superposition and entanglement causing them to reach the target virtually without any interaction with small particles (such as smoke) in the intervening medium. This means almost all of the energy is delivered to the target, rather than some of it getting lost on the way.

Advanced Alien Grenade

Study of the Advanced Alien Grenade has provided us with a basic understanding of their working principles, which should provide some of the knowledge required to research more powerful explosives, while we believe we need to know how Alien Reactors work to actually start that research.

Advanced Alien Flamer Technology

After studying examples of advanced Alien Flamer weaponry we have gained a deeper knowledge in their working, while still remaining unable to replicate it in any way. The research might help in advanced studies of Alien Matergy Technology, but probably not as the sole source.

Plasma Technology

We have finally cracked the Plasma nut, Commander. This research allows us to start researching Plasma Rifles and Plasma Pistols of our own design, as well as aircraft and ground vehicle borne systems. Together with an understanding of how the Advanced Alien Plasma Technology works we should have all that's needed to start researching our own Advanced Plasma Technology.

Alien Plasma Technology
<Rewritten to fit into the X-Division tech tree>

The innards of the Alien Plasma Rifle and Plasma Pistol have been studied and has given us a basic understanding of the science behind extraterrestial plasma weapons, and ought to lead us towards Plasma weapons of our own.

A brief explanation of the generation of a plasma bolt is as follows: firstly, the weapon draws power from an Alenium cell (very similar to the Phaser implementation) and uses it to power an array of powerful particle accelerators. Secondly, these accelerators superheat a large number of atoms into a state of ionised plasma (the fourth matter state) within the heat-proofed "chamber" of the weapon. Thirdly, two helical spirals of electromagnets in the barrel of the weapon pulse simultaneously, drawing the plasma from the chamber and spinning it into a bolt while accelerating it to muzzle velocity. Finally, a graviton emitter in the muzzle of the weapon fires a graviton into the plasma bolt as it exits the barrel.

The graviton particle is incredibly important - in laboratory conditions, it has been observed to posses a strong gravitational pull that prevents the bolt from dissipating into a useless cloud of hot gas. The science behind this process is unclear (it is the first time we have observed a graviton), but it probably explains the large difference in range between the alien Plasma Pistol and Plasma Rifle. Unfortunately, we currently don't have enough knowledge to replicate this gravitational field ourselves - and without access to an effective anti-gravity emitter, the useful range of our most powerful lab-based plasma emitter is only a few inches. However, since alien plasma weapons all contain anti-gravity emitters, we may be able to salvage enough of them as a by-product while processing Alien Plasma weapons to extract Energy Cores that our inability to make them won't be an issue. Thus, we think we will be able to research the basic principles for Plasma weapons of our own. Naturally, finishing the study of the Alien Plasma Technology begs us to study Advanced Alien Plasma Technology, although we need additional knowledge to start that.

Alien Matergy Technology
<Edited to describe a coil gun, rather than a mashup between one and a rail gun...>

The Alien Matergy Technology is nothing new in principle at the propulsion level: it is "simply" a coil gun, a.k.a. a Gauss gun, i.e. slugs of a material that are magnetised by a magnetic field and accelerated through the "pumping" of magnetic fields as it speeds down the barrel. However, what we would need 100 meters of sequenced coils, timed exactly to match the current speed of the bullet,  a nuclear reactor to power it, and materials with a previous unheard-of capability to carry the current without being vaporised has been shrunk to portable weapons.

Study of Alien Matergy Pistols and Matergy Rifles has provided us with a sufficient understanding to allow us to employ alien materials in a research project to produce our own MAG, or Magnetic, weapons: it's still a slug that slams into a target, but it is a *much* faster slug.
As is typical of Alien weapon Technology studies, we want to continue on to Advanced studies as soon as we have all the required pieces of information in place.

Advanced Alien Stun Grenade

Studying examples of the Advanced Alien Stun Grenade has provided us with a sufficient understanding to start to research processing of recovered Alien Stun Grenades into grenades with our standard grenade form factor.

Edited by PALU
Added Edit
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just had the easiest mission ever.  I was trying capture a phase 1 crashed corvette:

Turn 1:  I move into defensive positions. On the aliens turn , heavy laser fire takes down a near by civilian.

Turn 2: With an incendiary grenade I blow up a wall that was blocking the direction the laser blasts were coming from. It exposes a light drone. I take it out. On the civilians turn there is a lot of shooting happening, and then the mission finish screen pops up.  2 out of 2 aliens have been killed, both of them having been light drones.

I am unsure how those two drones were flying the corvette, but they somehow had managed.

 

Edited by Sir_Dr_D
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The drones weren't flying the corvette. They were just the only two units that survived the crash. If you'd raided a landed craft, there would be quite a few questions, though.

And a request for advice: I believe I need to raid a base to advance some important technologies, but I'm not aware of the aliens having established one (I've done some looking around). I've previously raided a landed Extreme Landing Ship, which I think might have been a tactical mistake (although I did bag a few useful things), as I think it might have established a base for me to raid. Now I'm in a similar situation with another Extreme Landing Ship cruising around with my B team on the way to engage it as soon as it lands (the A team was busy defending a base against an alien assault). Should I send the B team back home and hope a base springs up, or should I raid the ship (assuming I manage to get to it while it's on the ground)? It will be some hours before I'm going to proceed with the game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, PALU said:

<The DSB Engineering info for this craft only states the input, but no results, so this is based on the stub on the research page>

Fixed. Was a typo of the identifier. From ManTech.AlienExLandingDSB to ManTech.AlienExLandingshipDSB

5 hours ago, PALU said:

However, be very careful when ordering disassembly jobs, as we cannot put it back together once the process has started (aborting it will cut the production cost from progressing, but the system being worked on is lost. This goes for every manufacturing process, by the way, so consider whether you actually want to abort jobs, rather than suspend them by reallocating the engineers).

Thats a good entry.

 

Maybe you can integrate that into the lore ?

On 3/7/2018 at 3:31 AM, Charon said:

What makes you think clipsize="6" is for aliens ?

The situation is that the alien weapiens have unlimited ammo, as their ammo pack simply needs a simple tap with the right configuration and it resets the ammo count. Something which just needs an alien hand to do and requires virtually no tu. Think about it like genetic authorisation, the weapon refuses to operate without the correct authorisation. It still has the 6 ammo count authorisation intervall in case something out of the ordinary happens you still have available 6 shots before you might give away that you are not the correct weapon holder. This is also the reason why aliens only carry mostly 1 additional ammo. In case the first ammo pack in the weapon malfunctions ( we are on the battlefield remember, anything can go wrong ) but not because of ammo count.

The clipsize is only for human hands, as they are not authorised personel handling an alien weapon. This is why you reload with another clip, because the first one refuses to work beyond the intervall.

Its quite a genius system put in place that invaded species can not simply take up some weapons and start to fight back, without understanding the principles behind it. The ammo clip itself is sealed to its tightest form, and opening it up without destroying it is virtually impossible. Yes, we can crack it open, but then we are looking at some destroyed items nobody can put to use. It also has  a 5.31441*10^5 bit encryption, which is so impossible to break that we could spend the lifetime of a star to decrypt it, with our current equipment anyway. They are also seem to use a different encyryption method which seems, in terrestrial terms, to start with a base of 3.
Experiments by putting a dead alien hand on the authorisation scanner also does not work, because the scanner can see that its dead. I fancy the real problem with it though is that not enough alenium is flowing thorugh the dead component, and thuse the scanner wouldnt even be able to take the input, even if, in theory, the scanner would accept it, which it doesnt. I cant stress that enough.
I wouldnt advice trying to pump some of the alenium through our own soldiers to get those weapons going either, as we simply dont know what we are doing, and i think it wouldnt be wise to have soldiers in our base who can blow up any minute, at any occasion, under any circumstances. So unless you can fly up to the aliens and ask for a nice supply of alenium nanoparticles i guess we are stuck with this situation, Commander.

The math says no, Commander. I guess we will have to resort to other means than straight taking their weapons, and turning them against them.

 

5 hours ago, PALU said:

Alien Matergy Technology

I would like to see this entry rewritten, as it might collide with the Phase 4 human ballisitic weapons, which are literally called Rail weapons. Maybe make it a bit different ?

 

1 hour ago, PALU said:

And a request for advice: I believe I need to raid a base to advance some important technologies, but I'm not aware of the aliens having established one (I've done some looking around). I've previously raided a landed Extreme Landing Ship, which I think might have been a tactical mistake (although I did bag a few useful things), as I think it might have established a base for me to raid. Now I'm in a similar situation with another Extreme Landing Ship cruising around with my B team on the way to engage it as soon as it lands (the A team was busy defending a base against an alien assault). Should I send the B team back home and hope a base springs up, or should I raid the ship (assuming I manage to get to it while it's on the ground)? It will be some hours before I'm going to proceed with the game.

Yes, extreme landingships almost exclusively run construction and supply missions. I could be wrong though. The biggest indicator for construction missions are different escorts though. So if they are getting escorted by something else than the current alien interceptors, its most likely construction mission.

Edited by Charon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the answers, Charon. I'll send the crew home and hope the ship will build a base (and keep a save in reserve), but I'll take another look at the escorts (it was a couple of days ago, since I've "processed" the other craft shot down in the wave in the mean time).

One thing that struck me as odd after my base defense mission was that Caesan Terror Soldiers (and I would guess the Sebillian ones as well, though I haven't got those) don't have any vivisection/autopsy research and thus no resourced extraction, despite them wearing armor (and the same goes for the civillian Caesans, who all seem to sport the same jumpsuit the Caesan Guard wears). Sebillian civilians seem to rely on their hide, so they make logical sense.

Alien clip size/ammo: I'll try. I guess it will happen with the weapons. Also, the big ones only have a clip size of 2, but that ought to be possible to "explain". It also explains why the ammo is destroyed rather than processed.

Alien Matergy: I'll try to come up with some mumbo jumbo, although magnetic and rail is really the same thing. Since I haven't seen the entries following the ones I've covered (for tech), I didn't know the fourth one was called rail. Hm, a conventional chemical propellant with some magnetic assistance to increase the muzzle velocity, i.e. some kine of hybrid early tech?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, PALU said:

One thing that struck me as odd after my base defense mission was that Caesan Terror Soldiers (and I would guess the Sebillian ones as well, though I haven't got those) don't have any vivisection/autopsy research and thus no resourced extraction, despite them wearing armor (and the same goes for the civillian Caesans, who all seem to sport the same jumpsuit the Caesan Guard wears). Sebillian civilians seem to rely on their hide, so they make logical sense.

Unbenannt.thumb.png.bf2f529d603b00da062098d6185ca8aa.png

Specialists armour cant be processed, becuase their armour is more integrated than the soldiers ones, eg. A "guard" may be promoted "soldier" but a technician doesnt really get the same armour upgrade when promoted to engineer, which is hardly the case anyway.

 

1 hour ago, PALU said:

Alien Matergy: I'll try to come up with some mumbo jumbo, although magnetic and rail is really the same thing. Since I haven't seen the entries following the ones I've covered (for tech), I didn't know the fourth one was called rail. Hm, a conventional chemical propellant with some magnetic assistance to increase the muzzle velocity, i.e. some kine of hybrid early tech?

Uuuh, hybrid sounds bad, as it should be pure ballistic weapons. We also have a pure hybrid ( toxic ) weapon build later in the game. I think you can stick to your original entry just stress that the xenonaut matergy weapons are NOT weapons based on a rail principle.

Thats the gaussian principle ( Phase 3 ).

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't mean hybrid between ballistic and energy, but between a chemical base propulsion with a magnetic one on top, but still a slug being propelled. However, Gauss guns aren't unheard of in SF (e.g. Fallout (2?/Tactics?), the RPGs: don't know about the Oblivion with Guns RPS'), so that's probably a better choice.

 

Edit: I've started to look at the XML files, and it seems the Alien Phaser Heavy has been given a clip size of 12 in weapons.xml and 18 in weapons_gc.xml, as well as a difference in range (12 vs 14) (and it looks like it should be possible for someone who's good at text parsing scripting to write a cross checking script to catch cases where the files disagree).

Also, what happens if I try to enter my X-Pedia suggestions into xenopedia.xml? Will I be able to see what they look like in-game, no effect, or harm the game in some way (assuming the entry is correct, without introducing XML syntax errors)? The same question applies to correcting the Extreme Landing Ship typo: can I correct it, or should I leave it be (including if it will screw up the introduction of a possible future backwards compatible patch)?

Edit 2: Today's X-Pedia entry candidates

Alien Phaser Pistol

It's really exciting to study a truly alien piece of technology, Commander.
The Alien Phaser Pistol is a single handed short range weapon using an as yet unidentified technology to produce energy damage. Since the weapon is not designed for operation with human hands, it suffers from considerable accuracy penalties when used by our own soldiers.

We first tried to modify the weapon to fit human hands, but faced an insurmountable problem: these weapons have a user identification authority system built in, and this system verifies the user's authority every 4 shots. It's possible to reset the verification by using a spare ammo clip, but it again refuses to operate beyond the initial 4 shots.
It can be noted that the ammo "clip" contains sufficient energy to last a war, so the spare clip seems to be a replacement part in case of malfunction, rather than an ammo clip in any conventional sense, but malfunction must be sufficiently common for the aliens to provide their troops with a spare part. It may well be that the user authority functionality is sufficiently sensitive that it subject to malfunction due to common battlefield effects. The ammo clip communicates with the weapon using an incredibly complex protocol encrypted well beyond what we can hope to ever crack, even with deep inside information (of which we have exactly none). This means we have no hope to produce "ammo clips" of our own for alien weapons. Also, it seems the 4 shot authorisation grace period is limited to a few days, so recovered alien ammo clips become functionally useless outside of a single mission.
What about using an alien's dead hand to authorise a weapon for use? Well, we've tried that as well, but the biometric scanning method apparently is sophisticated enough to recognise a dead hand when it senses one. It IS possible to use the hand of an unconscious alien to authorise a weapon, but it is not possible to apply it in battlefield conditions, as the alien's hand has to be on the weapon as the shot triggering authorisation is fired (by pressing the alien's hand at the weapon and it's trigger). I'm sure the troops are not thrilled by the concept of hauling an unconscious alien on their backs in the field...
Alien ammo clips are also equipped with anti tampering functionality, which means their internals are fried when we try to pry them open. Again, some kind of authorisation protocol is in place, but short of seizing an alien ammo clip manufacturing facility, we foresee no possibility of ever being able to open these clips without destroying the internals. As a result of this, alien ammo clips are destroyed when brought back, and the useful result is some additional depleted Alenium, providing us with effectively unlimited amounts of that resource.

By picking this weapon apart and examining its parts we have come up with a disassembly protocol by which we can take 5 of these pistols and produce one Energy Core parts kit. We currently have no use for Energy Cores, but hope to be able to use them to eventually build energy based weapons of our own.

The examination and disassembly protocol development has effectively destroyed the studied pistol and its components, so it can not be used for disassembly itself. We expect this to happen to all specimen of whatever type subjected to study, as we need to exhaust every avenue to get information out of it.

Alien Phaser Rifle

This Phaser weapon is the alien energy weapon equivalent of a rifle, with a similar battlefield usage. The alien weapons can be operated with a single hand (which increases the accuracy penalty already present from the alien grip), as opposed to the rifles of our own.

For some reason, the weapon use authorisation interval for this weapon is 6 shots rather than the 4 used by the Alien Phaser Pistol. It may well be that the interval is based on the actions possible within a single battlefield turn.

We cannot use the Alien Phaser Rifle ourselves, but we can pick it apart for parts. Our disassembly protocol allows us to produce one Energy Core parts kit out of every 4 Alien Phaser Rifles.

Once we have examined its wielder, as well as a Phaser Pistol, we should have enough information to launch research into Alien Phaser Technology.

Alien Phaser Heavy

The Alien Phaser Heavy is an alien Phaser weapon filling the role of a Heavy Machinegun.

Our research has resulted in a disassembly protocol that allows us to extract one Energy Core from every 4 Alien Phaser Heavy processed.

Alien Mini Shield

The Alien Mini Shield is a remarkable item, Commander. It acts as our own shields when it comes to protecting from damage, but it is very much lighter, and possesses the ability to fold and unfold automatically to take up only a single slot in the inventory. Its weakness is that it protects only against 60 points of damage, while our own shields protect against 150.
Given that the Caesans predominantly use single handed weapons, usage of a shield in the other hand makes a lot of sense. Like our own shields, they protect against damage in a 90 degree arc in front of the wielder, which translates into about 50% chance of intercepting incoming damage from each side. Thus, attacking from a position behind a shield wielding enemy increases the chances of actually causing damage (although the enemy will likely turn to face the attacker should the first attack fail to kill him). Also note that shields provide no protection against melee attacks (and this is valid for both our troops and the enemy), as an attacker can easily aim the strikes around the shield.

While we would very much like to be able to use similar techniques to improve our own shields, we would need to be able to shape Alien Alloys first, as well as get access to some kind of armour fabrication technique using these Alloys to start such research.

Alien Ballistic Pistol

The Alien Ballistic Pistol is a single handed short range weapon using the well known basic principle of hurling a slug at a great speed at a target to inflict damage, but it produces a higher muzzle velocity, and thus damage, than what our own pistols are capable of. Since the weapon is not designed for operation with human hands, it suffers from considerable accuracy penalties when used by our own soldiers.

We first tried to modify the weapon to fit human hands, but faced an insurmountable problem: these weapons have a user identification authority system built in, and this system verifies the user's authority every 4 shots. It's possible to reset the verification by using a spare ammo clip, but it again refuses to operate beyond the initial 4 shots.
It can be noted that the ammo "clip" contains sufficient energy to keep flinging slugs for an entire war, and it somehow also manages to keep producing slugs without changing weight, so the spare clip seems to be a replacement part in case of malfunction, rather than an ammo clip in any conventional sense, but malfunction must be sufficiently common for the aliens to provide their troops with a spare part. It may well be that the user authority functionality is sufficiently sensitive that it subject to malfunction due to common battlefield effects. The ammo clip communicates with the weapon using an incredibly complex protocol encrypted well beyond what we can hope to ever crack, even with deep inside information (of which we have exactly none). This means we have no hope to produce "ammo clips" of our own for alien weapons. Also, it seems the 4 shot authorisation grace period is limited to a few days, so recovered alien ammo clips become functionally useless outside of a single mission.
What about using an alien's dead hand to authorise a weapon for use? Well, we've tried that as well, but the biometric scanning method apparently is sophisticated enough to recognise a dead hand when it senses one. It IS possible to use the hand of an unconscious alien to authorise a weapon, but it is not possible to apply it in battlefield conditions, as the alien's hand has to be on the weapon as the shot triggering authorisation is fired (by pressing the alien's hand at the weapon and it's trigger). I'm sure the troops are not thrilled by the concept of hauling an unconscious alien on their backs in the field...
Alien ammo clips are also equipped with anti tampering functionality, which means their internals are fried when we try to pry them open. Again, some kind of authorisation protocol is in place, but short of seizing an alien ammo clip manufacturing facility, we foresee no possibility of ever being able to open these clips without destroying the internals. As a result of this, alien ammo clips are destroyed when brought back, and the useful result is some additional depleted Alenium, providing us with effectively unlimited amounts of that resource.

By picking this weapon apart and examining its parts we have come up with a disassembly protocol by which we can take 5 of these pistols and produce one Ballistic Core parts kit. We currently have no use for Ballistic Cores, but hope to be able to use them to eventually build more powerful ballistic weapons of our own where the Ballistic Cores would provide functionality we cannot produce ourselves.

The examination and disassembly protocol development has effectively destroyed the studied pistol and its components, so it can not be used for disassembly itself. We expect this to happen to all specimen of whatever type subjected to study, as we need to exhaust every avenue to get information out of it.

Alien Ballistic Rifle

The Alien Ballistic Rifle is very similar in principle to our own rifles, with a similar battlefield usage.

For some reason, the weapon use authorisation interval for this weapon is 6 shots rather than the 4 used by the Alien Ballistic Pistol. It may well be that the interval is based on the actions possible within a single battlefield turn.

We cannot use the Alien Ballistic Rifle ourselves, but we can pick it apart for parts. Our disassembly protocol allows us to produce one Ballistic Core parts kit out of every 4 Alien Ballistic Rifles.

Once we have examined its wielder, as well as a Ballistic Pistol, we should have enough information to launch research into Alien Phaser Technology.

Alien Ballistic Sniper

It is the alien ballistic weapon corresponding to our Sniper Rifles.

Our disassembly research into this weapon has provided us with a protocol for the extraction of one Ballistic Core for every two Alien Ballistic Snipers.

We believe it might be possible to use this research as a basis for stepping up research of Alien Ballistic Technology to the Advanced level, but we are not yet clear over whether we also need samples of additional types of Alien Ballistic weapons, or possibly also have to "interview" a Sebillian Weapon Sergeant to get there.

Alien Lightning Pistol

This is an interesting weapon, Commander. While it is an energy weapon, its direct damage is small and easily blocked by even a poor armour. Instead, it seems to direct its energy into a significant stunning effect on biological targets, and an even greater EMP (Electo Magnetic Pulse) damage that damages targets with electronics (i.e. non biological combatants, including our ground vehicles).

We have produced a disassembly protocol that allows us to gain one Energy Core for every 5 Alien Lightning Pistols processed.

This research, together with the Interrogation of a Caesan Weapon Sergeant, should allow us to study the principles behind these lightning weapons. We even hope to eventually be able to produce weapons of our own using the same or similar principles further down the road.

Alien Lightning Rifle

A Rifle weapon employing the Lightning Technology. It's capable of firing a 3 shot burst as well as individual rounds. Provided the damage isn't resisted or hits a shield (or kills the target), it should be capable of stunning just about any biological alien we have encounter thus far if two bursts (a full clip and a full round) score a hit with all of their shots.

The disassembly protocol for this weapon type provides one Energy Core for each four weapons processed.

We believe we will be able to research the Advanced Alien Technology once we have researched the basic Alien Lightning Technology, the Alien Lightning Cannon, and Interrogated a Caesan Weapon Officer.

Edit 2: Updated according to comments.

Edited by PALU
Added edit
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mitigation/penetration isn't just the ability to penetrate things, but the ability to bypass/ignore things. Thus, a laser in the visible range will mostly ignore a protection that's transparent to that wavelength, and so mitigates the protection e.g. a glass window would have provided and deliver most of its power to the target behind it, while a bullet would have to smash through that same window to reach the target (leaving no protection left in this case). An armor piercing bullet is shaped to make a comparatively tiny hole in the armor by concentrating the force into a point, while a hollow point bullet smashes into the armor and spreads out into a blob that delivers all of its kinetic energy over a comparatively large area. If you fire that bullet with enough velocity, it will nevertheless inflict damage after having made a fairly large hole in the armor. In the same vein, armor piercing anti-tank weapons often employ a process where the impact of the tip of the rocket causes a very rapid generation of a plasma (real world plasma) "spear" to emit from the tip of the weapon to punch a hole through the armor fast enough that the rest of the payload can go through that fairly small hole and explode inside the tank.

So yes, the rail gun will smash through all that steel not through a clever armor piercing design, but through sheer brute force that smashes through the steel with enough force to impact what's behind (and push some bits of smashed steel plates through at the other side as shrapnel, I would guess). Of course, one thing doesn't necessarily rule out the other, so in principle you could add something that assists in armor penetration to the top of the "slug". However, you'd have to design this to be highly resistant to the effects of having extremely high voltages coursing through the slug when it is fired, and you'd also need a reason to want penetration, rather than smashing. Look at the description of one of the comparatively early weapons that effectively drills a hole straight through the target in the game to see why you might not want to concentrate the force too much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, PALU said:

Edit 2: Today's X-Pedia entry candidates

YAY !

23 hours ago, PALU said:

For some reason, the weapon use authorisation interval for this weapon is 6 shots rather than the 4 used by the Alien Phaser Pistol. It may well be that the interval is based on the actions possible within a single battlefield turn.

Jup.

23 hours ago, PALU said:

Once we have examined its wielder's corpse, as well as a Ballistic Pistol

alive alien.

1 hour ago, Larry Burstyn said:

Question:

Why do rail guns have no migration effect.  The main effect of rail guns is their penetration factor.  I've seen videos of rail guns busting thru many inches of layered steel plates. 

Its a game, we tried to make it fun first and worry about real physics later. The point of it is to balance the game.

23 hours ago, PALU said:

Edit: I've started to look at the XML files, and it seems the Alien Phaser Heavy has been given a clip size of 12 in weapons.xml and 18 in weapons_gc.xml, as well as a difference in range (12 vs 14) (and it looks like it should be possible for someone who's good at text parsing scripting to write a cross checking script to catch cases where the files disagree).

Sure. The weapons_gc.xml values are the correct ones, the weapons.xml is almost irrelevant.

23 hours ago, PALU said:

Also, what happens if I try to enter my X-Pedia suggestions into xenopedia.xml? Will I be able to see what they look like in-game, no effect, or harm the game in some way (assuming the entry is correct, without introducing XML syntax errors)?

I was assuming that was already what you did, but yes you can just edit the xenopedia.xml. If you just look for the >Description< part and edit it nothing can go wrong really. The file doesnt take new lines, you will have to format that. You can edit the X-Division file directly but making your own mod ontop of it is a cleaner solution, and doesnt  get overwritten in future updates.

 

 

Heres the research file for the next version. I slightly changed the requirements for armour, if you want to use it.

researches.xml

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was fairly certain the clip size was based on turns, but thought it would be useful to try to convey it to the reader, even though "turn" is somewhat immersion breaking, but very much a game play reality.

Given how sensitive this whole thing is to mod order, as well as the warning against using it with anything but cosmetic mods (which this would be, in a way) I haven't dared to mess with the files. For my purposes I think a mod is overkill, as the only reason I'd look at the entries in game would be to see what they looked like in place in case adjustments would be needed. Currently this thread IS my source as I write it in a plain text editor and then paste it into a post, correcting spelling errors it catches (when it doesn't point at English spelling, of course).

researches.xml is a pain compared to the data shown by yEd, so the latter is my primary source. I have currently unlocked only the Jackal and Fox armors, and start to feel increasingly naked, so entries for more advanced armor will have to wait until I get there, and have reached the end so I can start from the top again looking for "new" stuff, and at that time I'll try to remember to re-check the two early armors. Apart from protect, all those blasted fences and low hedges are a pain when carrying a shield, so the Buzzard would come in very handy for my shield bearing scouts. Time and time again I get caught by their inability to cross fairly short distances in order to whack aliens with their whiffle sticks.

Edit: Another thing: I think a load screen comment on research would be useful. Something along the lines of:
The X-Division research tree isn't fully static. Some research has a probability of being unlocked when preconditions are met. If they fail to unlock at the first opportunity there will be other chances later, typically guaranteeing it to become available eventually if you collect all research that can unlock it.

And I'm not sure whether typically is always or just usually. Some of those webs are rather confusing...

Edited by PALU
Added edit
Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, benedict1 said:

The creators of the mod how do you think to fill the necessary files on the www.transifex.com for amateur translation into all languages?

I think you rather want to talk to @PALU about this, as he is doing all the writing currently.

39 minutes ago, PALU said:

I was fairly certain the clip size was based on turns, but thought it would be useful to try to convey it to the reader, even though "turn" is somewhat immersion breaking, but very much a game play reality.

Clip size is based on the highest possible bullets per option x2. The more dangerous automatic weapons might even only have authorisation for 1 burst.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hm, I hadn't expected that handover... I have no intention to do anything to assist translation (nor anything to hinder it). This means those interested in translation will have to use whatever assets are available in the mod (and in this thread regarding what I've written) to do what's necessary, subject to whatever licensing restrictions there may be (of which I know nothing). You're free to use whatever I've produced to use as a source for translation mods. What I know about creating mods is that Charon posted a reference a few posts up.

I have no knowledge of which licenses the text based files in this mod are subjected to, and thus whether they can be published on various sites or not. Nor do I know if all text in the game is available in such files, or whether some is hard coded or require changes to text in images.

Edit:

Very little progress in the form of new entries today, as I've spent a lot of time pasting the texts into the xenopedia.xml file in my installation and have done a cursory check of its appearance in the game. I'll enter future texts into the xenopedia.xml as I go in the future, so it should be kept updated to match the progress. A few corrections have been made in posts above, whereas the following is "new", i.e. modified existing entries or corrections to entries posted above:

Early Specialists Caesan

Key information: They have spilled the beans, literally. Do you know that there is a very effective bean interrogation technique, commander ? Well anyway now we have an good overview of the different aliens we might encounter:

•Chieftain: Leader of the mission 
•Operator Light Scout: Light Scout mission operator 
•Operator Scout: Scout mission operator 
•Operator Corvette: Corvett mission operator 
•Early Terror Operator: Terror mission operator 
•Early Assault Operator: Base assault mission operator 
•Early Bomber Operator: Bomber mission operator 
•Weapon Sergeant: Weapon system operator 
•Navigator: Craft navigation 
•Technician: Craft maintenance and repair 
•Medic: Crew health

Early Specialists Sebillian

Key information: They have spilled the beans, literally. Do you know that there is a very effective bean interrogation technique, commander ? Well anyway now we have an good overview of the different aliens we might encounter:

•Chieftain: Leader of the mission 
•Operator Light Scout: Light scout mission operator 
•Operator Scout: Scout mission operator 
•Operator Corvette: Corvette mission operator 
•Early Terror Operator: Terror mission operator 
•Early Assault Operator: Base assault mission operator 
•Early Bomber Operator: Bomber mission operator 
•Weapon Sergeant: Weapon system operator 
•Navigator: Craft navigation 
•Technician: Craft maintenance and repair 
•Medic: Crew health

Basic Specialists Caesan

Key information: They have spilled the beans, literally. Do you know that there is a very effective bean interrogation technique, commander ? Well anyway now we have an good overview of the different aliens we might encounter: 

•Officer: Leader of the mission 
•Operator Landing: Landing mission operator 
•Operator Cruiser: Cruiser mission operator 
•Operator Alien Outpost: Outpost mission operation 
•Basic Terror Operator: Terror mission operator 
•Basic Assault Operator: Base assault mission operator 
•Basic Bomber Operator: Bomber mission operator 
•Weapon Officer: Weapon system operator 
•Pilot: Craft navigation 
•Engineer: Craft maintenance and repair 
•Physician: Crew health 
•Terror Soldier: Grunt used in terror/base assault missions, as well as outpost defense

Basic Specialists Sebillian

Key information: They have spilled the beans, literally. Do you know that there is a very effective bean interrogation technique, commander ? Well anyway now we have an good overview of the different aliens we might encounter: 

•Officer: Leader of the mission 
•Operator Landing: Landing mission operator 
•Operator Cruiser: Cruiser mission operator 
•Operator Alien Outpost: Outpost mission operator 
•Basic Terror Operator: Terror mission operator 
•Basic Assault Operator: Base assault mission operator 
•Basic Bomber Operator: Bomber mission operator 
•Weapon Officer: Weapon system operator 
•Pilot: Craft navigation 
•Engineer: Craft maintenance and repair 
•Physician: Crew health 
•Terror Soldier: Grunt used in terror/base assault missions, as well as outpost defense


Sebillian Physician Interrogation

The Sebillian Physician provided to have a broader knowledge about Sebillian aligned aliens than the Sebillian Medic. In practical terms, this means we have been able to upgrade our medikit to be twice as effective, at the cost of a slightly larger weight. This gain is effective immediately, so you should review your troops needs for medikits before sending them out on their next mission. In addition to this, we have also gained sufficient knowledge to start researching the fearsome zombification process.

Division SMG Mk-3

The Division SMG Mk-3 isn't a new weapon, but an upgrade of the Mk-2 model. As such, it doesn't only require a Ballistic Core and some Alenium for its manufacture, it also requires a Mk-2 weapon, typically requiring one of your soldiers to downgrade to an inferiour weapon during the process. However, it should be worth your while as the upgrade allows the weapon do do 10% more damage at an increased armour mitigation. It also provides a stronger suppression effect (as did the Mk-2 over the Mk-1 before it).

Division Shotgun Mk-3

The Division Shotgun Mk-3 isn't a new weapon, but an upgrade of the Mk-2 model. As such, it doesn't only require a Ballistic Core and some Alenium for its manufacture, it also requires a Mk-2 weapon, typically requiring one of your soldiers to downgrade to an inferiour weapon during the process.
The upgraded weapon fires two additional slugs (14 vs 12) and has a larger ammo clip capacity.

 

The Specialist need to go through a second pass, as the "spilled beans" description gets old quickly. Also, I noted the Psion was missing from the Caesan lists, but haven't done anything about it (yet). As far as I can see there's an analysis, and I can collect them, but I haven't been able to perform either autopsy or vivisection on them. Lastly, the alien crafts caused some rework, as there are basically two entries for more or less every craft: one DSB one and one without DSB, and it's the latter that's actually used. I would guess the DSB ones are redundant remains from a version where you'd first examine a craft and that would open up a DSB research, while we now get the DSB results directly.

Edited by PALU
Added edit
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@PALUplease select your entries and put them under >code<. Like this.

Early Specialists Caesan

Key information: They have spilled the beans, literally. Do you know that there is a very effective bean interrogation technique, commander ? Well anyway now we have an good overview of the different aliens we might encounter:

•Chieftain: Leader of the mission 
•Operator Light Scout: Light Scout mission operator 
•Operator Scout: Scout mission operator 
•Operator Corvette: Corvett mission operator 
•Early Terror Operator: Terror mission operator 
•Early Assault Operator: Base assault mission operator 
•Early Bomber Operator: Bomber mission operator 
•Weapon Sergeant: Weapon system operator 
•Navigator: Craft navigation 
•Technician: Craft maintenance and repair 
•Medic: Crew health

Early Specialists Sebillian

Key information: They have spilled the beans, literally. Do you know that there is a very effective bean interrogation technique, commander ? Well anyway now we have an good overview of the different aliens we might encounter:

•Chieftain: Leader of the mission 
•Operator Light Scout: Light scout mission operator 
•Operator Scout: Scout mission operator 
•Operator Corvette: Corvette mission operator 
•Early Terror Operator: Terror mission operator 
•Early Assault Operator: Base assault mission operator 
•Early Bomber Operator: Bomber mission operator 
•Weapon Sergeant: Weapon system operator 
•Navigator: Craft navigation 
•Technician: Craft maintenance and repair 
•Medic: Crew health

Basic Specialists Caesan

Key information: They have spilled the beans, literally. Do you know that there is a very effective bean interrogation technique, commander ? Well anyway now we have an good overview of the different aliens we might encounter: 

•Officer: Leader of the mission 
•Operator Landing: Landing mission operator 
•Operator Cruiser: Cruiser mission operator 
•Operator Alien Outpost: Outpost mission operation 
•Basic Terror Operator: Terror mission operator 
•Basic Assault Operator: Base assault mission operator 
•Basic Bomber Operator: Bomber mission operator 
•Weapon Officer: Weapon system operator 
•Pilot: Craft navigation 
•Engineer: Craft maintenance and repair 
•Physician: Crew health 
•Terror Soldier: Grunt used in terror/base assault missions, as well as outpost defense

Basic Specialists Sebillian

Key information: They have spilled the beans, literally. Do you know that there is a very effective bean interrogation technique, commander ? Well anyway now we have an good overview of the different aliens we might encounter: 

•Officer: Leader of the mission 
•Operator Landing: Landing mission operator 
•Operator Cruiser: Cruiser mission operator 
•Operator Alien Outpost: Outpost mission operator 
•Basic Terror Operator: Terror mission operator 
•Basic Assault Operator: Base assault mission operator 
•Basic Bomber Operator: Bomber mission operator 
•Weapon Officer: Weapon system operator 
•Pilot: Craft navigation 
•Engineer: Craft maintenance and repair 
•Physician: Crew health 
•Terror Soldier: Grunt used in terror/base assault missions, as well as outpost defense

 

Edited by Charon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, PALU said:

Lastly, the alien crafts caused some rework, as there are basically two entries for more or less every craft: one DSB one and one without DSB, and it's the latter that's actually used. I would guess the DSB ones are redundant remains from a version where you'd first examine a craft and that would open up a DSB research, while we now get the DSB results directly.

I think that was when i restructured the code, and we left it in the code. I think you are right about the thought process.

Psions are locked for now, you can capture them but they cant be researched yet.

Unbenannt.thumb.png.7ce57dec05b900b1a66e289296bb6914.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe the Small Base Operator should be added to the list of Basic specialists?

Also, I've seen there is something called Gauss weapons in researches.xml, but I haven't investigated whether they are active or dud. If they are active, the MAG description will have to be revised.

I've gone through a new batch of X-Pedia entries, with, is some cases extremely small changes to keep things somewhat consistent. I haven't been able to check vehicle weapon damages as I don't know where the data comes from, and I'm not sure the vehicle weapon files are either consistent or match the text, so I've left that part as it is.

Alien Flamer Pistol

A peculiar weapon able to hurling "bullets" of flame, but otherwise it acts like a pistol.

We have produced a disassembly protocol that allows us to process 5 of these weapons to gain one Ballistic Core.

Alien Flamer Rifle

This peculiar weapon is capable of hurling flaming bolts at great distances. Apart from the peculiar "bullets", it operates as a rifle, capable of both burst and single shot modes.

Our disassembly protocol allows us to extract one Ballistic Core from 4 of these weapons.

Alien Ballistic Heavy

This is the Sebillian equivalent of a Heavy Machinegun, only more deadly.

These weapons can now be disassembled to yield one Ballistic Core for each 4 weapons, thanks to the protocol we have developed.

Alien Ballistic Cannon

This Sebillian weapon is basically a man (i.e. Sebillian) portable cannon that has a small area effect around the impact point. While this area effect isn't lethal, it is still powerful enough to be able to cause heavy bleeding as well as suppression, and you really don't want to be at the impact point itself. Don't cluster your soldiers when an enemy is close, or you are inviting a grenade, and don't cluster your soldiers when a Sebillian brute sporting one of these is far away, or you will invite attack by this weapon.

Since this weapon is fairly complex, we only need to disassemble two of these to get one Ballistic Core.

Alien Lightning Cannon

This Lightning weapon is slow firing, but packs a stun/EMP punch that affects an area around the impact point, so don't pick up one of these and fire it at a Xenomorph at point-blank range!

This large weapon contains enough useful parts to allow us to disassemble them into one Energy Core for every two weapons.

This research has also provided a step on the journey towards Alien Advanced Lightning Technology.

Alien Small Shield

This seems to be a more capable version of the Alien Mini Shield. While still much smaller than our own shields, they are twice as durable.

Together with the study of the smaller sibling, means of shaping Alien Alloys, and study of some armour plating that is thinner than that in alien craft, we ought to be able to come up with an improved shield version of our own, although it probably won't be as elegant and easy to wield as the Alien Small Shield.

Siege

The Siege vehicle is as close as we can get to a conventional tank while still being able to carry it in our drop ships. As expected, it is slower than its predecessors but can both resist and take more punishment than those. It is only capable of using a cannon as its weapon, although we expect all vehicle cannons we develop will fit any cannon capable vehicle.

Machinegun

…Summary…

Range: 16 
Damage: 30 x 9 shots
Type: Kinetic
Mitigation: 5
Ammo Capacity: 200

The vehicle Machinegun is actually a pair: dual .30cal machineguns typically used for light combat vehicles.

Division Machinegun

…Summary…

Range: 18 
Damage: 40 x 12 shots
Type: Kinetic
Mitigation: 20
Ammo Capacity: 240

We have applied our Division Technology magic to the vehicle Machinegun available to our Hunter vehicles (and any other vehicles capable of using Machineguns, of course). This means it packs a heavier punch and mitigates more armour than the standard equipment.

Alenium Rocket

…Summary…

Damage: 230
Type: Incendiary
Mitigation: 0

The Alenium Rocket is a straight upgrade for the standard Viper rocket. It behaves the same and fits the same launchers, but causes about 50% more damage.

Pulse Laser

&#8230;Summary&#8230;&#10;&#10;Range: 22 &#10;Damage: 40 x 10 shots&#10;Type: Energy &#10;Mitigation: 20 &#10;Ammo Capacity: 150 &#10;The purpose of the Pulse Laser is to produce a weapon that inflicts the maximum amount of damage possible per shot, creating an extremely powerful laser beam that is able to inflict heavy damage on even well-protected targets at great range.&#10;&#10;Aside from scaling the laser emitter up, we have further developed it to produce a beam of oscillating intensity, switching between a high and low power levels thousands of times per second. Rather than sustaining a uniform level of heat, the target suffers repeated &quot;pulses&quot; of intense heat that causes rapid fracturing of the surface material. As the surface material breaks apart and disintegrates this effect becomes even more pronounced, giving the Pulse Laser excellent armour penetration compared to standard lasers. &#10;&#10;We have developed a variant of the weapon small enough to mount on ground combat vehicles that is available for immediate production, using 4 units of Alien Alloys. This is fitted with a battery that holds enough power for 8 shots and should substantially boost the combat effectiveness of the vehicle. Unfortunately, the Hunter car is not up to the task of carrying Laser weapons, so we need more capable craft to actually field this weapon. We have also used the Pulse Laser to upgrade our base defense batteries. Pulling power directly from the base reactors, they should greatly improve the chances of destroying an attacking extraterrestrial craft before it can unload ground forces. The retrofit is already well underway and should be complete by the time you read this; any future defence batteries we construct will also incorporate laser technology into their design (at least until we develop something better).

Alenium Cannon

…Summary…

Range: 22 
Damage: 120 
Type: Incendiary
Mitigation: 15
Ammo Capacity: 16 
Fairly simple update, Commander, we've just replaced some of the high-explosive found within our vehicle cannon shells with depleted alenium and fitted a triggering mechanism. Even though the shell form factor is the same as our standard cannon shells, the triggering system is not, and requires a slight rework of the internals of the cannon. Engineering should be able to put a few of these together for you... and if you're fielding a lot of vehicles, I suspect it's going to be worth it for you to do so. Enjoy your new cannon, Commander.

AP Alenium Cannon

…Summary…

Range: 28 
Damage: 240 
Type: Kinetic 
Mitigation: 50 
Ammo Capacity: 24 

The AP Alenium Cannon is only partially an upgrade of the Alenium Cannon, as it deals Kinetic rather than Incendiary damage, but in most cases this equipment is superiour.

 

Edited by PALU
Edited after comments
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, PALU said:

It behaves the same and fits the same launchers, but causes half again as much damage.

?

13 minutes ago, PALU said:

We have developed a variant of the weapon small enough to mount on our Hunter scout car that is available for immediate production,

I dont think the hunter can equipt Pulse Lasers. You have to double check what vehicle can actually mount what kind of weapon in the vehicles.xml.

16 minutes ago, PALU said:

Also, I've seen there is something called Gauss weapons in researches.xml, but I haven't investigated whether they are active or dud. If they are active, the MAG description will have to be revised.

Thats Phase 3 xenonaut weaponry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...