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

[PALU]

Half again = 50% more.

The change I made to the Pulse Laser text was to cut out the part about scavenging material, as there are no such requirements, so that was from the previous text, but yes, it can not (no longer, I presume) be used by the Hunter.

[Charon]

2 minutes ago, PALU said:

Half again = 50% more.

I dont think thats english. Maybe try to formulate it in a different way ?

 

Good job on the entries so far.

[PALU]

It is English, but it doesn't matter if it's correct if a lot of people don't understand it... Only jerks (and people in the mumbo-jumbo business [Look up Alan Sokal's bluff, if I remember the name correctly]) intentionally use language too convoluted for the receivers to actually understand it. I've updated that entry and the Pulse Laser one.

[Charon]

1 hour ago, PALU said:

It is English, but it doesn't matter if it's correct if a lot of people don't understand it... Only jerks (and people in the mumbo-jumbo business [Look up Alan Sokal's bluff, if I remember the name correctly]) intentionally use language too convoluted for the receivers to actually understand it. I've updated that entry and the Pulse Laser one.

Chill down bro, all i wanted to point out is that i couldnt make any sense of it.

[PALU]

No worries. I just wanted to explain my view on the matter.

And now onto something more important: I've come up with a new version of the Alien Matergy Technology description that ties back to the video you linked in a rather literal way...

Alien Matergy Technology

This technology is insane, Commander! Not in the "this is out of this world" way, but in its sheer lucridicy. The basic physics behind it is something a creative physics teacher could use to spice up lectures, but incredibly more powerful. So, what does it do, then?
It uses a "propellant" in the form of a weight of an alien material that's magnetic and an electro magnet to accelerate that weight to slam into the magnet. The magnet, in turn, transfers that force to a non magnetic bullet, that is then thrown out of the weapon. While the physics teacher would use this Newton's Cradle principle to cause a marble to topple a book stood on end, these weapons fire slugs at supersonic speed, to lethal effect.
This should simply be impossible, as the magnetic field required should be impossible to generate, and *if* it would be possible to accelerate the weight to these speeds, both it and the electro magnet should be smashed into smithereens and a huge amount of heat should be unleashed. However, the electro magnet manages to create this gigantic field, both the weight and the magnet manages to stay intact without deformation, and they manage to transfer virtually all of the kinetic energy of the weight into the bullet!
Why would anyone even think of making a weapon this way? It is as if a genius with access to bizarre materials was tasked with coming up with a weapon when he had much more important things to do, and just threw together the first thing he could think of to get back to more important matters... Why are you looking at me like that, Commander?

Despite the mad design and materials involved we are unable to either understand completely or replicate, our study of the Matergy Pistol and Matergy Rifle has given us enough information to start researching the application of this technology to producing our own Magnetic weapons (MAG for short). We believe we should be able to reuse the "firing mechanisms" of Matergy weapons, and since there is one of those in each weapon, I don't foresee any shortage of that component for the purpose of supplying our troops with weapons.

As is typical of Alien weapon Technology studies, we want to continue on to Advanced Matergy Technology studies as soon as we have studied enough additional Matergy weapon types to proceed.

Edit: And a new lot of entries:

MAG Machinegun

<It came as an unpleasant surprise that the Hunter can't use these, as I'm yet to find any ground vehicle that has a similar role>

…Summary…

Range: 20 
Damage: 45 x 30 shots
Type: Kinetic 
Mitigation: 30 
Ammo Capacity: 300 

This weapon improves on the Division Machinegun in all aspects except one: Its system requirements are too great for our venerable Hunter car, and so require more advanced machinegun capable vehicles to be of use.

<I haven't yet produced any melee weapons, and so have no experience of them>

Alien Flamer Heavy

The Alien Flamer Heavy is essentially a machinegun using the Alien Flamer Technology.

We believe study of this weapon, together with the Alien Flamer Cannon and information extracted from a Sebillian weapons specialist of sufficient seniority should allow us to commence studies of the Advanced Alien Flamer Technology.

We are now able to extract one Ballistic Core from every 2 Alien Flamer Heavy processed.

Alien Battle Rifle

The Alien Battle Rifle is an alien weapon around forty inches long and five kilogrammes in weight. It can project deadly bolts of plasma over great distance with incredible accuracy, is capable of burst fire and has excellent armour mitigation. Be very careful of enemies carrying this weapon - not only do they have access to the most fearsome weapon in the extraterrestrial arsenal encountered yet, they will also represent the elite of the alien forces on the battlefield.

The Battle Rifle is the finest example of a plasma weapon we are likely to encounter. The engineering is extremely impressive: there is little to differentiate the workings of the Battle Rifle from other alien weapons beyond the quality of production. Virtually every component shows dozens of incremental improvements: for example, every electromagnet in the weapon has a hardened alloy core that has undergone complete electron rearrangement, allowing them to generate a charge twice as powerful as normal. It would probably take us years to replicate just one of these weapons. 

Examination of this weapon has provided us with some leads on the Advanced Alien Plasma Technology, but we may need to study other weapons, possibly interrogate a Caesan Weapon Officer, and maybe even insight into the related Alien Neutron Technology may be required before we can proceed.

Our disassembly protocol for these weapons provides us with 2 Energy Cores for every weapon processed.

Alien Plasma Sniper

The Alien Plasma Sniper is an extraterrestrial infantry weapon that measures nearly fifty inches in length. It is fitted with a complex holographic sighting array and produces a focused bolt of plasma that travels extremely quickly and can maintain stability over great range, suggesting it is the alien equivalent of a sniper rifle.

The weapon has remarkable internal similarities to the Heavy Plasma, possessing the same lengthened generation chamber that significantly amplifies the energy content of the resulting bolt. The main difference lies with the helical spiral of electromagnets housed in the barrel of the weapon: long and thin, rather than short and compact. This results in a narrow and stretched bolt of plasma that can carve through the air with less resistance (and destabilisation) than normal, and then focus a great deal of energy into a narrower impact point to give more penetrative power. 

This fearsome penetrative power is actually somewhat of a mixed blessing. The plasma bolts will punch through almost any conceivable type of armour, but will also punch right through the soldier underneath. While I doubt having a tunnel half an inch wide burned straight through your body is a particularly pleasant experience, it is unlikely to be fatal unless it strikes the brain or another vital organ. This weapon therefore presents an interesting conundrum: it is very accurate even at long range and will bypass any protective equipment the target may be wearing, but it also fires slowly and is unlikely to kill a soldier outright.

Examination of this weapon has provided us with some leads on the Advanced Alien Plasma Technology, but we may need to study other weapons, possibly interrogate a Caesan Weapon Officer, and maybe even insight into the related Alien Neutron Technology may be required before we can proceed.

We have produced a disassembly protocol for these weapons that result in one Energy Core for every weapon processed.

Alien Matergy Heavy

The Alien Matergy Heavy is the Matergy Technology heavy machinegun.

If we study a sufficient number of Matergy weapons we should be able to start research on Advanced Alien Matergy Technology.

These weapons can be disassembled to provide one Ballistic Core for every weapon processed.

Alien Matergy Sniper

It's a sniper rifle using the Matergy Technology, which means it is accurate at a long range and deals more damage than the "simple" Alien Ballistic Sniper Rifle. The only consolation is that it is slow firing and doesn't have any burst capability.

It should be possible for us to commence with Advanced Alien Matergy Technology research once we have studies a sufficient number of Matergy weapon designs.

We can now gain one Ballistic Core for each of these weapons disassembled.

Alien Toxin Pistol

This pistol fires a neuro toxin that penetrates the body via the skin or inhalation. The aliens are completely ignoring the Geneva Convention, Commander.

Study of this weapon alone is unlikely to allow us to start to research Alien Toxin Technology: We may need to study a rifle version, and may also have to interrogate one or more of the units that wield this kind of weapons.

We have devised a disassembly protocol for these weapons that produces one Chemical Core for each weapon disassembled.

Alien Flamer Cannon

A Cannon class weapon using the Alien Flamer Technology. As such, it sports an area effect in addition to the direct impact one.

After studying this weapon we think study of an Alien Flamer Heavy and interrogation of a Sebillian Weapon Officer should provide us with access to the Advanced Alien Flamer Technology research topic.

Each of these weapons can now be processed to yield one Ballistic Core.

Alien Plasma Cannon

The Alien Plasma Cannon is a large infantry weapon that measures a little less than fifty inches in length. We believe it is best thought of as the alien equivalent of a bazooka or rocket-propelled grenade, firing a single powerful bolt of plasma that has great range and will inflict major damage on anything caught in the blast radius.

It is vastly superior to its conventional counterparts. The most obvious advantage is the increased damage it inflicts: at short range it can penetrate at least 15 inches of solid steel (precise measurements were difficult as we ran out of steel before the projectile ran out of power). In basic terms, it is enough to destroy virtually any conventional vehicle in the world in a single shot. Also important is the alien ammo clip system as mentioned earlier - it takes even a skilled operator up to ten seconds to reload a traditional anti-tank weapon after every shot, while the Alien Plasma Cannon firing rate is limited only by the time it takes to aim and fire. The weapon also suffers minimal recoil and has no back-blast, making it easier to handle and safer for adjacent friendly units.

Thankfully, alien materials are far more resistant against the penetrative effect of these projectiles than conventional materials. We believe the vaporised metal forms a shell around the projectile when it strikes steel, doing much of the penetrating work for it. However, the higher melting point of Alien Alloys prevents this from occurring and instead the projectile must rely on raw energy to inflict damage. Our more advanced technology gives us some protection against this weapon - though the Wolf and Buzzard are not strong enough to protect a soldier from a direct hit, the Wolf in particular should help our troops survive being caught in the blast. I have already warned your men about the fearsome power of this weapon; one hopes it will encourage them to get out of the way of the projectiles.

Examination of this weapon has provided us with some leads on the Advanced Alien Plasma Technology, but we may need to study other weapons, possibly interrogate a Caesan Weapon Officer, and maybe even insight into the related Alien Neutron Technology may be required before we can proceed.

We should get a 1:1 ratio between Alien Plasma Cannons and Energy Cores when we process these weapons.

Alien Neutron Cannon

The Alien Neutron Cannon is a blast radius cannon type weapon using the Alien Neutron Technology.

We believe we can build on the Alien Neutron Technology research, the study of this weapon, the study of the Alien Neutron Sniper, and interrogation of a high ranking Caesan Weapons Specialist to begin research on the Advanced Alien Neutron Technology.

We are now able to extract the components of one Energy Core kit out of each Alien Neutron Cannon disassembled.

Alien Matergy Rifle

This is the Matergy Technology version of a rifle.

Together with the Alien Matergy Pistol research and interrogation of a Sebillian Soldier familiar with it, we ought to be able to start research on the Alien Matergy Technology.

We now have a protocol for extraction of Ballistic Cores from these weapons: one Ballistic Core for every two Alien Matergy Rifles.

 

Edited August 21, 2018 by PALU
Added edit

[Charon]

@PALU Could you format the entries without the code brackets into a readable format ?

[PALU]

I don't quite understand the question. I understand you want it readable, but you were the one who wanted the code brackets...

The format IS readable in the game when inserted into researches.xml (which is where I've copied them from, as that's now my main location for the texts: it took quite some time it insert the texts. I've kept a copy of the X-Division original in case I will need it, for some reason, with the name researches.xml.org). I believe messing with the format by introducing artificial newlines will cause it to be readable on some screen resolutions, but look stunted and silly on larger ones, alternatively look fine at large resolutions, but get weird line breaks at lower ones.

When I write new/edited texts I copy them to a scrap text file as I go. When done I paste them onto the board, using the spell checking to catch errors (and it did catch one in a text I believe was from the original), at which time I fix those errors both on the board and in researches.xml. Once that's done I've made the entries into "code". Once I start a new batch I clear the scratch pad file.

Do you have some suggestion that doesn't result in maintaining two versions of every entry?

Edit: I'll try skipping the explicit newline characters, as it seems to display perfectly fine just using plain old new lines.

Edited August 22, 2018 by PALU
Added edit

[Charon]

https://youtu.be/6ZCBDeTsQ_0

Started an interesting discussion about AI.

 

What you call AI. I refuse to call set tactical heuristics that way, because they have nothing to do with actual artificial intelligence. It's just the "intelligence" (better: behaviour) the programmer thought of giving the algorithm.

 

I still try to figure out where you draw the line.

If you think a set of tactical heuristics doesnt make an AI than humans wouldnt be called intelligent either. Humans determine their action by having a value system ( hungry = food good ) and then proceed to scan the actions which you feel comfortable about and then project if said actions would lead to the satisfaction of the goal, while being restricted by real (cant go through walls ) or virtual rules. Thats exactly what the AI is doing as well eg. their actions are normally distributed by all the actions an AI can do, these actions are also possible for a player. The normal distribution is then warped by the code value system the developers ( we ) gave them. The only difference is that the AI cant learn from past mistakes. Or from player habits.

I would call it an AI because you can throw them into a different environment and they still try to make intelligent decisions based on their environment in exact the same way a human also would make be able to make intelligent decisions.

The grenade incident in that episode is a good example for this. No developer told the AI the sequence of this moves, nor did anybody tell them to execute it that way. They could also have behaved totally differently. The AI had a value system, and scanned a good load of possible actions, while at each step deciding for a certain action with a threshold of "good" options. They wouldnt know if the porjectiles would hit, nor would they know how much dmg every action would bring exactly. They dynamically adapted to circumstances, in this case that 1. the projectile did a good amount of damage and 2. that the turnaround meant you had to finish it with a grenade ( the AI scanned through possible actions, taking into account shield hp, orientation of the soldier, soldier rank, and 50%+/- grenade damage range ).

There is a difference between "self-learning" AI, and what you call a set of heuristics. But both are considered AIs, just with the difference of outsourcing the "self-learning" or not. For instance youtube has an AI, which matches advertisment and watchers in real time. The AI that does this is a set of heuristics, because there is another class of AIs, so called builder AIs, which build said matching AIs.
The stock market for instance runs the same way. When you want to sell something an AI is picking up your request and cries as loud as possible "SELL". It just doest that 10^6 times faster than humans. When you want to buy something an AI is picking up that request and cries "BUY". If matching AIs then find themself you have a deal. Still a better love story than twilight though.
Those AIs are regularly replaced by newer AIs, which run 0.01% more efficiently than the predecessor. Based on that you cant call them AI, because they outsourced "self-learning". But they are an AI, because humans have long lost the oversight how the builder AIs are improving. They are running a self determined course, and humans define the values for the AIs.

Then they are AIs which have "self-learning" build in, but the values they orient themself are still set by humans ( much in the same way we set the values for the AI in X-Division ). Then they are given a test runs > data used to "see" what scored a higher darwin score and loop that around a 10^5 times. Or as long as you need to. But the only difference is that "self-learning" is not outsourced.

For a basic discussion knowledge please refer to this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9OHn5ZF4Uo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvWpdrfoEv0

 

For a broader range on this topic bots in such games were always called an AI. They are called an AI in Warcraft 1,2 & 3, Starcraft 1 & 2, Supreme Commander 2, and basically any other game out there. The list would be shorter to name games which names bots not "AI". So peopel calling them an AI in games is just a label which other human beings accurately understand what you are talking about. This is how the world works, 99% of all things are inadequately named with the shifting meaning of a word, but humans still accuratelly understand and can talk about a topic without getting distracted by that.

 

 

[PALU]

Another batch, now without newline characters...

Alien Neutron Heavy

The Alien Neutron Heavy is the Alien Neutron Technology version of a heavy machinegun.

The examination of this weapon, together with a similar examination of an Alien Neutron Rifle and interrogation of a member of a soldier class wielding it ought to allow us to research the Alien Neutron Technology.

We should now be able to get one Energy Core through disassembly of two Alien Neutron Heavy weapons.

Alien Neutron Rifle

This is a Rifle, a very deadly Rifle...

We believe we should be able to start researching the Alien Neutron Technology once we have examined an Alien Neutron Heavy and interrogated a soldier of a class that uses these weapons.

Disassembly of 5 Alien Neutron Rifles will allow us to collect 2 Energy Core kits.

Alien Neutron Sniper

I would strongly advice against getting hit by this Sniper Rifle using the Alien Neutron Technology. It would be rather bad for your health, Commander.

On the research side of things, we ought to be able to build on the Alien Neutron Technology, the investigation of this weapon, and an investigation of an Alien Neutron Cannon, together with interrogation of a senior Caesan Weapon Specialist to start research on the Advanced Alien Neutron Technology.

Our Alien Neutron Sniper disassembly protocol provides one Energy Core for every weapon processed.

Alien Plasma Pistol

The Alien Plasma Pistol is an alien sidearm that is approximately eight inches long and roughly a kilogram in weight. Though it bears some resemblance to a human firearm, it does not fire a bullet but rather a searing bolt of superheated plasma.

It is a powerful weapon, easily capable of killing an unarmoured man in a single shot. However, our tests suggest the compact size of the weapon renders it fairly inefficient: the plasma bolt loses cohesion and starts to dissipate almost immediately. It is thus most dangerous at short ranges, where a single shot has a good chance of killing one of our soldiers outright. As that range increases, the projectile steadily becomes less accurate and damaging. The lesson here should be clear: fight units equipped with this weapon from as far away as possible.

We believe it should be possible to combine the findings made from the examination of this weapon with examinations of their Rifle and Heavy Machinegun correspondents, i.e. the Alien Plasma Rifle and the Alien Heavy Plasma Rifle, augmented by interrogation of a Caesan Soldier familiar with these weapons to begin research on the Alien Plasma Technology.

Thanks to this research, we can now extract 2 Energy Core kits from each lot of 5 Alien Plasma Pistols.

Alien Plasma Rifle

<Is the text still correct with its references to the Jackal and Hunter?>

The Alien Plasma Rifle is a single-handed alien infantry weapon approximately thirty inches in length and three kilograms in weight. It is a vastly more capable combat weapon than the Alien Plasma Pistol, generating a plasma bolt that is significantly more powerful and cohesive than its smaller cousin.

Without the space constraints of the Alien Plasma Pistol, the aliens have mounted a more substantial generation array inside the weapon's barrel. This gives it a similar operational range to most ballistic assault rifles, but far higher damage and armour penetration potential. Laboratory tests suggest Jackal combat armour may do just enough to allow the wearer to survive a direct hit, but unarmoured troops would likely be killed instantly. Indeed, we believe this weapon is even a credible threat to our Hunter armoured cars.

It would appear that the versatility of the alien Plasma Rifle makes it the default armament for Caesan combatants. It is powerful, light, accurate and capable of burst fire - in short, vastly superior to anything we possess.

By combining the findings made from examining this weapon with similar examination of an Alien Plasma Pistol and an Alien Heavy Plasma Rifle, with the addition of interrogation of a Caesan Soldier familiar with these weapons, we ought to be able to begin research on the Alien Plasma Technology.

The disassembly outcome of this research is one Energy Core for every two weapons processed.

Alien Heavy Plasma Rifle

The Alien Heavy Plasma Rifle is the mean bigger brother of the Alien Plasma Rifle, and serves as a Heavy Machinegun. Surprisingly, the aliens are still able to fire this weapons using a single hand while wielding a shield in the other one.

By combining the findings made from examining this weapon with similar examination of an Alien Plasma Pistol and an Alien Plasma Rifle, with the addition of interrogation of a Caesan Soldier familiar with these weapons, we ought to be able to begin research on the Alien Plasma Technology.

Our research allows us to now disassemble these weapons to provide one Energy Core for every 2 weapons processed.

Alien Matergy Pistol

The Alien Matergy Pistol is a strange beast that doesn't seem to use any propellant for its bullets (which, of course, doesn't make it any less deadly).

We believe we can build on the scant findings from this research by examining an Alien Matergy Rifle and interrogating a Sebillian Soldier, as they seem to be familiar with these weapons. Once done, we ought to be able to start research into the Alien Matergy Technology.

It is now possible to disassemble Alien Matergy Pistols to gain 2 Ballistic Cores for every 5 weapons processed.

Alien Matergy Cannon

This Sebillian weapon is a small area effect weapon with a large impact.

To continue our studies to the Advanced Matergy Technology we believe we need to know the Advanced Alien Flamer Technology, the Alien Matergy Techology (of course, we can't proceed to the advanced studies without the basics), and pick the brains of a Sebillian Weapon Officer (through Interrogation, not physically, as that would be both messy and fruitless). Beyond this, however, we are unsure whether we have what we need to proceed or need to study additional types of advanced Matergy weaponry first.

We've devised a disassembly protocol for these weapons to gain one Ballistic Core for each weapon disassembled.

Alien Matergy Minigun

A minigun, but using the Matergy Technology.

To continue our studies to the Advanced Matergy Technology we believe we need to know the Advanced Alien Flamer Technology, the Alien Matergy, and interrogate a Sebillian Weapon Officer. Beyond this, however, we are unsure whether we have what we need to proceed or need to study additional types of advanced Matergy weaponry first.

We've devised a disassembly protocol for these weapons: each of these brutes should yield 2 Ballistic Cores when disassembled.

Alien Dark Pistol

The Alien Dark Pistol seems to somehow generate anti matter.

To begin studies on the Alien Dark Technology, we probably have to examine an Alien Dark Cannon and an Alien Dark Assault weapon, as well as interrogating representatives of one or more Terror Soldier castes.

3 of these weapons should provide us with 2 Antimatter Cores when disassembled.

[Charon]

3 hours ago, PALU said:

<Is the text still correct with its references to the Jackal and Hunter?>

No. If it is, it is just coincidence.

[PALU]

Another batch:

Plasma Rifle Mk-1

We've finally managed to produce a plasma rifle of our own. It's not quite as powerful as the alien version, but we can produce it and it fits our soldiers' hands, so they can actually hit things with it. While not up to the standard of the alien weapon, it's still about twice as powerful as our laser range of weapons. The drawbacks are that we have some issues with the plasma coherence, and so has a shorter range than the Laser Rifle Mk-1. We also have issues with the ammo clips, as its capacity is somewhat lacking, even smaller than Laser Rifle Mk-1 one.

Precision Plasma Rifle Mk-1

Our Precision Plasma Mk-1 weapon has the same basic strengths and weaknesses as our Plasma Rifle Mk-1, i.e. about twice the power of the Laser range, but the range is on the short side for a Sniper Rifle, and the ammo clip capacity is frankly plain poor.

MAG Rifle Mk-1

We have managed to put the absurd alien MAG Technology to work in our own MAG Rifle Mk-1. This weapon is a slight improvement over the Division Rifle Mk-1 in almost all aspects, but we probably need to improve on it further to make it worth the while to change from higher Division Rifle tiers.

Advanced Stun Grenade

We've finally caught up with the aliens in the Stun Grenade department, so use these babies while they are still effective, as it wouldn't surprise me if the aliens improve their game further as the time goes on.

MAG Pistol Mk-1

The aliens are upping their game in the Ballistic weapons arena, and we need to catch up. MAG weapons are based on the bizarre firing mechanism of alien MAG Technology weapons, and the Mk-1 range provides a modest improvement over the Division Mk-1 range. It can also be noted that the MAG Pistol has a 3 bullet burst firing mode.

Alien Smart Rifle

The Alien Smart Rifle is a fearsome Rifle using the Alien Smart Technology.

Our disassembly protocol for this weapon results in 2 Antimatter Cores for every 3 weapons.

Alien Dark Cannon

The Alien Dark Cannon is a Cannon weapon using the Alien Dark Technology

We have produced a disassembly protocol to extract 2 Antimatter Cores from each of these weapons.

Heavy Fighter

The Heavy Fighter is, unsurprisingly, a repaired and retrofitted downed Alien Heavy Fighter. As such, it fulfills the same role as the Fighter, but is more capable in every respect.

It doesn't come as a surprise that this craft cannot be produced only from the components gained from disassembly of earlier generation alien crafts: it requires a Basic Alien Control System, as an Alien Control System isn't up to the task. Obviously, we also need a Fallen Alien Heavy Fighter, as well as an Alien Light Engine, an Alien Light Weapon System and two Alien Computers to put one of these craft into our hangar.

MAG Storm

The MAG Storm is an aircraft cannon, and thus has a fairly short range, although it is quite good as cannons go. Each round produces as substantial amount of damage, although the ammo capacity is limited, so the total amount of damage is modest improvement over earlier weapons.

We need 7 Alien Alloys and 3 Alenium to produce these weapons.

Titanium Anti-Missile

The basic functionality of this system is the same as of the Anti-Missile: to keep alien craft missiles from blowing up our own craft. This system is an evolutionary improvement over the previous version, providing a longer range and just over 50% more missiles. Still, the pilots need to get their job done fairly quickly, as these missiles DO run out.

Given that these systems are reasonably uncomplicated to manufacture and don't contain any hard to obtain alien resources, we effectively have these systems available in unlimited numbers.

Caesan Basic Bomber Operator Interrogation

Interrogation of a Caesan Basic Bomber Operator has almost, but not quite, provided enough data to improve our own Plasma Technology weapons. Once this report has been sent off, we'll prod the Caesan Basic Bomber Operator a little bit more to see if we can gain access to encrypted files in their computer systems that ought to contain the missing pieces. If not, we probably have to try to extract that access from his superiour, the Caesan Officer.

Caesan Chieftain Autopsy

The Caesan Chieftain has a fairly complete set of armour before he perished. This Autopsy research has allowed us to extract 2 Light Fibres from each corpse processed.

Caesan Weapon Officer Interrogation

Interrogation of the Caesan Weapon Officer has produced some concrete results: We should be able to start research on the Advanced Alien Grenade (while studying a grenade, of course), and we believe we have all the interrogation information we need to commence study of the Advanced Alien Lightning Technology, although we obviously need to have the Alien Lightning Technology to build on, and we would need samples of the Alien Lightning Cannon and Alien Lightning Rifle as well.
Similarly, we think we have a fairly sound interrogation base for the study of the Advanced Alien Plasma Technology, but, again, we need the Alien Plasma Technology in place, as well as studies of one or more advanced Alien Plasma or Neutron Technology based weapons to get started.

[mysteryscott]

Having a bit of trouble blowing open the doors on UFO's in this mod. I've tried grenades, sustained lmg fire, rockets, and c4 (all tier 1/basic starting level weapons) and none have seemed to work. Was this feature taken out of the game or am I simply doing something wrong?

[PALU]

The thing that seems to work for me is a LOT of fire at the doors. It takes about half (ballpark guess) of a Hunter Car's ammo to blast a door, and at times I've complemented that with Heavy Machinegun bullets when the car ran out (I tend to use the car to fire at enemies as well, so I usually don't have a full magazine when reaching the craft).

[Charon]

4 hours ago, PALU said:

Titanium Anti-Missile

The original text absolutely has to be there as well, as the game crashes if you try to fire 2 anti missile weapons from the same plane.

 

[PALU]

A replacement version for the Titanium Anit-Missile then:

The basic functionality of this system is the same as of the Anti-Missile: to keep alien craft missiles from blowing up our own craft. This system is an evolutionary improvement over the previous version, providing a longer range and just over 50% more missiles. Still, the pilots need to get their job done fairly quickly, as these missiles DO run out. Also note that these systems suffer from the same fratricide issues their predecessor do, so don't consider putting two of them on the same aircraft.

Given that these systems are reasonably uncomplicated to manufacture and don't contain any hard to obtain alien resources, we effectively have these systems available in unlimited numbers.

[PALU]

Another lot (the Alien Units section is getting rather tedious to deal with, though is this section is getting crowded, and I'm only halfway there...):

Caesan Officer Vivisection

As usual, study of this Caesan has given us an additional minor insight into that species' weaknesses, but apart from that, nothing of importance has been gained from a scientific perspective.

We have, however, produced a protocol for extraction of Light Fibres from his armour: 32 Light Fibres per captive, to be precise.

Caesan Terror Soldier Autopsy
<Given the interrogation image, the dead ones should have reddish eyes as well>

These menaces wore a rather substantial armour before our soldiers cut their lives short.

We have devised a protocol to extract 4 Light Fibres and 2 Dense Fibres from each body processed.

Caesan Officer Autopsy

As can be expected, the Caesan Officer wore better armour than the Caesan Sergeant, which means we get more resources out of processing it. We get 4 Light Fibres from each corpse processed.

Wraith Terror Soldier Autopsy

Autopsy of a Wraith Terror Soldier has confirmed the assumption that they do not differ significantly from other Wraiths on the inside: neither the sugically implanted armour nor the visible organs or the genetics are much different from samples studied previously. However, they wore tougher armour, which means we get more Fibres when processing them, at the tune of 4 Light Fibres and 4 Dense Fibres for every set of damaged armour.

Caesan Engineer Interrogation

This captive had much to say, and we made sure he did say it...

&#8226;: Assuming we have an Alien Power Source, we should now know enough to figure out how to disassemble it safely.
&#8226;: Assuming we have an Alien Anti Gravity Generator at hand, we should have be able to research it without blowing our up our facilities or launching them into space (in pieces...).
&#8226;: Similarly, with an Alien Base Core at hand, we should be ready to investigate Alien Base Facilities.
&#8226;: We should also be able to safely research the Alien Reactor as soon as we have one.
&#8226;: We can see an Light Support Tank, 'Scimitar', taking form once we have interrogated a Sebillian Engineer and figured out how to deal with Alien Powersources, Alien Electronics, and how to fabricate Alien Alloys.
&#8226;: The crystal ball also reveals a more advanced Light Tank in the distance, although we are likely to need quite a lot to actually be able to start to research it. The basic prerequisites are Alien Alloy Fabrication, Alien Electronics, and Alien Reactor for the components, and Disassembly of an Andron Server for the communications. On top of that, we probably need input from a Sebillian Engineer as well as appropriate encrypted data files from both the Caesan and the Sebillian side.
&#8226;: A more advanced Hunter car may be easier to reach, as we think we need only technical knowledge in the form of Alien Powersource, Alien Electronics, and Alien Alloy Fabrication research.
&#8226;: To research a dropship, 'Shrike' we should now only need techical research in the form of Alien Alloy Fabrication, Directional Thruster Array, and Alien Electronics.
&#8226;: Shock Technology should be within our reach, assuming we have researched the Alien Electronics Technology.
&#8226;: Given knowledge of the Alien Alloy Fabrication Technology, we should now be prepared to step it up to Alien Alloy Hardening.
&#8226;: As if that wasn't enough, he also filled in a few blanks in the Caesan Technician's story.

Sebillian Engineer Interrogation

This captive had much to say, and we made sure he did say it...

&#8226;: Assuming we have an Alien Power Source, we should now know enough to figure out how to disassemble it safely.
&#8226;: Assuming we have an Alien Anti Gravity Generator at hand, we should have be able to research it without blowing our up our facilities or launching them into space (in pieces...).
&#8226;: Similarly, with an Alien Base Core at hand, we should be ready to investigate Alien Base Facilities.
&#8226;: We should also be able to safely research the Alien Reactor as soon as we have one.
&#8226;: We can see an Light Support Tank, 'Scimitar', taking form once we have interrogated a Caesan Engineer and figured out how to deal with Alien Powersources, Alien Electronics, and how to fabricate Alien Alloys.
&#8226;: The crystal ball also reveals a more advanced Light Tank in the distance, although we are likely to need quite a lot to actually be able to start to research it. The basic prerequisites are Alien Alloy Fabrication, Alien Electronics, and Alien Reactor for the components, and Disassembly of an Andron Server for the communications. On top of that, we probably need input from a Caesan Engineer as well as appropriate encrypted data files from both the Caesan and the Sebillian side.
&#8226;: A more advanced Hunter car may be easier to reach, as we think we need only technical knowledge in the form of Alien Powersource, Alien Electronics, and Alien Alloy Fabrication research.
&#8226;: We foresee the ability to research a new Kinetic vehicle cannon once the technical prerequisites in the form of Alien Alloy Fabrication, Alien Electronics, and Alien Powersource are met.
&#8226;: Shock Technology should be within our reach, assuming we have researched the Alien Lightning Technology.
&#8226;: Given knowledge of the Alien Alloy Fabrication Technology, we should now be prepared to step it up to Alien Alloy Hardening.
&#8226;: As if that wasn't enough, he also filled in a few blanks in the Sebillian Technician's story.

Sebillian Cruiser Operator Interrogation

This interrogation was another of those frustrating ones where we get to the cusp of learning something useful, but end up just short. It seems to be a combination of a lack of deeper understanding on the part of the Interrogation target and a lack of knowledge on our part to allow us to ask the right questions. We believe we need access to encrypted files on a Sebillian computer system to actually gain anything substantial.

Caesan Soldier Vivisection

These soldiers wear a rather substantial armour, and we can turn that to our advantage by extracting 16 Light Fibres from each of those.

Harridan Terror Soldier Autopsy

These menaces wore even more armour than their predecessors, although the internal plating seems to be the same. We are now able to extract 4 Light Fibres and 4 Dense Fibres from each of these corpses.

Sebillian Terror Soldier Autopsy

These marauders are physically similar to other Sebillians, with the only significant difference being their grey hide. Their armour, however, is stronger than that of other soldiers we have encountered. This means we are able to get more out of even the remains of the armour in the form of 4 Light Fibres and 2 Dense Fibres for every tattered set of armour.

Caesan Landing Ship Operator Interrogation

Well, yet another frustrating Interrogation session where substantial gains slip just out of reach. It seems Caesan computer system access is the only way to move forward.

Caesan Terror Soldier Vivisection

This vivisection effort has, as usual, payed off in a small improvement of our understanding of this species' weaknesses. These minor gains build up to substantial improvements in our combat effectiveness against the species as each small gain is added to the previous stack, so keep new types of captives coming, Commander.
We couldn't care less about the captives' dignity, and we don't think they do themselves anyway, so we can strip them of their deceptively weak looking armour to process it into resources of our own, in the form if 32 Light Fibres and 16 Dense Fibres from each set of armour.

Caesan Terror Soldier Interrogation

We are not sure what we gained from this Interrogation. It is clear we need to study a sample of each of the Alien Dark Technology weapons (Pistol, Assault, and Cannon) in order to allow us to start researching the Alien Dark Technology itself, but that is not enough: we need information from captives, and while it is clear all Terror Soldiers and all Basic Terror Operators collectively should have enough knowledge, we don't really know which ones we need to get the missing piece. Since we really should interrogate everyone to ensure we gain everything we can out of them, it really should be a matter of time, though.

Wraith Soldier Vivisection

As usual, some additional common Wraith weaknesses have been uncovered, resulting in a slight combat effectiveness improvement against this race.
As is also standard by now, we have devised a protocol for rendering their armour into resources for our own use: 16 Light Fibres and 8 Dense Fibres from each set of armour.

Edited August 24, 2018 by PALU
Edited after comments

[Charon]

3 hours ago, PALU said:

&#8226;: After having figured out how to fabricate Alien Alloys and disassembled an Andron to get alien examples, we should be just short of being able to start designing a better suit of armour, tentatively named 'Wolf'. To go the whole distance we likely need the expert 'advice' from a Sebillian Engineer as well.

I changed the research requirements for all armours. This is for the wolf armour.

Researches.AlienAlloyFabrication(AND)Researches.CaesantechnicianInterrogation(AND)Researches.SebilliantechnicianInterrogation(AND)Researches.AndronDisassembly

3 hours ago, PALU said:

<Are the ShockTechnology requirements defined correctly? They're defined as sebillian + lightning tech or caesan + alien electronics, but logically it ought to be both techs plus either of the engineers. The description below assumes my guess is correct>

Yes. We wanted to have the player access to this tools as soon as possible this is why the requirements are complementary. Either you get an sebillian engineer and a the basic lightning technology, or you already researched andron electronics and get a caesan engineer on the case.

3 hours ago, PALU said:

Sebillian Cruiser Operator Interrogation

% unlocking potential means a chance to unlock the whole research. Even a 25% chance means the research gets fully unlocked.

 

Edited August 24, 2018 by Charon

[PALU]

Edited the previous post.

It would be a lot easier to understand what you mean by saying what the difference is, rather than just dump a string and have me look at it again and again to figure out how it differs... (and both would be even better).

So Wolf has been shifted from Engineer to Tech, which I think is suitable. Then it's a matter of remembering that when I've covered what I've unlocked and revisit stuff already written. Thereafter it's on to more or less guessing at new stuff (without ability to see that it actually appears somewhat properly).

For Shock technology it's been the Engineer that's the limiting factor, not the other techs, at least in my case. I would much rather have both techs and interrogation of both Technicians than one tech and one Engineer.

Sebillian Cruiser Operator Interrogation: That's how I try to describe it (and it's similar for all the data hack thingies). As far as I can see a data hack is required in all cases. The problem is that the entry has no knowledge of whether a data hack (or other percentage) will unlock something or not, so for data hacks I just say system access is needed, and then the system access either magically appear to the user when the screen is closed, or it does not. If it did, well, the data access was gained. The part that might be considered lacking is indication of who the other unlocking operators are.
And, for that matter, a lot of entries suffer from the issue of not being able to take what's been discovered by the player into account, but that's a limitation we just have to accept in the form of entries that indicate you can start on something you may already have researched. Even if we had the means, we don't have the man power to write all the variations...

Edit 2: I'm open to suggestions for alternative ways to describe that you may or may not get fluke access to computers.

And something completely different: I'm rather disappointed with the measly results of disassembling a pesky roboreaper, and I'm not happy with the performance of the advanced stun gas, as it's proven ineffective against both sebillian and caesan soldiers. It MIGHT be useful for softening units up before you hit them with whiffle sticks (or shockguns, although the APs are probably better spent firing the guns...), but that requires that you can place the effect such that you can reach the target without inhaling the smoke yourself. The basic version at  affected the guards most of the time, at least. Finally, those pesky fences proved to be unharmed by alenium grenades, so shield bearing units definitely have an issue: they need a ground vehicle to smash the fences, or need a different unit to shoot them away (a full round of laser Mk-3 pistol shots didn't work, but a round of Division Rifle Mk-3 usually does).

Edit 3: Another batch. This is partially updates of earlier entries. The basic specialist lists have been complemented with the Small Base Operator (and replaced newline characters with normal line breaks), and the Technicians have been updated to indicate access to the Wolf armor.

Sebillian Officer Interrogation

This captive knows a fair bit, but we never get enough to actually reach a point where we can initiate new research, even though we get close on several fronts. Each of those seem to require access to encrypted files on their computer systems to actually lead anywhere, though.

Xenomorph DNA Analysis
<Are there any combat benefits here? It would be logical>

We have now analysed the Xenomorph DNA successfully and crosschecked several different variants against each other, and this has verified our suspicion that the variants aren't different species, but rather different expressions of a common set of DNA in a fashion analogous to how ants can form several different castes from eggs laid by the same queen.

We believe this knowledge, assisted by Zombification and Alien Blood Technology, should allow us to start research on the Heavy Chemical Gas topic.

Roboreaper Soldier Disassembly

These infuriating units have to be disabled again and again, so while disappointing, it might not be surprising that the only thing we can salvage from them is a single unit of Alien Alloys.

Advanced Plasma Technology
<There appears to be a bug in my game. This tech is present in my X-Pedia, but at the same time it is actually under research on the research screen, and Advanced Alien Plasma Technology is the entry AFTER Advanced Plasma Technology in my X-Pedia, indicating it should have been researched later. I also don't have any research for Mk-2 Plasma weapons available even when I have researched the Mk-1 version, so the X-Pedia appearance is most likely caused by a bug.>

Advancing our studies into the Plasma Technology has allowed us to develop Mk-2 versions of our Plasma weapons. Obviously, in order to do so, we first have to have done our homework by figuring out how to make the corresponding Mk-1 models.

Apart from this, we think this knowledge is required to reach the Basic Antimatter Technology, but it's a rather small step. That technology seems to require input from just about every field Engineers can shed light on, Advanced MAG Technology, Advanced Alien Neutron Technology, and more or less the contents of every encrypted file we can get from alien computer systems at this stage, as well as autopsy study of an alien warrior.

Advanced Alien Plasma Technology

Having studied more advanced Alien Plasma Weapons, we now believe we have a grip on the Advanced Alien Plasma Technology.

The aliens have added an electron injection current into their plasma devices. As you recall, plasma weaponry functions by compressing ionized gas in a magnetic container. The field is then oscillated to produce spin and heat by friction, then morphed to launch the contents. What the aliens have done is add electron injection relays which produce currents within the gas, charging it rapidly and producing heat. The plasma forms in the barrel quickly and is superheated. Thankfully, there are upsides to this alarming change in strategy. The plasma weapon requires more time to cool as a result of the superheating, meaning that the enemy rate of fire is the same. While each shot of theirs has more destructive potential, our soldiers tend to perish from a single hit even by ordinary weapons. It also indicates that we are being taken seriously-a mixed blessing, but strangely gratifying.

This should allow us to build on Plasma Technology to research Advanced Plasma Technology for the groundwork for Mk-2 weapons of our own Plasma Technology.
We should also be able to use this knowledge to research a Vehicle Plasma Cannon, assuming we have studied Plasma Heavy Explosives.

Caesan Technician Interrogation

Our interrogation of this captive has given us enough information to start research on a range of technologies from alien craft parts, via electronics, and power sources, to alien alloy shaping techniques. We believe we should be able to build upon techniques to shape Alien Alloys and study of an Andron to produce a much needed improved armour for our soldiers, but we are fairly sure we need to extract the last bits of information from a Sebillian Technician.

Sebillian Technician Interrogation

Our interrogation of this captive has given us enough information to start research on a range of technologies from alien craft parts, via electronics, and power sources, to alien alloy shaping techniques. We believe we should be able to build upon techniques to shape Alien Alloys and study of an Andron to produce a much needed improved armour for our soldiers, but we are fairly sure we need to extract the last bits of information from a Caesan Technician.

Basic Specialists Caesan

After our interrogation of the latest Basic Specialist we now have an good overview of the different Caesans we might encounter:

&#8226;Officer: Leader of the mission
&#8226;Operator Landing: Landing mission operator
&#8226;Operator Cruiser: Cruiser mission operator
&#8226;Operator Alien Outpost: Outpost mission operation
&#8226;Basic Terror Operator: Terror mission operator
&#8226;Basic Assault Operator: Base assault mission operator
&#8226;Basic Bomber Operator: Bomber mission operator
&#8226;Small Base Operator: Operating small alien bases
&#8226;Weapon Officer: Weapon system operator
&#8226;Pilot: Craft navigation
&#8226;Assault Psion: Psionic destabilisation
&#8226;Engineer: Craft maintenance and repair
&#8226;Physician: Crew health
&#8226;Terror Soldier: Elite soldier used in terror/base assault missions, as well as outpost defense. Unusually, they seem to almost have a personality.

Basic Specialists Sebillian

After our interrogation of the latest Basic Specialist we now have an good overview of the different Sebillians we might encounter:

&#8226;Officer: Leader of the mission
&#8226;Operator Landing: Landing mission operator
&#8226;Operator Cruiser: Cruiser mission operator
&#8226;Operator Alien Outpost: Outpost mission operation
&#8226;Basic Terror Operator: Terror mission operator
&#8226;Basic Assault Operator: Base assault mission operator
&#8226;Basic Bomber Operator: Bomber mission operator
&#8226;Small Base Operator: Operating small alien bases
&#8226;Weapon Officer: Weapon system operator
&#8226;Pilot: Craft navigation
&#8226;Engineer: Craft maintenance and repair
&#8226;Physician: Crew health
&#8226;Terror Soldier: Elite soldier used in terror/base assault missions, as well as outpost defense. Oddly enough, they seem to differ from other Sebillians by seeming to have a personality of sorts.

Edited August 25, 2018 by PALU
Added edit

[Charon]

On 8/24/2018 at 4:33 PM, PALU said:

Edit 2: I'm open to suggestions for alternative ways to describe that you may or may not get fluke access to computers.

I disliked the frustration ( negative ) part in your entries. Here is a more positive approach to the entry from sfarrelly

   <Row ss:AutoFitHeight="0">
    <Cell ss:StyleID="s87"><Data ss:Type="String">Researches.CaesanDataHack2Desc</Data></Cell>
    <Cell ss:StyleID="s87"><Data ss:Type="String">We've had a stroke of good luck Commander. One of my techs was walking by when your Caesan captive started spouting what initially seemed like gibberish.&#xA;&#xA;He had the good sense to write it down however, and using this we think we can access a small portion of their energy weapon files.</Data></Cell>
   </Row>

On 8/24/2018 at 4:33 PM, PALU said:

I'm rather disappointed with the measly results of disassembling a pesky roboreaper,

Suggestions ?

On 8/24/2018 at 4:33 PM, PALU said:

and I'm not happy with the performance of the advanced stun gas,

Yes, the stun gas is akward since i coded the human stun gas variants. The alien versions are simply to strong to carry around, but the human stun ones are too weak, partly because of my oversight that i didnt actually accomodate the dmg to the chemical armour units have and partly by the recent discovery that chemical armour doesnt degrade. Part of the problem might also be that aliens became simply too intelligent to mindlessly arunning around in stun gas anymore.

Here is a revised version which i think will be more useful: gas_gc.xml strings.xml. Into the main X-Division folder.

On 8/24/2018 at 4:33 PM, PALU said:

<Are there any combat benefits here? It would be logical>

No. The combat benefits come with each dfferent captured unit.

On 8/24/2018 at 4:33 PM, PALU said:

<There appears to be a bug in my game. This tech is present in my X-Pedia, but at the same time it is actually under research on the research screen, and Advanced Alien Plasma Technology is the entry AFTER Advanced Plasma Technology in my X-Pedia, indicating it should have been researched later. I also don't have any research for Mk-2 Plasma weapons available even when I have researched the Mk-1 version, so the X-Pedia appearance is most likely caused by a bug.>

That is not a bug, the Xpedia entry gets unlocked once you have access to research that technology. Since we didnt have any way of notifing the player of this, the feature got kind of stuck. This is the case for most xenonaut "technologies", they get unlocked before you research it.

On 8/24/2018 at 4:33 PM, PALU said:

our soldiers tend not to survive a single

tend to not

On 8/24/2018 at 4:33 PM, PALU said:

Apart from this, we think this knowledge is required to reach the Basic Antimatter Technology, but it's a rather small step. That technology seems to require input from just about every field Engineers can shed light on, Advanced MAG Technology, Advanced Alien Neutron Technology, and more or less the contents of every encrypted file we can get from alien computer systems at this stage, as well as autopsy study of an alien warrior.

On 8/24/2018 at 4:33 PM, PALU said:

&#8226;Terror Soldier: Grunt used in terror/base assault missions, as well as outpost defense

I disagree with the wording "Grunt". Terror units are elite units of their fields, having more freedom and abiltiies than their comrades in arms. They are so unique that almost every terror unit has a unique identifable dog tag or tatoo.

 

 

[PALU]

Negative vs positive data hack attitude: The problem with my entries is that we know data access is needed, but have no idea of whether we'll get it (now). This is then complemented (in my view) by the data hack entries that express a positive surprise when the access is finally gotten. As things work technically, we get the data hack access immediately after the research that may result in it. In the research cases where you get a "real" tech with a probability I've tried to indicate that with reviewing research notes, etc, but I can't realistically do that with random good luck. The data hack entries would have to be rewritten in that case so the interrogation would state a last attempt would be made after the report, or some other intentional action, with the data hack then stating that it worked (being careful to not mention which one worked, as we don't actually know... but all avenues to the same data hack would have to match up). Writing an entry that predicting stupid luck (as the data hacks I've seen so far are) doesn't really work: "When I've sent off the report I'll send a junior scientist to try to do stupid tricks one the alien computers to see if we can get in" is rather stupid... Thus, we need something that works both before and after, and I think the current data hack entries (I've seen) are nice...

Roboreaper: I'd suggest 3-4. And I still haven't understood how the buggers work: Sometimes they have a shield, and sometimes not. They seem to use a stun/emp attack when shielded and when wearing the ballistic vulnerable armor, but switch to melee when the energy vulnerable is the one left. I think it would be useful to describe them in this entry, but I don't want to write guesswork (more than I have to...).

Advanced stun gas: I agree the alien one is on the strong side, but soldiers shouldn't be able to just stand around in the human one: If they don't move out of it in the next round, they ought to (usually) drop, which probably means they ought to get in trouble if caught in the center of a cloud.

Unlocked entries: Odd, as there are quite a few items I'm currently researching that are not in there. Ah well, it's not really important.

"tend to not": That's from the original text, as I tend to leave the parts that aren't wrong now I'll change it, though.

Terror soldier: That was in the previous version as well, but I'll update that too.

 

[Charon]

30 minutes ago, PALU said:

Writing an entry that predicting stupid luck (as the data hacks I've seen so far are) doesn't really work: "When I've sent off the report I'll send a junior scientist to try to do stupid tricks one the alien computers to see if we can get in" is rather stupid... Thus, we need something that works both before and after, and I think the current data hack entries (I've seen) are nice...

I think sfarrelly did a great job on the entries and that the entry is wonderful. It accuratelly portraits that research is basically trial and error, fiddling around with new possibilities until a practical use crystallises itself from mountains of theoretical research. You way of writing the entries is rather odd ... almost as if you have an exact tech tree behind you telling you exactly what you need for each research ... odd indeed ...

34 minutes ago, PALU said:

Roboreaper: I'd suggest 3-4. And I still haven't understood how the buggers work: Sometimes they have a shield, and sometimes not. They seem to use a stun/emp attack when shielded and when wearing the ballistic vulnerable armor, but switch to melee when the energy vulnerable is the one left. I think it would be useful to describe them in this entry, but I don't want to write guesswork (more than I have to...).

Just experience and let yourself get inspired. Alternatively you can also look into the aiprops and weapons_gc code.

35 minutes ago, PALU said:

Advanced stun gas: I agree the alien one is on the strong side, but soldiers shouldn't be able to just stand around in the human one: If they don't move out of it in the next round, they ought to (usually) drop, which probably means they ought to get in trouble if caught in the center of a cloud.

The use of stun grenades switches up from phase 1. It should be rather a position denial tool instead of a straight stun weapon. I think the revised version will make a better job at that.

37 minutes ago, PALU said:

Roboreaper: I'd suggest 3-4.

No way. The amount is totally correct, i was rather looking for a different concept.

[PALU]

I agree the tech tree based writing is on the strong side, but on the other hand there ought to be something that provides some indication of what the research may be good for. I can certainly make the (new) entries more vague.

Roboreaper: Given that it does use ranged stun/emp attacks I'd probably add the same components as robodogs (who seem to just bite) provide, e.g. one ballistic and one energy core. There seem to be a 3:1 - 4:1 ratio between robodogs and roboreapers so far.

[PALU]

A new version of the Roboreaper Soldier Disassebly and "blind" entries starting from the beginning of xenopedia.xml.  I stopped at the Division Pistol Mk-3 as something definitely is wrong: the Mk-3 entries don't match what I see in the game for the weapons I have produced, so the minigun and cannon entries may be wrong too.

Roboreaper Soldier Disassembly

These units are another case of baffling alien robotic unit choices. What is even the point of creating a robotic imitation of the Reaper, when there are far more effective designs? Well, at least the enemy went for Robodogs rather than RoboXenomorphs...

Like Robodogs, these units "hatch" from boxes deployed in the area, presumably based on a timer we are unlikely to be able to access (so we won't be able to predict when a box opens). These boxes are, of course, made of Alien Alloys, and thus rather hard to crack, and the only thing you have for your effort if you do is a Roboreaper released earlier than intended (but at full capacity), and less ammo. As opposed to Robodog boxes, these boxes seem to be stationary.

It can be noted that this report isn't as complete as we would like, as the wreckage brought in for study is heavily damaged both as a results of its own "metamorphosis" process and the damage that finally disabled it, and the field reports are somewhat contradictory.

Once a Roboreaper is released, it has been reported to sometimes employ a "force shield" of some kind, and sometimes not. If a force shield is present, it has to first be destroyed to cause actual damage (similar to shield carrying units, but with a 360 degree coverage). When the shield is finally brought down, the Roboreaper releases a cloud of potent stunning gas that also serves to obscure the Roboreaper. Fortunately, this cloud does not have much or any EMP effect, as so an be approached by ground vehicles. It can be noted that the force shield does not seem to have much of any damage resistance, and so seems possible to whittle away with any type of damage.

A Roboreaper seems to behave the same whether having a shield or not: it employs a surprisingly weak ranged stun/EMP attack, and may even walk behind cover to make it harder to hit. This stage of the Roboreaper has an armour that is very resistant to Energy attacks, but somewhat susceptible to Ballistic damage. Once the Roboreaper is disabled, it will release a stunning/obscuring gas cloud (again, if a shield was present).

The Roboreaper sheds what remains of the armour layer and armament, and continues in a melee attack form that, fortunately, is weaker than what must be possible to produce. This final Roboreaper form is very highly resistant to Ballistic damage, but is only somewhat resistant to Energy damage, and when the construct is finally brought down for the last time, it does not release any stun cloud, thankfully.

Given all the sophistication involved in the Roboreaper, it is somewhat disappointing that the only thing we are able to salvage from it is a single unit of Alien Alloys: The box, weapons, and earlier armor layer are almost completely destroyed, with nothing useful left to salvage.

Alien Lightning Scatter
<Does this weapon actually appear? Can't find it in aiprops.xml?>

Alien Ballistic Minigun

The Alien Ballistic Minigun is a monster of a weapon, weighing in at 18 kg, and its devastating hail of bullets will not be stopped by any umbrella: it is likely to chew throw a shield, an armour, and a soldier all at once. There is one significant weakness in this type of weapons, however: firing a burst takes so long that suppression will leave the wielder with too few TUs to fire it.

Each of these weapons can be disassembled to provide one Ballistic Core set.

Division Minigun Mk-1

This weapon is heavy in more than one way. At 12 kg the solider wielding it has to be brawny, and its bulk and unwieldiness will make it extremely inaccurate if the soldier hasn't braced himself properly before firing. It also takes so long to fire a burst that only a single burst can be fired in a turn, and a suppressed unit will be unable to recover sufficiently to bring it to bear. However, being hit by a burst will be a serious threat to an alien's health, and it will be a courageous (or stupid) alien that doesn't duck when under fire by this weapon.

There is no weapon corresponding to this in the standard weapon arsenal.

Division Cannon Mk-1

This weapon has no predecessor in the standard arsenal. It is a man portable cannon firing shells with a small area effect outside of the substantial damage dealt on a direct hit.

Division Minigun Mk-2

This evolved version of the Division Minigun Mk-2 adds 8 additional bullets per burst and provides some armour mitigation as well. The cost for this added destructive power is another 3 kg of weight, 6 Ballistic Cores, and 4 Alien Alloys.

Division Cannon Mk-2

Division Technology, now with added armour mitigation. This evolved version of the Division Cannon brings some armour mitigation to the party at the tune of 2 Ballistic Cores and 3 units of Alien Alloys.

Division Pistol Mk-3
<The manufacture description is probably not correct. The below is what I read from manufactures.xml:ManTech.division.pistolmk3, apart from that not requiring a base weapon to upgrade, so that looks like a straight manufacture rather than retrofit entry?>

This retrofit process for the Division Pistol Mk-2 results in a weapon that deals about 15% more damage and mitigates more armour.
Retrofitting a Division Pistol Mk-2 to the Mk-3 status requires the pistol itself, of course, as well as 2 Ballistic Cores, 4 units of Alien Alloys, and one unit of Alenium.

 

[L195_Smiledog]

Heyho just wanted to report a very very small typo i found so far. And also some odd wording.

 

So this was the typo i meant: "...for out own nefarious purposes." out instead of our. Nothing major And for the odd wording:

 

I think with "...while decreasing -5 action points." -5 Time Units (TUs) are meant.

 

My English is not the best so maybe the -5 action points was intended that way I just hope I helped.

Keep up the good work for this great mod

[Charon]

4 hours ago, PALU said:

A new version of the Roboreaper Soldier Disassebly and "blind" entries starting from the beginning of xenopedia.xml.  I stopped at the Division Pistol Mk-3 as something definitely is wrong: the Mk-3 entries don't match what I see in the game for the weapons I have produced, so the minigun and cannon entries may be wrong too.

?

4 hours ago, PALU said:

Alien Lightning Scatter
<Does this weapon actually appear? Can't find it in aiprops.xml?>

Researches.AlienLightningScatter

2

ExtraterrestrialTech

weapon.AlienLightningScatter(AND)Researches.Dummy

Since the entry is disabled i would assume not.

4 hours ago, PALU said:

<The manufacture description is probably not correct. The below is what I read from manufactures.xml:ManTech.division.pistolmk3, apart from that not requiring a base weapon to upgrade, so that looks like a straight manufacture rather than retrofit entry?>

The manufacture file in the main X-Division folder is still the original entry, before the new Androns in .40 got introduced. If you want to see the correct file you need to head over to Charons Changes.

 

@L195_SmiledogLove the feedback.