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Passing variables to the Xenopedia


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Dunno about any you but I always like to give those files a good read. Even the ones that aren't research reports but are available immediately to give the backstory. It sets the scene, creates immersion and ultimately tells the story of the game. However, a problem with them is that they're static and there's no reason to read them on your second time around. They're written in a very general manner without reference to any specifics; in effect, apart from the sequence of their reveal, they exist in isolation to the campaign.

I feel that this really important element of the game would stand to gain from being able to include references to events or variables in the player's current playthrough. 

A few examples:

  • Mentioning the names of soldiers or their actions on the field: Sergeant X will appreciate this new laser sniper, it is shiny and more accurate so even they wont be able to miss anymore.
  • The outcome of first encounters with a new species: the Androns aren't very polite, they killed Sergeant X despite heavy fire from the laser sniper.
  • The conditions of the Geoscape: disassembling that Andron was really tedious what with all those funding cutbacks. Try to avoid nuking any more of Europe, Commander. 

Ok, so those examples are a bit naff. But the direction I'm going with this is that the player can find the odd surprise or gain an achievement depending on their actions. Even something basic like having more detail in the xenopedia on higher skill settings, so when you step it up to Insane there is additional content. The writing is not bad at all in Xenonauts and this could really bring it to life.

This idea could be taken even further in relation to the promised Geoscape Events. Say that clues are hidden within the xenopedia entries that relate to the better choices to make on Geoscape Events, but make those clues variable, changing with each new game. Another example: one of the backstory entries hints at an active nuclear silo near a small town in France, then, in a Geoscape Event you should try not to bomb that small town in France lest the mushroom cloud arise. But in your next play through, you can bomb the hell out of Carcassonne without worry of fallout.

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Selecting soldier or location at that level of intelligence would requires custom code or scripting for each, and can potentially be a whole new different level from modable Geoscape Events. (Which in many games are triggered by simple conditions like stress, skill, money, research etc.)

A potential middle point X2 can do is to record the first kill of every weapon and armour, first fallen location, in a predictable naming so that the xenopedia can try to use them.  But I suspect these fixed trick will get old quickly, and it sounds like something that can be modded in, assuming mods will have a way to store custom properties to a game.

So, um, good idea but no I don't see how that is feasible or suitable for vanilla, esp. that the better mod support goal is unlikely to be met.

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Maybe when researching a new weapon a prototype becomes available for use.  The soldier that first succeeds in testing it by hitting or killing an alien with it will then get his name memorialised once the research is complete and the final report is produced.  A random element would be if the prototypes are dangerous to use, and a soldier attempting to use it could suffer damage when it explodes or some other poor effect depending on what sort of tech was being researched, this would also be fun to include in the final mission report.  Or, even if the random chance of something going bad doesn't produce a result, the scientist might remark, "We were very glad we fixed _____ problem before someone tried to fire it in burstfire, otherwise something very bad would have happened"

Edited by RustyNayle
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This is something I wanted to do in X1, I wanted to write a series of Lore+ pages which reflected the current state of various regions. What would happen is that the region level would trigger a specific Lore+ page, and as regions got worse, the appropriate Lore page would be triggered. Kabill tried to make this for me, but it didn't really work out. It is something that I'd definitely use for any lore-related mods that I might produce. 

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Perhaps I'm out of topic, but what I missed in Xenonauts-1 is that Xenopaedia wasn't dynamic. I mean that there was only one text per item. That doesn't help finding the Xenopaedia soùething more than a mere in-game game manual rather than an active part of the game. Granted, this effect was somewhat alleviated with the "item class" research and associated text (like Laser Weaponry). Other games introduce a pre-research text, and soon replaced or appended by a post-research text. This makes the Xenopaedia more lively and fitting close to the campaign advancement. However, it still feels like just "let's browse through that already written game manual".

Could any topic (item or analysis-related) be linked to several text bits that would update the associated Xenopaedia page only if due discovery is made (either through encounter, research, etc.)? The more lively and dynamic it would feel like if those text were signed by different protagonists (head scientist, TACOPS, Survey, Chief Engineer, etc.). Each page would now appear like an appended discussion page, with complementing information, eventual argument and pun, and possibly even misdirection and changing of mind. For instance, when translating the Xenopaedia, it was obvious that many things were made implicit whereas the player could have witnessed (more so) the life of laboratories and workshops. Things could go as far as dynamically renaming a Xenopaedia entry (and item names): did we code-named this alien UFO/species a Fighter or a Little Grey at first? Now we choose to name it an Armed Scout or a Caesian rather, and we explain why this change of mind. Likewise, we won't encounter "Psions" anymore before we actually evidence psionic effects on the battlefield, and we research on the topic. Did we think that plasma weaponry was the nec plus ultra? Now we append or correct the Plasma Weaponry page as regards to our newest discoveries, at the same time as we start to investigate on a new technology. Now, we don't retrieve a "Leader" from the battlefield until we know it's not another "Officer".

We would need alternate names (one or even two per item), that would be used based on this item knowledge status. Each Xenopaedia page would be made of text bits that would either complement each other (based on research paths), or replaced each other (based on upgraded knowledge). The head-scientist would only ramble on scientific matter (plus whatever he _thinks_ he's proficient in, of course), the head-engineer would add a technical remark, the TACOPS would advise on the first deployment, and then would provide several after-battle reports (when relevant, as when we first attacked reptilians with ballistic weapons), etc. Of course, this would overall require more writing work, but mainly a clever cut of existing writings (from a Xenonauts-1 point of view) and a reallocation of those now smaller text bits to the proper in-game emitter and trigger(s).

We would need a better text editor module, as upgrading/inserting modes of a given Xenopaedia page would have to be diverse, like "append this bit" (= "insert" when this bit is not the last one), "replace this bit", "append current page" (at whichever state it is), "append page" (always at the page's end, like a foot note). This could result in ending two different campaigns with slightly different pages in formatting and content, reflecting the way you played each campaign.

We would also need a way to notify the player about a critical/non critical change made in an already started page (In Xenonauts-1, the player was only notified for new pages, of course). A colour code could be useful and not too obtrusive here. There could be a game option when non critical changes are not notified.

 

TL;dR  Each Xenopaedia page could be dynamically formatted and upgraded based on encounters and battlefield findings, researches, and campaign evolution. The whole system should be transparent enough to any players who don't like getting lost in reading the Xenopaedia, though. For instance, a paragraph (bit) written to appear on the Fighter's page could be qualified as:

name = fighter_bit3
emitter = headScientist
requisites = encouter X, research Y, gameTick Z
type = non critical
mode = replace bit3
content = Contrary to what we first thought, based on early interception cases, this class of UFO has not really for vocation of bla-bla..
... We however decided to keep with the "Fighter" code-name.

 

As for most of the suggestions made in the forum, the above is less a demand for a full feature on delivery (else I quit) than a request for a scripting system that would in this case allow modders to augment the vanilla Xenopaedia with modular writings!

 

Edited by Rodmar18
last paragraph addition
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