Xenopedia Errors / Corrections (V18.51 HF3 / V18 Stable)

[Chris]

If you have Build V18.51 Hotfix 3 onwards (Build V18 Stable included), you have the first draft of the Xenopedia. It still requires some editing, but it's mostly there.

If you have issues with it - typos, bad grammar, or you're some kind of science god that disagrees with my technobabble, post it in this thread. There's no guarantee I will update things (creative license, baby!) but I may do.

[alcari]

Well, here's a little list, some spelling, some nitpicking and some sciency.

- Alenium

The description says that alenium forms the core of the alien power source recently recovered - the rest of the device ultimately proving inconsequential. Yet despite that, I can sell an alien power core for enough money to buy a Condor. That's a lot of money for something inconsequential.

- Alien Plasma Rifle

The description says it's better than the pistol because its sizeallows significantly more heat to be injected into each projectile as well as generating more spin, improving bolt cohesion and accuracy. Whereas the Alien Plasma Technology description says that This graviton particle is incredibly important (for) maintaining the shape of the projectile and preventing the bolt from dissipating into a useless cloud of hot gas. So, shouldn't the rifle have longer range because it has a better graviton generator? Accuracy would come from a longer barrel.

- Alien Plasma Technology

Gravitons do not work like that, but who cares, it's scifi

- Pulse Lasers

2nd line reads The purpose of this project was simply to produce a weapon that inflicts that maximum amount of damage possible in a short period of time.

Should read:

The purpose of this project was simply to produce a weapon that inflicts the maximum amount of damage possible in a short period of time

- Stun Weapons

Description lists the existence of stun rockets. If they're not coming eventually, maybe it shouldn't be in the xenopedia.

- Alien Electronics

The extraterrestrials also appear to use complex arrangements of organic compounds such as amino acids in their circuitry, apparently providing the systems with a limited degree of intelligence. Amino acids don't make things intelligent. You could go with Neurons (braincells) instead, which you could use to build an organic microchip. And calling a neuron a "complex arrangement of organic compounds" would be like calling a city "a complex arrangement of bricks and mortar".

- Corsair Interceptor and Scimitar Support Tank

The corsair description talks about the ER-3 Alenium Impulsion reactor, where the Scimitar talks about the the ER-4 Alenium Repulsion reactor (a downscaled version of the Corsair's ER-3). Sooo, is it an Impulsion or Repulsion reactor? They sound like pretty much the opposite thing.

- Alien Plasma Cannon

Two things: It is best thought of as the alien equivalent of a rocket-propelled grenade / bazooka. A bazooka is a type (and nickname for) a rocket-propelled grenade.

Naturally, it is vastly superior to its ballistic counterparts. An RPG is, by definition, not a ballistic weapon. "Ballistic" implies that it has an unpowered flight, which an RPG doesn't have. You could call a mechanical, or conventional counterpart instead. Or just ignore the three people in the world who are going to notice this

- Base Upgrade

reads: The medical staff predict this could half the recovery time of soldiers from their wounds, while this phrasing is common, it'd be more correct (especially written) to say something likeThe medical staff predict this could reduce the recovery time of wounded soldiers by 50%

I like the internet reference, but i'm pretty sure ARPANET was already around.

- X120 Fury

Reads: At this point the friction from air resistance heats the craft to 4,000 degrees, ordinarily be impossible to sustain

Should read: At this point the friction from air resistance heats the craft to 4,000 degrees, ordinarily impossible to sustain

- MAG Railgun

A MAG is supposed to be a gauss gun/coil gun. That's an inherently different technology than a railgun, even though most scifi gets it wrong. You've got a great explanation for a gauss gun, but it makes no sense to refer to a gauss railgun. That's like a slingshot crossbow. Two completely different methods of doing the same thing.

- Landing Ship

it appears to be a projectile shield that will destroy the first incoming missile.

I believe it actually destroys the first 2 missiles, so you should probably add an "s" to the end of that.

[GizmoGomez]

Well, here's a little list, some spelling, some nitpicking and some sciency.

- Alien Plasma Technology

Gravitons do not work like that, but who cares, it's scifi

Hahahaha, hey, it's better than antimatter, which it was until I suggested a change.

[alcari]

The chinook xenopedia entry still describes the pre-patch chinook that carried more than 8 soldiers.

[alcari]

Reposting this one

I don't know if you care about typos at the moment but at the bottom of the second paragraph of the Alien Alloys research summary it says "- I struggle think..." instead of "I struggle to think.

[remmon]

Well, here's a little list, some spelling, some nitpicking and some sciency.

Two things: It is best thought of as the alien equivalent of a rocket-propelled grenade / bazooka. A bazooka is a type (and nickname for) a rocket-propelled grenade.

Naturally, it is vastly superior to its ballistic counterparts. An RPG is, by definition, not a ballistic weapon. "Ballistic" implies that it has an unpowered flight, which an RPG doesn't have. You could call a mechanical, or conventional counterpart instead. Or just ignore the three people in the world who are going to notice this

You'll find that all RPG type weapons are what is known as hard launch and typically do not have any kind of sustainer motor. This means that they burn all their propellant inside the launch tube in one go and are ballistic weapons from the moment they exit that tube in the same way a normal gun's bullet is. The only difference is that since propellant gas goes out the rear end of the tube the RPG has (almost) no recoil.

If the motor was still running when it exits the tube, the rocket exhaust would injure and possibly kill the operator and while a sustainer motor can (and with most ATGMs does) ignite a safe distance away from the operator to extend a projectile's range, a guidance system is mandatory on such a design lest the slightest inaccuracy cause your rocket to go wildly off target because of the sustainer motor.

[Michjerokend]

Three things.

- Hunter Viper Turret

3rd paragraph: ...where the loss of a few artefacts would be preferable... Artefacts can be spelled this way but, from what the internet tells me, most people use 'artifacts'. Here's a little piece about the two http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-art1.htm

- Wraith Autopsy

2nd paragraph, last sentence. ...unobtrusive; quite why subdermal armour is not present in other aliens we cannot say. This too may be technically correct but to me it sounds better if you drop the 'quite'.

- Directional Thruster Array

2nd paragraph, middle. the part where it says the directional thrusters take the place of the wings, stabilizers and elevators/rudders is stated twice, in very slightly different forms, right next to each other.

Looking at this now, I may be nitpicking.

[svidangel]

Seem to be a bunch of entirely missing entries, that similarly have missing strings for what research project they are. Are these research projects being removed? (all of the ones with #### as their description)

[Sathra]

They just haven't had their strings.xml entries added. Everything should have a Xenopedia report though.

[svidangel]

Is every research project supposed to have a xenopedia entry? At the moment they do not.

[Sathra]

Which ones don't?

[svidangel]

I'm not entirely certain since they only showed up as ####. I think one was weapon.alienprecisionplasma or something like that. I used it to unlock whatever comes after it tells you you need "further examples of plasma weaponry"

Also the weapon.alienbattlerifle apparently unlocked alien plasma pistol entry? Not sure if that is a bug on the pistol side or the xenopedia entry side.

[svidangel]

Correction, I went back and checked and I already had the alien plasma pistol entry unlocked from the beginning of the game. The #### from the weapon.alienbattlerifle popped up the alien plasma pistol xenopedia entry a second time, depsite having already discovered it. Again, not sure if this is an error on the research side, the item I picked up, or the xenopedia entry. Initially I assumed it was the xenopedia entry since the last #### weapon with the weapon.something name had simply had no popup.

Edit: Getting that second alien plasma pistol entry, however, DID unlock a new technology, Mag Weaponry.

[svidangel]

Lol, well that just led to another bug. Apparently when I quit the mission I was in to check the research completion, when I reload that combat, attempting to save the mission again causes the mission to immediately end, and all my troops are left behind. Very strange.

Exiting the game and restarting fixed the problem.

Edited June 9, 2013 by svidangel

[Sathra]

Battle Rifle unlocks the wrong 'knowledge' file in researches.xml. Its been around for a while. Researching it will usually unlock MAG since its the last of the alien plasma weapons you encounter.

[svidangel]

Just researched Alien Officer, the Xenopedia opened up completely blank upon completion. Not sure if there is no intended entry and it should not be opened or the entry is missing.

[Sathra]

Its looking for the wrong Xenopedia entry to show. It should say Researches.AlienOfficerInterrogation instead of Researches.AlienEmpire.

Also, AlienBaseFacilities has too many "Researches" in the 'knowledge shown' column.

[Borsek]

I like reading this stuff, great style, I love how the lead scientist mocks the engineers and hopes for fame, glory and a nobel prize... anyway, I've skimmed through researches.xml and found some things that could be altered:

Stun weapons should say area instead of areas in "This gas can be delivered into an areas", just ctrl-f areas and you'll find it fast.

"and has extended the range of our detectors" And have extended in Researches.BaseUpgrade

"half the recovery time" it's 'a half', and it's 'to halve' so, 'halve the recovery time' in Researches.BaseUpgrade

'the a refit' delete the 'a' in Researches.BaseUpgrade

' a huge productivity boost' sounds better with 'providing a huge...' imho in Researches.BaseUpgrade

'rudder do on a conventional aircraft' imho better without the 'a' in researches.directionalthrusterarray - the sentence is also repeated:

"Though clearly intended originally for maneuvering in a vacuum, during atmospheric flight they take on the same roles that the wings, stabilisers and elevators / rudder do on a conventional aircraft.

This allows them to take on the same role that the assorted stabilisers, elevators, and rudder do on conventional aircraft."

'no reason why we cannot' -> 'no reason why we could not/couldn't' = better in Researches.DirectionalThrusterArray

'A oval structure' -> 'an oval structure' Researches.DirectionalThrusterArray

'no UFO has a hope of' 'any hope' sounds better in researches.furyinterceptor

'4,000 degrees, ordinarily be impossible to sustain without' -> 'impossible for conventional aircraft to withstand without' in researches.furyinterceptor

'that literally anything within the blast area will be reduced to its constituent atoms immediately' I'd go a step further and say 'that literally anything within the blast area will be reduced to pure energy', seeing how we're sort-of launching a black hole at them in researches.furyinterceptor

'(and tapping the warhead for energy unacceptably dangerous)' -> '(and tapping the warhead for energy being unacceptably dangerous)' in researches.furyinterceptor

Also, just a reminder, mach 4 is 4x the speed of sound, which is 4896km/h (4x1224), and marauders can fly @ 6000 km/h, so technically they could launch these. Change it to mach 6 (yes, I'm a nitpicker).

Antigravity generator - annihilating gravitons? Yeah... Gravitons are supposedly attracted to mass/subatomic particles, and gather around them, increasing their mass. In any case, their annihilation would probably cause an effect similar to antimatter coming in contact with matter, a huge amount of radiation. Imo you should change the text to say the antigrav 'repels' the gravitons, or makes the gravitons ignore it. Not a big deal though.

'This grants it a carrying capacity of a full sixteen men' -> 'This grants it a carrying capacity of sixteen men' in Researches.ValkyrieDropship

'The design of these tubes have been heavily' -> 'has been'; 'carves an path' -> 'a path'; 'from the air resistance' kill 'the' in Researches.ValkyrieDropship

'heat the projectiles generate when in flight' -> 'during flight' in researches.magrailgun

'the dual .30cal turret machineguns are powerful but inaccurate,' I believe it has a .50 cal in Researches.HunterTank, the same applies to researches.huntermissiles 'replacing the dual .30cal machineguns '

'but are impregnated with microscopic network ' -> 'but are impregnated with a microscopic network ' in researches.alienbattlerifle

'arsenal, they therefore also represent' -> 'arsenal, they also surely represent' in researches.alienbattlerifle

'they resemble humanity so closely' -> 'they resemble humans so closely' in researches.caesanautopsy

'it is considerably less than the armour worn' -> 'it is considerably weaker than the armour worn';' a powerful enough source of energy (in this case, Alenium) then I see no reason' -> 'a sufficiently powerful source of energy (in this case, Alenium) I see no reason'; 'with a virtually unlimited energy' -> 'with virtually unlimited energy' or 'with a virtually unlimited energy supply' in researches.praetorautopsy

' from thrusters to use of an anti-gravity emitter;' -> 'from employing thrusters to the use of an anti-gravity emitter;' in researches.heavydronewreckage

'This is most interesting.' -> 'This is most intriguing.' sounds better in researches.alienleaderinterrogation

'The Praetors are an ancient race, developing hyperspace technology millions of years ago. They history was' -> 'The Praetors are an ancient race, having developed hyperspace technology millions of years ago. Their history was'; '; on learning this' -> '; upon learning this'; 'but even we were able to kill him, ' -> 'but even if we were able to kill him, ' or 'even in case we were able to kill him' in researches.praetorinterrogation

'Our foe are numberless.' -> 'Our foes are numberless.' in Researches.OperationEndgame

'Strike Cruiser still to be' -> 'Strike Cruiser to still be' in researches.alienstrikecruiserdatacore

I'm sure I've missed some, as I've skipped a few (didn't notice any mistakes in them during gameplay), and some of these are sugestions/cosmetic. Did I mention I like reading these?

P.S.: A lot of the researches are incorrectly linked and/or not included, although you've written the xenopedia text for them. I'm hoping this makes it into V19

Edited June 9, 2013 by Borsek

[svidangel]

Again on the Research, not so much the xenopedia (should I put that in bugs?) Both the aircraft weapon and the heavy weapon variant of the Mag weapons are called Magstorm, might cause some confusion, should probably have a different name for each.

Also the Vehicle weapon in the research tree from this is apparently called the MAC Railgun. I imagine this was supposed to be MAG, but I could be wrong there. Maybe MAC is just cooler.

[svidangel]

Upon researching Hyperion hovertank, a blank xenopedia page comes up. Also, an entry for the hovertank never shows up in the pedia.

[Sathra]

Mistype in Researches.xml. Its looking for HyperionTank, instead of HyperionHovertank.

[svidangel]

Random point, Wraith interrogation states that they cannot shoot or much of anything after teleporting. This is definitely not the case at the moment.

[Borsek]

All AI is the same at the moment, also stats are the same, diversification is being worked on since the AI doesn't work by the same rules as the player, I believe it's all more or less hardcoded (like how many steps it can run and so on, not like the player with his TU), or going to be, anyway. Right now As I read the file the 'Advanced' AI chooses whether or not to run around randomly, shoot randomly or turn around (semi randomly, though they always face the nearest enemy). All of that is based on 2 checks or so, one of which is 'is enemy in sight'. No squad tactics, no nothing. They are (hopefully) going to get a lot harder. They also seem to run from enemies, though that isn't really working out for the civs.

Anyway, xenopedia talks about the future, AI is missing for now

[Transcriptase]

Just in general, you should probably decide if you're using UK or US spelling conventions and then use them throughout. Some examples: "artefact(UK)/artifact(US)", "analyse(UK)/analyze(US)", "armour(UK)/armor(US)".

Since the Xenonauts are transnational it would make perfect sense to use UK English, which would have been the more international standard in the 70s.

[Lightzy]

There's kind of an ugly mix between 'atomspheric' text and 'gamey' text in many places.

Like in the plasma rifle description for example, you have this nice atmosphere text and suddenly a paragraph going "rifles are the best all purpose weapons in the game" etc.

I think you should do a search for the word "game" in all your texts and eradicate it