(Proof of Concept) Destructible UFO Hulls!

[kabill]

Update: New version uploaded with some fixes, mostly to scout maps. Have also added in the new breaching charge images.

@Emperor_Zoron: Glad you like it!

EDIT: Turns out Landing Ships are playable. There's some issues, but it's possible to get to the top floor which was my major concern.

Edited May 11, 2014 by kabill

[kabill]

Canvassing for thoughts again:

Finding the relevant places to breach UFO hulls is a pain when you can't see the UFO hull. I've had some trouble with this, and I made the maps myself, so I can only assume it will be much worse for other people.

I'm wondering, then, whether it would be worth putting some kind of marker on the UFO ground images where the vulnerable hull segments are. This would not only help locate them for the purposes of destroying them, but also help the player identify where the gaps are once they've breached the hull (as well as when there's already holes, as I've not found a way to get the debris to show when this is the case).

However, I'm concerned about whether it will actually look good and I don't have any ideas for something which would be both unobtrusive as well as helpful.

Hmm, what about something like this (ignore the burn-marks; I'm just using that image as it was to hand):

All I've done is change the colour of the UFO outline to red where the relevant section is. Doesn't necessarily need to be that colour, but does something like that seem like it would be ok?

Here's another image, with a different colour for comparison:

[Skitso]

- Added a Xenopaedia entry for breaching (can only be viewed after Alien Invasion topic is complete, as I can't work out how to make entries visible from game-start).

Sorry, I missed this. Just add a line

UnlockKnowledge( "weapon.explosive.BreachingCharge" );

in scripts/_basebuilt.lua

Edited May 11, 2014 by Skitso

[kabill]

Thanks!

[MortuusSum]

I installed this in the middle of a playthrough, so I actually haven't seen a scout or light scout yet, but I really like the new corvette layout. Great work, man!

[Skitso]

Okay, I took a quick test round with this mod today and DAMN! It's almost perfect and I really, REALLY like the destruction, fire and smoke around the crashed ufos. Absolutely great job!

There's one little issue I found: At least light scout's hull doesn't have it's shadow any more but just the silhouette underneath it that should be visible only when the hull graphics are removed.

[kabill]

I installed this in the middle of a playthrough, so I actually haven't seen a scout or light scout yet, but I really like the new corvette layout. Great work, man!

Glad you like it. The Scout and Light Scout interiors are similar in style, so hopefully you'll like them too. (The Landing Ship interior is mostly like vanilla at the moment, as I quite like the idea of a central cargo room, but I'm not sure it works well with the hull-breaches so I might change it for the next version).

There's one little issue I found: At least light scout's hull doesn't have it's shadow any more but just the silhouette underneath it that should be visible only when the hull graphics are removed.

That's intentional. It's a consequence of me making the UFO hull tiles 'always visible' so that they display through the breaches when the UFO hull is shown.

I was going to say that I could go back and change it so that it only applies to the tiles around the hull breaches. But, actually, I think that would look worse. I'd still have to leave the ground tiles around the hull segments 'always' visible' so you'd have little bits of the ground tiles displaying still when the UFO hull is visible, and I imagine this would look ugly. So drawing all the outline is probably the better option of the two, although I might do a little experiment just to see. (If any of that makes any sense? Not sure I've expressed that very clearly).

(As it happens, it also helps mask places where I've got overlapping UFO shadows. Not that I couldn't correct these, but it's easier not to have to!).

Glad you like the fire and stuff, by the way. I was thinking that there might be quite a lot of work making the crash sites feel more crash-sitey, but I think the current use of smoke and fire along with a bit of a burn 'shadow' around the outside of the UFOs as demoed elsewhere will probably be more than sufficient.

[Skitso]

Yeah, I feel it should even be full 100% chance for the power core meltdown.

[kabill]

To be honest, the only thing putting me off doing that is that I also like the variable proportion of aliens being killed in the crash.

That said, there's not a massive difference between 15% and 30%. Maybe it would be better to increase the severe damage chance to 90% and then set the kill-on-crash values as 0% and 30% instead (so most of the time a crash causes 30% casualties, but one time in ten the aliens pull off an emergency landing and you fight a full crew instead). That would up the distinction between the two possibilities and maximise smoke and fire occurence. The average alien proportion would stay the same or close enough, and I can adjust the ratio of maps which have valuable props set to explode to compensate.

[Emperor_Zoron]

I just tried using this mod but it did not work... The files, after extraction, did not go where they were suppose to go...

[kabill]

Can you tell me what has downloaded. Do you have a folder in your Xenonauts folder called HBP v0.2.1 or something like that (can't remember the exact file name, but it should be obvious).

If so, just enter that folder, cut the 'assets' folder inside it, go back to the xenonauts folder, and then paste. It should work from there.

(If not, or this doesn't work, you'll need to explain what you did so I can work out what went wrong. Either way, looks like I need to make the install instructions more clear. Sorry).

[Emperor_Zoron]

Alright. I'll give that a go then... If that does not work, I'll give you another poke about it. I do hope it works, because this whole thing looks utterly wonderful!

[StellarRat]

This mod should in the game, I mean, not a mod, but the real game.

[Skitso]

Hey, my last light scout had no floor tiles but just sand showing through. It had an opening to south.

BTW, Kabill.. how easy would it be to separate the fire and smoke effect from the rest of the mod? As I plan on playing the game first in pretty much vanilla state when it's released, I would love to have just the visual side of the crash sites you have made.

Edited May 13, 2014 by Skitso

[Emperor_Zoron]

Well I tried it again and I got it right this time. The mod works well, though it took me a while to figure out that you needed to drop the charges instead of putting them on the ship's hull. BTW, on the first scout, the only thing I could see of the outer hull was the destructible sides. The rest of the outer-part of the ship was all dark. (The second scout ship I saw, though, appeared normal. Though I did not get chance to get into that ship, as there were only two surviving aliens on that mission. Both of whom were easily killed. )

Insides of the ship looked pretty nifty and showed up ok. I was rather surprised when I blew the hull, only to find an empty room. (I mean empty of aliens, not props. Those were there and looked nice.) I found the bugger hiding in what I could only describe as the ship's janitor's closet. (Actually it looked more like an engine room, but that's not as funny.)

Keep up the good work. This mod is the bee's knees!

Edited May 13, 2014 by Emperor_Zoron

[kabill]

Hey, my last light scout had no floor tiles but just sand showing through. It had an opening to south.

That's odd. Has anyone else noticed this?

It's possible it's being caused by the power core explosions, although I thought I'd fixed that. I'll check in the map editor when I get a chance to make sure that the tiles are set correctly, and I'll check the download file as well to make sure I've included them. If they're all fine, I might have to play around with things to see if I can find a solution.

BTW, Kabill.. how easy would it be to separate the fire and smoke effect from the rest of the mod? As I plan on playing the game first in pretty much vanilla state when it's released, I would love to have just the visual side of the crash sites you have made.

It would be really easy to do the fire and smoke, but if you wanted it to occur with the same frequency as in this mod I'd need to do the same thing with the submaps of copying them and setting up so that only some of them have actual power cores/whatever that explode (otherwise game balance would be thrown out a bit because of difficulty getting key UFO tech). Once I've done the UFO crashmarks for all the different UFOs I might have a look at putting something together, though. I could probably do it in an evening.

(Will reply to others later; need to go to work!)

[Skitso]

Thanks, I'd really appreciate it. This mod is amazing, but I'd like to experience this game first as it's "ment to be".

[kabill]

This mod should in the game, I mean, not a mod, but the real game.

In reterospect, I'd agree. Sadly, the game engine isn't quite suitable for it, at least not in a way that would make it polished enough for proper release. They're minor issues, but things like the hull segments being faded when you can see the rest of the UFO hull not not the individual segments, the way UFO floors display, the whole smoke/power core issue which was never really designed to do what I've done with it, and so on. All of those things you can overlook if you're familiar with the game and you like it; they might put you off if you're new however.

If the idea had been planned earlier on, I think it could have been workable though. But seeing as how they're really comng down to the wire to get the game finished on time, probably better that someone else picked up the idea.

Well I tried it again and I got it right this time. The mod works well, though it took me a while to figure out that you needed to drop the charges instead of putting them on the ship's hull. BTW, on the first scout, the only thing I could see of the outer hull was the destructible sides. The rest of the outer-part of the ship was all dark.

If I could have made it so you can attach the charges to the hull, I would have. But it's impossible, so far as I know. I might have to make it more clear what you need to do with it, though. (There is a Xenopedia page, and I've done a tooltip entry for the equip page assuming that's working, but advertising that those are there might be a plan).

In terms of the issue you had with the UFO - was it like that all the way through the mission? It's possible that I've forgotten to place the main hull spectre on one of the maps (I need to remove it for each iteration I do to change the interior props, and I've a habit of forgetting to put it back afterwards). I'll have a look when I can to check and thanks for pointing it out.

Thanks, I'd really appreciate it. This mod is amazing, but I'd like to experience this game first as it's "ment to be".

No trouble. It's probably worth having available anyway and as I say it probably won't be too difficult.

[kabill]

BTW, on the first scout, the only thing I could see of the outer hull was the destructible sides. The rest of the outer-part of the ship was all dark

Hey, can you remember whether or not this UFO was landed? I just found a landed light scout map where I'd forgotten to put the hull on (as expected); I just want to check if this is likely to have been the issue or if I need to be looking for something else.

@Skitso: Regarding the floor tiles, I just did a test and got this:

It's not very clear, but there's definitely UFO floor showing through the gap. I just tried a day mission in case that was the problem, but that was also fine. Can I confirm that this was the side the breach was on, and whether or not it was already like that when you encountered the UFO?

I've checked the download files as well, and I've definitely packaged the new floor spectres. Could I ask you a favour and get you to load up one of the light scout floor tiles in the submap editor and tell me if the HP are set to 0? Everything seems to be working my end, so I'm not sure where else to look for the problem.

Edited May 13, 2014 by kabill

[StellarRat]

In reterospect, I'd agree...If the idea had been planned earlier on, I think it could have been workable though. But seeing as how they're really comng down to the wire to get the game finished on time, probably better that someone else picked up the idea.

One has to assume there will be at least one or two patches after release.

[kabill]

Quick Update re: v22.8 Looking at the change log for v22.8, it looks like this mod should be compatible. I'll need to update with the revised weapon projectile speeds at some point, but that shouldn't be an issue in the short term. So I'm going to hold back on updating until I've got a proper new version to upload.

One has to assume there will be at least one or two patches after release.

Yeah, I'd expect so. Hopefully the game will sell well and give GH a chance to give it a final polish (maybe even given GH an opportunity to find the elusive soldier equip screen CTD bug!).

[Skitso]

Yeah, that was the side and it was already broken. I couldn't see anything but black in the breach before entering the ufo. Everything was intact but the floor was missing. I'll test this further tomorrow (I've played only one level with this mod) and check the floor tile HP too.

Edited May 13, 2014 by Skitso

[kabill]

Was the floor missing even when you were inside the UFO?

[Skitso]

Yep, I couldn't even see the floor outside. The breach was all black...?

[kabill]

Very confusing. It'd be good to see if it happens again with another map - if it's recurring for you it might be a local issue? Or something to do with the download, although if so I'm not sure what. Thanks for highlighting it, anyway!