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Post by Aves Dominari on Sept 13, 2013 19:41:28 GMT -5
//=-RECTIFICATION-=\\ Rectification is a total conversion mod that aims to completely redesign XCom. At X@COM's current level of development, this means that it's only a battlescape mod for now, but it's a harbinger of what might come after the game reaches a stable, moddable geoscape. Rectification tasks you with clearing out an infested city, terror mission style. It features a 100% customizable experience, with complete player control over the enemy and every aspect of his squad's design. All five alien races have been revamped and reimagined, and the Chryssalid threat has become the sixth member of the Cydonian attack force. The mod is currently at version 0.62. It's hardly finished, but it's certainly playable; I'm releasing it now so I can get input from players during development, rather than after it. You can download it on page three; to install, unzip the folder into R9.4. The readme can be found here. |
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Post by Aves Dominari on Sept 13, 2013 20:10:24 GMT -5
Panic mode activate!
v0.61 has been released, which stops two Sectopods from spawning in place of normal terror units.
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Post by Aves Dominari on Sept 13, 2013 21:29:07 GMT -5
More generic bug fixing for 0.62. > Removed test abilities from Terran Sergeants > Fixed problem where SHIV stamina recovered very slowly > After a bit of deliberation on my part, traditional reaction mechanics have been restored (which means all entities can only react with snap shots, making pistol-level weapons much more viable). Attachments:
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Post by Kyzrati on Sept 13, 2013 21:33:49 GMT -5
Haven't played yet (will do so shortly), but just a couple comments on opening the manual:
1) You should probably format it so that it can be read with word-wrapping on. I'm guessing you wrote this in Notepad++? Or did you use Notepad? Either way, most people would end up opening it in Notepad and it's hard to read either with wrapping on or off (the latter because the lines are so long and require lots of scrolling)
2) I love how you've worked in the deficiency of in-game item descriptions using the SA system. That will be quite useful.
3) Dude, you didn't mention in your post that this things even has psionics!
Now to play. So many... options.
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Post by Aves Dominari on Sept 13, 2013 21:41:19 GMT -5
Options is exactly what I was going for. I always thought that the only thing UFO Defense needed was more; more weapons, more equipment, more tools and decisions. In essence, that's what I'm doing here.
I'll get to formatting the readme. I actually typed it up in Notepad; my copy of ++ uses your color-coded settings, and normal documents are too dark to read with it ;p
EDIT: I probably should have mentioned somewhere that about half of the stuff in the readme doesn't actually exist yet. I've only got everything up to Elerium-level technology working, but all of it is about where I want it to be (sans player input, naturally). I'll be playing extensively myself for a few days here before getting to work on Ultimate-level aliens and technology.
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Post by Kyzrati on Sept 13, 2013 21:49:34 GMT -5
Yeah, "more" is essentially what I've always planned for what X@COM becomes, whenever it manages to manifest itself...
If you like it as an editor you can always set Notepad++ to use different colors for different file types, although back when I first defined the .xt file settings I incorrectly used some global variables to do so, making it difficult to use any non-dark color scheme, so you'd probably want to download an official version of Notepad++ and use that instead. I prefer it for coding/scripting only, though--not especially useful for text editing.
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Post by Kyzrati on Sept 13, 2013 21:51:09 GMT -5
EDIT: I probably should have mentioned somewhere that about half of the stuff in the readme doesn't actually exist yet. I've only got everything up to Elerium-level technology working, but all of it is about where I want it to be (sans player input, naturally). I'll be playing extensively myself for a few days here before getting to work on Ultimate-level aliens and technology. Ah, hopefully 10101 shows up for this, since he's a great playtester. |
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Post by 10101 on Sept 14, 2013 4:17:06 GMT -5
First things to note: - If you get more than one pack of ammo per selection, then it might help to know how many you get.(had a single shotgun with 5x20 ammo and 3 rifles with 9x8, a lot of missiles but a weapon missing)
- I learned that in Basic tech there is a shotgun and a sniperrifle, but not something like a assault rifle or SMG.
- Is that wanted that i can't go through the brick window? (Can't shoot it, as it doesn't block projectiles, can't smash or melee it as it is as sturdy as the normal wall. It looks like being easier to shoot a hole into the wall
Ok, i got over it. Normally 2 packs of ammo per selection. Though i added a little reminder (like (2x20) for shotgun ammo) to get some orientation. PS: [...][deprecated] PPS: Check races.xt, SHIVs don't have Footstep>Sound so they are walking instead of driving. (add STEP_TANK_A there) PPPS: [...][deprecated] PPPPS: I should 'use' more items  |
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Post by Kyzrati on Sept 14, 2013 6:41:18 GMT -5
I tried my first game using terran tech vs. sectoids, and brought 2 sergeants and 4 squaddies. Here are my notes from the playthrough: - The intro is quite funny in its attitude towards the usual "protect the civilians" mandate. Proofread it again, btw.
- Add a message at the beginning telling the player to press 'z' to begin the selection process. You can do this through the scenario message system. Also add messages for the following steps to the log (through SA), since the player has to reselect their unit and continue with more options and that won't be obvious right away. You also have some typoes on the squad selection menu.
- I like how you gave lots of extra TU for equipping the items bought at the beginning. I was worried that I'd spend a whole turn just equipping my guys, only to get shot up on the next turn.
- Dude, you have knockback in here?! First alien I saw was a sectoid at the edge of my FOV--I nailed him with an aimed shot and he flew out of visual range! I was wondering how you did that, whether it was from an SA or whatnot, then I saw you changed some weapons to do MB damage Nice. I still need to add a separate "force" value for projectiles to enable any of them to cause knockback independent of damage type.
- Sure was a hell of a lot of shooting going on around the level at the beginning. Quite a few aliens shooting at civilians, I suppose, though very few deaths. Also heard some civs fighting back
- What exactly is a "Brick Window"? You can see through them but not smash through them, does that mean it's a small window in a mostly brick wall? I suppose so, since I shot at it with a shotgun and heard nothing but brick shards flying everywhere while the window laughed at me.
- I like the new rifles, much more rifle-ish
- Got a deployable turret, as it's nice to have an extra pair of eyes where you need them, and something to attract fire. Mine ended up missing all its shots and getting blown away though
- Shotguns really do suck at long range, and rock up close! I gave them to both my sergeants and had them sneaking around corners blowing away aliens. It is very satisfying shooting them in the face.
- Saw tree branches on the ground near the corner of ALNSPWN2. I think you mean for that to be a bush.
- I like the little mall. I visited Tracy White's shop. She was mad at the aliens. Rifle mad.
- Would've checked out Bob's Guns, but by the time I got there the aliens had turned the place inside out ;p
- I see you later changed the reaction mechanics back so that burst fire can't be used in reaction attacks, but that also means shotguns can't reaction fire... Hm.
- Met an unarmed sectoid that was using freaking teleportation to jump out of the way of my attacks. I need that psionic training! Later I found him teleported up on a roof, shot him off the roof with a rifle and had a sergeant with a shotgun shoot him down below.
- Other squad members were not so lucky battling a cyberdisc, which almost kill one soldier, then killed the guy who healed the first guy when it flew over them hiding in an alley, THEN it killed the heavy weapons guy I positioned in a window with a rocket launcher... (It kept patrolling the same area, and the surviving near-dead sergeant in that area ran over, grabbed the rocket launcher, chased the thing down, dodged 6 of its shots, then blew it out of the air.)
- I like your version of the large trees with thicker trunks and branches.
- Plasma Cannons are scary in enemy hands.
- Neil was chasing down the last sectoid and ran out of rifle bullets, so he picked up a Plasma Repeater from an alien corpse, and it freaking exploded and killed him when he fired it! Nice touch... For a second I was like... wait a minute, where'd Neil go? Was that reaction fire? Then I saw the unfortunate message...
- One of my sergeants eventually snuck up behind the sectoid and shot him in the back at point blank range.
- All 4 of my squaddies died, but the 2 sergeants survived. Score was 340... Performance-wise probably my worst play in a while, but definitely very satisfying!
I'll be playing some other setups later, and also be back with some suggestions. So far this is really on the right track though. Nice job. |
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Post by 10101 on Sept 14, 2013 12:22:03 GMT -5
Got my first game (and win) with 1 Shotgun, 1 MediKit, 2 Smokes and LOTs of sentry guns. Had a single sergeant and about 6 rookies who had to carry these sentries and try to spot the aliens.
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Post by Aves Dominari on Sept 14, 2013 15:03:52 GMT -5
[/li][li]I learned that in Basic tech there is a shotgun and a sniperrifle, but not something like a assault rifle or SMG.[/quote] The way I have it set up, every weapon only has a single firing mode (with some rare exceptions). It's a design choice on my part; instead of a large number of very similar weapons with one unquestionably superior one (Heavy Plasma, although arguments can be made for Plasma Rifle and Laser Rifle), you have a large number of weapons that are instantly made situationally useful by the use of a single firing mode. In this case, Assault Rifles similar to the classic XCom rifle would go against this design, while an SMG-type weapon would be very similar to a Shotgun, to the point that I don't think it's worth implementing. (The ATDI, the Council's alternative alien response force, is armed with lesser ATDI SMGs when you're playing with Terran tech, but if you check them out they're inferior to the Shotgun in every meaningful way.) [/li][li]Is that wanted that i can't go through the brick window? (Can't shoot it, as it doesn't block projectiles, can't smash or melee it as it is as sturdy as the normal wall. It looks like being easier to shoot a hole into the wall [/quote] What exactly is a "Brick Window"? You can see through them but not smash through them, does that mean it's a small window in a mostly brick wall? I suppose so, since I shot at it with a shotgun and heard nothing but brick shards flying everywhere while the window laughed at me. It's another choice on my end. I made the Brick Windows cells instead of props, and allowed firing through them; in essence, they act like classic XCom windows, except it's a lot harder to blast them out. I might change that if people don't like them. (Alternately, I can replace the Machete and Alloy Blades with hammer-type weapons capable of blasting through walls and such... hell, I might do that anyway.) Ok, i got over it. Normally 2 packs of ammo per selection. Though i added a little reminder (like (2x20) for shotgun ammo) to get some orientation. I made it so that Terran weapons will get two clips per purchase. Every other tech level will give one clip; this is just to offset the Terran's low ammo capacity and horrible uselessness compared to literally every other weapon tier. You'll appreciate the extra ammo a lot more when you're trying to fight Chryssies with Terran technology ;p The intro is quite funny in its attitude towards the usual "protect the civilians" mandate. Proofread it again, btw. The mod would be hard enough without also worrying about civilian casualties. It would be a bit uncharacteristic of XCom, though, so I just thought about scenarios where an order to ignore civilian casualties would make sense. Not sure what you mean by proofreading the intro, though; I looked at it again and I don't see anything wrong with it. Did you notice anything in particular? Add a message at the beginning telling the player to press 'z' to begin the selection process. You can do this through the scenario message system. Also add messages for the following steps to the log (through SA), since the player has to reselect their unit and continue with more options and that won't be obvious right away. You also have some typoes on the squad selection menu. Damnit, I hate typos :l Thanks for pointing them out; I'll go do a cleanse here in a moment. I'll add messages to guide new players, too; seeing as I made the system myself, I'm hardly in a position to judge how obtuse it is to a newcomer ;p Sure was a hell of a lot of shooting going on around the level at the beginning. Quite a few aliens shooting at civilians, I suppose, though very few deaths. Also heard some civs fighting back That's probably what it was, although the ADTI undoubtedly had a hand in the return fire. (They're one of the alternative projects the Council is funding, although it's pretty obvious that they're woefully unprepared to fight a full-scale war.) Saw tree branches on the ground near the corner of ALNSPWN2. I think you mean for that to be a bush. Checked my blueprints, and they're all bushes. I've never seen it happen, but are you sure they didn't fall off of a tree without breaking? I like the little mall. I visited Tracy White's shop. She was mad at the aliens. Rifle mad. Derp, forgot that Tracey was a female name ;s Actually, I forgot to set the gender of any of the unique civilians, so I'll just fix that now. I have plans for even more blueprints (diners, gas stations, parking garages...), but I put them on the back burner for now while I get the core gameplay working. I'll also add a bit of speech to each of the shop owners. I see you later changed the reaction mechanics back so that burst fire can't be used in reaction attacks, but that also means shotguns can't reaction fire... Hm. Like I said, that was a tough choice on my part, but I'm leaning towards snaps only to reinforce the specialization I'm trying to go for. If pistols are the only weapons capable of reaction fire (with some exceptions), then that makes them more valuable tactically while keeping the main focus of burst weapons (high damage output at close range) intact. Met an unarmed sectoid that was using freaking teleportation to jump out of the way of my attacks. I need that psionic training! Later I found him teleported up on a roof, shot him off the roof with a rifle and had a sergeant with a shotgun shoot him down below. That Sectoid wasn't unarmed; it was a leader using Psilances and, in this case, reactionary Phase Shifting; you just can't see the Psilances equipped because they're natural weapons. There's also variants that can heal themselves and create mirror images to confuse you. Unfortunately, most of the really nice toys are at Psi 3+, which means you need to wait until you can clone Sectoids and Etherials of your own to utilize them. I never liked how broken psionics were in the original and liked the route Apocalypse took (where most races are fairly weak, psionically), so humans have fairly limited access to psionics. The same is true of most other Cydonians, although right now none of them besides Sectoids, Etherials and (fluff-wise, at least) Mutons use psionics at all. Neil was chasing down the last sectoid and ran out of rifle bullets, so he picked up a Plasma Repeater from an alien corpse, and it freaking exploded and killed him when he fired it! Nice touch... For a second I was like... wait a minute, where'd Neil go? Was that reaction fire? Then I saw the unfortunate message... If only Niel had 'u'sed the Repeater first ;p I never liked how arbitrary the limit on using alien weapons was, so I tried to come up with various methods that alien tech was denied to XCom. Sectoids are paranoid about getting their stuff reverse-engineered, and as such all of their equipment will violently explode if used by anything that isn't them. Elerium-level tech comes with Sectoid Gene Gloves, equipment that can fool plasma weapons into thinking the wearer is a Sectoid themselves. PPPPS: I should 'use' more items You should. Along with Kyzrati's suggestions for messages to guide new players, I'll be sure to reinforce that 'u'sing new items is important. Thank you for the input, guys! On my own end I'll aslo be reorganizing the equipment screen, and I'll have a new version with a lot of fixes here soon. In the meantime, I'm setting up a gDocs readme; Notepad just isn't behaving the way I want it to. |
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Post by 10101 on Sept 14, 2013 15:31:11 GMT -5
To put it short:
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Post by Aves Dominari on Sept 14, 2013 16:09:28 GMT -5
Nice catch there. EDIT: The mostly WIP readme can be found here, as a gDoc instead of attached text document. From now on, README-Rectification will just be a link to this document. |
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Post by 10101 on Sept 14, 2013 16:40:18 GMT -5
Another one:
Either the SHIV has too much missiles or the text is wrong, when i take missiles i get 8. (Nice game with 4 SHIVs with missiles)
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Post by Kyzrati on Sept 14, 2013 16:47:48 GMT -5
It's another choice on my end. I made the Brick Windows cells instead of props, and allowed firing through them; in essence, they act like classic XCom windows, except it's a lot harder to blast them out. I might change that if people don't like them. I think the idea works fine, and tactically it's interesting to not be able to smash through everything you can see through (though are there any normal windows out there? There probably should be at least some, no?). I think it's the name which ends up being somewhat confusing for the player. Not sure how to rename that, but I like the idea. I made it so that Terran weapons will get two clips per purchase. Every other tech level will give one clip; this is just to offset the Terran's low ammo capacity and horrible uselessness compared to literally every other weapon tier. You'll appreciate the extra ammo a lot more when you're trying to fight Chryssies with Terran technology ;p I don't think I'll appreciate fighting chryssalids at all, with anything ;p I forgot to mention that I second 10101's suggestions about being more informative about the ammo at some point during the equipment selection process (or on the menu itself), since I wasn't sure how much I was purchasing the first time, either. Not sure what you mean by proofreading the intro, though; I looked at it again and I don't see anything wrong with it. Did you notice anything in particular? "The Council of Funding Nations has, against all sense, reacted to the losses we have suffered." Also some changes to improve readability, like "Cydonian Terror Ship has landed in a city and has unleashed its hellish cargo" and logic: "that we alone are to have access to Cydonian technology" (it's odd to say that no one else can have it, because they can--though it is logical to say that may be the case now). That's probably what it was, although the ADTI undoubtedly had a hand in the return fire. (They're one of the alternative projects the Council is funding, although it's pretty obvious that they're woefully unprepared to fight a full-scale war.) I didn't spot any ADTI units, though there were several armed civs. Checked my blueprints, and they're all bushes. I've never seen it happen, but are you sure they didn't fall off of a tree without breaking? See ALNSPWN2, there's a 'B' at (8,9,0) which is not part of a tree--that tree is in the top right corner of the area. I have plans for even more blueprints (diners, gas stations, parking garages...), but I put them on the back burner for now while I get the core gameplay working. I'll also add a bit of speech to each of the shop owners. Nice, new blueprints are always enjoyable, if somewhat annoying to make right now. Also, speech is easy to do and adds a lot to the atmosphere. Like I said, that was a tough choice on my part, but I'm leaning towards snaps only to reinforce the specialization I'm trying to go for. If pistols are the only weapons capable of reaction fire (with some exceptions), then that makes them more valuable tactically while keeping the main focus of burst weapons (high damage output at close range) intact. I do like the much more specific roles the weapons have. Seems to be working towards a nice balance. That Sectoid wasn't unarmed; it was a leader using Psilances and, in this case, reactionary Phase Shifting; you just can't see the Psilances equipped because they're natural weapons. By "unarmed" I just meant wasn't carrying a weapon. He did eventually turn around and fire some psi-lances when I cornered him. If only Niel had 'u'sed the Repeater first ;p I never liked how arbitrary the limit on using alien weapons was, so I tried to come up with various methods that alien tech was denied to XCom. Sectoids are paranoid about getting their stuff reverse-engineered, and as such all of their equipment will violently explode if used by anything that isn't them. Elerium-level tech comes with Sectoid Gene Gloves, equipment that can fool plasma weapons into thinking the wearer is a Sectoid themselves. Awesome idea. Would be neat if the future full game has some alien tech that simply cannot be replicated/manufactured, but must be collected in the field and requires techniques like this to utilize. And yes, I should've had him at least look at the weapon before firing it! |
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