Anybody liked X-COM? P'dox publishes X-COM style game....

[Apocalypse]

The tactical missions have gotten easier as people gain experience. I have found it is best to get accuracy up to around 75 before improving anything else.

[Apocalypse]

Here is the modding thread from Something Awful. It can fix a few of the lesser annoying things in the game. Mind you even without modding it is very enjoyable.

Have you been playing UFO Extraterrestrials and feel that there's some things just off about the game that you'd like to change? Want to make your game more like X-Com? This is the thread for you. Chaos Concepts has designed an incredibly flexible engine for this game, it is virtually completely modifiable in any way. This will leave the door open in the future to large mod projects and other modifications. Can anyone say X-Com complete conversion?



For anyone interested in modifying this game to better suit their tastes (I definitely recommend this, as it makes the game a lot more fun for me), I've collected a bunch of information to help you out. All of these modifications are extremely easy to do. Most of this information is the result of gibbed (aka Rick on the official forums), as well as other forum members from the official forums. and I do not take credit for it in any way, I've just collected it. I will try to keep this thread up to date with new and upcoming mods. If you've discovered something not in this thread, let me know and I will add it to this post. In any event:




MODDING YOUR GAME





You HAVE to do this first. This is the absolute first step before any modifying can begin.

gibbed posted:

Okay, I couldn't figure out how to tell UFO:ET to load files on disk first, so I came up with an alternative solution (since it does load them, after files in archives). I decided to go with the route of making a dummy blank.xbig (that is, an xbig archive with no files in it). Then you can just extract the system.xbg (or whichever one you want) and replace it with the blank one, since some xbigs are outright required and the game won't start without them.



So, my suggested steps:



a) Copy 'data' directory to another place (for backup purposes).

b) Use xbig to extract system.xbig ('xbig.exe e system.xbg'). xbig is a console application, so you will need to run it from a console (obviously).

c) Delete system.xbg.

d) Copy blank.xbig to system.xbg.

e) Yay, modding!




Download:

blank.xbig

http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.p...file=blank.xbig



xbig.exe (1.01)

http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.p...ile=xbig101.zip



PS:

Extracted files do go in the data directory, A bit messy, but unavoidable. Lots of modding possibilities though.

From here on is where you can start to edit the files that will change your game. These files will all be found in your game directory/data

quote:

Const.xscr:



const int SIGHT_RANGE = 12;

const int AI_SIGHT_RANGE = 14;




These two commands control how far you can see as well as the aliens. I recommend increasing both of these numbers by 2 or 3 to make exploring a little less tedious



const float SIGHT_H_ANGLE = PI/3.5;

const float SIGHT_V_ANGLE = PI/3.5;



These two commands basically control your soldiers peripheral vision. As it stands now this is the equivalent of 51 degrees of sight, which I don't think is very realistic. I recommend changing these numbers to 2.5 for a larger field of view.



const int WORKSHOP_TECHNICIANS = 10;

const int ADVANCED_WORKSHOP_TECHNICIANS = 30;

const int LABORATORY_SCIENTISTS = 10;


const int DOUBLE_LABORATORY_SCIENTISTS = 30;



Controls the amount of Scientists and Techs that labs and workshops will hold. I wouldn't recommend changing these that much if at all, as they can potentially unbalance the game.



const float BUY_SELL_PRICE_NORMAL = 0.3; // normal buy/sell price is 30% from production price

const float BUY_SELL_PRICE_ALIEN_ARTIFACT = 0.4; // unknown ship item price is 10% from buyPrice



These act as multipliers for the price that manufactured items well sell for based on their manufacturing cost. As you can see, manufacturing is not profitable at all. For someone wanting to return to the way X-Com handles this, I recommend around 1.5 for normal items and 2.0 for alien artifacts.

quote:

Default.cfg



soldiers

{

walkSpeed 0.0014 // old value: 0.0016



Pissed off at how slow your soldiers walk with 2 handed weapons? Bump this up a little to compensate



runSpeed 0.0033




Obviously controls normal running speed of your soldiers



camera

{

speed 0.015



Controls how fast the camera moves when selecting your units or otherwise. I felt this was a little slow so I recommend doubling it to 0.030

quote:

Common.xscr



// for use in the base - how many days the unit will stay in the hospital when he sustained 'damage' accumulated damage in the mission

getHealDaysFromDamage(damage) {

return damage / 5;



This is supposed to change how many days a wounded soldier remains in the hospital based on how much damage they took in a mission. It's supposed to take the damage your soldier took and divide it by this variable (in this case 5) to determine how many days the soldier remains in the hospital. I've tried increasing this number, but I haven't been able to get this to work personally, maybe someone can help me with this one.

quote:

.\base\createandloadvariables.xscr



SHIP_FUEL_REFUEL_PER_SECOND = 0.28935;



This controls how fast your ships refuel. I felt it taking nearly a day for a ship to refuel was kind of stupid, so I set this number to 1.0

quote:

Combat.xsrc



si.distance += deltaTime * si.speed



This controls the speed of bullets. Some people think they are way too slow. Change this to ( si.speed+0.5) or a lower value if you think it's too fast.

quote:

Submitted by Underwhelmed



./scripts/rpgvalues.config

Don't like the xp requirements for level ups? Search for levels and underneath are the variables to control it.



levels


{

className CVector



(Spoilered for rank names)

 0 15 //Private 15

1 35 //Private first class 37

2 65 // Corporal 49

3 110 //Corporal first class 66


4 171 //Sergeant 91

5 260 //Sergeant first class 129

6 530 //Staff Sergeant 196

7 1100 //Warrant officer 271

8 1880 //Lieutenant 399

9 3060 //Captain 592


10 5200 //Colonel 880 



Change the second number in each line to alter the requirements.

HOTKEYS MOD



This comes from Edswor on the official forums.

Edswor posted:

I have completed a first version of the Hotkey mod.



Mission:

Esc - Game menu panel

I - Inventory panel

H - Healing panel


Return - End turn

F1 - F12 - Select unit 1-12

N - Previous unit

M - Next unit

A - Kneel/Stand unit

Z - Select Left hand


X - Select Right hand

Up arrow - Go up lift

Down arrow - Go down lift







Version 0.01

First release

Version 0.02


Fix the Enter bug with the savegames (thx SamuraiD).

Put all the mod only in man.xscr (thx OVNI).





Always make a backup before you do any change.



You also can use my graphic extractor ( http://www.ufo-extraterrestrials.co...opic.php?t=1646 ) to extract the xbg files.



Then you have to download this file:


man.xscr

http://www.supcomes.com/ufoet/man.xscr



And replace the original extracted ones with this two.



And always make a backup before you do any change Wink .



Also you can use Goldenbird's installer instead of all before.



Quote:




I had made an installer (if its ok Smile )

Please credit me if you release more and use my installer.



Extract files to your ufo:extraterrestrials/data folder



Start data/ACTIVATE_MOD.bat to activate the mod.

or data/REMOVE_MOD.bat to remove the mod.



download installer:

http://files.to/get/446084/63046/Hotkey_combat_mod.zip






I have to use A,Z,X for those actions because Shift,Alt and Ctrl doesn't work (I'm looking at it).



Every suggestion , complain, question, etc is wellcome Wink .

MODIFIYING THE CAMERA



This comes from OVNI on the official forums. English doesn't appear to be his first language so I've cleaned this up a bit. Also, if you wish to use the hotkeys mod with this you will need to install the hotkeys mod first, since these changes modify the same file it uses.

OVNI posted:

Tired of the camera centering on your units when you click them on the field? This will make the camera stay still when you click a unit, simliar to the way X-Com handled it.

Note: the camera will still center on your units if you click their character portrait.



1) Make a backup of data\man.xscr file

2) Edit data\man.xscr

3) Change this:




if (!isUnitVisible(unit))

flyCameraTo(unit);



4) To this:



//if (!isUnitVisible(unit))

//flyCameraTo(unit);








Sick of having to wait for the camera to slowly scroll across the map when you select another unit? This change will make the camera center instantly on units you select.



1) Open data\man.xscr

2) Replace:



flyCameraTo(unit);



3) With:




centerCameraOnObj(unit, true);







If you don't want the camera follow a soldier when he is moving (and only for soldiers : when an alien is moving, the camera will still follow him). Although, if a soldier encounters an alien, camera will center on him.



1) Open soldiers.xscr

2) Replace:



bool center = true;




3) With:



bool center = false;

FULL FLEDGED SECONDARY BASES



This will allow you to build whatever buildings you want in your secondary bases, instead of practically just hangars and radar.

quote:

scripts/tests/config.xsv



For example





1

{


className "BaseBuildingType"

BuildingTypeId "LABORATORY"

title "LABORATORY"

partName "room_4"

width 1

height 1

constructionTime 18

constructionCost 180000

monthlyCost 80000


textureName "1Lab.tga"

defendBaseTextureName ""

defendBaseTextureNameS ""

accuracy 0

damage "0d0"

firingSound ""

constructionRights 1

available true

scanRange 0


}

0 means can't build

1 can build only on main base

2 anywhere

Btw you don't have to start new game for changes to take effect.

HIRE AND FIRE YOUR TROOPERS MOD




Think it's bull**** that you have to wait for troopers to randomly show up at your base? This mod adds buttons to the troopers screen to hire and fire them. The cost is $20,000. This mod was created by tywiggins on the official forums.

tywiggins posted:

Here's a file that will allow you to Fire and Hire soldiers from the Main Troopers Screen (Not the rename soldiers screen, as in my earlier mod).

Also of note: You can now fire soldiers that are assigned to transports, as long as they are on the base. Edit: I just implemented the confirmation for firing a soldier. Also, I set the price of the soldier to 20000.



sectiontroopers.zip

http://tywiggins.eamods.com/sectiontroopers.zip




Unzip and place this file in your /data/base directory

RICK'S NAME MOD



Tired of half of your soldiers having McKay or Stanton for a last name? This mod by gibbed adds a ****load of soldier names.

gibbed posted:

Someone (either here, or the SA thread) complained about how little names there are for soldiers.



So, I rectified that with a "small" mod.



name mod

http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.p...ile=namemod.zip



You will need to of course, extract your system.xbg first and remove it or replace it with a blank one.



The mod replaces the existing male/female names with 1218 male names, 3944 female names, and 88799 last names (!).

[Dinner]

I never liked these shoot them up games.