How to make reaction fire ignore cover?

[seamus2008]

Like the title says, I'd like the cover penalties to not apply for reaction fires.

 

Right now, abilities like Suppressing Fire and Covering Fire triggers at the enemy unit's original square, unlike normal overwatch with triggers at the first square they move to. The enemy's starting square usually has cover, thus making these abilities somewhat subpar.

 

Is there a way to make reaction fire ignore cover penalties? Help would be greatly appreciated :smile:

 

EDIT: This is for EW by the way.

Edited September 3, 2014 by seamus2008

[seamus2008]

Anyone?

[johnnylump]

Well, you'll need to recode some hex in XComGame.upk. A lot of to-hit calculations are in native code, so you may need to construct a substantial workaround.

[seamus2008]

Well, you'll need to recode some hex in XComGame.upk. A lot of to-hit calculations are in native code, so you may need to construct a substantial workaround.

 

That's what I'm doing, but I don't know which class I should be looking at, I'm currently sifting through XGAction_Fire and XGAction_FireOverwatchExecuting.

 

I'd like to find the part where they check for target cover and add a condition (not for reaction fire).

[johnnylump]

Try XGAbility_Targeted, perhaps RollForHit

[seamus2008]

Try XGAbility_Targeted, perhaps RollForHit

 

Thanks for the tip! I couldn't find anything in RollForHit, but I did find something that looks pertinent in GetShotSummary, in the same Class.

 

 

 

else

{

// End:0xB58

if((coverBonus != 0) && !m_bHasFlank)

{

// End:0xA1C

if(coverBonus == XComGameReplicationInfo(class'Engine'.static.GetCurrentWorldInfo().GRI).m_kGameCore.LOW_COVER_BONUS)

{

kInfo.arrHitPenaltyStrings.AddItem(m_strPenaltyLowCover);

}

// End:0xA45

else

{

kInfo.arrHitPenaltyStrings.AddItem(m_strPenaltyHighCover);

}

kInfo.arrHitPenaltyValues.AddItem(-coverBonus);

// End:0xB58

if(kTarget.IsHunkeredDown())

{

kInfo.arrHitPenaltyStrings.AddItem(m_strHunker);

kInfo.arrHitPenaltyValues.AddItem(int((XComGameReplicationInfo(class'Engine'.static.GetCurrentWorldInfo().GRI).m_kGameCore.HUNKER_BONUS - float(1)) * float(-coverBonus)));

}

}

}

 

 

 

Those are lines 118-141

 

This looks like the part where the game applies cover bonus to the target. Now, I have little coding experience, what exactly do you think I should add to these lines to make the cover bonus not apply for reaction fire?

Edited September 9, 2014 by seamus2008

[johnnylump]

I think getshotsummary is only what is displayed. I'm fairly sure the cover bonuses themselves are in native code.

[seamus2008]

I think getshotsummary is only what is displayed. I'm fairly sure the cover bonuses themselves are in native code.

 

You're right, getshosummary changes only the displayed values, like the smoke grenade bonuses. There are two sets of those in getshotsummary

 

The first one is near to top, this one seemingly does nothing. I had thought it changed the real values, but it does nothing.

 

else

{

coverPerks = kTarget.GetTacticalSenseCoverBonus();

// End:0x22E

if(kTarget.HasBonus(15) && kTarget.HasHeightAdvantageOver(m_kUnit))

{

coverPerks += XComGameReplicationInfo(class'Engine'.static.GetCurrentWorldInfo().GRI).m_kGameCore.10;

}

// End:0x2BB

if(kTarget.m_bInSmokeBomb)

{

coverPerks += XComGameReplicationInfo(class'Engine'.static.GetCurrentWorldInfo().GRI).m_kGameCore.20;

}

// End:0x348

if(kTarget.m_bInDenseSmoke)

{

coverPerks += XComGameReplicationInfo(class'Engine'.static.GetCurrentWorldInfo().GRI).m_kGameCore.20;

}

// End:0x3D7

if(kTarget.HasBonus(132))

{

coverPerks += XComGameReplicationInfo(class'Engine'.static.GetCurrentWorldInfo().GRI).m_kGameCore.15;

}

coverBonus = Max(0, kTarget.m_iCurrentCoverValue - coverPerks);

// End:0x4A0

if(kTarget.HasAirEvadeBonus())

{

iEvasionBonus = XComGameReplicationInfo(class'Engine'.static.GetCurrentWorldInfo().GRI).m_kGameCore.AIR_EVADE_DEF;

}

coverBonus = Max(0, coverBonus - iEvasionBonus);

}

 

 

The second set changes the display value when you click the "?" for a hit percentage breakdown.

 

 

if(kTarget.GetTacticalSenseCoverBonus() > 0)

{

kInfo.arrHitPenaltyStrings.AddItem(PERKS().GetPenaltyTitle(33));

kInfo.arrHitPenaltyValues.AddItem(-kTarget.GetTacticalSenseCoverBonus());

}

// End:0xD15

if(kTarget.HasBonus(15) && kTarget.HasHeightAdvantageOver(m_kUnit))

{

kInfo.arrHitPenaltyStrings.AddItem(PERKS().GetBonusTitle(15));

kInfo.arrHitPenaltyValues.AddItem(-XComGameReplicationInfo(class'Engine'.static.GetCurrentWorldInfo().GRI).m_kGameCore.10);

}

// End:0xDFB

if(kTarget.m_bInSmokeBomb)

{

kInfo.arrHitPenaltyStrings.AddItem(PERKS().GetBonusTitle(44));

kInfo.arrHitPenaltyValues.AddItem(-XComGameReplicationInfo(class'Engine'.static.GetCurrentWorldInfo().GRI).m_kGameCore.20);

}

// End:0xEE1

if(kTarget.m_bInDenseSmoke)

{

kInfo.arrHitPenaltyStrings.AddItem(PERKS().GetBonusTitle(52));

kInfo.arrHitPenaltyValues.AddItem(-XComGameReplicationInfo(class'Engine'.static.GetCurrentWorldInfo().GRI).m_kGameCore.20);

}

// End:0xFC9

if(kTarget.HasBonus(132))

{

kInfo.arrHitPenaltyStrings.AddItem(PERKS().GetBonusTitle(132));

kInfo.arrHitPenaltyValues.AddItem(-XComGameReplicationInfo(class'Engine'.static.GetCurrentWorldInfo().GRI).m_kGameCore.15);

}

 

 

 

 

After some searches I seem to have located the real values in XGTacticalGameCoreNativeBase

 

 

const DENSE_SMOKE_DEFENSE_BONUS = 20;

const SMOKE_BOMB_DEFENSE_BONUS = 20;

 

 

I can edit Functions just fine, because the hex codes correspond to the lines.

 

However, they're under the Constants tree, not Functions. I tried View Buffer on those lines, and the hex code that came out seemingly has nothing to do with them

40-12-00-00-76-5F-00-00-00-00-00-00-40-12-00-00-03-00-00-00-32-30-00

 

 

I'm at a loss as to actually editing those numbers.

[johnnylump]

I'm afraid the constants in XGTacticalGameCoreNativeBase don't do anything when changed. (This is something every XCOM modder must learn.)

 

Aim calculations are handled in the exe (native code), which we cannot edit directly. So if you want to change some aim-related function, you must deduce how it works and then address it in the upk. The problem is that aim calculations are clamped to between 0 and 100 in native code, so in cases where the REAL to hit is below zero or above 100, the difference in aim is lost and unrecoverable, and new bonuses and penalties you add start at 0 or 100.

 

Long War makes a couple of changes like this anyway. We made Lightning Reflexes not automatic in XGAbility_Targeted_RollForHit, and put our range penalties on pistols there, too.

 

So if you can accept the issue I described, I'd recommend RollForHit :

 

Here's some garbage psuedocode

If hasupgrade(coveringfire) && isreactionshot

{

if getprimarytarget().is in light cover

tohit += (lightcovervalue from dgc.ini)

 

else

 

if getprimarytarget().is in heavy cover

tohit += (heavy cover value from dgc.ini)

}

 

Again, if the actual hit came in at -15, the shooter is getting a substantial bonus because the additions start in at zero. No way around this except to rewrite entire XCOM's entire aim calculations from scratch.

 

You'd have to figure out how to determine that the shot is a suppression-based reaction shot, or else recode the shot elsewhere to take place after the unit leaves cover.