Warspace Extension Discussion

[BlackAlpha]

Warspace Extension mod:
http://xcom.nexusmods.com/mods/18

Please use this topic to discuss my recently released mod. It's a big compilation of many tweaks and some new features. The main goal is to enhence the game in any way possible. Check out the big changelog for details.

I'm looking for balancing feedback and cool features that can be included in this mod. Constructive feedback and praises are welcome too! :smile:

You can also ask modding related questions here.

If you experience technical difficulties, please look for help at the following link:

http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/834174-warspace-technical-support-v150/




Modding related:

To get access to the mod files and the installer setup that I used, you can go to the modpage, go to downloads, and there you'll see the installer source. It contains all the mod and installer files.

If you just intend to use Warspace and wish to mod it a little to your preference, you could simply extract the Warpace Installer Source, edit the files in there, compile the installer setup, and then use the new (your newly created) setup file to install Warspace. See the ReadMe in the Installer Source on how to compile the setup file.


Alternatively, if you are wondering what changes I made to the game, it's done in four parts.

1. The .ini file that most mods modify, the one inside the EXE. Specifically, I use the Modpatcher. You can open the .mod file with a text editor, change it to your liking and then run the Modpatcher. See the Modpatcher for more info on how to use it:
http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/804882-modpatcher/



2. The UPK files. I use XSHAPE to load modified UPK files. XSHAPE needs to run after the Modpatcher. See XSHAPE for more info on that:

http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/810950-xshape/

See the Warspace installer source for all changes I made to the UPK files. It's inside "Changes to UPK files.txt". See here for the topic where those changes are discussed:

http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/820524-interesting-upk-stuff-ive-found/

Alternatively, you can compare my modded UPK files to the original UPK files using a program called UE Explorer (to export UPK files to text files) and then compare them with a program called WinMerge. A tutorial on how to do so can be found inside the ReadMe of the UPK Modding Tools archive (see below).

See here for modding tools to edit UPK files yourself, the ReadMe contains some tutorials:
http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/820867-here-are-upk-modding-tools/



3. The localization files. Inside "Game folder \ XComGame \ Localization" are text files you can edit. There's also one or two in "My Documents \ My Games \ XCom Enemy Unknown \ XComGame \ Localization".

You will only see the ones in My Documents if you let Firaxis' silent patcher update the game. So you'll need to not block the game from accessing the internet, start steam in online mode, and then start the game. The silent patcher will then update the game and those files should appear in My Documents. Note that some game versions and some language versions don't always see all, or any, of the localization files inside My Documents.



4. The Slingshot DLC files. They are inside the game directory. One of them is an INI file (simply open and edit it with a text editor), the other is a UPK file (see number 2 on how to edit UPK files). Note that the Slingshot UPK file doesn't need XSHAPE, you simpy need to overwrite the original UPK file with your modded one.

Edited March 1, 2013 by BlackAlpha

[Resdulac]

Im using Warspace Extension-18-1-26 and find it much more interesting and durable than vanilla.

Im grateful for the great job you have done.

 

But after more than 20 missions i see they all take place at night.

I start thinking that all that is very dark.

 

Is it a way to bring back a little more daylight?

Please...

[PepprmintButler]

Looks super nice.

A whole lot of rebalances that sound good, including the ones I already modded in myself.

But 'm not sure I like the idea of parting away from soldier deaths and focusing on long recovery times.... Does that mean you turned "sudden death" down ? (ie auto critical wound)

Also, I'd love to know what is behind these 2 lines :

- Enemies have been changed in such a way that combat becomes more logical, resulting in more fluid battles.

- Enemies won't cheat as much. If something bad happens, you'll know it's probably because you screwed up or because the enemy AI made a good decision.

...because honestly that tells me nothing. (it does sound nice)

Edited October 23, 2012 by PepprmintButler

[catshoadw]

so i am going to start this off with saying LOVE the mod ( not very far in but you made impossible a unbearable RNG fest to a playable but still hard game ) with that out of the way

 

one thing i would love to see is if psi powers could be given higher range not need line of sight but the more i think about it the more i think it might not be doable but as it stands my psi sniper is a waste of psi powers

 

take this with a grain of salt my play thought is very early on but i feel with the change to panic in abductions only effecting the place they land instead of there whole continent your incentive to rush any thing really is almost not there adding back 1 point or so to the continent wide panic would let it keep that rush with out being over board i dont know just personal thoughts

 

one thing i would like a opinion on would be giving the over watch(and suppression as its to funny seeing my heavy be able to suppress a alien to death with mayhem and the guy not even take a shot ) a default shot at all targets who take a shot same as the support skill i forget the name its the one that goes with sprinter anyways it always felt silly that my guy was sitting there ready to shoot waiting for that guy to move but lets him blast away with out even taking a shot ( this might be a total crap shoot and something that people will hate as now that guy in full cover shoots away wasting all your over watch while his zerker buddy runs out of the dark to face rape you a toggle might be cool) i would vote to giving this to the aliens as well just to make shooting at guys in over watch a semi risk i just like the idea of shooting back and forth in this kinda case more feels more natural even if its a alien war game

 

hope some of this was useful if not let me say again love the hell out of the mod keep up the good work

 

PS i think i might have found a bug( more like a missed change) with your longer recovery time well kinda a bug i barely fished a mission thin men got 2 of my troopers almost killed 1 guy at 1 hp and the other on the floor with a critical wound the guy who had 1 health had like 30 days as per your mods changes but the guy who got dropped but not dead did a check on his will to be sure only had like 14 days not a real issue seeing as with a wil of like 10 hes useless to me now so hes going to be dismissed or arc thrower bait

Edited October 25, 2012 by catshoadw

[Absoleus]

Tried your mod yesterday, and I really liked it.

Only little problem, is when I loaded my game today, and sent my team to an abduction mission :

 

http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/439445Xcom.png

 

I think there's something wrong with my soldier's heatlh... :)

[Jigain]

I like the mod. Makes the game less RNG in the right places, and more RNG in the right places. Of course I don't agree with absolutely everything, but the mod carries a lot more advantages than disadvantages for me.

 

What I enjoy most is that all weapons are essentially viable throughout the entire game, making weapon choices much, much more of a soldier-specific question rather than "equip last researched tech". Snapshot sniper with -20% hit? Might need the bonus accuracy of the laser sniper rifle. Squadsight sniper with 95% chance to hit across the battlefield already? Give him the less accurate but more damaging plasma sniper rifle.

 

The one thing I could think of that I really, really would love to be added to the mod would be the ability for an assault class to fire the Arc Thrower after Run & Gun, but if I understand it correctly that's hardcoded into the game and currently unable to be done.

[LeakingLCL]

I seem to be overflowing with Alloys and Etherium quite a lot in Warspace.

A few downed UFOs and I'm swimming in these resources, then I tend sell most of it to build stuff and get upgrades.

Sure, stuff costs more, but in a long marathon game you end up with 300+ of each without even trying.

 

Also, is it possible to code the weapons/armors to be lost in the event that the soldier that has them dies?

At least make them unrecoverable when a code black occurs or if you retreat.

[BlackAlpha]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll look into it.

 

 

Tried your mod yesterday, and I really liked it.

Only little problem, is when I loaded my game today, and sent my team to an abduction mission :

 

 

I think there's something wrong with my soldier's heatlh... :)

 

Check the ReadMe for instructions on how to start the mod. Since yesterday, the process of starting mods has changed. The most user friendly way is to start Steam in offline mode. If the .exe file can access the internet, it will overwrite the changes the mod brings.

 

This is because Firaxis started using their new patching process, in which you automatically download and install a patch each time you start the game while being online.

 

 

 

PS i think i might have found a bug( more like a missed change) with your longer recovery time well kinda a bug i barely fished a mission thin men got 2 of my troopers almost killed 1 guy at 1 hp and the other on the floor with a critical wound the guy who had 1 health had like 30 days as per your mods changes but the guy who got dropped but not dead did a check on his will to be sure only had like 14 days not a real issue seeing as with a wil of like 10 hes useless to me now so hes going to be dismissed or arc thrower bait

 

This is simply because the recovery time is randomized. Although heavily injured people seem to have a higher chance for a longer recovery time, sometimes it's randomized to be short. I wish I could have more input into this process, but I don't. Pretend he got lucky and was able to recover relatively quickly.

 

 

 

- Enemies have been changed in such a way that combat becomes more logical, resulting in more fluid battles.

- Enemies won't cheat as much. If something bad happens, you'll know it's probably because you screwed up or because the enemy AI made a good decision.

...because honestly that tells me nothing. (it does sound nice)

 

Well, it's kind of the point. I don't throw numbers around in the general description because most people are not modders. If you are wondering what it means on the technical level, open up the mod and look at the numbers.

Edited October 25, 2012 by BlackAlpha

[PepprmintButler]

- Enemies have been changed in such a way that combat becomes more logical, resulting in more fluid battles.

- Enemies won't cheat as much. If something bad happens, you'll know it's probably because you screwed up or because the enemy AI made a good decision.

...because honestly that tells me nothing. (it does sound nice)

Well, it's kind of the point. I don't throw numbers around in the general description because most people are not modders. If you are wondering what it means on the technical level, open up the mod and look at the numbers.

 

I've been doing that, but your statements in the general description are too vague to be understood in terms of actual gameplay (at least by me, I might be a bit thick). I fail to see how changing hp/critchance/accuracy/etc values makes it so "that combat becomes more logical, resulting in more fluid battles" or how enemies are "cheating" in vanilla.

At first that sounded to me like AI changes (I did not download the mod at the time I asked so I did not yet see that this is "only" a defaultgamecore.ini mod), so I was extra curious about that.

 

I ask purely out of curiosity, and I'm only being critical because I do really like (most of the aspects of) your mod.

Edited October 26, 2012 by PepprmintButler

[BlackAlpha]

I fail to see how changing hp/critchance/accuracy/etc values makes it so "that combat becomes more logical, resulting in more fluid battles"

 

Well, it's kind of complicated, or maybe really obvious, depending on your point of view. I'll try to briefly explain some of it. Basically, it's a combination of many things that are connected directly and indirectly to reach a certain goal.

 

Cover plays a larger role. This means you won't be shot randomly as much as in vanilla if you use cover. Enemy size and distance to enemy correspond more properly to how easy the enemy is to hit. Most enemies aren't bullet sponges and weapons handle a bit more realistic, giving the player a feeling the combat is more logical and giving the feeling he has more control over the combat mechanics, and some other stuff like that.

 

As a result, it gives the player more insight on the workings of the combat mechanics. It's more logical. There's less stuff that makes no sense. Although often just an illusion, the player has a feeling that he knows what's going on. The important end result is what the player feels when playing the game, the feeling is the goal.

 

The stuff above is a combination of many stats. To give you an example of how the stats relate to each other:

 

Titan armor reduces mobility. It provides medium protection. It provides two item slots. It needs secondary armor for increased protection. Secondary armor provides more protection. If you change any of those things, you need to overhaul the rest as well or otherwise the Titan armor isn't balanced anymore. Then the light armors aren't balanced anymore. Then the enemy could be too strong or too weak. That in turn affects the combat stats. Etc, etc.

 

Everything is carefully connected and I think I've found the sweetspot that leads to the feeling that most people enjoy. That is not to say this is the best solution. Many roads lead to Rome. I simply found one of those roads.

 

How did I get there? I like to think I have a good taste in video games and I simply understand what's fun and what isn't fun to most people. Or maybe it was simply luck? Who knows. But one thing that helps is to gradually make changes and evaluate people's feedback to decide if you are going in the right direction. That is, if you care about that sort of thing. You could also simply create something that you enjoy, create something for the hell of it. And that's fine too, I often do that as well.

 

Then there are some things that are best kept a secret. "A magician never reveals his secrets" sort of thing, you know? More fun for the audience if they don't understand.

Edited October 26, 2012 by BlackAlpha