Updated the mod to version 3.12!
(please see first post in thread for download link)

No more sneaking up on Atolls and/or hacking at them. Beware!

Fear the mighty Starghosts. Tremble ye pathetic lifeforms from Earth!

I'm not sure why they're mosty immune to EMP, that seems like the best way of taking them out...

In any case, what is EMP good against now?

When you say you're going to make warp weapons useful again, you don't screw around, do you?

You may also recall that I said "the gauss weapons were intended to be the pinnacle of human technology". Which is NOT the same thing as being penultimate weaponry. Note that plasma and warp are not human technologies. They are adapted alien tech. hehe

EMP is simply a wave of electrons running scared. Impossibel to produce an EMP wavefront without an atmosphere, the pulse relies on the close-togetherness of molecules in our atmosphere to propagate. A nuclear detonation will produce an EMP but all it does is short out electrical equipment that is not properly shielded.

I see little reason why it should affect SGs.

Gah! If bullets and blades are useless against ALL SG, then my close range troops are going to have to use warp pistols. Geegoshdarn...

hum

Ego inflation = update apperantly

break out the bellows and stand back boys this is gonna get deep.

On a more serious note can I request the long range psionics toys you mentioned earlier be moved up on todo list?

my words aren't even cold yet and we get another improvement, wohoow

EMP is electromagnetic pulse. Electromagnetic. Moves with the speed of light, far faster than anything except reletivistic electrons, and it travels better in a vacuum than in higher density media.

An electromagnetic wave is accompanied by both electrical and magnetic fields. The steep wavefront of the EMP induces currents in anything conductive, be it plasma, metal, or salt water in a pigskin. Strong enough it will fry you.

Any advanced civilisation would be expected to be aware of the usefulness and dangers of EMP weapons and for their military to be EMP-hardened.

Up until now it's been the only way that I can deal with SG Clouds. It's usefulness is going to be missed. Who wants to buy a hundred 25 mm EMP grenades... clearance sale.

But didn't you make warp weapons to be late in the game by makeing it availeble after you find a reticulan warp weapon?Until then it will be suicide as the starghost attaks are very commune

I got my first Ret warp weapons as loot before I even attacked the WG mothership. It is my intention that the SGs be very very hard to kill. If that causes you trouble, headaches, and worry then it's as it should be. Have fun ...

I've had SG's up to my chin and I've just checked, but I don't have any warp weapons. All that Reticulans have carried have been L.Pistols, L.Rifles, Launchers and P.Cannons. Installing this patch will wait until I'm suitably armed.

Lasers, plasma, flamethrowers, and satchel charges work against most SGs. Sometimes even better than warp. But if you're not up to the intended challenge ...

Immunity to EMP? How it can be?

Yes... I can suppose that weak EMP can be almost completely resisted. But ALMOST, not COMPLETELY!

But we are using DIRECTED an VERY STRONG EMP. In other words - nothing can resist against EMP! Even a weak EMP.

You can protect yourself from big part of energy of EMP, but you cannot protect yourself completely from EMP.

(Sorry for my bad English)

It is actually very easy to protect against any EMP that humans can create. If you want to learn more, try Google or ask a college physics professor.

BTW, there are no directed-EMP weapons in the game, unless you consider a laser such a device (since light is EM radiation it technically qualifies as "directed EMP").


PS - I majored in astrophysics.

But how you can provide complete protection from EMP? Even if it not direct(beam-like).

If you want to learn about EMP, please use Google. This thread is not for that purpose.

Sweet! Another astrophysics major. *high-5s Shado when he's not looking*

Lack of funds killed my actual physics/astronomy degrees, but the knowledge will haunt me forever...o_O

Isn't that the same thing as slapping me on the back of my head? {ouch, grumble grumble}

Well, cool, but it seems that you're going outside the intended scope

I didn't. I changed the SG's armor, which is equipment. It's the same thing I did earlier with the WGs.

Ok, I got it Hope the 20mm grenades aren't totally obsolete, I love the underbarrel launcher (kinda makes me the only one to play this game with grenades )

If your grenades are EMP, they are obsolete versus the SGs. If they are explosive or incendiary, they're still useful.

Not really

My Teams gear is as follows:

FireStorm Team -

Trooper 2/3 Gunman 3 Borg 3

Gauss autocannon with 20mm EMP or Plasma UB


Sniper Team -

Sniper 3 Stalker 2/3 Scout 1

Railgun
Gauss rifle with 20mm EMP or Plasma UB

Now with 3.12 ill probably have to have another config for SG missions and i am playing around with the Needler might take the place of the Gauss rifle but we will have to see about that

@theplayer - I've had a SG squad for some time now Frag on!

Just one question - what kind of damage type(s) do gauss weapons inflict? Could't find this anywhere.

Then you didn't do a SEARCH. Try "gauss". I answered the question in this thread on Jan 13.

Got my warpers. I'd been letting my neighbours rot, hoping to pick up the territory that they lost, and Reticulans had stopped attacking me, so I never saw their advanced weapons. Playing this strategy will have the first SG Cloud eat you for breakfast.

Gauss uses "HARD" ie bullets, but i always have a back up light weapon with thos guys incase my bullets bounce of the targets, Plasma UBs works like 20mm so they can be somewhat unstable witch just makes it all the more fun, anyway this is my 3ed game, after beaten the game on normal without mod and normal with this nice mod and a few others i thought i would try SH but after some playing time found out it isnt my tempo, so playing Vet with is very much to my likeing

one question that has been baffing me tho the games is why in the world do females have less HP then they male conterparts ( same stats and skills and class's )

Females are generally smaller. Even a female of the same height as a male has less bone and muscle mass.

if they have the same STR, DEX, and AGI it stands to resone they have the same muscle mass IMHO


but if it comes to that they should have twice the INT and WILL power of any man

They also gain a bonus to Stealth.

More HP, or more Stealth? I know what I'd want!

Can we PLEASE not use this thread for discussions unrelated to my mod?

I sent PMs a week ago to all those who'd previously volunteered to translate my mod's localization file into their language, but thus far only one person responded (for Spanish). It appears that my French, German, and Polish volunteers have been abducted by the Ridiculans ...

Sorry ShadoWarrior that it went a bit off topic, so back on topic is there any flags in the codes to make some weapons female only to offset the less hp thighy, would be nice if there was some way like with borgs and psis to press ppl to have females in the teams as it is now this HP offset is pretty big with 300 HP, would be cool if only Females could use some kind of "good" item that made them better then they male conterparts ?

No.

Hmm. I noticed the normal heavy armor has it's helmet add on removed, and Duralloy has no helmet add on either. Of course you can put helmets on top of the heavy armor. Pretty wacky looking, but it works I suppose. Wouldn't it just be easier to put a helmet add on in these suits instead of needing to use the medium or light helmets?

Because it can't be modded. Don't you think I've tried that? Heavy armor can only have one slot, and I chose a non-helmet slot. That was made abundantly clear earlier in this thread.

Shadowarrior, I would like to help you with the german localization, but I have no idea of how much time I'd have to spend for it.

Would I have to fiddle with the txt files and do more than just translating? I'm not familiar with the whole UFO modding thing, so...
Maybe you can pm or email me something

Email to wasabi at strife dot com your German LocalizationPack.vfs file, so that I can compare it to the English one. Assuming there isn't anything odd about the formatting, I'll send you the extracted (text) English localization file, along with the extracted German one (so you can also compare them). All you'd have to do is translate the English text file and then send it back to me when you're done. I'll repack it into a .vfs file.

Well, I don't have a german localization file, because I own the US version of the game,
so somebody else will have to provide the german file...

But for the translating part, I'm you're guy

I have a request you would be hoping to consider, ShadoWarrior.

I love your mod, however I would prefer that enemies in the game remain untouched (Especially the wargots).

Would it be possible for you to release a second version that doesn't change the creatures?

This could prove to be equally as popular as the full version, in that I know some players who may be turned off from playing your mod because it changes the creature's stats, increasing the difficulty in that regard.

Could you please consider it?

NO. First, I have repeatedly stated that: I will never create or support more than one version of this mod. Second, adding new (and powerful) weapons without also rebalancing the enemies makes the game absurdly too easy to play.

The reason I bring this up is because, repeatedly, Wargots prove not just difficult, but often invulnerable.

One example: Just now, I was attacked by Wargots at one of my provinces. Setting up a defensive perimeter, I settle my men into positions to ambush the Wargots.

I have a PKM soldier with Heavy Armor, a M60 Soldier with Heavy Armor, an L115A1 sniper, and 4 Riflemen with HKs (Low-tech, I now. They've yet to be upgraded to XM8s). ALL the weapons are supplied with AP ammo.

Using my scout with light armor, he runs out, shoots off a few rounds at the Wargots, then runs like hell back to the ambush. The wargots send a scout drone in, easy pickings. My MGs kill it before it hits the ground. Then, a Wargot Soldier comes. JUST a Wargot soldier. He has NO powered armor, or anything of the sort.

He rounds the corner, I order my entire unit to open fire. In the first salvo, the Wargot Soldier is knocked down. Then, for the next 20 seconds of sustained fire, more than half the ammunition from my M60 alone, the most damage I do is 175 damage with a M60, and thats because it was a critical hit. This happens sometimes against them while standing, however almost ALWAYS occurs when their unconcious/knocked down.

Then, four more of his friends come, one in the heavier version of their armor. I get lucky with some critical hits (And my sniper gets a headshot off) and I kill the three without armor. The third guy with the heavier proceeds to be knocked down, takes alittle damage. Then, gets up (Under fire from my PKM no less) and walks away like it was a spring rain.

Now, I can fully understand and appreciate that you increase the game's difficulty to match the newer weapons. However, this is ridiculous. I've even tried laser weapons to little avail. I've found them even less effective than my current weapons: I typically loose the engagement before they can take them down. I know you'll bring up the newer weapons, such as the gauss weaponry, railguns, etc. However, I still have around 24 hours left to research such technology, and with the casualty rate of 1 or 2 criticals or even a KIA or two per engagement (And thats when I have the drop on them!) there's simply no way I'll have an force alive to use such weapons.

I already stopped using my SpecOps unit against them: Their flash suppressored XM8s are so ineffective against the Wargots that they end up getting slaughtered.

I can understand you want the Wargots to be difficult, but was it your intention to make them nearly invulnerable to pretty much everything you can get at that point in the game? Short of sniper rifles or the higher-tech weapons, there simply isn't an effective way to combat them.

You said it yourself: you don't have enough snipers. Not my fault if you have the wrong mix of soldiers and/or tactics.

No game or mod should force a person into using one specific tactic to defeat an opponent.

Just because you favor snipers does not mean it should be, largely, the only necessary tactic to defeating the Wargots.

A group of Wargots bungling into a prepared ambush with PKMs, M60s, and Assault Rifles with AP Ammo should be at LEAST as effective as a group of snipers.

I mean, someone as knowledgable as you should know that Snipers arn't line soldiers. You don't see squads of Snipers forming the main component of militaries. There's a reason for that.

You can't (Or, if you like living, wouldn't) advance or attack with a sniper rifle. Its a precision weapon, requiring careful aiming in order to be fully effective. However, nearly 50 rounds from a MG would still be FAR, FAR more effective than a round from a Sniper Rifle. ESPECIALLY at point blank ranges.

Instead, the way you have it (And, apparently, believe it should remain) sniper rifles are the only answer to Wargots. 50, or even 200 rounds from an MG at point blank ranges, however, arn't. Right.

Not if their armor is very resistant to small-arms fire. Or do you think that fighting tanks with assault rifles is a valid tactic? If your bullets bounce off, use a bigger (or better) gun. Plasma, meson, explosives, incendiaries, drones, laser machineguns, psionics. Plenty of choices.

Your tactics don't work. Try something else. If you don't wish to, it's not my problem. End of discussion.

I'm not even talking about the heavier armored Wargots.

Im talking about the guys with their basic armor. So, you're saying its unrealistic to think that around 120 7.62mm AP Rounds and around 400 5.56mm AP Rounds from an M60 and HK weapons somehow shot into a Wargot with basic armor will somehow be deflected by his "very resistant" armor, yet a single L115A1 round can kill him in one shot?

I can FULLY understand a Wargot with the heavier armor surviving THOUSANDS of rounds from my MGs, let alone my rifles. But a Wargot with basic armor?



You can insult my intelligence all you want with exaggerations, my point still stands. Do you think its "balanced" to force players into using Sniper Rifles until they can finish researching the higher-tech weapons, or the like?

Or do you believe its balanced that a basic armored wargot to survive a few hundred rounds of point blank assault rifle and MG fire?



Because, surely, you are the ultimate authority on this forum, far and long beyond having criticism on your mod, yes?

A burst from an M60 will put down regular wargots, as will a single headshot from a L115A1.

Oh, and it is my mod, so yes, that does make me the "ultimate" authority. If you have a problem with that, don't use the mod. Goodbye.

And again, I point out what I've been saying from the start:

Nearly 100% of the time when knocked down a wargot with basic armor becomes entirely invulnerable to an MG with Ap Ammo, only taking 50-200 damage on a critical hit.

The dilemma in this being, I greatly enjoy your mod, however find being forced into using snipers to combat wargots wholly against the spirit of gaming or modding or even reality.



And, again, your inability to fully read what I said is only surpassed by your egotism involving your mod. I said ultimate authority on the forum, what with your apparent arrogance in believing you can just dismiss individuals from arguments as if you had an unsurpassed knowledge in tactics and weaponry, and thus had no place in questioning your authority. Surely.

But, again, as you are far and beyond the most knowledgable person in the field of warfare, what with having such perfect grasp of tactics and weaponry that no person should DARE question the reasoning and balance of your mod. *Rolls eyes*

You and Derek Smart would be the best of friends, surely.

Now, I would surmise, the discussion is truly ended.

LOL!

Anyway (no offense 1stStrike, btw), I think the problem here is that 1stStrikeRecon is using a lower difficulty level, and therefore the enemies don't get advanced weapons as fast as the highest difficulty, making it so that, even though the wargots get to earth on the same date on all difficulties (I think), he is lacking in technology.

Which brings me to my point. Is there any way to have the difficulty levels increase enemy technology equally between difficulties? if that's even an option in the file your editing.

I think that, since SW is using the highest difficulty, and that 1stStrike is using a lower difficulty (maybe, I'm not sure), that SW gets certain technology much faster from aliens and cultists than 1stStrike.

Sorry if this got off topic. (I don't know what difficulty 1st is using.)

Difficulty affects your own research, not that of your opponents. Playing at an easier level he should have BETTER tech, not worse tech. But he prefers to blame and insult me rather than consider his own inadequacy.

I will no longer reply to his posts, and I've reported his abusive posts to PD and Slaughter.