Talk:Artefact Site
Locked Hallucinoid?
Hi everybody, I'm new here - and here's my new question. I have recently completed two Artefact Site missions on Superhuman difficulty. In both of these missions (in second part) there was a Hallucinoid located far outside the map. I was able to find it by using XComUtil (SWP flag).
The question is as follows: can this Hallucinoid present there knowingly (by developers) to ensure that you will manually destroy the Synomium Device instead of just kill all the aliens? Or maybe this is just a bug of the Windows version of the game, or something like alien overflow on higher difficulties?
Thanks.
Player701 08:05, 29 June 2010 (EDT)
XComUtil sometimes generated X-COM units outside the boundaries of the map (I'm not sure if this has been corrected on the latest version), so it is possible that it is simply an XComUtil generated bug. Hobbes 08:25, 29 June 2010 (EDT)
I know that, but I haven't used XComUtil before. I have installed it just to find that last alien, so this bug can't be related to XComUtil. And I have installed it in another game directory, so it couldn't corrupt my save files. Player701 10:05, 29 June 2010 (EDT)
If you upload the save file (here for eg: File:Out of bounds Hallucinoid.zip), I could take a look at it. I would guess the map ran out of spawn nodes (higher difficulty = more aliens to place on the map). - Bomb Bloke 23:24, 29 June 2010 (EDT)
There are a few maps in TFTD where large units may end up spawned in odd locations, probably due to what Bomb Bloke mentioned. Actually, in one odd example I helped troubleshoot a while back was a Xarquid that was stuck in the cargo hold shaft at the front of the boat in a shipping lane mission. Since it cannot be breached even by alien weapons, it made the first map impossible to complete without aborting. As for the aliens getting stuck in walls in the colonies, I don't know if that was deliberate or accidental on the part of the mappers.
I had a feeling Zombie had a series of map pack sets that corrected the placement problems, but currently I can only find the ones for the two small subs and the ones for UFO. -NKF 01:56, 30 June 2010 (EDT)
Uploaded the save game: File:Out of bounds Hallucinoid.zip, you can take a look. That's my fourth Artefact Site mission in this campaign, and the third case of a Hallucinoid outside of the map (There is only one alien remaining, and the SWP flag was applied using XComUtil). Player701 05:53, 1 July 2010 (EDT)
Well this is odd.
First off, he's not outside the map - he's actually just within it, albeit embedded in some black wall blocks.
Second - and rather more to the point - he's sitting on spawn node 118 (he hasn't been able to move off it). The problem is that the map module he's in (GRUNGE08) doesn't have a spawn node there (and yes, I'm checking the Windows release, of which there was one version).
In fact, both nodes 117 and 119 are placed miles away, over an entirely different map module (GRUNGE12, that large 20x20 area in the southern-center of the battlescape). That certainly shouldn't be the case - all nodes should be placed on a per-module basis (so if you suddenly jump from one module to another while placing nodes, it shouldn't be possible to jump back again).
I guess there must be something screwy in the GRUNGE12.RMP file, but I haven't yet looked to see what it might be.
- Bomb Bloke 08:02, 1 July 2010 (EDT)
Alien garrison
I noted down what I killed when I cleared two sites completely playing on superhuman difficulty. I got:
| 1st stage | first site | second site |
| aquatoid | 4 | 3 |
| tasoth | 10 | 7 |
| tentaculat | 0 | 2 |
| halucinoid | 0 | 2 |
| 2nd stage | first site | second site |
| aquatoid | 4 | 4 |
| tasoth | 12 | 7 |
| tentaculat | 6 | 8 |
| halucinoid | 1 | 3 |
Looking at these numbers I would guess that the total numbers are around 14 for the first and 22-23 for the second. The composition seems to be very variable. I also recall missions with more then 10 tentaculats for the second stage. The map size of the first stage seems to be variable as well if I recall correctly.
- Here's some more numbers (3 missions, Veteran). Please note I'm not the author of the above table. For me, it seemed that the number of aliens on Level 1 and 2 are the same, just very random. So the following is for each level:
- Tasoth Soldier x5-8
- Tasoth Squad Leader x1-3
- Tentaculat x6-7
- Aquatoid Soldier x2-3
- Aquatoid Squad Leader x1-3
- Hallucinoid x1-3
--Darkpast (talk) 13:07, 13 July 2014 (EDT)
Loot
As already mentioned in the article there is a substantial recovery if both stages are completely(or maybe only the second is sufficient). From the debriefing I got:
| item | first site | second site |
| magnetic navigation | 1 | 1 |
| sub construction | 1 | 1 |
| learning arrays | 2 | 2 |
| cryogenics | 12 | 0 |
| implanter | 2 | 0 |
| aqua plastics | 519 | 503 |
| reanimation | 3 | 3 |
| score | 2132 | 2161 |
In addition there are also the corpses of the approx. 37-39 aliens and their weapons. Since the maps are not that large it seems quite beneficial to clear them completely for the additional 500-700 score points(compared to demolishing the device and running) and the recovery money. By the time you reach the device most aliens should be dead anyway. If there are aliens in the walls or of the map as it happens sometimes you might be robbed of the fruits of your labor however - saving the game before landing recommended. --Tauon 23:15, 30 October 2010 (BST)
Appear only after Alien Origins are researched?
This probably is just a coincidence but on my current game the 1st Artefact Mission appeared some 4/5 months right after I completed research on Alien Origins (who explains them). Just a coincidence or you need to complete research in order for them to appear? Anyone else can check this out? Hobbes 16:57, 6 January 2011 (EST)
- I have not had the time to look through the save files of my latest campaigns but that would mean that on should not expect a Artefact Mission before May/June earliest. And if memory serves me right I recall a few occasions where I had to fight such missions with gauss weapons and sonic pulsers which in turn means that it was rather early because I tend to upgrade weapons early and delay the alien origin research until I am about to research my first lobsterman navigator/gillman commander/lobsterman commander for the ultimate threat in order to get both T'Leth and the Leviathan with the second lobster Commander.--Tauon 09:01, 11 January 2011 (EST)
Edits looking good
More useful info here, thanks NKF. 4th Cuirassier 08:46, 8 February 2011 (EST)
Equipment recovery
Packor's recent update's alerted me to the fact the 2-parter equipment recovery info on this page hasn't been updated to reflect the v1.0 vs. v2.0 item recovery differences.
As mentioned in Known Bugs (TFTD), v1.0 loses the equipment (including what's in the Triton) except what you're carrying. v2.0 keeps everything from the first part if cleared, not just what you're carrying.
I'll have a crack at that later tonight - looks like the Colony Assault and Shipping Lane pages need some attention too. -NKF 02:19, 21 April 2011 (EDT)
THE SHORTCUT - A way to cheat a little.
I've only just returned to XCOM TFTD after a long break, so my memory on this is a little fuzzy.
What I found you could do was fire a Disruptor Pulse missile at the wall of one (or more) of the starting spawn areas on the top level. You'd have to park your Aquanaut as far as possible from the target point to avoid the blast. 1-2 shots at one wall section might destroy it and create a direct path into the central Synomium chamber. This way you can complete the main objective without having to meet any opposition.
You could just exit at that point if you want - though you'd be giving up on all that phat lewt!
I'm putting this in the discussion page for now, as I'm not sure you want possible cheats/exploits up on the main page.
- Due to the randomness of the layout, you would have to start quite near the synomium chamber for it to work. However, a small variation of this requires you to find the black chamber first (mouse cursor probing, or actual scouting), then fire a DPL in the area and angle it up towards the synomium device, bypassing the elevator completely. I think standing in one of the passages and firing up with a GC-HE shell or two will work for a more adventurous/low-tech solution. At the very least you won't have to deal with all the tentaculats in there and just hoof it back to the entry points! NKF 03:59, 29 August 2012 (EDT)
- Aha! But you do always start right next to the synomium chamber. You start randomly in four towers at the corners of the map. All four corners connect with the synomium chamber, which fills the space between the towers on the top level. You just need one chap with a DPL in one of the towers. Having your other Aquanauts spawn in other towers actually helps, because it allows you to orient your DPL guy correctly. If there are aquanauts in towers both West and South of him then the DPL guy is in the Northeast tower. He therefore needs to blast a hole in the Southwest wall to access the synomium chamber.
This used to work for me every time. I even stopped doing it for a while because I felt I wasn't playing the game the way it was meant to be played.
The only random element is the initial placement of the Aquanauts. Unlike the colony missions, all the Aquanauts will start within - or immediately below - one of the towers. If your DPL guy isn't in place at the top of a tower, it is easy to move him there.
Synonium?
Why is this a spelling variant of the correct Synomium? Just to note, this is the spelling in-game and in the text files. Can I change the spellings to the correct one? --Zombie (talk) 05:19, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
As far as I know it's just a typo. The letters are right next to each other and they're similarly-shaped so it doesn't jump out at you. Magic9mushroom (talk) 02:45, 6 June 2016 (UTC)