Talk:Laser Cannon

Isn't the 35 klick Laser Cannon range due to XCOMUTIL? I think XCOMUTIL's default config has a non-default range for the Laser Cannon (as well as non-default Firestorms and Interceptors, but I digress.) -Cobalt

This is possible, actually, since I DO use XComUtil on my game, for several reasons. The game is too unstable to run without XComUtil on my computer. If anyone can check on their non-XComUtil version, I'd be appreciative. Arrow Quivershaft 10:48, 1 June 2007 (PDT)

Yeah, it is XComUtil at work. I will undo the changes; apologies for my overzealousness.

No problem. You've been adding some good stuff lately, and you fixed the error anyway. We're all human. Well, except for the zombies.--Ethereal Cereal 18:16, 7 June 2007 (PDT)

Thanks! I was wondering if all my stuff was getting looked at. Glad to see its being reviewed. I just tend to get this obsession with stuff that piques my interest, and X-Com is the latest in a long line of things that's managed to pique my interest. I technically haven't even finished TFTD yet(got it on Steam) but I'm well on the way! On the side, if you believe the cap issue should be noted as you did on the TU page, it does apply to ALL Secondary Skills and should be noted on those pages too; you want to do that, or should I? Also, on the note of secondary skills, it notes everywhere that performing on "Primary Action" is enough to increase them all. Yet, nowhere in the Wiki does it define what actually COUNTS as a primary action...I'd have edited this, but I have no idea myself. Arrow Quivershaft 20:27, 7 June 2007 (PDT)

Also, I live within a half-hour of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and thus within a half-hour of the aforementioned Zombie. :) Arrow Quivershaft

Actually, there is an explanation, although it might not appear to be very clear. Check the Primary stats in Experience. The triggers for a primary stat increase are the primary actions. The actions are described in detail in each of their related subsections. It's roughly: Hitting an enemy with a ranged weapon, hitting with a melee weapon, reacting, succeeding in a psi attack (or failing for 1/3rd the experience), resisting panic/berserk status while morale is < 50%. All of these actions will raise their related stat in addition to the secondary stats.

The one oddball primary action is throwing. It only raises throwing and nothing else. I suppose it makes sense, since gaining secondary stat boosts would be too easy if you got secondary increases for randomly tossing stuff around!

If it helps, a (Henceforth referred to as Primary Action) could be inserted somewhere in the introduction to the primary stat section.

The 33.33..% vs 50% argument is minor at best and really depends on how the explanation is worded. The 33.33..% is correct when you explain that there are three possible outcomes that you can get at the end of a battle, while the 50% is valid during occasions where you do get a stat increase - 66.66..% of the time. So on and so forth. If it makes it even clearer, we could even do away with the percentages and just explain what would happen sans probabilities. The important thing is to get the readers to understand what they can expect to happen when the stat is at its penultimate value. - NKF

Ohhh, crap, in agreeing with Arrow, I've been overlooking the discussion I had with Mike ages ago. It's 33% because you can get "stuck" at 80 TUs (vs. 81) either by rolling 2 at 78 or 1 at 79. There's only one way to get 81, and that's by rolling 2 at 79. 33% is correct. Duh me.--Ethereal Cereal 10:22, 8 June 2007 (PDT)

Digging Code

Could anyone tell me which file I should be looking at? I just started digging codes for this game, but I couldn't figure out where to look at for the craft equipment. Thanks in advance. --Kuchulainn

Welcome! Check out this post at the StrategyCore forums. The data is in Ufo Defense.exe or Geoscape.exe. I only posted the location for the CE version, but I think I could rustle up a start for geoscape if you want. Remember to sign your posts on talk pages with four tilde's (~) so we can follow the discussion properly. --Zombie 17:27, 24 August 2008 (PDT)

Surprising. I doubted that possibility of the necessary data in one of the .exe file since the specs of the craft armament is only necessary within the chase mode in the Geoscape scene. Still, I had a reason to think that the specs might be in one of the .dat files, as in other weapons (i.e. Laser Rifle, tanks. etc etc.) since the specs of the other items are saved externally. Anyway, thank you very much! :-) --Kuchulainn

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Laser Cannon Usage

Wonderful analysis of the benefits of using the Laser Cannon, but I prefer not to suffer damage to my interceptors and I think that's the main reason why most people switch to Plasma Beams right away. For instance, if you are hunting Terror Ships it is suicidal to send an Interceptor and advanced craft will most certainly take damage, which severely reduces the sortie ratio. I think the possibility of craft being ground by repairs outweights any possible gains from using the lasers. Hobbes 21:44, 2 July 2009 (EDT)

What sort of damage you allow your ships to take depends on how often you expect to UFOs to appear. Early in the game I don't mind a little damage to my interceptors as the time between UFO appearances early on is sufficiently long enough to allow some repair work to be done and still have the interceptors ready for the next sortie. I like to use up my default cannon ammo after all - it's awesome stuff.

Interceptors are luckily the fastest ships to repair - thanks to their woefully low hitpoints!

No they're not. An interceptor that takes 50 points of damage is repaired at exactly the same speed as an Avenger that takes 50 points of damage. Why do people keep making this mistake? Jasonred 09:25, 4 July 2009 (EDT)

Perhaps what NKF meant was that an Avenger can take more damage points than an Interceptor, thus it can take longer for the Avenger to repair because it will suffer more damage than the Interceptor Hobbes 09:33, 4 July 2009 (EDT)

Indeed, repair rate is the same, but interceptors have the least to lose. Thus, as it doesn't have as much to repair, it gets back into service a lot faster. Your caution rate when using an Interceptor will vary considerably compared to when using an Avenger. -NKF 10:35, 4 July 2009 (EDT)

Using cannons or lasers against much much more powerful ships is unwise though - but you should already have access to plasma cannons or advanced ships by the time you need to knock down bigger UFOs. -NKF 03:03, 3 July 2009 (EDT)

During the initial phases of the game damage to the Interceptors can be light but it will still require down time (in addition to the time reloading and refuelling the craft). But it is a matter of personal choice, I prefer to equip my 2 Interceptors solely with Avalanche in order to try to shoot down Terror Ships before they are able to attack. Its easier to deal afterwards with the crew but it requires that both ships are available. Hobbes 10:34, 3 July 2009 (EDT)

Until plasma cannons become available, I found Interceptors armed with a laser and an Avalanche to be fairly good at harassing anything up to supply ships. In case the Ava fails to score a kill (mostly because of misses; I never saw more than two Ava hits during a single dogfight), the laser does the rest. Once plasmas are available, there's not much point in using anything else - except for scouts which usually go down (or in the case of small scouts, explode) way before the Interceptor closes into laser range.--amitakartok 14:25, 12 January 2012 (EST)