Talk:UNITREF.DAT

Some of the notes got me wondering. Each tile in the game is made up of multiple layers, defined in the scang.dat file. Put these layers together, and you get a primitive 3D object, which the game uses to calculate line of sight, as well as whether a bullet hit or not.

I wonder if units have their own 3D models.

You see, a unit which has a low height stat, bullets will go over its' head. But, the Celatid has a very low height stat. So, perhaps there is a 3D model at work defining whether the bullet hits or not?

Another possibilty is that each unit has more stats for dimensions then simply height. For example, a stat which says how far above the ground it is.

Mike, concerning the bitflags you added from the 'many aliens' save file... Um, those aliens would have been all the same type before Hobbes edited the file... So I'm not sure the stats fully apply to the aliens as they are now...

- Bomb Bloke

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BB, I'm pretty new to Unitref, and haven't used XCOMUTIL either. In fact, doing this is part of me learning about Unitref. If you think Hobbes info doesn't apply, go ahead and pull it. (Or if unsure, stick in a note to that effect?)

I have to rely on you pros' opinions here. I've made a backup copy of the Editing version of the page, so they can be retrieved if necessary. In any case, I'll point out where I got info from, in case it might apply to other things, too.

Edit: Ok, now that I've gotten farther through Hobbes' data relative to Unitref, it seems clear that there is garbage in some fields, like the Kill, Mission, and Experience ones. Which makes the other ones at least somewhat suspect. If not a lot suspect. But it's getting real late here... I'm hitting the sack. Will work on it more, comparing against homegrown combats and/or pulling some of what I put in from his savegame. Anyone else feel free to do the same.

Good to see you! That's a helluva lotta work you and NKF did. I wrote some VBA that pulls Unitref into a db. Makes it real easy to look at values, including across different Unitrefs. I may or may not be taking a much longer look at Unitref... not totally sure what I'll work on next with XCOM, atm. Besides finishing some more Unitref notes. Hope we don't collide when editing that page!!

Talking of 3D, did you see User_talk:Danial's stuff? Not 3D per se, but anyway...

- Mike

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I've realised that I spoke too soon. There's a good chance that Hobbes would have correctly implemented the extra aliens in the save file (in fact, the correct way is just about the easiest), so I reckon those stats would be ok. Only he'd know, of course.

Concerning the 'rubbish' data you found, that's naturally occuring in all save files. Any byte which is 'unused' (for example, the extra bytes in the name string) is subject to random bits of data. Aliens don't use those counters, you see. You might have noticed the post NKF made on the Xenocide boards about how chunks of his Windows registry got embedded in his save files.

- Bomb Bloke

If the Mission and Kill Counts are both two bytes long in SOLDIER.DAT, shouldn't it stand to reason that they both are in unitref?