Difference between revisions of "User:Hobbes"

Latest revision as of 21:38, 29 January 2018

Why Hobbes?

This question keeps popping up from time to time. And the answer is two-fold: - Hobbes, as in the stuffed tiger in the comic books Calvin and Hobbes. - And as Thomas Hobbes, an English political theory writer of the XVI century (which was the inspiration for the above mentioned tiger).

In real life my name is André, that I am from Portugal and that my age is 43.

Any questions regarding me, myself and I can be made on my talk page :)

Why do I love X-COM?

Scroll back in time to when computers had the fabulous memory of 48K, namely the ZX Spectrum. The would be creators of X-COM released a game named Rebel Star, followed by Laser Squad (the predecessor to the current Laser Squad Nemesis). I like those so much that I even used some of Rebel Star's names for my fan fictions as a nod to them. A big time afterwards I got a PC and bought X-COM:Apocalypse, followed by X-COM:UFO Defense and X-COM: Terror From The Deep. Voila, love at first sight. And this relationship has continued due to Firaxis release of XCOM: Enemy Unknown/Within and XCOM 2, and with OpenXcom, the open source remake of the original game.

Mods

XCOM: Area 51

Area 51 is an expansion I made for the original game, and initially based on the Terrain Pack, which is a collection of map mods mainly designed by myself (which is also available as a stand alone mod). Both mods can be played with OpenXCom.

List of features

New monthly Council missions, can consist of 6 different objectives: Defense, Assault, Destroy, Capture, Recovery or Extraction
New research topic: Bluebook Report, unlocks additional Council missions of Capture/Recovery/Extraction (to gain techs) and also gives tips on future mission locations and new alien species, plus background story
Terror missions can now appear also as Escape variant, where your units need to reach the exit area before a timer expires otherwise they're MIA
Redesigned Geoscape globe, with new textures, regions, cities and country zones
Over 100 new terrains for the nearly all the vanilla missions (except Base Defense) and the new Escape/Council missions. Includes Alien Colony, Alien Hive, Area 51, Biolab, Cold Isle, Complex, Downtown, Pyramid, Slums, Siberia and Storm Mountain terrains
In Escape and certain Council missions, XCom will use the Mudranger APC for deployment/exit instead of the transport craft
Variable UFO waves, alternative UFO interior designs for the vanilla UFOs & 2 additional new UFOs (Lab Ship and Overseer)
Alien crews are enlarged to 12 possible ranks and Mixed crews have been added
22 new aliens and 1 new rank of alien Scientist, 8 enemy humans, 15 allied humans and 73 civilian units
In Terror and Council missions it is possible to encounter allied soldiers and police officers who will attack the aliens, but they carry only conventional weapons
Captures of aliens are much more important to unlock research, specially for Cydonia or Bust (Ethereal Commander), Elerium-115 (any Scientist), UFO Power Source (any Engineer) and UFO Navigation (any Navigator). Some of those ranks can only be found in UFO or alien base missions
New weapons: Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, Grenade Launcher, Multi-Launcher, Snubnose Pistol, Combat Knife, LMG, Machine Pistol, AK-47, RPG, Alloy Shotgun, Alloy Sword, Gauss Pistol, Gauss Rifle, Heavy Gauss, Laser Sniper Rifle, Laser Minigun, Plasma Blaster, Plasma Assault Cannon, Gauss Heavy Cannon and Gauss Autocannon, as well as Alloy (upgraded AP) and more varieties of ammo/grenades/rockets
New armors: Alloy Vest and Combat Armor
New HWPs: Gauss Tank and Alloy versions of all HWPs
New craft: Darkstar (airborne radar), Thunderstorm and Stormrider (interceptors) and Blackbird (transport), also 2 new craft weapons - Stormhawk Missiles and Gauss Cannon
Research and Manufacturing redesigned/enlarged to include new features
Varied UFO interiors

Fan fictions?

I've been writing a whole series of stories concerning the X-COM universe:

X-COM: The Unknown Menace - Covers the 1st Alien War (based upon UFO Defense). Long novel (692 pages)

X-COM: Eulogy - Set between the 1st and the 2nd Alien War. Short story based upon the return of X-COM to Mars.

X-COM: Abyssal - Covers the 2nd Alien War. Unfinished.

X-COM: Destined Alliance - Pre-Apocalipse story set upon the 2nd return of X-COM to Mars. Will eventually be a part of the 3rd novel, which covers the 5th Alien War, based upon X-COM: Genesis.

All of those can be read at the fanfiction.net site

Bad Things Happen in XCOM

UFOPaedia projects (work in progress)

The Mysteries of X-COM - published, discussion page for unexplained aspects of the whole series

X-COM History Notes - work in progress

Part I - X-COM Organization

Part II - The Alien War

Part VII - The X-COM Files - work in progress (fan fiction)

Murphy's Laws (X-COM) - work in progress

Blitzing (Apocalypse)

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+[[Image:Hobbes sectoid commander.png|right|300 px|The Sectoid Commander has landed]]
+[[User:Hobbes/Sandbox_page]]
 ===Why Hobbes?===
 This question keeps popping up from time to time. And the answer is two-fold:
-- Hobbes, as in the stuffed tiger in Calvin and Hobbes.
+- Hobbes, as in the stuffed tiger in the comic books Calvin and Hobbes.
-- And as Thomas Hobbes, an English political theory writer of the XVI century (on which the above mentioned tiger is based btw).
+- And as Thomas Hobbes, an English political theory writer of the XVI century (which was the inspiration for the above mentioned tiger).
-It will also be mentioned somewhere that my real name is André Galvão, that I am from Portugal and that my age is 33. This are all desinformation, of course, meant to distract you from my real identity as a member of Omega Team.
+In real life my name is André, that I am from Portugal and that my age is 43.
 Any questions regarding me, myself and I can be made on my talk page :)
-===What is the Omega Team?===
+===Why do I love X-COM?===
-Bigger than Above Top Secret. Even more secret than the proven fact that the Earth is flat, not round despite what they might tell you. For more information present yourself at the server of [http://ufo2000.sourceforge.net/ UFO2000], a multiplayer remake of UFO Defense. You will know but I will shoot you afterwards.
-===Why X-COM?===
 Scroll back in time to when computers had the fabulous memory of 48K, namely the ZX Spectrum. The would be creators of X-COM released a game named Rebel Star, followed by Laser Squad (the predecessor to the current Laser Squad Nemesis). I like those so much that I even used some of Rebel Star's names for my fan fictions as a nod to them.
 A big time afterwards I got a PC and bought [[Info (Apocalypse)|X-COM:Apocalypse]], followed by [[Info|X-COM:UFO Defense]] and [[Info (TFTD)|X-COM: Terror From The Deep]]. Voila, love at first sight.
+And this relationship has continued due to Firaxis release of [[Enemy Unknown (EU2012)|XCOM: Enemy Unknown/Within]] and [[XCOM 2]], and with [[OpenXcom]], the open source remake of the original game.
-===Terrain Mods===
+==Mods==
-If you are using XComUtil then you can try some of my terrain mods for something different. It should be easy to use them:
+===XCOM: Area 51===
-) Make a backup of the XComUtil.cfg file
+[[File:Hobbes_Area_51_01.png|600px|center]]
-) Download the [http://area51.xcomufo.com/HobbesTerrainMods.zip Terrain Files] and unzip them to your UFO folder
+Area 51 is an [http://openxcom.org/forum/index.php?board=19.0 expansion] I made for the original game, and initially based on the Terrain Pack, which is a collection of map mods mainly designed by myself (which is also available as a stand alone mod). Both mods can be played with OpenXCom.
-) Run XcuSetup. Make sure you choose Yes to the option: "Do you want to be prompted before every ship attack?" DOn't choose Yes to any of the options afterwards (or the one where it asks you if you want to use the new Desert and Farm terrains) or it won't work.
+'''List of features'''
+* New monthly Council missions, can consist of 6 different objectives: Defense, Assault, Destroy, Capture, Recovery or Extraction
+* New research topic: Bluebook Report, unlocks additional Council missions of Capture/Recovery/Extraction (to gain techs) and also gives tips on future mission locations and new alien species, plus background story
+* Terror missions can now appear also as Escape variant, where your units need to reach the exit area before a timer expires otherwise they're MIA
+* Redesigned Geoscape globe, with new textures, regions, cities and country zones
+* Over 100 new terrains for the nearly all the vanilla missions (except Base Defense) and the new Escape/Council missions. Includes Alien Colony, Alien Hive, Area 51, Biolab, Cold Isle, Complex, Downtown, Pyramid, Slums, Siberia and Storm Mountain terrains
+* In Escape and certain Council missions, XCom will use the Mudranger APC for deployment/exit instead of the transport craft
+* Variable UFO waves, alternative UFO interior designs for the vanilla UFOs & 2 additional new UFOs (Lab Ship and Overseer)
+* Alien crews are enlarged to 12 possible ranks and Mixed crews have been added
+* 22 new aliens and 1 new rank of alien Scientist, 8 enemy humans, 15 allied humans and 73 civilian units
+* In Terror and Council missions it is possible to encounter allied soldiers and police officers who will attack the aliens, but they carry only conventional weapons
+* Captures of aliens are much more important to unlock research, specially for Cydonia or Bust (Ethereal Commander), Elerium-115 (any Scientist), UFO Power Source (any Engineer) and UFO Navigation (any Navigator). Some of those ranks can only be found in UFO or alien base missions
+* New weapons: Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, Grenade Launcher, Multi-Launcher, Snubnose Pistol, Combat Knife, LMG, Machine Pistol, AK-47, RPG, Alloy Shotgun, Alloy Sword, Gauss Pistol, Gauss Rifle, Heavy Gauss, Laser Sniper Rifle, Laser Minigun, Plasma Blaster, Plasma Assault Cannon, Gauss Heavy Cannon and Gauss Autocannon, as well as Alloy (upgraded AP) and more varieties of ammo/grenades/rockets
+* New armors: Alloy Vest and Combat Armor
+* New HWPs: Gauss Tank and Alloy versions of all HWPs
+* New craft: Darkstar (airborne radar), Thunderstorm and Stormrider (interceptors) and Blackbird (transport), also 2 new craft weapons - Stormhawk Missiles and Gauss Cannon
+* Research and Manufacturing redesigned/enlarged to include new features
+* Varied UFO interiors
-) During the game, when you are about to raid a UFO, it will show you a list of terrains using the original but some of the terrains have been replaced: Farm is now Native (village in the tropics); Urban has been expanded; Forest is Apartment (a different city); and Mountain is the HWP factory (it might not work the first time, just try it until you see it)
+==Fan fictions?==
-===Fan fictions?===
 I've been writing a whole series of stories concerning the X-COM universe:
@@ Line 44: / Line 60: @@
 All of those can be read at the fanfiction.net [http://www.fanfiction.net/u/55654/ site]
-==UFOPaedia projects==
+==Bad Things Happen in XCOM==
+[[File:Bad Things (EU2012).jpg]]
+==UFOPaedia projects (work in progress)==
 [[The Mysteries of X-COM]] - published, discussion page for unexplained aspects of the whole series
-X-COM: A Military Analysis - work in progress
+X-COM History Notes - work in progress
 [[X-COM: A Military Analysis|Part I - X-COM Organization]]
@@ Line 54: / Line 74: @@
 [[The Alien War|Part II - The Alien War]]
-[[The X-COM Files]] - work in progress
+[[The X-COM Files|Part VII - The X-COM Files]] - work in progress (fan fiction)
 [[Murphy's Laws (X-COM)]] - work in progress
-==Apocalypse Diary==
+[[Blitzing (Apocalypse)]]
-===March 31st, 2085===
-Over the past three days there has been lots of fighting. X-COM forces average 20-24 soldiers but most of them are on the medical bay since casualty rates have been high. My soldiers are equipped with Megapol Armor, Toxinguns with type B and Disruptors and the tactics have been storming the aliens in real time, which can lead into some nasty situations. Opponents are Anthropods, Skeletoids and Poppers, with the occasional Megaworm. Last mission the aliens started appearing with Shields but managed to catch one and I'm researching it right now to finally get X-COM armor.
-Getting enough soldiers to missions has been a pain. Last mission consisted of 7 soldiers, all others were injured and I barely keep up with losses from recruting. No hybrids or androids available anymore.
-And the aliens rule the skies. I've stopped trying to take down UFOs after I managed to shoot down an alien Destroyer for reach. And I'm down to 5 Hoverbikes and 1 Valkyrie.
-Second base is starting to get built but there's not short term solution for money shortage.
-===April 9th, 2085===
-nd base is pumping out Biotrans for sale, money problems seem taken care of. Started research into X-COM Armor after finishing Small Disruptor Shield. 2nd Advanced Workshop is being built.
-Lost my captain four days ago to a Brainsucker ambush. Paid Grav League to bring them to Neutral from Unfriendly and that helped with the recruitment shortage. Soldiers are now equipped with shields which has lowered the casualty rate and the main weapon is Toxiguns with Toxin B to maximize retrieval of equipment. But I also bring 3 soldiers equipped with MarSec Launchers to deal with any hassles.
-Aliens strategy consists into sending a fleet of UFOs every 2-3 days to try to infiltrate organizations. Usually my squad drops into the building after the UFO has offloaded its cargo to deal with the issue right away and prevent the aliens from spreading.
-Aliens still rule the skies since I'm waiting for advanced craft to contest it. But Megapol has been trying to stop them although usually the result is less favourable to the police. Megapol has also been hit hard by every organization taken by the aliens (about 7 of them: Cult, Transtellar, Nanotech, Sensovision, Sanctuary Clinic and 2 of the gangs). No one has bothered with attacking my bases yet which I suspect is due to the low profile I'm keeping.
-===April 16th, 2085===
-Three days ago I got my first base invasion which got trashed against my Advanced Security Stations. Aliens are still using the tactic of dropping into buildings. Also had a massive firefight against a large Aliens and Diablo force in the slums. I was deployed at one side of an open map, the aliens on the other and I charged until I found the aliens which led to a barrage of shots being fired from one side to the other.
-Retaliator is researched but my workshops are producing Disruptor Armor for the groundpounders.