User:Xusilak

Hi, I'm Xusilak. X-COM is my favorite game ever! This is why I'm obsessed with it to the point of trying to understand its base assembly code, with the help of Seb76. I use that knowledge to build patches for it that add new features, enhance existing features, or fix bugs. Currently, I am contributing these patches to Seb's UFOExtender X-COM patching tool. He's done a great job with it. Look it up if you haven't yet!

Finished Projects

• AutoSell
  • This patch allows the player to activate an automatic production and automatic selling mode in manufacturing. By pressing the down arrow button to reduce the quantity of desired items below zero, the mode will switch to the autosell mode, represented by three dollar signs ("$$$"). In this mode, production will never cease unless resources become unavailable, and all produced items will be immediately sold. By pressing the down arrow a second time, it will switch to autoproduce mode, represented by three asterisks ("***"). This functions in the same way as autosell, but the results will not be sold, merely stockpiled forever; caution should be used with this mode, as it can drain resources quickly.
• Show Money
  • The Doubleclick Movement patch changes the requirement for moving a unit in the battlescape from clicking a tile once, to doubleclicking it (within 500ms). Failing to doubleclick will result in no action being taken. This allows for a considerable safety margin with movement, as the default movement controls are easy to accidentally trigger on the wrong tiles.
• Doubleclick Movement
  • This patch shrinks the clock in the date/time panel on the main geoscape screen, and adds a funds display above it. It is useful for examining remaining funds during manufacturing projects, while waiting for time to pass.

Current Projects

• Still thinking!

Potential Projects

This is a list of the projects I may consider working on in the future (it's basically my personal wish list). Don't modify it directly; if you wish to comment, please do it in my discussion page. Feel free to make suggestions regarding things I'm working on or considering working on; my imagination is limited, after all. I have read the UFOpaedia wish list, so you don't need to repeat things from there.

X-COM: UFO Defense (both where applicable)

Features

Limits Expansion

• (Will break old saves) Expand Object Limit.
  • Increase the size of the objects array to 256, and increase the objects allowed to each side to fill up the space. (115 xcom?)
  • (Maybe) Increase the size of the objects array even more. 4096 shouldn't be difficult, and will most likely be more objects than anyone could ever need in X-COM's current state.
    • I'm not sure if stockpiling thousands of ammo magazines and having them fill up a base defense mission is a good thing, though.
• (Will break old saves) 2-byte scientists and engineers.

Miscellaneous

• Improved UFO Behavior:
  • UFOs telegraph their intentions more apparently; e.g. as they're finishing their mission they start increasing their height and speed gradually, instead of instantly to max. This will allow you to trail a UFO to find out if it's going to land or not, making interceptors more useful.
• Improved Grenade Throwing Arcs; make throwing more realistic by allowing soldiers to try more methods of throwing. Ideally this would try all possible throwing angles and velocities available (with throwing velocity capped by strength); throwing range can be increased by increasing the elevation or the velocity of the throw. This allows for many, many combinations of throws, and should greatly increase the utility of throwing, as soldiers with extremely high strength could throw grenades down long corridors with ceilings.
• Infiltrations Can Be Stopped.
  • Move the infiltration success point to after the second Battleship takes off. If the second Battleship never takes off, the infiltration fails completely; funding is uninterrupted.
  • The alien base is created after the infiltration success. If all alien bases in the infiltrated country are destroyed, the nation's funding reactivates but starts at a minimal level.
• Stacking Hyperwave. Make the Hyperwave Decoder only provide 30% (?) detection each, and allow it to stack.
• (Maybe) Explosions!
  • Make explosions able to propagate around corners until they run out of energy.
  • Make explosions have a (weak, since X-COM is limited to 2-4 stories) vertical component.
  • Make explosions use more realistic damage fall-off scaling, so they're not quite as overpowered with these changes.

User Interface

• (Distant future) Add a 'load game' button to the Battlescape.
• (Distant future) Tooltips. Add tooltips to buttons, objects, and similar entities, that display relevant data and information about them.

Bugs

Crashes

• Geoscape->Battlescape Crash. Fix the crash upon transitioning from the Geoscape to the Battlescape.
• Alt-Tab Crash. Fix existing alt-tab crashes. These primarily occur in the Battlescape.
• Unknown Battlescape Crash. Probably related to base defense or object table being full. Happened when walking down stairs from general stores, tank semi-under soldier.
• Unknown Battlescape Crash. Situation: Alien base, 10 soldiers, 1 tank, varied equipment including flying suits, two blaster launchers, heavy plasma, an assortment of grenades and flares, and so on. First turn. Click next turn. Hear a door opening. Crash.

Miscellaneous

• Nothing yet

X-COM: Terror from the Deep (specific)

Features

Miscellaneous

• Allow Melee On Environment; allow drills to attack walls, etc.
• Remove underwater limitations from everything.
  • Weapons
  • Magnetic ion flight
  • Alien types, such as tentaculats, allowing them in terror missions.
• (Extremely distant future) Merge the two games into one, with the superset of all equipment from both games, all aliens, all terrain types, all ships, etc. This has been discussed elsewhere, so until actual progress is being made on it, this will be kept short.