User talk:Morgan525

Questions&Feedback

Any questions or feedback one may have.... (please be sure to leave a signature: "~" three times in a row, four to time-and-date stamp it.)

D3D Window Position

Hi,

First of all, thank you for continuing working on UFOextender. I actually only found out now that someone picked up the old extender and was improving it.

I usually play in windowed mode with manually set D3D Window Position arguments. It seems that the current UFOextender does not read the values but actually only writes them, and so it always reverts to the current display resolution. And also, it disables the aero theme. Seb76 version did not do that. It's not a big problem but maybe if you could put a conditon, if D3D Window Position has values assigned, then read them, if not, then write the new values. Thank you. Cornels 06:45, 4 August 2012 (EDT)

Just uploaded version 1.27! Tycho 01:11, 6 August 2012 (EDT)

Sorry for being such a pain in the *** but I have another small problem. I'm using Windows 7 64bit, so in the UFOExtender.ini I use D3D and D3D Windowed. Everything runs fine, except in the interception window the UFO blip is "corrupted" (see http://imgur.com/ZX2Vr). So I enabled Video Pitch and disabled D3D and D3D Windowed to see if that works, but the problem remains. I rechecked my old installation with v1.22 of UFOextender and the blip was displaying correctly. I'm using the Collector's Edition, not the one from Steam, don't know if the problem appears there. You're doing a great job. Thank you very much. Cornels 13:30, 9 August 2012 (EDT)

Should be fixed with version 1.28 Tycho 05:01, 23 September 2012 (EDT)

I noticed on page 7 of the strategy core TFTDextender thread, you figured out the settings to use to make it so that the cursor clip didn't go out of the window on Win7. Is there any chance you could port that code to the UFO defence extender too? --Spoit 05:48, 12 September 2012 (EDT)

Done. Version 1.28 released.

Thanks! :D Spoit 04:47, 23 September 2012 (EDT)

Decompiled accuracy algorithm?

Hi Morgan/Tycho

Is the algorithm you describe above, what you have decompiled from the standard game? Or is it a variant for UFOExtender? Great news if you have decompiled what the game actually uses - I will need to check some of my firepower calculations to make sure they are still in line with the algorithm.

cheers, Spike 09:37, 30 June 2012 (EDT)

It is an extender version of the original formula if one chooses to enable it. The original is the one that has been noted already: [1+(3/UFOsize)]/2 * Weapon Accuracy ... UFO sizes going from 5 for very small to 1 for very large. The calculation starts at offset 0x446DCD of the CE version. The original UFO accuracy algorithm is a flat 60% chance to hit despite the difficulty level (and no penalty for the Xcraft being in cautious mode.)

Morgan525 19:23, 30 June 2012 (EDT)

A few questions

Hi Morgan / Tycho

First a really really dumb question. Where can I download TFTD Extender from? I only see links to UFO Extender. Is it the same download, different config file? Or??

Clicking on the title heading for TFTD Extender will take you to its page in the wiki Tycho

Thank you. Follow up really dumb question - the zip archive does not seem to include an .ini file. Where do I get the .ini file from? Spike 12:37, 6 September 2012 (EDT)

Oh hang on. It looks like the latest version of the zip file does not include the .ini file. When I go back to the previous version of the zip file, I can see the .ini file. Spike 17:45, 6 September 2012 (EDT)

The latest release is a patch, which means there are no new additions to the INI. I don't include it in patches usually so that those who already have the prior release don't have to reconfigure their current INI. It may not seem like a big deal now but earlier, I was releasing fixes almost on a weekly basis and so I still continue with that idea.Tycho

Ah I guessed that might be the reason. Makes a lot of sense. It really sucks to have a customised INI file overwritten. Spike 07:25, 7 September 2012 (EDT)

Now a couple of suggestions for UFO Extender / TFTD Extender:

Aliens picking up weapons. This makes the game tougher as stunned / panicked bipedal-type aliens are no longer permanently disarmed. This now seems to be possible due to research by Volutar. See Talk:OBDATA.DAT#Field_0x2D. A fix for this would be a very helpful rebalancing of both games that eliminates one of the aliens' weak spots.

General Tank Modding

I see you are interested in modding tanks (HWPs/SWPs) and that's partly what got you into updating UFO Extender. I made some suggestions for Tank Modding myself, including some of the mechanics required to make it work via a config file such as the UFO Extender config file. For example you could have cargo carrier / ambulance / casevac tanks, you could have demolition tanks, mine thrower tanks, and of course tanks with custom weapons including dual weapons. Could you have a look here: User:Spike#Tank_mods and see if any of that makes you feel like getting creative?

Thanks, Spike 10:46, 3 September 2012 (EDT)

Weapons disappear in tactical mode with UFOLoader v1.28

Hi Morgan525 and thank you for your great work on XCOM games!

There is a problem with UFOLoader v1.28 installed on a Steam XCOM:EU version. During tactical combat soldiers' weapons are not shown in right/left hand slots. They are black as if the soldier doesn't carry anything in his hands. The weapon is present on the soldier and I can choose firing mode and fire. But the slots are empty. I've then installed 1.27, and everything became ok.PavelB 09:41, 24 September 2012 (EDT)

hmm. Are you using the Autoequip mod? I've seen this happen when autoequip was active on the second stage of a multiple-stage mission. It is just a graphical glitch, if you go to inventory and click on the items in each hand, the problem resolves itself. I'll look into this more.. Thanks for the feedback! Tycho 19:59, 24 September 2012 (EDT)

If you are talking about "Save Equipment" setting, i've tried to enable and disable it, but the glitch remained. No other mods are installed. I've also tried clicking the items on the inventory screen as you said, but nothing changed. There is also such a nuance: when I right-click somewhere in order to make soldier look in that direction, the items in his hand slots are flickering while he turns, baut then dissapear again. PavelB 05:08, 25 September 2012 (EDT)

A couple of questions: What OS are you running? Are you playing the "UFO Defense.exe" stand-alone or do you go through a modified version of the steam loader? What video options do you use?

I'm running WinXP SP3, launching the game through "UFOLOADER.EXE". You are right, disabling ClipCursor resolved the issue. PavelB 05:16, 26 September 2012 (EDT)

I am having the same problem (Windows 7 32bit, using steam version, but not launching it through steam). I noticed that the problem is coming from "clip cursor" option, if it's set to 0 the weapons will show, but if it's anything else, they won't. Is there any solution to this? --OpT1mUs 00:47, 26 September 2012 (EDT)

The problem seems to be with the main subroutine for tactical in EU, Windows 7, and the location I inserted the code for the Improved Clip Cursor. The method seems to work fine in TFTD but not EU. I'll have to see about finding a new place to initialize the ClipCursor Function in EU. Tycho

I just released a patch for 1.28. Hopefully this will fix the problems

Works fine, great thanks Tycho! PavelB

Weapons are visible now, but there is a couple of new problems, first, the geoscape clock is now working properly (aka slowly) but sometimes lags when suddenly changing its speed (like going to 5 sec speed from 1 day speed). Also when when any tactical mission starts whole screen is black, you can only see the weapon effects, but after one turn it goes back to normal (or at least that's what happened in my test game, one of the squadies got shot dead and then graphics came back on) --OpT1mUs 07:01, 26 September 2012 (EDT)

Does this happen with both settings of the clip cursor? Are you running D3D or D3D&HQ4X, windowed or full screen? If you disabled all mods but video, what happens? Tycho

So, the geoscope time thing has nothing to with extender, I forgot I installed a hacked exe for that. Also the mission I got when screen was black was in desert during the night, is it possible that there is just 0 light in the aircraft and that's why everything was black untill I got out? All in all weapons are visible now with clip cursor, so thank you ! :) (I m playing on D3D&HQ4X, windowed btw). --OpT1mUs 07:18, 26 September 2012 (EDT)

If that was the case, having your unit rotate in place would fix any lighting issues. One other question: Does this happen if you have a saved game of the battle and load it, does it happen when you go to a battle from geoscape, or does either of these scenarios matter? Also, could you try running w/o HQ4X to see if it makes a difference or not?

I think it's fine, I tried it couple of more times ,and every time it worked, I haven't changed any settings. --OpT1mUs 07:30, 26 September 2012 (EDT)

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D3D Problem

Using the latest V1.28 extender. There was a problem with the D3D options. In windowed D3D it worked fine, in HQ4X it worked fine. But when I use D3D full screen, the screen goes black. I can still here the music and if I try to move my mouse and keep clicking I can still hit the New Game button. But obviously I can't continue playing the game groping in the dark. I have one of those widescreen 1920x1080 resolution. Is this the problem? Running WinXP and X-Com Gold edition.Hellblade

In full screen D3D, do you still have the ClipCursor mod running?Tycho

Nothing else running. In fact I turned off every other feature in extender ... just to be sure. And then I tried running it in various combinations of (win compatibility, 256 color, disable desktop composition etc. etc.). My monitor is some really low priced brandless monitor so I wonder if that's an issue. Does extender try to detect my monitor resolution or does it detect desktop resolution?Hellblade

What version of Extender did you start using and did version 1.27 work fine for you? Extender relies on your systems video adapter to handle the video on the monitor. (PS please sign your post: see the top of the page for instructions) Tycho

Hellblade, try the new patch and see if it helps your issue as well. Tycho