Codexers vs the Martians (mission 7 terror cairo - over)

[sheek]

To avoid image overload.

gallery @ http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh12 ... 0martians/

thread 1: http://rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=30499

Slideshow of previous screenshots (bandwidth exceeded): http://s255.photobucket.com/albums/hh12 ... =slideshow Might need to click "reverse order".

Current Roster
==============

Active Squads
-------------

                                        rank    missions    aliens killed        status

stats on thread 1 page 2

A - Hobo Elf

David Bowie (Scott Evans)               capt                    8?               dead 
Tatyana Maleev                                                                   dead
Helga Faerber (th 2, p1)                                                         dead

B - BethesdaLove

Leonid "Bullzeye" Belov                 sgt                     4                dead
Astra "Red" Corokhova                                           2
Sigourney "Orgasm" King                                         3

C - Dark_Underlord

The Kolotov Brothers                                            
Boris                                                           3
Yuri                                    sgt                     3
Mikhail                                                         3

D - Ashery

(thread 2 p1)

Uta Zander                                                                       dead
Lester Dodge                                                    1                 
Manfred Meyer                                                   2

E "Ecchi" squad - Sqeeco

Shuji Shoji                             sgt                     0                dead
Sumie Akira                                                     2?               dead
Isao Fujimoto                                                                    dead


F - Joka

Gerhard Ulbricht                                                2
Frank Robinson
James Taylor


H - Cleve

Cleveland Mark Blakemore                                                         dead


Z - Sheek

Sheek                                   sgt                     2



Unassigned
==========

G - ???
3 people




Dead for the Codex
==================


A-Squad (HoboElf)

Tatyana Maleev              killed by evil super-Sectoid mission 4
Helga Faerber               killed by evil super-Sectoid mission 4
David Bowie                 shot by Cyberdisc or Sectoid sniper. terror mission 7


B-Squad (BethesdaLove)

Bullzeye                    killed by a Sectoid mission 5


D-Squad

Uta Zander                  killed by evil super-Sectoid mission 4


E-Squad

Isao Fujimoto               rocket exploded in face, thanks to Tank. terror mission 7
Sumie Akira                 exploded. did not know how to use dynamite? mission 6
Shuji Shoji                 shot by Cyberdisc (thanks to James Taylor) terror mission 7


H-Squad

Cleve Blakemore             plasma ball melted titanium bones. terror mission 7

 

[sheek]

Start again... photobucket crashed my computer half way through this post.


Avalanche launchers arrived to equip the second Interceptor

Some more ammo now that there's space from what was used up... in TFTD I used an 'exploit' where you'd manually unload every gun on the last round of a mission (so you had to save, because you never know when the final alien dies), which made the ammo count as unused. Not that crazy any more. Anyway...

First research project complete. Laser weapon technology, no UFOPedia. Focussing on laser weapons up to rifles before looking at corpses.

7 more patriots arrive at Kodexia-1. That completes Hobo's squad and adds two more (-1), Ashery and Squeeco

And the 3 new sergeants with their miniscule stat increases: (Bullzeye has been renamed after this was taken)

And the last 4...

Enough for now. The bill is going to be huge unless you start dying quick.

Finally the Tank

Second research project, "Laser Pistols" (replaced with original Rocket Launcher which had been taken by the Sniper Rifle I think). Graphics garbled and first ammo type is wrong, but will be fixed by next mission.

Actually have to build this. Just 3 for now, I don't know if it's profitable to manufacture them to sell.

Stores finally complete! Means can finally buy enough main weapons. Forgot to buy extra sniper rifles, but have been ordered for 3rd mission.

UFO-3 appears, landed again. Too early to tell if there's a base.

Should be able to get there in daylight, but I bought electro-flares anyway.

Equipment:

The Rocket HWP
3 miniguns (enough ammo for 3x AP 1xIN each)
1 rocket launcher (3xLarge, 1xIn)
1 sniper rifle (loads of ammo)
2 grenade launchers (13xHE, 3xStun, 3xIncend)
10 pistols (2 clips each)
13 shotguns (about 3 clips each)
18 hand grenades
10 smoke
5 proximity
4 high explosive
3 stun rods
25 electro-flares



Who wants to volunteer? Squad F is open.

 

[SlavemasterT]

I don't know how you have the patience for this, sheek. I just blazed through a mission in 10 minutes or so; I think you ought to revise the LP to make it more realistic as far as playing goes. Just name troopers after Codexers and let it go from there

 

[MetalCraze]

I agree with SMT. Letting Codexers play X-Com is boring. Making Codex squads however isn't.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Shut-up. This is fun. First man to lose his squad gets a prize!

Squad C is up for it. My guys from now on are going to take a Shotgun each with 2 or 3 clips backup, 2 grenades and 1 electro-flare.

Whatever the mission, their search pattern will be to leave through the back of the ship and circle around East (out of the ship, head right and then down). That way if you're in the top-right a corner, they'll come out the bottom and if you're anywhere else they'll circle along the edge of the map.

 

[MetalCraze]

At least give warriors Codex members' names then.

 

[Darth Roxor]

I could take squad F then.

 

[sheek]

I'll zoom through the next ground attack missions of this size or smaller unless they turn up any special surprises.

This was in fact the second smallest UFO in the game:
http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Medium_Scout

You actually got on the high end of the # of possible aliens (3-6) and half the crew dying isn't surprising when the UFO Power Source gets hit (during interception).

 

[sqeecoo]

hEntai squad (Sumie and Shoji) ready to fight aliens sir! (and we all know what will happen to them). Uta the Useless will scout ahead, while Akira and Shoji will shoot from the back while wearing sexy but effective armor. (is Shoji male? in that case you need to give him a BIG sword, or at least tazer lance)

E squad also volunteers to be the first to assault the spacecraft itself when we reach it. Unless we get heavy weapons or whatnot. If melee weapons are available we will use our ninja skills to capture the enemy! Victory or death!

 

[zerotol]

Fuck all squads are taken, put me on first reserve

 

[sheek]

hEntai squad (Sumie and Shoji) ready to fight aliens sir! (and we all know what will happen to them). Uta the Useless will scout ahead, while Akira and Shoji will shoot from the back while wearing sexy but effective armor. (is Shoji male? in that case you need to give him a BIG sword, or at least tazer lance)

E squad also volunteers to be the first to assault the spacecraft itself when we reach it. Unless we get heavy weapons or whatnot. If melee weapons are available we will use our ninja skills to capture the enemy! Victory or death!

Why not swap Uta for Ashery's Isao Fujimoto? Then we'll have an all Jap squad as well as an all Russian one. Is Uta a German name? Put her with Gerhard and Manfred for a Kraut team, the remnants going into an Anglo team... segregation FTW.

Or maybe not.

Yes Shoji is a male, as is Isao. Amazing how X-Com always creates some cool names.

And Lester Dodge is awesome, look at his stats.

Fuck all squads are taken, put me on first reserve

Jeff Graw asked first (in the other thread) and I'm not planning on taking on more troops (wages already adding up to half a $million), for a few missions and people start dying off, but you're on the waiting list.

 

[zerotol]

and then ill probably die first, since they have no XP Its like the blackies

 

[BethesdaLove]

wtf are you doing to the pics?
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh12 ... 015125.png
this one is 1.1 MB big.
Get yourself some screencap util that captures windows and saves to jpg.
XnView IrfanView something

 

[Andyman Messiah]

I'm summoning Dark Underlord to this thread right now. I got yelled at for using png-images that were over 9000 megabytes and I'll be damned if I'm gonna be the only one! Fuck damn yeah, you're going down sheek muthafucka!

 

[sqeecoo]

Sure, Isao will then be the best of the three - he has excellent stats while the other two have lower reflexes than I'd like, and that's the only stat that does not improve.

Shoji can then be the mysterious reclusive ninja-scout with the big tazer, and Isao can be the emo warrior of renown, while Sumie is the innocent and naive (yet scantily clad) young warrior princess.
Hopefully they will all die in a horrible and yet satisfying way.

 

[JoKa]

not to complain too loudly, but you missed my post on page 3 of the other thread - give me whichever spot you see fit.

oh and sqecoo:
http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Reactions
reactions do improve, but you have to get reaction shots for that...

 

[sheek]

not to complain too loudly, but you missed my post on page 3 of the other thread - give me whichever spot you see fit.

oh and sqecoo:
http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Reactions
reactions do improve, but you have to get reaction shots for that...

You're right.

 

[sheek]

So, there's a space limit on the Skyranger. Three squads can go + the tank or four without.

So there are either 2 or 3 spaces left, FCFS.

If you are coming then post the equipment you want and general strategy (which can be changed in the first turn). Copy DU's post above as an example.

I'll move out the first squad automatically (there's not much else it can do).

 

[BethesdaLove]

Man, I dont want to. They'll die...
There are 6 fuckers on there...
Ah fuck it...
EQUIP
Give everybody of mine a smoke nade and flare.
Bullzeye - sniper with he ammo
Chikitas - shotguns with 3 clips
TACTIC
1 turn, toss a smoke infront of the Skyranger and wait till it explodes. Move all three together, Bullzeye onwards, chiks cover sides, reserve snapshot, head where DU isnt going

 

[sqeecoo]

not to complain too loudly, but you missed my post on page 3 of the other thread - give me whichever spot you see fit.

oh and sqecoo:
http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Reactions
reactions do improve, but you have to get reaction shots for that...

Wow, that's great! I mean, I knew the skill could improve, but it would never improve *significantly*, especially for those with bad reactions who didn't get many chances to improve it in the first place. This training trick is very good, it makes me want to start a new game of my own!

I'd be willing to go on this mission. A sniper (non-explosive ammo) for Isao, and a stun rod/pistol for the other two, and a grenade for all. The two wannabe ninjas rush out and take point on the segment of the battlefield assigned to them, while Isao hangs way back and snipes what they spot. If they survive until the craft, the ninjas want to be the first to rush in. They are not averse to kamikaze tactics like the famous one-grenade-in-each-hand rush, and they prefer trying for melee if at all possible.

 

[sheek]

OK.

B, C and E are going to try to take this UFO before it flies off + they'll have the tank.

Squeeco, there's only one sniper rifle, taken but you can have the mini-gun... high reactions + high rate of fire + relatively good FA to compensate inaccuracy makes it a good weapon to cover an open area with. I'll give him the shotgun backup though.

Swapped Uta Zander for Isao from squad D.

 

[SlavemasterT]

sheek, did you have to use any special settings to coax x-com into working in Dosbox? I've been trying to play and getting slight skips and hangups, as well as things changing colour when I move the mouse cursor over it.

 

[sheek]

Which version have you got?

I got the original UFO: Enemy Unknown (is that the European title?) and applied patches 1.2 and 1.4, then XComUtil. Use the latest DosBox (7.2).

It did stutter a little at first (especially the sound) but now it's fairly smooth. I think you need to experiment with CPU cycles and frame skip. I left memory at default, CPU cycle type as auto, high/normal priority. Frame skip 3 is just right... Jerkiness actually goes back up drastically past that.

Actually here's my config file:

# This is the configurationfile for DOSBox 0.72.
# Lines starting with a # are commentlines.
# They are used to (briefly) document the effect of each option.

[sdl]
# fullscreen -- Start dosbox directly in fullscreen.
# fulldouble -- Use double buffering in fullscreen.
# fullresolution -- What resolution to use for fullscreen: original or fixed size (e.g. 1024x768).
# windowresolution -- Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling.
# output -- What to use for output: surface,overlay,opengl,openglnb,ddraw.
# autolock -- Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen.
# sensitiviy -- Mouse sensitivity.
# waitonerror -- Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error.
# priority -- Priority levels for dosbox: lowest,lower,normal,higher,highest,pause (when not focussed).
# Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized.
# mapperfile -- File used to load/save the key/event mappings from.
# usescancodes -- Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems.

fullscreen=false
fulldouble=false
fullresolution=original
windowresolution=original
output=surface
autolock=true
sensitivity=100
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
mapperfile=mapper.txt
usescancodes=true

[dosbox]
# language -- Select another language file.
# memsize -- Amount of memory DOSBox has in megabytes.
# machine -- The type of machine tries to emulate:hercules,cga,tandy,pcjr,vga.
# captures -- Directory where things like wave,midi,screenshot get captured.

language=
machine=vga
captures=capture
memsize=16

[render]
# frameskip -- How many frames DOSBox skips before drawing one.
# aspect -- Do aspect correction, if your output method doesn't support scaling this can slow things down!.
# scaler -- Scaler used to enlarge/enhance low resolution modes.
# Supported are none,normal2x,normal3x,advmame2x,advmame3x,hq2x,hq3x,
# 2xsai,super2xsai,supereagle,advinterp2x,advinterp3x,
# tv2x,tv3x,rgb2x,rgb3x,scan2x,scan3x.
# If forced is appended (like scaler=hq2x forced), the scaler will be used
# even if the result might not be desired.

frameskip=0
aspect=false
scaler=normal2x

[cpu]
# core -- CPU Core used in emulation: normal,simple,dynamic,auto.
# auto switches from normal to dynamic if appropriate.
# cycles -- Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond.
# Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags.
# You can also let DOSBox guess the correct value by setting it to max.
# The default setting (auto) switches to max if appropriate.
# cycleup -- Amount of cycles to increase/decrease with keycombo.
# cycledown Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.

core=auto
cycles=auto
cycleup=500
cycledown=20

[mixer]
# nosound -- Enable silent mode, sound is still emulated though.
# rate -- Mixer sample rate, setting any devices higher than this will
# probably lower their sound quality.
# blocksize -- Mixer block size, larger blocks might help sound stuttering
# but sound will also be more lagged.
# prebuffer -- How many milliseconds of data to keep on top of the blocksize.

nosound=false
rate=22050
blocksize=2048
prebuffer=10

[midi]
# mpu401 -- Type of MPU-401 to emulate: none, uart or intelligent.
# device -- Device that will receive the MIDI data from MPU-401.
# This can be default,alsa,oss,win32,coreaudio,none.
# config -- Special configuration options for the device. In Windows put
# the id of the device you want to use. See README for details.

mpu401=intelligent
device=default
config=

[sblaster]
# sbtype -- Type of sblaster to emulate:none,sb1,sb2,sbpro1,sbpro2,sb16.
# sbbase,irq,dma,hdma -- The IO/IRQ/DMA/High DMA address of the soundblaster.
# mixer -- Allow the soundblaster mixer to modify the DOSBox mixer.
# oplmode -- Type of OPL emulation: auto,cms,opl2,dualopl2,opl3.
# On auto the mode is determined by sblaster type.
# All OPL modes are 'Adlib', except for CMS.
# oplrate -- Sample rate of OPL music emulation.

sbtype=sb16
sbbase=220
irq=7
dma=1
hdma=5
mixer=true
oplmode=auto
oplrate=22050

[gus]
# gus -- Enable the Gravis Ultrasound emulation.
# gusbase,irq1,irq2,dma1,dma2 -- The IO/IRQ/DMA addresses of the
# Gravis Ultrasound. (Same IRQ's and DMA's are OK.)
# gusrate -- Sample rate of Ultrasound emulation.
# ultradir -- Path to Ultrasound directory. In this directory
# there should be a MIDI directory that contains
# the patch files for GUS playback. Patch sets used
# with Timidity should work fine.

gus=true
gusrate=22050
gusbase=240
irq1=5
irq2=5
dma1=3
dma2=3
ultradir=C:\ULTRASND

[speaker]
# pcspeaker -- Enable PC-Speaker emulation.
# pcrate -- Sample rate of the PC-Speaker sound generation.
# tandy -- Enable Tandy Sound System emulation (off,on,auto).
# For auto Tandysound emulation is present only if machine is set to tandy.
# tandyrate -- Sample rate of the Tandy 3-Voice generation.
# disney -- Enable Disney Sound Source emulation. Covox Voice Master and Speech Thing compatible.

pcspeaker=true
pcrate=22050
tandy=auto
tandyrate=22050
disney=true

[joystick]
# joysticktype -- Type of joystick to emulate: auto (default), none,
# 2axis (supports two joysticks,
# 4axis (supports one joystick, first joystick used),
# 4axis_2 (supports one joystick, second joystick used),
# fcs (Thrustmaster), ch (CH Flightstick).
# none disables joystick emulation.
# auto chooses emulation depending on real joystick(s).
# timed -- enable timed intervals for axis. (false is old style behaviour).
# autofire -- continuously fires as long as you keep the button pressed.
# swap34 -- swap the 3rd and the 4th axis. can be useful for certain joysticks.
# buttonwrap -- enable button wrapping at the number of emulated buttons.

joysticktype=auto
timed=true
autofire=false
swap34=false
buttonwrap=true

[serial]
# serial1-4 -- set type of device connected to com port.
# Can be disabled, dummy, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
# Additional parameters must be in the same line in the form of
# parameter:value. Parameter for all types is irq.
# for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional).
# for modem: listenport (optional).
# for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr,
# transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional).
# Example: serial1=modem listenport:5000

serial1=dummy
serial2=dummy
serial3=disabled
serial4=disabled

[dos]
# xms -- Enable XMS support.
# ems -- Enable EMS support.
# umb -- Enable UMB support.
# keyboardlayout -- Language code of the keyboard layout (or none).

xms=true
ems=true
umb=true
keyboardlayout=none

[ipx]
# ipx -- Enable ipx over UDP/IP emulation.

ipx=false

[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.

If sound is giving you problems, there's a thread on XCOMUFO about it (google DosBox Xcomufo). I actually left DosBox's settings as the default, and let XCOM's sound setup auto-detect my settings.

 

[Ion Flux]

This LP is pretty cool. Please don't let it die. Also, it's making me want to play X-Com again, and I really don't have time for that, so screw you guys.

 

[Ashery]

Damnit, didn't even realize you were starting a new thread (I had just been refreshing the old one, heh).

For my DOSBox settings:

CPU was set to 3000 cycles intially, which was a bit too slow...12000-15000 seems to be the sweet spot. Everything else is default (CPU on auto made the game *way* too fast, and you could only decrease by 5% increments; 5% was still too fast, and 1% caused the game to be unplayable due to lag/stuttering/crashing).

Since I'm not in on this mission, I'll just request armament for my squad:

Lester:

Minigun with 2x AP and 1x Incid. (AP loaded for day missions, incid for night (Assuming that incid minigun rounds start fires akin to the auto-cannon))
Grenade
Smoke
Pistol

Isao:

Sniper rifle with 3x AP 2x HE (As there are only two rounds per HE clip)
Grenade
Pistol
Flare
Medi-kit (Once avail)

Manfred:

Nade launcher with 2x HE, 2x Stun, 1x Incid
Shotgun 2x AP
Flare
Medi-kit (Once avail)


With respect to the minigun, how do reaction shots work with it? From what I understand, all reaction shots are snap shots, but the minigun lacks that mode of fire.

General tactics: Lester'll move out in front every combat round with movement reserved for reaction fire. If he spots an individual, Isao will take the first shots with the sniper rifle and Manfred will clean up any left overs with the nade launcher. If nothing is spotted, Isao will keep within a few tiles from Lester with Manfred bringing up the rear. The only change for night missions is that Lester will fire off one or two incid shots off to the side of the direction they're pushing (The lazy man's flare) before he moves for the round.

For movement direction, if there's a map edge nearby, use it, otherwise I'd need to see the layout of the immediately surrounding landscape before I can make a judgement.

Oh, and once we get laser rifles, I vote to make an immediate push for personal armor. It's quick to get and significantly increases soldier survivability.