Difficulty mod?

[nicaram]

Hello,

I like to play this game but I've a problem with difficulty.

When I choose "normal" difficulty and don't complete the objectives (ex: capture an E.T), the game become harder. The same thing happens when the level of my soldiers progresses.

I rapidely see bigger ships that destroy my planes, even if I try to adapt alien technology, and fortresses on territories I was watching. I cannot continue to play because it's too difficult.

Is there a mod to adapt difficulty?

Thanks!

[nicaram]

I found "Geoscape" that enables me to go further but there is no medium-sized ufo anymore. Juste large or massive ones....

[pipo.p]

You have to understand that the "invasion status" keep rising the more time passes, plus perhaps when you progress in the story.

1) To mod this, there is a parameter to change in one of the X:CE xml files.
2) To have an easier time on Normal difficulty, you have to keep up with the technology race:

• personal armour
• weapons
• aircraft

I listed in this order, while air supremacy is what makes you win the game, because you need to clear crash site too to earn more money and develop.

[nicaram]

Originally posted by pipo.p:

You have to understand that the "invasion status" keep rising the more time passes, plus perhaps when you progress in the story.

1) To mod this, there is a parameter to change in one of the X:CE xml files.
2) To have an easier time on Normal difficulty, you have to keep up with the technology race:

• personal armour
• weapons
• aircraft

I listed in this order, while air supremacy is what makes you win the game, because you need to clear crash site too to earn more money and develop.

I don't know anything about modding. But "Geoscape" helps me to continue to play.

That's weird because I've know only massive ships and...one little thing to shoot. No medium-sized UFO anymore. It does not make sense. The more I progress, the more ships should be big.

Same remark with research progress. How do they know that I found this thing or not...to inscrease the level of invasion?

Except that, Xenonauts is actually a short game. That's sad.

[pipo.p]

I wrote "when you progress in the story". These are the story (or "campaign") objectives that are displayed in the lower left corner, like "Interrogate an alien officer". Generally speaking, you can't turtle, delay those story goals and expect that the threat level (or invasion status) doesn't naturally rise (because time ticks, and the threat/invasion level increases gradually with each given number of ticks).

As for the change in UFO types when the invasion worsens, it has been considered not very realistic in the past, and one mod specifically addresses this: search for "UFO and Crews diversity". It makes larger UFO appear a bit earlier, but medium and even small UFOs have a inverse exponential chance (?) to keep appearing at high levels of the invasion. I find it self-consistent and more "realistic" than vanilla experience.

I don't know Geoscape mod, but I tend to shun mods that are like Swiss-knives, except of course X:CE, the balance and bug-correction community "patch".

[nicaram]

Originally posted by pipo.p:

I wrote "when you progress in the story". These are the story (or "campaign") objectives that are displayed in the lower left corner, like "Interrogate an alien officer". Generally speaking, you can't turtle, delay those story goals and expect that the threat level (or invasion status) doesn't naturally rise (because time ticks, and the threat/invasion level increases gradually with each given number of ticks).

As for the change in UFO types when the invasion worsens, it has been considered not very realistic in the past, and one mod specifically addresses this: search for "UFO and Crews diversity". It makes larger UFO appear a bit earlier, but medium and even small UFOs have a inverse exponential chance (?) to keep appearing at high levels of the invasion. I find it self-consistent and more "realistic" than vanilla experience.

I don't know Geoscape mod, but I tend to shun mods that are like Swiss-knives, except of course X:CE, the balance and bug-correction community "patch".

Ok, thanks for your advice.

I nearly finished the game now. I need to find "alien singulairty cores" in the biggest ships to make the best planes (and weapons I guess).

I'll later be obliged to modify the game files to reduce the influence of psy leaders (I already did in the past).


In addition, I'm searching for Xenonauts-like games.
I don't like the new X-COM series - the level in the original series (UFO included) is too high for me the the IA of those games is pityless.

[pipo.p]

You could try "UFO: Alien Invasion". Although it is 3D and quite ugly (Quake engine, iiirc), both the settings and the tech tree are interresting.

[nicaram]

Originally posted by pipo.p:

You could try "UFO: Alien Invasion". Although it is 3D and quite ugly (Quake engine, iiirc), both the settings and the tech tree are interresting.

Yep, thanks. I already tried the whole games of the series. I didn't like this one.