UFOpaedia - User contributions [en]

Talk:Weapons (TFTD)

2006-07-26T18:05:42Z

Trotsky:

Is there any reasonable excuse why we can't use good old Heavy Plasma, or any weapon from First Alien War, on land combat? [[User:L-Zwei|L-Zwei]] 23:44, 25 July 2006 (PDT)

----

I have been wondering that myself. Let's see: X-Com operatives are required to prepare for undersea combat, regardless the original destination of their transport. A commander may decide to send a midair Triton undersea, and as soon as the doors are opened, any non water proof equipment inside would be damaged. That's also the reason why soldiers take their diver suits on land. It's not that good of an excuse, but it's something. --[[User:Trotsky|Trotsky]] 01:50, 26 July 2006 (PDT)

----

If you could use the Plasmas, then why not the craft engines? My bet is the Elerium mines weren't set up at that point, meaning there was nothing to power these devices with.

- [[User:Bomb Bloke|Bomb Bloke]] 02:56, 26 July 2006 (PDT)

----

The economy argument seems more plausible. Once the war was finished, there would be no reason not to sell recovered Elerium for use as power source, especially since X-Com was disbanded shortly after.--[[User:Trotsky|Trotsky]] 11:05, 26 July 2006 (PDT)

Talk:Weapons (TFTD)

2006-07-26T08:50:00Z

Trotsky:

Talk:Calcinite

2006-07-18T17:44:41Z

Trotsky:

I don't think we should edit original Ufopedia texts. Is there a sort of agreement on this?

By the way, would this little bit I added to wikipedia be interesting?

"The idea of an alien inside a Standard diving dress which pummelled its victims to death might have been inspired by the Z-movie Robot Monster."--[[User:Trotsky|Trotsky]] 10:44, 18 July 2006 (PDT)

Tank/Laser Cannon

2006-07-18T08:30:30Z

Trotsky: links

[[Image:BIGOBS54.GIF|right|thumb|64 px|Tank Turret]]
The laser cannon tank uses a replica of the same tracked tank chassis used by the [[Tank/Rocket Launcher|rocket]] and [[Tank/Cannon|cannon]] tanks. Therefore it suffers the same limitations as the two earlier tanks.

The laser tank is vastly superior in that it has a high powered variation of the [[Heavy Laser|heavy laser]] as a turret. It is more powerful and efficient than the handheld variant. However, unlike the handheld, it comes with a generous but limited supply of ammunition.

It is unfortunate that by the time the laser tank becomes available, Commanders will already have almost immediate access to the [[Hovertank/Plasma|plasma hovertank]] which is a much more superior tank. Resources-wise, the laser tank is cheaper and easier to produce than the [[Hovertank/Plasma | plasma hovertank]] as it is not reliant on any exotic alien materials. The choice between the two tanks then becomes a quantity versus quality issue. Laser tanks make better sacrificial tanks than hovertanks in general due to the costs involved.

In summary, the Laser Tank is a cheap and moderately powerful tank.

== Vital Statistics ==
<table>
<tr><td>Cost:</td><td>Manufacture only. $500,000</td></tr>
<tr><td>Manufacturing Requirements:</td><td>1200 Engineer hours</td></tr>
<tr><td>Research Requirements:</td><td>Laser Cannon</td></tr>
</table>

{{Tracked Tank Stats }}

{| {{stdTable}}
|- {{stdTable Heading}}
| colspan = "3" | '''Laser Turret Specifications'''
|-
| colspan = "3" {{stdTable Sub Heading}} | '''Ammunition'''
|-
| Type || '''Laser Beam'''
|-
| Damage || '''110 Laser'''
|-
| Rounds || '''255'''
|-
| Purchase Price || '''Free'''
|-
| Sale Price || '''n/a'''
|- {{stdTale Sub Heading}}
| '''Firing Modes'''
| Accuracy
| Cost
|-
| Aimed
| '''85%'''(51%)
| '''75%'''(52)
|-
| Snap
| '''50%'''(30%)
| '''33%'''(23)
|-
| Auto || '''n/a''' || '''n/a'''
|-
|  
|-
| colspan = "3" | <small>Numbers in parenthesis are the actual values after modified by the chassis' abilities. <br />Actual costs are in fixed [[TU|Time Unit]]s</small>
|}

==Notes==
* Tank/Heavy Lasers have the strongest Laser weapons in the game. This can have all the difference on Ethereal Alien Base Attacks on harder difficulty levels as they are the natural enemy of the [[Sectopod]].
* The laser cannon can penetrate UFO inner walls approximately 4.5% of the time. See [[Destroying Terrain]] for more information.

== See Also ==
[[Template: Tracked Tank Stats | Tracked Tank Stats]]

[[Category:Heavy Weapons Platforms]]

Talk:Celatid

2006-07-18T07:12:13Z

Trotsky:

EthC, why would their weapon strength, equal their "muscle" strength? Weapons are handled as "separate add-ins", even if they are "inherent". You can kill this note after reading.

---[[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 06:13, 21 May 2006 (PDT)
----

Hmm...

*On the [[Zombie]] page, it states "Zombies have a melee attack equal to its strength."
*The Celatid entry formely read "its acid spit does a whopping 140 points" -- which is 2x its Strength (70) and the normal maximum for a weapon of damage rating 70
*I've also seen elsewhere someone claim Sectopods' weapons are slightly less powerful than the Heavy Plasma (115) (Sectopod Strength is 90-105)

But just now I hacked Sectopods' Strength down to 2 and Mind-Controlled one -- its weapon was just as damaging as before, both when under MC and not. Does anybody know which field(s) in [[GEOSCAPE.EXE]] determine weapon damage for Sectpods, Celatids, etc.?

--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 13:15, 21 May 2006 (PDT)

----

I know the rough whereabouts of the terror unit 'built in turrets'. My offsets are for the CE version - so you'd need to adjust the offsets accordingly for the dos version.

I can't give you the exact offset, but you can look at the values within the region of the byte no 448, 073. If I'm not mistaken, it's in the Tactical.exe portion of the game. If you want the closest reference, try looking for the 'missdat/direct.dat' and move about 3000 bytes or so past that.

You'll see sets of data that resemble weapon stats. From damage type, damage, firing costs, etc. They're all stored in 16-bit words (i.e. 2 bytes).

The rocket tank's launcher for example will have a value set of 2 (high-ex), 12 (default ammo), 85 (damage), 55, 45, 0 (aimed-snap-auto costs), 115, 75, 0 (aimed-snap-auto accuracies). Etc.

We've actually done some damage tests the hard way (reiterative testing in-game with various armour levels). In the end the weapon damages have already been confirmed against Dave Ellis's Official strategy guide, which lists the damage levels of the terror unit weapons.

- [[User:NKF|NKF]]

----

Ahh, I see it, it seems to start at 447,868 for the Tank/Cannon. And it looks like the Sectpod weapon is 100/Laser. Been wondering about that for a long time.

Is Str = melee damage true? For all the units with melee attacks?

I read a thread of Zombie's on Strategycore that alien melee attacks took 14 TUs, not 15, as is listed on this site in several places. Any idea which is correct?

--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 00:10, 22 May 2006 (PDT)

----

Zombie has done a lot of work on melee. I'm too rusty to remember.

Great job on the trajectories, and important to know for this lethal creature. Did you MC one to measure it?

If possible, one of you should put this info on where stuff is (above) on the GEOSCAPE or TACTICAL page or whatever. I'm still confused about what files which versions have.

NKF, do you know where the [[Damage#Damage_Modifiers|Damage_Modifiers]] are? I tried to help Danial once and looked through all the files for them so we could confirm the OSG. But I never could find them.

---[[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 18:30, 22 May 2006 (PDT)

----

Yep, I MCed it, I'm an MC junkie. I wish MC was less powerful, actually; once you get psi supertroopers, the game's over.

I added some notes about the turret/inbuilt weapons to the geoscape.exe page.

--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 20:33, 22 May 2006 (PDT)

----

As a matter of fact Mike, I sent a private message to Zombie on the damage modifiers over at Strategycore a couple of months back about this. Let me just go and see if I can dig it up.

Assuming you're using MS-Edit and the CE version, open it up at 100 columns. Look down within the region of line 4502 (that translates to byte 450,200. Or for those that prefer hexadecimal, 0x06DE98), then scoot across to column 37.

It's a short way above the line I mentioned earlier. In fact, it's not too far above the block that stores the name strings for your troops. Not exactly, but it's a good place to start looking if you want to spelunk through the dos executables. That's assuming they're in the same place. If so, use the name strings as a reference point and start scrolling up.

Or you could try looking for a region filled with lots of lower case d's and a space. One line looks a bit like d d d d < d d d d P and etc. Lower cap d's translate to 100 in ascii - after all. The space just shows that the value is stored as a 16-bit integer.

They are stored in blocks of 14 values. 1 unknown or base value and the 13 unit types in the game. It looks like:

0 - Unknown(possibly baseline?)
1 - Soldier, civilian, sectoid, celatid, floater
2 - Personal armour
3 - Power suit/flying suit
4 - Tanks/hovertanks
5 - Snakemen
6 - Etherael
7 - Muton
8 - Silacoid
9 - Chryssalid
10 - Reaper
11 - Sectopod
12 - Cyberdisc
13 - Zombie

Each block is ordered in AP, incendiary, explosive, laser, plasma, stun, melee and acid spit.

You can send your thanks to Zombie for looking up these values and confirming them against the OSG. Everything's jake.
- [[User:NKF|NKF]]

----
In response to Ethereal Cereal's questions about melee, I'll try my best to explain it. Pulling from my tests in damage modifiers, HTH-only aliens have a strength = melee damage. It's true. Also, the same strength nember is considered to be the base accuracy of the HTH weapon. Multiply this by melee accuracy of the alien and you get the base chance to hit the target. (It's the same principal as weapon accuracy. Weapon accuracy * Soldier FA = Base chance to hit).

All melee attacks require 15 TU as I reported in [http://www.strategycore.co.uk/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=746&view=findpost&p=57329 this] post. I also changed the numbers in the wiki to match, so if you still see some listed as 14, go ahead and change them. (The reason why I originally said 14 TU was because I was using the Playstation to test. It's very hard to nail down an exact number in the PSX version since you cannot edit the game files. The computer versions allow more flexibility in this area and thus an accurate value could be determined).

While on the same subject, Psi-enabled aliens require 26 TU for one attack. It's a fixed cost just like melee and doesn't change if the aliens stats change or by difficulty level. See [http://www.strategycore.co.uk/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=746&view=findpost&p=57497 this] post at the StrategyCore forums.

Any other questions in this area? I probably have answers. Some of this info may need to be moved into the relevant areas when this discussion is finished.--[[User:Zombie|Zombie]] 21:54, 11 June 2006 (PDT)

----

I think I may have discovered an exploit, though I am not one hundred percent sure about it yet. Okay, here it goes: if you equip a Celatid with any ranged weapon, it will break its accuracy-spitting-targetting-thingy, causing it to miss every attack. If this proves to be true, one could give the flying livers a Heavy Plasma for target practise without risk, eliminating the need to carry pistols in the process (at least into Muton missions).--[[User:Trotsky|Trotsky]] 00:12, 18 July 2006 (PDT)

Main Page

2006-07-11T10:07:59Z

Trotsky: alien missions (TFTD)

__NOTOC__
[[image:UFO_Enemy_Unknown_opening_screen.png|center|480 px]]

'''Welcome to UFOpaedia.org! This site is dedicated to ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-COM X-COM]'', a computer game series introduced in 1994 by MicroProse.'''

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<table style="width: 100%;>
<tr style="vertical-align: top;">
<td colspan = "4">
{| {{stdTable}} title = "X-Com UFO Main Directory" width = "100%"
|- {{stdTable Heading}}
| colspan = "4"| {{UFO Icon}} '''UFO: Enemy Unknown''' (aka '''X-COM: UFO Defense''')
|-
|}
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="vertical-align: top;">
<td style="width: 25%; border:1px gray solid;">
{| {{stdTable}} width="100%" style="border:none;"
|- {{stdTable Sub Heading}}
| '''Overview'''
|-
| [[Info|About X-COM: UFO Defense]]
|-
|- {{stdTable Sub Heading}}
| '''The Geoscape'''
|-
| [[Geoscape Overview]]
|-
| [[UFO Detection (UFO Defense)|UFO Detection]]
|-
| [[UFO Interception]]
|-
|- {{stdTable Sub Heading}}
| '''The Battlescape (Combat)'''
|-
| [[Battlescape Overview]]
|-
| [[Battlescape Combat]]
|-
| [[Missions (UFO Defense) | Mission Types]]
|-
| [[:Category: Tactics|Tactics]]
: [[Scouting]]
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: [[Sweeping the Battlescape]]
: [[Reaction Training]]
: [[Alien movement patterns|Alien Movement Patterns]]
: [[Time Management]]
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: [[Smoke Grenade]]s
: [[Grenade Relay]]
: [[Stun Rod]]s
: [[Base Defense]]
: [[Night Missions]]
: [[Alien Base Assault]]
: [[UFO Ground Assault]]
: [[Rear Commander]]s
: [[:Category:Field Manual|Field Manual]]
|-
|}
</td>

<td style="width: 25%; border:1px gray solid;">
{| {{stdTable}} width="100%" style="border:none;"
|- {{stdTable Sub Heading}}
| '''Aliens'''
|-
| [[Alien Life Forms (UFO Defense)|Alien Life Forms]]
: [[Overviews of Aliens (UFO Defense)|Overview of Aliens]]
: [[Terror Units (UFO Defense)|Terror Units]]
|-
| [[UFO (UFO Defense)|UFOs]]
|-
| [[UFO Components (UFO Defense)|UFO Components]]
|-
| [[Alien Missions]]
|-
| [[Alien Artefacts (UFO Defense)|Alien Artefacts]]
|-
|- {{stdTable Sub Heading}}
| '''Logistics'''
|-
| [[Soldiers (UFO Defense)|Soldiers]]
|-
| [[Base Facilities (UFO Defense)|Base Facilities]]
|-
| [[Craft (UFO Defense)|X-COM Craft]]
|-
| [[Craft Armaments (UFO Defense)|Craft Armaments]]
|-
| [[Equipment (UFO Defense)|Equipment]]
: [[Weapons (UFO Defense)|Weapons]]
: [[Equipment (UFO Defense)#Armor|Armor]]
: [[Heavy Weapons Platforms (UFO Defense)|Heavy Weapons Platforms]]
: [[Equipment (UFO Defense)#Portable Equipment|Miscellaneous Equipment]]
|-
|}
</td>

<td style="width: 25%; border:1px gray solid;">
{| {{stdTable}} width="100%" style="border:none;"
|- {{stdTable Sub Heading}}
| '''Game Strategies'''
|-
| [[Starting Your Shadowy Paramilitary Organization|A Beginner's Guide]]
|-
| [[Base Management (UFO)|Base Management]]
|-
| [[Base Layout Strategy]]
|-
| [[Experience Training]]
|-
| [[Managing the Item Limit]]
|-
| [[Research (UFO Defense)|Research]]
|-
| [[Research Tips]]
|-
| [[Economics (UFO Defense)|Economics]]
: [[Buying/Selling/Transferring]]
: [[Hiring/firing|Hiring/Firing]]
: [[UFO Recovery Values]]
: [[Manufacturing Profitability]]
|-
|- {{stdTable Sub Heading}}
| '''Miscellaneous Information'''
|-
| [[Glossary|Glossary of Terms]]
|-
| [[XcomUtil|XcomUtil - Game Enhancer]]
|-
| [[Background|UFO Timeline]]
|-
| [[Realistic Equivalents]]
|-
| [[Mars]]
|-
|}
</td>

<td style="width: 25%; border:1px gray solid;">
{| {{stdTable}} width="100%" style="border:none;"
|- {{stdTable Sub Heading}}
| '''Technical Information'''
|-
| [[Under The Hood|Game Mechanics]]
: [[Damage]]
: [[Explosions]]
: [[Accuracy formula|Accuracy Formula]]
: [[Reaction fire formula|Reaction Fire Formula]]
: [[Line of sight|Line of Sight]]
: [[Destroying Terrain]]
: [[Experience]]
: [[Psionics]]
: [[Kill Modelling]]
: [[Fatal Wounds]]
: [[Recovery time|Recovery Time]]
: [[Stun]]
: [[Unconscious|Unconsciousness]]
|-
| [[:Category:Data tables|Data Tables]]
: [[Inventory TU Table]]
: [[TU#Time Unit Walking Usage Tables|Movement TU Tables]]
: [[Item Weight]]
: [[Height|Unit Height]]
: [[Scoring (UFO Defense)|Scoring]]
|-
| [[:Category:Terrain|Terrain]]
|-
| [[Tricks, Tips and Hints]]
|-
| [[Exploits]]
|-
| [[Saved Game Files|Game Files]]
|-
| [[Known Bugs]]
|-
| [[UFO_Base_Kit|UFO Base Kit]]
|}
</td>
</tr>
</table>

== Sequels ==
<table style="width:75%;">
<tr style="vertical-align: top;">
<td style="width:50%;">
<table style="width: 100%;">
<tr style="vertical-align: top;">
<td colspan = "2">
{| {{stdTable}} width = "100%"
|- {{stdTable Heading}}
| colspan = "2"| {{TFTD Icon}} '''X-COM: Terror From the Deep'''
|-
|}
</td>
<tr style="vertical-align: top;">
<td style="width: 50%; border:1px gray solid;">
{| {{stdTable}} width="100%" style="border:none;"
|- {{stdTFTD Heading}}
|- {{stdTable Sub Heading}}
| '''General'''
|-
| [[Info (TFTD)|General Information]]
|- {{stdTable Sub Heading}} title = "Global Geoscape Affairs"
| '''Geoscape'''
|-
| <span style = "color: #ddd;">Base Management</span>
|-
|[[Subs (Tftd)|X-COM Subs]]
:[[Sub Armaments (Tftd)|Sub Armaments]]
|-
|[[USO (Tftd)|Unidentified Submerging Objects]]
:[[Sub Components (Tftd)|USO Components]]
|-
| [[Base Facilities (Tftd)|Base Facilities]]
|-
| [[Research (Tftd)|Research]]
: [[Alien Research (Tftd)|Alien Research]]
: [[Alien Artefacts (Tftd)|Alien Artefacts]]
|-
| [[Alien Missions (TFTD)|Alien Missions]]
|-
| [[Economics (Tftd)|Economics]]
|-
|}
</td>
<td style="width: 50%; border:1px gray solid;">
{| {{stdTable}} width="100%" style="border:none;"
|- {{stdTable Sub Heading}}
| '''Battlescape'''
|-
| <span style = "color: #ddd;">Battlescape overview</span>
|-
| [[Missions(Tftd)|Mission Types]]
|-
| [[Aquanauts(Tftd)|Aquanauts]]
|-
| [[Alien Life Forms (Tftd)|Alien Life Forms]]
: [[Overviews of Aliens (TFTD)|Overviews of Aliens]]
: [[Terror Units (Tftd)|Terror Units]]
|-
| [[Equipment (Tftd)|Equipment]]
: [[Weapons (Tftd)|Weapons]]
: [[Submersible Weapons Systems]]
|-
| [[:Category:Terrain|Terrain]]
|-
| <span style = "color: #ddd;">Scoring</span>
|}
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
<td style="width: 25%;">
<table style="width: 100%;">
<tr style="vertical-align: top;">
<td colspan = "1">
{| {{stdTable}} width = "100%"
|- {{stdTable Heading}}
| colspan = "1"| {{Apoc Icon}} '''X-COM: Apocalypse'''
|-
|}
</td>
<tr style="vertical-align: top;">
<td style="width: 100%; border:1px gray solid;">
{| {{stdTable}} width="100%" style="border:none;"
|- {{stdApoc Heading}}
|- {{stdTable Sub Heading}}
| '''General'''
|-
| [[Info (Apocalypse)|General Information]]
|- {{stdTable Sub Heading}} title = "Happenings in Mega Primus"
| '''Cityscape'''
|-
| [[Mega Primus (Apocalypse)|Mega Primus]]
: [[Corporations (Apocalypse)|Corporations]]
: [[Relations (Apocalypse)|Relations]]
: [[Trade (Apocalypse)|Trade]]
|-
| [[Bases (Apocalypse)|Bases]]
: [[Facilities (Apocalypse)|Base Facilities]]
|-
| Research
: [[Alien Artifacts (Apocalypse)|Alien Artifacts]]
: [[Biochemistry (Apocalypse)|Biochemistry]]
: [[Quantum Physics (Apocalypse)|Quantum Physics]]
|-
| [[Vehicles (Apocalypse)|Vehicles]]
|- {{stdTable Sub Heading}} title = "Close Quarter Skirmishes"
| '''Battlescape'''
|-
| [[Agents (Apocalypse)|Agents]]
|}
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</table>

== Spin-Offs ==
<table style="width:75%;">
<tr style="vertical-align: top;">
<td style="width:25%;">
{| {{stdTable}} width = "100%"
|- {{stdTable Heading}}
| {{Interceptor Icon}} '''X-COM: Interceptor'''
|-
|}
</td>
<td style="width:25%;">
{| {{stdTable}} width = "100%"
|- {{stdTable Heading}}
| {{email X-Com Icon}} '''E-Mail X-Com'''
|-
|}
</td>
<td style="width:25%;">
{| {{stdTable}} width = "100%"
|- {{stdTable Heading}}
| '''X-COM: Enforcer'''
|-
|}
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="vertical-align: top;">
<td style="width: 25%;">
{| {{stdTable}} width="100%"
| [[Info (Interceptor)|General Information]]
[[Technologies]]
|}
</td>
<td style="width: 25%;">
{| {{stdTable}} width="100%"
| [[Info (eMail X-Com)|General Information]]
|}
</td>
<td style="width: 25%;">
{| {{stdTable}} width="100%"
| [[Info (Enforcer)|General Information]]
|}
</td>
</tr>
</table>

== Discontinued Titles ==
<table style="width:50%;">
<tr style="vertical-align: top;">
<td style="width:25%;">
{| {{stdTable}} width = "100%"
|- {{stdTable Heading}}
| '''X-COM: Genesis'''
|}
</td>
<td style="width:25%;">
{| {{stdTable}} width = "100%"
|- {{stdTable Heading}}
| '''X-COM: Alliance'''
|-
|}
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="vertical-align: top;">
<td style="width: 25%;">
{| {{stdTable}} width="100%"
| [[Info(Genesis)|General Information]]
|}
</td>
<td style="width: 25%;">
{| {{stdTable}} width="100%"
| [[Info(Alliance)|General Information]]
|}
</td>
</tr>
</table>

== UFO2000 ==

UFOpaedia.org is also home to the official [[UFO2000|UFO2000 wiki]]. UFO2000 is an open-source player-versus-player tactical simulation based on X-COM.

== Site Information ==
{| {{stdTable}} width = "50%"
| [[UFOpaedia:Community Portal|Community Portal]]
|-
| [[Community|Contributors]]
|-
| [[Help:Getting Started|How to Edit This Site]]
|-
| [[Guidelines to writing articles|Guidelines to Writing Articles]]
|-
| [[Links]]
|}

Alien Missions (TFTD)

2006-07-11T10:05:51Z

Trotsky:

==Alien Probe Mission==
The Alien Probe Mission is used for correlating data about the seabed, the resources, shipping and aeroplane flight paths of an area. The Alien subs involved in these missions are not a major threat in themselves, but they indicate sites of activity that may flare at any time.

==Alien Interdiction==
The Aliens have a policy of policing areas they are interested in, sending out craft with the express purpose of securing an area before more intensive missions are begun. They will land at specific sites they intend to raid later to lock down the areas and prepare the way for the next level of activity.

==Alien Resource Raid==
The sinking of ships and the downing of aircraft are key elements of the Alien strategy. The acquisition of materials is one of the prime Alien activities and as such is allied to these overtly aggressive acts. The Aliens also raid areas of geo-thermal activity, mining sites and sites of antiquity for minerals and refined metals and other human produced items.

==Alien Infiltration==
This can result in official contact between Aliens and corporations or governments at the highest level. The climax of this activity is characterised by intense Alien Sub activity in the waters of the organisation concerned. The Aliens will attempt to sign an agreement with a government or organisation by offering knowledge of their superior technologies. This Alien activity represents a major threat to X-Com. If a corporation or government co-operates with the invaders then its funding ceases.

==Alien Colony Expansion==
These colonies are known to contain labs, cloning centres, surgical facilities for human and Alien experimentation. The presence of Alien colonies will generate more Alien activity without the presence of Alien Subs. In order to locate a colony an X-Com sub must patrol an area for a few hours to stand some chance of successful detection.

==Alien Surface Attacks==
When the Aliens need humans they terrorise a port, attack an island, or raid a ship. Civilians will be directly threatened, to fulfil the perverse breeding needs of the Aliens and their hideous experiments.

==Floating Base Attack==
If X-Com intercept subs are being particularly successful in sinking Alien craft then the Aliens may take some aggressive retaliatory action. This could result in a direct attack against an X-Com facility. However, the Aliens have to find an X-Com base in order to attack it, and provided Alien Subs are kept away then there should be little danger of an assault.

==Colony Supply Missions==
Once an Alien colony is constructed then it is re-supplied on a regular basis by a special supply ship. If one of these vessels is detected while touching down then it is certain that an Alien colony is nearby.

==See Also==
[[Alien Life Forms (Tftd)|Alien Life Forms]]<br>
[[USO (Tftd)|USOs]]

[[Category:Missions]]

Mind Control

2006-07-11T09:48:07Z

Trotsky: arming the civvies

Mind Control is the deadliest use of [[Psionics]] by [[Ethereal]]s or higher-ranking [[Sectoid]]s. After [[Psionic Laboratory|Psi-Lab]] training, your soldiers can attempt mind control themselves using the [[Psi-Amp]].

A successful Mind Control attack by an alien immediately converts the soldier to the alien's side for the duration of the turn and gives them a full complement of TUs to do actions with - such as shooting teammates in the back. The soldier will continue to be on the alien's side for your next turn, will use reaction fire on your own troops, and will even be represented on the map as an alien red dot when spotted. At the start of the alien's next turn, the soldier will revert back to your side (unless the enemy has performed yet another successful Mind Control attack). The same applies in reverse when you control an alien.

Wary commanders recommended dropping weapons and grenades if you fear your men may become mind-controlled (or even paniced to the point of becoming berserk - berserked soldiers shoot the nearest individual, which is almost always your own team). Mind controlled troops will even take weapons out of their backpack or reload them. Anyone who has been successfully mind controlled should be marked as psi poor (rename them on the Soldiers screen), and fired or used only for non-psi missions (no Ethereals or high-ranking Sectoids).

''Psionic control is so taxing, it only lasts for a limited period of time (that turn). It has to be re-established every turn. During this round, control is absolute, and even outright killing of the controller isn't going to snap the victim out of it, much less mere distractions. Even if no orders are given, and the controlling unit dies, the victim will still obligingly take potshots (reaction fire) at former team mates. ''

Note that aliens under mind control are considered 'friendlies' and do not give you credit or experience if you shoot them. Also, if one of your soldiers is under alien control when the last alien is shot to end the mission, that soldier will become MIA.

== Mind controlling 4-square units - a bug ==
The alien robotic ground support weapons ([[Cyberdisc]]s and [[Sectopod]]s) have psi receiver circuits which allow them to be directed psionically by their squads, much as our own HWPs use a radio link. However, these units are even more difficult to control than Ethereals. Furthermore, studies have shown that all "large" alien species in fact have a brain/ control module implanted in each of their four quarters. Each successful mind control attempt will only affect one quarter, leading to... strange things. Such as being able to attack, or be attacked by, the other quarters. Or the other three quarters take the fourth for a ride - and the creature basically attacks you as usual.

== Mind control and stunning ==
* If you stun your soldier while they are under alien mind control, they will be on your side when they recover. This is an effective way to save lives.
* The flag that remembers which side a unit was on before they were mind controlled has some bugs. The most obvious is that a mind controlled [[Civilian]] will always revert to Hostile - so arming them using the [[Exploits#Alien_Inventory_Screen|inventory screen exploit]] will not result in free support fire, but rather additional enemies.
* A less obvious bug is that a zombie under your mind control, when killed, will hatch a hostile Chrysallid that turn - who will revert to your control at the end of the turn. See [[Gaining permanent control of a Chryssalid/Tentaculat]].

--[[User:JellyfishGreen|JellyfishGreen]] 06:11, 26 Aug 2005 (PDT) & notes from Jasonred

== Mind control and reaction fire ==

Alien units will take reaction shots at other aliens that you have mind-controlled, but your soldiers will never take reaction shots at a fellow soldier who has been controlled by aliens. If one of your units is armed and mind-controlled, kill or stun them quickly ''on your turn''. If they are fully disarmed (this includes all grenades!), they are harmless, and furthermore your other units will not attack them.

Talk:Psionics

2006-07-11T09:40:19Z

Trotsky:

Just had a thought on the formula!

What if the "Psionic Combat Strength" formula was a''' ' + ' '''rather than a''' ' * ' '''?

It would mean the example Soldier would have a PCS of 111, rather than 1520, and the defending Muton would have:

Panic Chance = 76%
MC Chance = 56%

These numbers seem more reasonable, don't you think?

--[[User:Danial|Danial]] 15:32, 19 Nov 2005 (PST)
----
Right, it sounds '''much''' more reasonable now. My actual results were 1192 successes out of 2420 tries = 49.26% success rate. The MCer was right next to MC victim, and we know distance introduces ''some'' kind of decrease to base chance. That's the good news. The bad news is that I also tested psi str 95, skill 44 (and some higher skill levels) and never failed to MC ''once'' with these better MCers. Using your revision, a psi str 95, skill 44 guy should have had a success rate of 84% vs. a beginner Muton soldier (psi str 25, skill 0), not 100%. My higher-skill guys were also right next to their MC victims. So, to me the first example makes sense relative to your idea (fits base chance, plus a little distance adds a little more), but the second example counters it.

Still, it sounds WAY better than 1500% :)

I sure wish psi testing wasn't so labor intensive. I got those 2400 counts doing all that experience testing... not interested in doing it again, just for psi equations. At least not at the moment. :P ---[[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 21:12, 23 Nov 2005 (PST)
----
Question: why is the Sectopod's psionic resistance listed as N/A? I've mind-controlled sectopods (or at least one square of a sectopod) on many occasions. I usually have it shoot itself, since it can target one of its other, non-MC'ed squares. From my anecdotal experience, their psi resistance seems somewhat high. --[[User:Papa Legba|Papa Legba]] 14:19, 2 February 2006 (PST)
----
Answer: If you look on the alien summaries in the wiki they all have a PSI resistance listed, except the Sectopod. Since it's not listed anyplace I put N/A. Feel free to put it where it belongs in the list if you have enough experience to feel comfortable ranking it. --[[User:Darksun|Darksun]]
----
Darksun, I took the liberty of signing your name for you, and making a separator line. Why not say a word about yourself under [[User:Darksun]] and also, use four dashes (----) to demarcate entries. For more on the basics of wiki'ing, see NKF's "Community Portal" at the bottom of the homepage. Past all that - welcome, fellow XCOMMIE! We were all wiki noobs once. But not everybody loves XCOM. You must. Welcome aboard!

Proceeding right along to flagellating, laugh - Where are you folks talking about Sectopod psi resistance being "N/A"? I see their Psi Strength as 100, and their Psi Skill as 0 at Beginner; Psi Strenth 116 and Skill still 0 at Superhuman. In this respect, they match Cyberdisks. What do you folks mean by Psi "resistance"? Do you know the math behind the psi equations? I haven't been able to figure it out. But the stats I just listed are ones hacked out of the game... Zombie is going to present a full precis' some time soon.

Great speaking at ya ... keep on contributing, Darksun!! --[[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]]

== Alien psionic resistance ==

I haven't tried mind-controlling Cyberdiscs much, but if, as I've read elsewhere, both Sectopods and Cyberdiscs have have a Psi Strength of 100, they should probably both be classed "extremely high".
--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 10:30, 4 May 2006 (PDT)

== Psionic testing ==

I started doing some testing to figure out the psionics formula.

Initial finding: ''distance'' takes the hypotenuse into account. I'm not sure if the actual Pythagorean formula is used, but I can say this much: an Ethereal was able to panic a moderately-psi-weak soldier at 30 squares along the horizontal but not at 30 squares along the diagonal.

Second finding: the difference in "difficulty" between MC and panic is definitely 20 points (although that may not be percent). A soldier with 97 Psi strength, 0 Psi skill standing adjacent to an Ethereal Leader (60 str/45 skill) could not be panicked at all, but 96 Psi str could (often). The same soldier with 77 Psi str couldn't be mind-controlled, but could at 76 Psi str. ''With further testing, I see that 60/45 vs. 97 should succeed occasionally; I might retest this for greater precision, although the +20 still seems to hold.''

Third finding: A soldier with 99 Psi str/0 skill could ''just barely'' be panicked by an adjacent Ethereal with 63/45. I couldn't count how often the Ethereal succeeded, but it was something like 1%-2% of the time. The same soldier was panicked just as infrequently by an Ethereal with 45/63 (str & skill reversed), and much more often by an Ethereal with 54/54. This pretty strongly suggests the attack portion of the formula involves psi str & skill multiplied together.

Data points collected so far:
*Ethereal, 63/45, just barely panicked soldier, 99/0
*Ethereal 40/40 just barely panicked soldier 75/0
*Ethereal 27/27 (multiplied together = 729) just barely panicked soldier 57/0
*Ethereal 10/73 (multiplied = 730) just barely panicked soldier 57/0
**''this confirms that attacking is based on str*skill
*Ethereal 18/18 just barely panicked soldier 49/0
*Ethereal 1/1 just barely panicked soldier 43/0
*Ethereal 1/1 just barely panicked soldier 1/210
**''this confirms Psi skill / 5 is used in calculating defense; 1 + (210/5) = 43''

I also tested Ethereal 0/1 (no psi str, 1 pt. skill); it still attacked, but did not attack at 0 pts. skill no matter how high psi str was (no surprise there, otherwise all units would do psi attacks).

I ran the points through a curve-fitting program and got a nice and simple answer:

attack strength = psi str * psi skill '''/ 50'''
defense strength = psi str + (psi skill / 5)

Panic Attack chance = 44% + attack strength - defense strength
Mind Control Attack chance = 24% + attack strength - defense strength

The formula has held up under limited further testing; I'm satisfied it's correct. I invite others to test it more than I have.

The impact of distance has yet to be tested, but it should be easy to figure out now.

--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 22:03, 26 May 2006 (PDT)

----

There is a reasonable approximation to the Pythagorean formula (in the plane) that could have been used, that doesn't require loops or floating-point math:

max( | Δx | , | Δy | ) + ½min( | Δx | , | Δy | )

where Δ_ := _<sub>2</sub> - _<sub>1</sub>.

It overestimates slightly. I haven't thought through how this would generalize to 3D. [Yanked from Moria, Angband, and variants...think it's too basic to copyright, though.]

One way to test whether the distance estimator is no greater than true Pythagorean formula by working out the greatest distance (pure x or pure y) that MC/Panic is not 0%, then testing on a diagonal with a "computed same". An integer-math overestimator (like the above) would by 0%.

Muliple of 5 allows replacing the diagonal with a suitably scaled 3-4-5 triangle...should work as well for testing.

--[[User:Zaimoni|Zaimoni]] 2:38PM, 26 May 2006 (CDT)

----

Wow... good approach to teasing this out, Ethereal!

Am I doing this right? I plugged in numbers for Muton, 25/0, Me 95/44, and got 83% MC Base Chance... But in much repeated testing (when learning about experience counters) it seemed quite solid that I was MC'ing him about half the time. Say 45-55% of the time. This was when right next to each other. Is 83% right for your equations?

Zaimoni, re: your equation, see [[Explosions#Distance_from_Ground_Zero]]. XCOM seems to use a fairly simple approach that doesn't involve Pythagoras per se. Since it's based on a very old engine, much of its stuff is integer based. Cool deal on the deltas and other wiki symbols - I wish I knew about them sooner! Actually I know where wiki symbol tables are... just didn't bother to look up so many symbols. :P

Nobody has tackled 3D distance yet, but I may soon, in studying illumination.

Once the equations are well known (maybe they are already), I imagine some cool 3D topographical graphs of the various factors (skill and strength, you vs. enemy) could be made. Do either of you have surface graph s/w at hand? All I've got at the moment is Excel. :(

Great work! Also thanks for cleaning up the page in general, Eth.

---[[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 22:24, 2 June 2006 (PDT)

----

I suspect you've misremembered the details of your tests. The 49.26% success rate out of 2400 trials that you quote above would have been for your 95/16 soldier doing panics, not MCs: 44 + [95*16/50 = 30.4] - 25 = 49.4%, almost exactly the same as your 49.26%. A 95/44 doing panics would always succeed: 102.6%. A 95/44 doing MCs would succeed 82.6% of the time.

--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 11:06, 3 June 2006 (PDT)

----

Ah, there's that data. Thanks for reminding me. I can't remember what I put in which discussions and was going to dig it out of my db.

No, it was MCs. Indeed I relied on the lack of seeing an enemy, if I got moving too fast and couldn't remember if I successfully MC'd. Attention starts to wander with such highly repetitive testing. This was before I realized the following...

Anyone doing repetitive psi testing can readily and accurately get the number of positive results from the [[UNITREF.DAT]] Psi byte [84] if you work it right. Note the turn you start psi attempts. Then do exactly 2 or 3 psi Attempts each turn, as your TUs allow. Then note the turn you stop and get the delta. Turns x Attempts/Turn = Attempts. A failed psi attempt adds 1 to [84] and a successful attempt adds 3, so the number of successes is: ([84]-Attempts)/2. Be careful during testing marathons because the byte wraps around at 255 (=85 straight successes, or 28.3 turns at 3 successful attempts per turn). Then it starts counting again so actually even this can be dealt with by adding 255 if you're on top of it. If anybody wants an applet that shows Unitref experience values on the fly, let me know. It's great for building experience. Right now it's embedded within my mdb though... I'd have to tease it out.

I'm using XCOM DOS which I once ran XcomUtil on, if that matters.

Hmm.

---[[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 12:21, 3 June 2006 (PDT)

----

Distance...ok, no reason for the game to use multiple 2-d distance formulæ.

I have software set up to render 3D graphs. Is there anything on the site that jumps out as "would like to see first"? I'd rather wait until the psi formulæ are calibrated first before graphing those.

Ethereal: What I see posted is test data for ethereal MC human. Do you have test data for human MC ethereal as well? [That would test whether the game calculations are symmetrical.]

---[[User:Zaimoni|Zaimoni]] 2:37, 3 June 2006 (EDT)

----

It ''is'' possible X-COM units get a different formula from aliens -- I only tested an alien doing psi, as it was more automated -- the thing would psi without my having to control it.

I'm not not volunteering to test x-com units for the time being -- it's a bit more laborious -- but if I ''had'' to test it, I'd do a small number of trials of 35/16, 50/51, and 100/51 soldiers trying to MC (not panic) an adjacent Muton, which should succeed 10.2%, 50% and 101% of the time.

Feel free to test it before I do. ;-P

Oh, and nice work on the flares, Mike.

--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 12:50, 3 June 2006 (PDT)

----

Sounds cool, Zaimoni... As for "like to see",

Once my troops have psi ability, I try to get 90+ psi strength guys. Then the question becomes "at psi str 90, at what psi skill point are most/all aliens certain to be MC'ed?" In my experience, it's somewhere around skill 40-60... Anything that might show this, or show how you fare relative to aliens at, say, STR 90, is something I've always wanted. However it might be done. In one sense you could simply plug the "worst" psi alien (Ethereal CDR?) into Eth's equations to get the final answer. But it'd be good to see the lay of the land.

If you make the simplifying assumption that many of your targets are psi skill 0, there's one less variable. Additional graphs can be done later just for the psi-capable aliens... first things first though...

Taking the above into consideration, then, XCOM Psi Skill (Str=90) vs. Alien Psi Strength (Skill=0) vs. Success rate is one 3D graph that could be made. If you can do a 4th dimension as color, you could replace the Success rate axis with XCOM Psi Str, then have color indicate success rate, from primary red for "no way" through yellow for "sometimes" to primary green for "always". Or something like that. It'd also be nice but not critical to have annotations for where various aliens lie along their dimension. I can supply this info if you want. Which reminds me: Eth, Zombie and others found some errors in Aztec's table (which came from the OSG). Just a few percent of them, but they're definitely there (I can't remember where). I've hacked alien stats straight out of GEOSCAPE... see the alien stats page. I believe Zombie has found these to be correct, but he has not yet given the final word.

Zai, as far as I'm concerned, you can model using EC's equation already, if you have the time... I'm sure his equations are very close, if not spot on, and even if not, it may show key places to test and otherwise support further testing. E.g., both aliens and XCOM can readily have their relevant values hacked to test for boundary conditions of 0% and 100% success. Plus once it's set up it shouldn't be hard to tweak the equation and voila, the graphs update. But if you don't have the time - eh, it's all volunteer work anyway.

Eth, I suppose it's possible aliens vs. humans is different. They are known to have some differences in functionality, such as night vision. I don't know if I'll be able to test, but it definitely intrigues me. BTW I said somewhere else that I was looking into automating the XCOM interface in order to do psi testing. I have concluded that I can't do it. At least not the way I was hoping to. Oh well. Still, my belated realization that one can use Unitref[84] to count psi successes is a real boon to repetitive testing. So we'll see. Thanks for suggestions on what to test if I do. By the way, did I do that 83% correct? I just want to make sure I'm doing the math right.

Thanks re: the flares!

---[[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 21:08, 3 June 2006 (PDT)

----

The influence of distance still needs to be tested, although it doesn't seem to be an enormous factor. Rather than a complicated graph, I think a few charts with distance = 1, 10 and 20 would probably tell the story more clearly. The distance formula might even prove to be something really simple, like +1 distance = -1% chance.

The hardest aliens to MC are Sectopods and Cyberdiscs: look at the [[Psionics#Summary_of_Alien_Psionic_Resistance]] section I added. At distance 1 on Superhuman you'll need 93 to 192 Attack Strength to achieve 1% to 100% chance. Assuming Psi Str 90, that's Skill 52 to 107.

Now vs. the strongest attacker: Superhuman Ethereal Commander, attack str 88. You'll need a Resistance of 132 to be totally immune to panics from one adjacent to you -- that's str 100, skill 160, or str 90, skill 210. Against MC, it's str 100/skill 60 or str 90/skill 110. In practice you won't be right next to them, so you can probably go a bit lower. They'll focus on the weakest soldiers anyhow, which in practice means a couple of decoys in with some supertroopers is a good strategy.

82.6%, yes.

--[[User:Ethereal Cereal|Ethereal Cereal]] 21:51, 3 June 2006 (PDT)

OpenOffice.org is CPU-bound when converting the graph from 2D to 3D. [XCOM Psi Str/Sk 90/0-107, alien Psi Str/Sk 25-116/0; I'm on a 1GHz Pentium III/512MB] Not sure how ColdFusion single-IP demo would do yet (would have to reinstall), but the UI options look better in OpenOffice.org.

I'll attempt the transition later today (when I know I'll be away from the system and positively not working). I just need to be able to take a screenshot.

You probably already noticed this: even if a bug permitted a 0 Psi Skill operative to use a Psi Amp, the success chance of MC is still negative.

Also (thinking about the testing anomaly MikeTheRed had): The floating-point change in success rate from an increase of 1 in Psi Skill is 1.9 at 95 Psi Str. Integer truncation would make this 1...leaving the floating-point formula overestimating by 39.6%. At the precision of reporting, this works.

[Edit: but does *not* work against the initial regression. So, no good.]

---[[User:Zaimoni|Zaimoni]] 9:51, 4 June 2006 (CDT)

Got a chance to run the bar graph this morning...no go, OpenOffice.org doesn't like a horde of data points on both axes.

But...this particular graph is essentially a plane. It should be hand-drawable, even if the more complicated ones aren't.

---[[User:Zaimoni|Zaimoni]] 8:35, 5 June 2006 (CDT)

----

Hi Zaimoni... I'm not sure I understand the differences you talk about. You mean you can get your s/w to make a graph where you've specified the points by hand? Anyway, if you take a shot at most anything, we'd be able to give feedback... a picture's worth a thousand words. Thanks for working on it! ---[[User:MikeTheRed|MikeTheRed]] 06:36, 5 June 2006 (PDT)

Somewhat. Layer 1 of the spreadsheet is the raw data to be graphed (took about five minutes to set up). If I was going to commit to this representation, I'd go back and make the XCOM Psi Str and Alien Psi Skill configurable. So it's trying to graph data points (the MC success chances) on 0-107 by 25-116. I was planning to rotate the view after getting the initial graph up on Layer 2. [Time loading is not favorable for working further on this today.]

OpenOffice.org's autoscaling isn't compensating properly. I haven't checked how to suppress the "color key" that was auto-generated for Alien Psi Str — it's not leaving enough space for the vertical bars to even be 1 pixel in size. The result is decidedly flat, with "correct" vertical range.

As a bar graph, I could get away with subsampling (but don't have a clean way to do it). Yes, it should be possible to correctly graph this (as a plane in three-dimensional space) with only four data points: the corners.

---[[User:Zaimoni|Zaimoni]] 12:39, 7 June 2006 (CDT)

== Psychic Farm ==
There's a sort of tactic I use which may fit into this article. It's blatant simple: building a base with a couple Living Quarters and as many
Psionic Laboratories as possible, hire the entire population of a small town and get them into psionic training. There may be a pre-selection for soldiers with appalling stats. I don't know what happens to veterans, but in my games by the time I get Psionic Labs money is not a constraint anymore, so I find this industrial breeding quite viable. What do the savvy say about this?--[[User:Trotsky|Trotsky]] 02:40, 11 July 2006 (PDT)

Talk:Coelacanth/Gauss

2006-07-11T06:26:35Z

Trotsky:

Does the Coelacanth/Gauss require Manta or Hammerhead craft research?

----

Manta. Manta + Craft Gauss Cannon to be exact.

- [[User:NKF|NKF]]

----

Thanks. By the way, I can't seem to get the table to look properly, anyone more capable than me may want to check that out.--[[User:Trotsky|Trotsky]] 23:26, 10 July 2006 (PDT)

Talk:Coelacanth/Gauss

2006-07-11T06:26:28Z

Trotsky:

Coelacanth/Gauss

2006-07-11T06:25:29Z

Trotsky: requeriments

[[Image:CoelacanthGauss.gif|right]]
"Gauss technology provides a powerful weapon system for SWS's. Offering heavy firepower compared with earlier models, and uses proprietary X-Com technology."

The Coelacanth/Gauss uses a replica of the same tracked chassis used by the Gas Cannon and Aqua Jet Coelacanths. Therefore it suffers the same limitations as the two earlier SWS.

The Coelacanth/Gauss is vastly superior in that it has a high powered variation of the Heavy Gauss as a turret. It is more powerful and efficient than the handheld variant.

== Vital Statistics ==
<table>
<tr><td>Cost:</td><td>Manufacture only. $500,000</td></tr>
<tr><td>Manufacturing Requirements:</td><td>1200 Engineer hours</td></tr>
<tr><td>Research Requirements:</td><td>Gauss Cannon, Manta</td></tr>
</table>

{{Tracked Tank Stats }}

{| {{stdTable}}
|- {{stdTable Heading}}
| colspan = "3" | '''Gauss Cannon Specifications'''
|-
| colspan = "3" {{stdTable Sub Heading}} | '''Ammunition'''
|-
| Type || '''Gauss Beam'''
|-
| Damage || '''120 Laser'''
|-
| Rounds || '''50'''
|-
| Manufacture Price || '''$200'''
|-
| Manufacture Requirements || '''Gauss Cannon, Manta'''
|-
| Sale Price || '''$200'''
|- {{stdTale Sub Heading}}
| '''Firing Modes'''
| Accuracy
| Cost
|-
| Aimed
| '''85%'''(51%)
| '''75%'''(52)
|-
| Snap
| '''50%'''(30%)
| '''33%'''(23)
|-
| Auto || '''n/a''' || '''n/a'''
|-
|  
|-
| colspan = "3" | <small>Numbers in parenthesis are the actual values after modified by the chassis' abilities. <br />Actual costs are in fixed [[TU|Time Unit]]s</small>
|}

==Notes==

== See Also ==
[[Template: Tracked Tank Stats | Tracked Tank Stats]]

[[Category:Submersible Weapons Systems]]

Sonic Pulser

2006-07-10T17:54:02Z

Trotsky: image

==General Information==

==Weapon Statistics==
[[Image:SonicPulser.gif|right]]

'''Sonic Pulser'''
* Damage: 120 High Explosive
* Selling Cost: $14,850
* Build Cost: $6,700
** Zrbite: 2

==See Also==
* [[Weapons_(Tftd)|Weapons]]

File:SonicPulser.gif

2006-07-10T17:53:30Z

Trotsky:

Sonic Cannon

2006-07-10T17:52:56Z

Trotsky: images

==General Information==

==Weapon Statistics==
[[Image:SonicCannon.gif|right]]

'''Sonic Cannon'''
* Firing Accuracy:
** 80% Snapshot
** 115% Aimed

* Firing Cost:
** 50% Snapshot
** 70% Aimed

* Selling Cost: $171,600
* Build Cost: $122,000
** Aqua Plastics: 1
** Zrbite: 0

==Ammo Statistics==
[[Image:SonicCannonClip.gif|right]]

'''Sonic Cannon Clip'''
* Damage: 130 Sonic
* Ammo Capacity: 10
* Selling Cost: $9,590
* Build Cost: $6,000
** Aqua Plastics: 0
** Zrbite: 3

==See Also==
* [[Weapons_(Tftd)|Weapons]]

Sonic-Blasta Rifle

2006-07-10T17:52:17Z

Trotsky: images

The sonic Blasta-Rifle is a very minor upgrade to the [[Sonic Pistol]] that provides a small accuracy and damage increase at the cost of speed, clip size, a two handed grip, and a longer barrel. The sonic Blasta-Rifle, like the [[Thermic Lance]], is perhaps one of the least remarkable of its series.

Do not misunderstand, it is a powerful weapon that can do tremendous amounts of damage in the right hands. It outclasses any ballistic human weaponry by its sheer power alone. However, it doesn't particularly excel at anything, and also, being a sonic weapon, it lacks an auto fire mode.

In a twisted way of thinking, one could argue that this was the Blasta Rifle's strength. It builds on minor aspects of the gun above and below it in small ways.

So should you go for that extra shot from the pistol, go the middle ground and use the rifle, or lose a shot but gain brute force and inhuman accuracy? That's a tactical decision best left as a practical exercise.

== Weapon Statistics ==
[[Image:Sonic-BlastaRifle.gif|right]]

'''Sonic Blasta Rifle'''
* Firing Accuracy:
** 75% Snapshot
** 110% Aimed

* Firing Cost:
** 40% Snapshot
** 60% Aimed

* Selling Cost: $126,500
* Build Cost: $88,000
** Aqua Plastics: 1
** Zrbite: 0

== Ammo Statistics ==
[[Image:Sonic-BlastaRifleClip.gif|right]]

'''Sonic Blasta Rifle Clip'''
* Damage: 95 Sonic
* Ammo Capacity: 15
* Selling Cost: $6,290
* Build Cost: $3,000
** Aqua Plastics: 0
** Zrbite: 2

== Sonic Pistol -v- Sonic Rifle Comparison ==



== UFO/TFTD equivalent comparison ==
In comparison to its UFO equivalent, the [[Plasma Rifle]], the Plasma Rifle stood out for its highly accurate snap shot that surpassed the [[Heavy Plasma]]'s snap shot accuracy - in fact, it's technically the Heavy Plasma snapshot accuracy plus the kneeling modifier. This makes it an ideal sniper weapon. The Blasta-Rifle is more powerful than the Plasma Rifle, but it lacks all the features that made the Plasma Rifle unique amongst its respective weapon series.

==See Also==
* [[Weapons_(Tftd)|Weapons]]

Sonic Pistol

2006-07-10T17:51:19Z

Trotsky: images

==General Information==

The Sonic Pistol is the first in the sonic line of weapons used by the aliens. It offers a surprising amount of power for such a tiny package. It even surpasses the [[Heavy Gauss]] in every way except its construction costs and its aimed accuracy.

The outstanding features that secures a niche for the sonic pistol in the sonic heirarchy are its speed, huge ammo clip and its ability to be operated in a single hand. None of these traits are shared by the [[Sonic Cannon]].

The Sonic Pistol is also quite a match for the [[Gauss Rifle]] for snap shot speed and accuracy, but it offers more power. Unfortunately, the only thing that lets the sonic pistol down, and pretty much the entire sonic weapon heirarchy, is its lack of automatic fire.

The sonic pistol is therefore an outstanding weapon for fast moving scouts, grenadiers or heavy weapon soldiers that require a sidearm. If worse comes to worse, the sonic pistol can also be used as you primary weapon. However, it tends to quickly become an exotic weapon as the aliens will quickly move on to the [[Sonic Cannon]]s as their standard issue weapons.

It is curious to note that the [[Sonic Blasta Rifle]] and the [[Sonic Cannon]] are simply made up of the sonic pistol with different attachments.

==Comparison to UFO Mirror: [[Plasma Pistol]]==
To compare the Sonic Pistol and the Plasma Pistol is like comparing apples and oranges. The sonic pistol greatly surpasses the [[Plasma Pistol]] in every way except that it lacks and auto fire mode, which admittingly evens things up again.

The sonic pistol is more comparable to the [[Plasma Rifle]] in terms of power, but lacks its accuracy.

==Weapon Statistics==
[[Image:SonicPistol.gif|right]]

'''Sonic Pistol'''
* Firing Accuracy:
** 65% Snapshot
** 85% Aimed

* Firing Cost:
** 30% Snapshot
** 50% Aimed

* Selling Cost: $84,000
* Build Cost: $56,000
** Aqua Plastics: 1
** Zrbite: 0

==Ammo Statistics==
[[Image:SonicPistolClip.gif|right]]

'''Sonic Pistol Clip'''
* Damage: 80 Sonic
* Ammo Capacity: 20
* Selling Cost: $4,400
* Build Cost: $2,000
** Aqua Plastics: 0
** Zrbite: 1

==See Also==
* [[Weapons_(Tftd)|Weapons]]

==Rough Notes==

Temporary Draft Notes: (For deletion at a future date)
* Sonic pistol has huge capacity clip: 20 rounds (For TFTD this is huge!)
* Sonic pistol surpasses Heavy Gauss in terms of everything except cost and aimed accuracy. Amazing how much power it has for a mere pistol!
* Comparison: At 80 damage, is comparable to Plasma Rifle from original
* Comparison with UFO counterpart: Blows Plasma Pistol out of water in terms of usefulness - but lacks auto-fire, so evens up a bit.
* Comparison with Sonic Blasta Rifle: Does 15 points less damage, slightly less accurate, but has an extra attack per turn and is one handed. Another strategic decision to make.
* Weapon Combos: Gauss Pistol or Sonic Pulsers recommended.
* See Also: Sonic Blasta Rifle, Sonic Cannon

File:SonicCannonClip.gif

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Trotsky:

File:SonicCannon.gif

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Trotsky:

File:Sonic-BlastaRifleClip.gif

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Trotsky:

File:Sonic-BlastaRifle.gif

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Trotsky:

File:SonicPistolClip.gif

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Trotsky:

File:SonicPistol.gif

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Trotsky:

Dart Gun

2006-07-10T17:35:04Z

Trotsky: image

== General Information ==
[[Image:DartGun.gif|right]]

When the world governments handed out the best of the best weapons they could muster to allow X-Com to fight the new alien menace, most Commanders will agree that they must have scraped the bottom of the barrel to have produced the Dart Gun.

The Dart Gun mirrors the [[X-COM]] standard issue [[Pistol]] used in the first alien war. The Dart Gun unfortunately does not match the [[Pistol]] in terms of its effectiveness. It does continue in the [[Pistol]]'s tradition of being one handed, fast and very cheap. Being built to work in and out of water, it has very little stopping power.<br>
<br>
The Dart Guns can be used effectively in combat to a certain extent, but are more suitable for training purposes. Dart Guns also work well as sidearms for soldiers carrying launchers of any type - although recommended only as a last resort. Fast moving scouts can also make use of the Dart Gun.<br>
<br>
The [[Gauss Pistol]] and the [[Sonic Pistol]] are substantially superior replacements for the Dart Gun and the [[Jet Harpoon]] - however the Dart Gun is still the cheapest of the one-handed weapons.

== Weapon Stats ==
== Ammo Stats ==

==See Also==
* [[Weapons_(Tftd)|Weapons]]

Jet Harpoon

2006-07-10T17:35:02Z

Trotsky: image

== General Information ==
[[Image:JetHarpoon.gif|right]]

The Jet Harpoon fires a high pressure jet propelled harpoon with an armour piercing tip. Normally used by divers for shark hunting and other nasty sea creatures, the harpoons have been adapted as [[X-Com]]'s standard issue underwater rifle. They can be fired in an out of water with no loss in power or accuracy.

The Jet Harpoon is equipped with an automatic harpoon loader, allowing for a rapid firing three round burst. Extended use of automatic fire will rapidly deplete the Jet Harpoon's 10 harpoon magazine.

Because the aliens in the second invasion have tougher hides than their predecessors, the Jet Harpoon does not come off as being a powerful weapon. Nonetheless, it has sufficient stopping power to defeat most of the earlier alien races that you'll meet, such as [[Aquatoid]]s and [[Gillman|Gillmen]].

The [[Gauss Pistol]] and the [[Gauss Rifle]] quickly outmode the Jet Harpoons. Given sufficient funds, it is highly recommended that Jet Harpoon be replaced with a gauss weapon as the standard issue 'cheap' weapon. [[Gas Cannon]]s are also good Jet Harpoon replacements for strong aquanauts.

== Vital Statistics ==

== Usage Notes ==

==See Also==
* [[Weapons_(Tftd)|Weapons]]

Gas Cannon

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Trotsky: image

== General Information ==
[[Image:GasCannon.gif|right]]

The Gas Cannon is a powerful infantry weapon that uses highly pressurized gas to launch a shell through the water or air at great speeds. It can load three different shell types. The first type has an armour piercing tip that can punch two times more armour than the [[Jet Harpoon]]. The next and most popular shell is tipped with high explosives. The final is round that releases a phosphorous explosion on contact. The three different ammunition types allows the user to tailor the weapon to suit the situation by simply loading the correct shells.

Unlike its rapid firing counterpart, the [[Hydro-Jet Cannon]], the Gas Cannon can be fired in and out of the water and offers more stopping power. Deciding whether to trade off between losing an automatic attack or gaining the ability to use it anywhere, or even vice versa, is a strategic decision best left to the Commander to decide.

Like all heavy weapons, the Gas Cannon is slow, bulky and requires a fair amount of strength to weild properly and carry several additional ammo belts. Nevertheless, it remains as one of the more popular starting weapons. Commanders that have progressed far into the war have been known to continue using the Gas Cannon along side the newer weapons, if perhaps only in smaller quantities and for use in highly specialised purposes.

== Vital Statistics ==

== Notes ==

* The Gas Cannon is the only weapon that can properly set fire on land based missions. In addition to that, phosphor rounds work twice as well on land than in the sea.

* The Gas Cannon's immediate First Alien War mirror is the [[Heavy Cannon]]. The Gas Cannon represents a significant upgrade over the former in all areas. It has a larger clip and does much more damage. But like the original, it retains the Heavy Cannon's versatility.

==See Also==
* [[Weapons_(Tftd)|Weapons]]
* [[Hydro-Jet Cannon]]
* [[Torpedo Launcher]]

Hydro-Jet Cannon

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Trotsky: image

== General Information ==
[[Image:Hydro-JetCannon.gif|right]]

The Hydro-Jet Cannon is a semi-automatic firing variant of the [[Gas Cannon]]. It is identical in function with the addition of a three shot burst and a larger shell feeding system at the cost of a small amount of stopping power.

The Hydro-Jet Cannon's one major fault is its locking mechanism that prevents it from being fired normally on land. A similar mechanism can be found on the [[Torpedo Launcher]] and [[Disrupter Pulse Launcher]].

== Vital Statistics ==

==See Also==
* [[Weapons_(Tftd)|Weapons]]

Torpedo Launcher

2006-07-10T17:34:56Z

Trotsky: image

== General Information ==
[[Image:TorpedoLauncher.gif|right]]

The Torpedo Launcher is a simple tube that allows Aquanauts to launch three types of man portable torpedoes. In all respects, it's an underwater [[Rocket Launcher]], and any strategies with the latter can easily be applied to the former.

Like the [[Hydro-Jet Cannon]], the Torpedo Launcher has a safety mechanism that prevents torpedos from being launched when this weapon is out of the water. While the Torpedos can be launched on land through highly sophisticated fiddling (to be blunt - by way of reaction-fire), it is very difficult to perform and can prove to be very hazardous.

The ammunition that a Torpedo Launcher can take are a Small Torpedo, Large Torpedo and a Phosphor Torpedo. The Small Torpedo is a light weight torpedo that can be easily tansported by weaker aquanauts. The Large Torpedo is the heaviest and most powerful of the man-made torpedos. The Phosphor torpedo is a specialised torpedo used to rapidly illuminate large areas, and maybe burn enemies in the process.

The Torpedo Launcher is superceded by the vastly more superior [[Disrupter Pulse Launcher]].

==Vital Statistics==

== Notes ==

* Once again, a BIG step down from it's previous counterpart the Rocket Launcher. Firstly it's not as effective on the more powerful aliens. More importantly, you can't fire it on land! (though it can reaction fire due to a bug)<br><br>It is still the most powerful weapon you can get your hands on without researching better weapons, but land missions pop up often enough to cause problems.

* Note: Phosphor rounds are not very effective when used underwater. Therefore the use of the phosphor torpedo, be it for lighting or for burning is highly questionable.

==See Also==
* [[Weapons_(Tftd)|Weapons]]
* [[Disrupter Pulse Launcher]]

Thermal Tazer

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Trotsky: image

==Thermal Tazer General Information==
[[Image:ThermalTazer.gif|right]]

The Thermal Tazer is similar in function to a shock baton except that it works by freezing its target into a severe state of hypothermia.

The tazer is a very reliable device for incapacitating enemy targets, however it must be used in close quarters. Until you obtain a [[Thermal Shok Launcher]], the tazer is one of the few starting weapons that can be used to easily disable a [[Lobsterman]].

==Weapon Vital Statistics==

== Usage Notes ==

==See Also==
* [[Weapons_(Tftd)|Weapons]]
* [[Thermal Shok Launcher]]

Magna-Blast Grenade

2006-07-10T17:34:54Z

Trotsky: image

== General Information ==
[[Image:Magna-BlastGrenade.gif|right]]

The Magna Blast Grenade is a basic standard issue grenade.

The Magna Blast Grenade is an unusual grenade that can be thrown underwater as if it were on land. Through highly convoluted explanations and other scientific explanations that boggle the mind, its behaviour is akin to how Ion Beam Accelerators allow USOs to completely ignores any form of resistance and simply glides through the water.

The Magna Blast is the prototype for all the grenades and thrown explosives that are used by X-Com. Also new to X-Com grenades are tougher protective casings that allow grenades to be invulnerable to explosions.

As a throwback to the first alien war, all grenades also come with a timer and a safety handle for controlled detonation.

== Vital Statistics==

== Usage Notes ==

* Magna Blast Grenades cannot be destroyed by other Magna Blast Grenades

==See Also==
* [[Weapons_(Tftd)|Weapons]]

File:Magna-BlastGrenade.gif

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Trotsky:

File:ThermalTazer.gif

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Trotsky:

File:TorpedoLauncher.gif

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Trotsky:

File:Hydro-JetCannon.gif

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File:GasCannon.gif

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File:JetHarpoon.gif

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File:DartGun.gif

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Trotsky:

Sub Armaments

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== AJAX Torpedo==

[[Image:Ajax.gif|right]]
The AJAX Torpedo is the standard weapon of undersea combat the world over. Employed as an accurate and powerful deterrent.

Damage: 60

Range: 32 Km

Accuracy: 70%

Re-load time: 17 seconds

Availabile at game start, purchasable.

Cost: $3000 each

The AJAX Torpedo Launcher costs $16,000, delivery time from purchase is 48 game hours.

== D.U.P Head==

[[Image:DUPHead.gif|right]]
Depleted uranium pellet headed weapon technology is relatively new, and this is the first commercial aquatic weapon system to employ it fully.

Damage: 110

Range: 50 Km

Accuracy: 80%

Re-load time: 21 seconds

Availabile at game start, purchasable.

Cost: $9000 each

The D.U.P. Head Launcher costs $17,000, delivery time from purchase is 48 game hours.

== Craft Gas Cannon ==

[[Image:CraftGasCannon.gif|right]]
A compressed gas powered cannon system firing solid bolts with high armour piercing capability.

Damage: 15

Range: 8 Km

Accuracy: 25%

Re-load time: 3 seconds

Availabile at game start, purchasable.

Cost: $1,240 per 50 shells

The Craft Gas Cannon costs $30,000, delivery time from purchase is 48 game hours.

== Gauss Cannon ==

[[Image:GaussCannon.gif|right]]
The gauss weapon is newly developed X-COM technology. This system's particle accelerator is powered by a compact, liquid nitrogen cooled, fusion reactor.

Damage: 90

Range: 20 Km

Accuracy: 35%

Re-load time: 4 seconds

== Sonic Oscillator ==

[[Image:SonicOscillator.gif|right]]
A powerful auditory oscillator creates waves of sonic force. Destroying the target by vibrating its molecular bonds apart.

Damage: 150

Range: 55 Km

Accuracy: 50%

Re-load time: 5 seconds

== P.W.T Cannon ==

[[Image:PWTCannon.gif|right]]
The pulse wave torpedo utilises a superheated fuel system and an extremely dense warhead which can punch through most alloys.

Damage: 200

Range: 60 km

Accuracy: 100 %

Reload time: 28 seconds

File:SonicOscillator.gif

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Trotsky:

File:GaussCannon.gif

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Trotsky:

File:PWTCannon.gif

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Trotsky:

File:CraftGasCannon.gif

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Trotsky:

File:DUPHead.gif

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Trotsky:

File:Ajax.gif

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Trotsky:

Talk:Coelacanth/Gauss

2006-07-10T17:13:58Z

Trotsky:

Does the Coelacanth/Gauss require Manta or Hammerhead craft research?

Coelacanth/Gauss

2006-07-10T17:13:18Z

Trotsky:

[[Image:CoelacanthGauss.gif|right]]
"Gauss technology provides a powerful weapon system for SWS's. Offering heavy firepower compared with earlier models, and uses proprietary X-Com technology."

The Coelacanth/Gauss uses a replica of the same tracked chassis used by the Gas Cannon and Aqua Jet Coelacanths. Therefore it suffers the same limitations as the two earlier SWS.

The Coelacanth/Gauss is vastly superior in that it has a high powered variation of the Heavy Gauss as a turret. It is more powerful and efficient than the handheld variant.

== Vital Statistics ==
<table>
<tr><td>Cost:</td><td>Manufacture only. $500,000</td></tr>
<tr><td>Manufacturing Requirements:</td><td>1200 Engineer hours</td></tr>
<tr><td>Research Requirements:</td><td>Gauss Cannon</td></tr>
</table>

{{Tracked Tank Stats }}

{| {{stdTable}}
|- {{stdTable Heading}}
| colspan = "3" | '''Gauss Cannon Specifications'''
|-
| colspan = "3" {{stdTable Sub Heading}} | '''Ammunition'''
|-
| Type || '''Gauss Beam'''
|-
| Damage || '''120 Laser'''
|-
| Rounds || '''50'''
|-
| Manufacture Price || '''$200'''
|-
| Manufacture Requirements || '''?'''
|-
| Sale Price || '''$200'''
|- {{stdTale Sub Heading}}
| '''Firing Modes'''
| Accuracy
| Cost
|-
| Aimed
| '''85%'''(51%)
| '''75%'''(52)
|-
| Snap
| '''50%'''(30%)
| '''33%'''(23)
|-
| Auto || '''n/a''' || '''n/a'''
|-
|  
|-
| colspan = "3" | <small>Numbers in parenthesis are the actual values after modified by the chassis' abilities. <br />Actual costs are in fixed [[TU|Time Unit]]s</small>
|}

==Notes==

== See Also ==
[[Template: Tracked Tank Stats | Tracked Tank Stats]]

[[Category:Submersible Weapons Systems]]

Coelacanth/Aqua Jet

2006-07-10T16:54:38Z

Trotsky: categoty

[[Image:CoelacanthAquaJet.gif|right]]
"This submersible is armed with Aqua-Jet torpedoes. This weapon system only functions underwater. Ensure stores are well stocked with Aqua-Jet Torpedoes."

This is one of the first two [[:Category:Heavy Weapons Platforms|HWP]]s available to new [[X-COM]] Commanders.

This SWS launches explosive torpedoes toward the enemy that explode on contact with a solid object - be it an enemy unit or a wall. These torpedoes are not as powerful as the large torpedoes used by the [[Torpedo Launcher]] but still pack a considerable punch.

The Coelacanth/Aqua Jet can remain useful to the very end of the game even if its destructive power is surpassed by the [[Displacer/PWT]]. Aqua Jet Missles are readily available and cost little compared to the P.W. Torpedoes required by the [[Displacer/PWT]].

== Vital Statistics ==
<table>
<tr><td>Cost:</td><td>$480,000</td></tr>
</table>

{{Tracked Tank Stats}}

{| {{stdTable}}
|- {{stdTable Heading}}
| colspan = "3" | '''Torpedo Launcher Specifications'''
|-
| colspan = "3" {{stdTable Sub Heading}}| Ammuntion
|-
| Type || '''Aqua Jet Missiles'''
|-
| Damage || '''90 High Explosive'''
|-
| Rounds || '''8'''
|-
| Purchase Price || '''$3,000'''
|-
| Sale Price || '''$2,250'''
|- {{stdTable Sub Heading}}
| '''Firing Modes'''
| Accuracy
| Cost
|-
| Aimed
| '''115%'''(69%)
| '''75%'''(52)
|-
| Snap
| '''55%'''(33%)
| '''45%'''(31)
|-
| Auto || '''n/a''' || '''n/a'''
|-
|  
|-
| colspan = "3" | <small>Numbers in parenthesis are the actual values after modified by the chassis' abilities.
Actual costs are in fixed [[TU|Time Unit]]s</small>
|}

== Notes ==

== See Also ==
[[Template:Tracked Tank Stats|Tracked Tank Stats]]

[[Category:Submersible Weapons Systems]]

Category:Submersible Weapons Systems

2006-07-10T16:53:45Z

Trotsky:

See: [[Submersible Weapons Systems]]

File:CoelacanthGauss.gif

2006-07-10T16:50:16Z

Trotsky:

Coelacanth/Aqua Jet

2006-07-10T16:38:36Z

Trotsky: