The Google Document is unreadable, due to no word wrap being set, though downloading allowed me to see what was missing. I could not alter anything online, to change this, with the View only setting enforced.
All I could see of the first line was;
This mod is a core mod, a highlander mod, whatever you want to call it. Only one highlander mod can be installed at a t
When it should show;
This mod is a core mod, a highlander mod, whatever you want to call it. Only one highlander mod can be installed at a time, so I have tried to make this mod as generic and mod friendly as possible, modifying as few classes where possible. No classes are extended, only directly modified, so theoretically any mod should be compatible with this one
This affects every line, longer than the example above.
It defeats the point of having online docs, if they have to be downloaded to read them.
{Edit} Also Installing using NMM fails to put mods into the "ABECoreMod" folder.
That folder should be in the archive, and it's not.
So files are placed inside the mods folder, which has no effect if this is the only mod to do that, but required files can be replaced, if more than one mod does this.
A simple fix for the more alert users, but many rely on NMM to do things automatically.
Better to upload a new archive with the Folder having the same name as the "*.XComMod" file. In this case; ABECoreMod
Bountygiver / -bg-'s Larger spawn points is a Highlander mod (overrides XComGame.upk) which increases the XCOM spawn point from 3x3 to 5x5 (by default).
Maybe an option to consider? Couldn't see it mentioned in the readme.txt
If anyone has suggestions, drop them here and I'll consider them! I've got a list of things to add somewhere, I just need to remember where I put it.
Just like to bump this one up.
For extra funkiness points the MCM options could be "Initial squad size: X" and "Maximum squad size: Y"
Difference between X and Y would drive how big the XCOM spawn point square would need to be (adding 1 for extra characters like escorted VIPs)
And then, one could create additional GTS Tactics to get from X to Y (as BlueRaja's "More Squad Size Upgrades" mod does). I guess a single, generic icon would be needed for all of the "squad size" tactics.
Some kind of Supplies cost would need to be defined too, maybe previous tier cost +75.
Hrm, then there's the Skyranger ready screen and fitting all those new bods on. BlueRaja's mod (IIRC) squeezes the sizes of the soldier info boxes to fit them all on. -bg-'s "Squad Select Fix For 7 Soldiers" adds a scroll bar.
Double hrm. And then this is going to run up against Long War Toolbox and its changes. Perhaps there's some way of detecting if that mod's running and disabling these hypothetical options I'm blithering about. I have no idea if that's even possible...
Thanks for the mod, but I have a problem -- when I try to throw a flashbang grenade, the game crashes, like it crashes when I try to run the game without copying files from CookedPCConsole mod folder to CookedPCConsole game folder.
Hello, I just installed this mod with other one that needs it to work and I enabled both AWC options and I keep respecing my colonel sharpshooter but he still isn't getting AWC perk? I was using true retroactive awc and it unlocked for most of my soldiers but my sharpshooter just wont get it.. is there a bug with this mod or am I just doing something wrong?
If you can, send me a savegame and a copy of your user's config file for the mod and I'll take a look! If there's a mod conflict I should hopefully be able to figure it out.
Hi! I had a problem like this. Try using Add Perk Console Command mod from steam workshop. I found this much less hassle than trying to find out what the problem was. it allows you to add perks.
This looks fantastic, I'm no modder so a lot of this went over my head but as I understand things extending the events and such which other mods can hook into will, surely, prove very useful to others.
I think, and whilst you say you don't want to update the Description pane here too much, that it's worth calling out the dependency on Mod Config Menu.
I haven't downloaded this (yet) as the next update is currently queued for me in Steam so...
Finally, as this is a highlander mod and there can be only one... Have you looked at the functionality available in other highlander mods? I don't know of many but Grimy's Highlander Mod (Workshop link as the Nexus version isn't getting the love) is one which springs to mind (as it's recommended for people who use his Loot mod). I don't use either (Highlander or Loot) but looking through the Highlander mod changes there's a lot of crossover but some unique items in there.
I know, I know, first post is a "Wah, wah, wah - add some stuff" one. That wasn't really what I was hoping to achieve, this really looks like the Connor MacLeod of Highlander mods. Thank you.
Extending the current codebase where possible, allowing other mods to function better, is actually the reason why I started making this mod in the first place. I have plans for a new mission type mod in the future that can only be accomplished with a Highlander-type mod, so I figured why not try to make a mod designed around potentially making other modders' lives easier. New events, helper classes, bug fixes, slight gameplay enhancements (from my perspective anyways), that sort of thing. Granted, as the game gets patches it gets official code added that makes some things easier, and some things obsolete, but at the very least this mod existing won't hurt anything, and if people find a use for it then all the better.
And if you have any suggestions, feel free to bring them up! This is the sort of thing where if a modder needs a custom event in the core code that they can't modify without a highlander mod, I would totally add it in for them. If someone has a gameplay idea that would make the game better, I would totally add it in. My intention is to try and make this the best damn highlander mod that it can be.
Good point on MCM. As of this writing MCM's just built-in to this mod because I just wanted to see if this mod actually functioned on Nexus and the Workshop. The MCM releases aren't public as of RIGHT now, but they should be up soon and I'll switch over to using that as a dependency and make it more prominent (possibly within the hour in fact). At least in the Workshop, I believe I can just mark another mod as a dependency that will be downloaded automatically, but I'm not sure how that works in Nexus, if I can only "suggest" the dependency and people have to download both at the same time. I'll try and figure it out!
Grimy's mod is interesting, but it's not a mod that I would play with. I personally don't like playing with Training Roulette (and as an aside, I hope he removed Phantom and Conceal from Specialists, they're bugged on Specialists). Or the random-stats that was included in Long War by default (though it doesn't look like that is a part of Grimy's mod). I found that random-stats just made one soldier on my team always the target of enemy shots because they had 2 less defense then your tank, or something to that affect. Very annoying.
Dodge tweaks isn't something I would play with either, I think. If you're taking shots at a 50%+ chance to hit it's basically just making your shots hit more often and for more damage, and I'm very wary of any changes that can tilt the balance in the player's favor. I mean, it's nice that it is a bit of a compromise instead of just removing dodge at 100% chances to hit, which I really don't like and doesn't make sense at all. But I like having enemies dodge shots occasionally, for some enemies that's a big factor in their defense and survivability and I wouldn't want to take that away from them.
Removing Itchy Trigger Tentacle I'm on the fence about. I've run in to situations where an enemy climbed a ladder to flank my entire squad then took a shot instead of running away. But I kind of like having that fear, as it does force me to proactively deal with pods that are close instead of react to them. I feel as though that's the intention of the game designers, as they removed the ability for Kill Zone to trigger enemy pods during alien activity. Setting up an overwatch trap and hoping you get flanked and spotted seems to be designed as a less-than-ideal scenario and something that you should only do with the knowledge that while you might get 6 free shots at the enemy, you might get shot at in return. (As far as I know, proximity mines is the only/best way to pop a pod on Alien Activity and get free overwatch shots, which may indicate that proximity mines are in need of a nerf.)
Bug fixes are definitely appreciated though. It's on my radar to take a look at the PCS permanent bonus bug. A couple bugs that I did fix in the pre-May 12th version of the game/this mod have been fixed in the official patch (related to mimic beacons and AWC). And I intend to take a look at zip-mode and make tweaks to it to match my own desires (namely that I don't want increased animation speeds that make the game look cartoony, I just want less time spent where the camera is just looking at something and literally nothing is happening). There's about 20+ bullet points in my todo list.
(Addendum: The mod that I want to add in the future is a replacement for Protect the Device missions. XCOM would spawn next to the objective and have to defend it from waves of aliens. The issue that I needed this highlander mod for, is that making XCOM spawn next to the objective without problems is impossible, and needed modifications to the spawning algorithms.)
Thanks for taking the time to write such an in-depth reply.
I was actually more interested in some of the bug fixes included in Grimy's mod rather than the gameplay changes he'd made. For most of them I think I agree with you in that it makes the player's life easier. I'm almost at the end of my second play through so can't say what effect the alien rulers and grenade nerfs will have on my next go through but I feel they'll make things harder and the changes in Grimy's mod don't particularly appeal.
Of his fixes this seemed the one with the most widespread utility, for players: "OnLoadedSavedGame triggers for all active mods, not just newly installed mods". I'd've thought there are a number of mods which get updated and having that event activate would enable some cleanup of old stuff. But I am no a modder so don't really know how XCOM 2 hangs together in that regard
You can set file dependencies in Nexus entries, look for Required Files in the Admin panel. You can set files on Nexus or external sites. When someone downloads your mod they'll be presented with a "hey, you need this as well" dialogue they have to OK before downloading. No idea how that works with Nexus Mod Manager as I've never used NMM.
I'm 100% behind you on Zip mode. Personally, I'm not using it or Stop Wasting My Time or Faster Avenger Menus (although the time reduction of the Avatar-related events in the latter is appealing), the only similar mod I'm using is Quiet Bradford. But something like you describe sounds right up my street. Presumably some kind of INI boolean could control whether a particular camera event is shortened or removed?
Reading through your Google doc I did wonder if you were looking to shake up the Protect the Device missions or not, and you are! Excellent. Just an idea but have the option to completely override the existing mission type or to have your mission type appear randomly (say 50% of the time). So the existing mission type could be a "Clear the area" mission and yours a "defend the device". People could adjust the % to suit their tastes. Just a thought, but your mod: your rules.
No idea if this is even feasible in a mod or whether it requires haxx0ring the game's source.
This thread: Camera stuck under Avenger after mission over on the Steam Workshop talks about an issue I've encountered myself and a number of others. I remember -bg- saying that it related memory usage.
Long story short, AlexF talks here and here about the steps needed to ensure that his Tech Tree mod wasn't leaking memory (seems modders need to be clearing their variables themselves rather than relying on the built in garbage collector.
Is this something which this mod could do? I think it maybe too much to ask (sounds like a change operating at a level below the existing items included here), but you never know unless you do.
I remember this bug that I experienced on Feb 7th with no mods enabled. Literally couldn't get past it even after rebooting the computer and reinstalling the game. Had to just redo the previous mission in its entirely, no idea why. I wonder if this is what you are referring to.
I've run in to issues with holding on to screen references before, while working on some components of this mod. If you save a reference to a HUD component and go from the Avenger to a tactical mission, then the game can slow to a crawl and flash between different colors. I actually still have a recording of that exact thing happening, I'll upload it and post a link here tomorrow, haha. But I'm pretty sure there's no real way to change this behavior: Mods just have to keep track of screen references and make sure to clean them up. Standard programming stuff really.
Yeah, when I get around to tweaking zip mode I'll make sure to make it configurable. It's just so awkward right now: Too slow with the camera freezing for 10 seconds on a new pod to REALLY make sure you pay attention, and too goofy when enabled. I'm pretty sure there's some built-in configuration options for adjusting zip mode already if you look in the INIs, but I haven't looked in great detail so I'm just going to do it all at once when it's next on my list.
I actually haven't had to deal with OnLoadedSavedGame events yet, but it seems strange that he would change that behavior. It looks like it's supposed to only run when a savegame is loaded that did not have a mod previously installed, but it also looks like there are reports that the event doesn't quite work 100% correctly. Maybe he's doing it as a means of "at least the mod will get called", and it's up to the mod to make sure that it is capable of handling this event called multiple times.
I'd be wary of making that sort of a change in this mod, as I worry that changing the behavior of this to fix some edge cases may break other mods that currently function correctly. But if the community pretty much as a whole says that it is a necessity and is best practice, then I wouldn't object. (Mods can theoretically be written to not break if that event is called multiple times, so that could just be their own best practice and if they break, it's their fault.)
There's a couple mods out there that adjust Protect Device missions by changing the device's HP behavior, for example decreasing its HP on early levels and increasing it later so it can't be three-shot killed by an Andromedon, and I'll probably add-in some sort of mechanism directly to this mod at some point in the future. But I also really like the idea of switching it up so it's more of a defense mission and not just Yet Another Timed Mission but with a different coat of paint. It would definitely be optional, as most components of this mod aim to be through the options menu. Maybe I should work on that soon, I already have most of the mission scripting done, it's just a matter of balancing and working out how I want the reinforcements to act.
That picture is indeed the problem, you obviously know a lot more about this than I do so it looks like modders have to make sure they clean up after themselves rather than relying on their parents the garbage collector.
Similarly with the OnLoadedSavedGame event, I think you've a lot better grasp of the engine's intricacies than I have :)
I'm using the Configurable Protect Device mod, as you say it stops a one-shot on protect device missions in late game. The proper defence type mission type you're describing sounds excellent. Personally, I'd(given the chance) probably have the chance of that appearing at 60-80% with vanilla for the remainder, just for variety.
I guess you need to think about how long one of these defence missions would last, and also after the timer runs out why isn't there a need to defend it anymore. I guess Resistance techs are doing something for x turns and then it doesn't matter if the device is destroyed or not.
Hrm. Leads me to think of another mission type, a kind of hybrid. Squad starts concealed with a VIP / NPC engineer, need to get to device (no time limit). Perhaps guarded by a pod or two. NPC engineer then starts haxx0ring device and the countdown timer starts, ADVENT reinforcement waves come in at the start of the haxx0ring and player has to defend both engineer and device. When he's done everyone heads to evac.
I dunno. Ideas are the easy part :)
I'll keep my eye out for any things which look like they could be included in this mod, thanks again for making it.
Oooo... You have to take one of YOUR Engineers on the mission, and if they die or are left behind, they're gone for good. That sounds super-fun. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner.
Guess the risk:reward with that would need a chunk of Intel for successfully accomplishing it, although success could mean leaving the engineer behind in this case as his job is done?
Also this is what it looks like when you maintain screen references and the garbage collector can't clean them up: https://youtu.be/rIiHqPKhCyk Trippy
19 comments
I could not alter anything online, to change this, with the View only setting enforced.
All I could see of the first line was;
This mod is a core mod, a highlander mod, whatever you want to call it. Only one highlander mod can be installed at a t
When it should show;
This mod is a core mod, a highlander mod, whatever you want to call it. Only one highlander mod can be installed at a time, so I have tried to make this mod as generic and mod friendly as possible, modifying as few classes where possible. No classes are extended, only directly modified, so theoretically any mod should be compatible with this one
This affects every line, longer than the example above.
It defeats the point of having online docs, if they have to be downloaded to read them.
{Edit}
Also Installing using NMM fails to put mods into the "ABECoreMod" folder.
That folder should be in the archive, and it's not.
So files are placed inside the mods folder, which has no effect if this is the only mod to do that, but required files can be replaced, if more than one mod does this.
A simple fix for the more alert users, but many rely on NMM to do things automatically.
Better to upload a new archive with the Folder having the same name as the "*.XComMod" file.
In this case;
ABECoreMod
Maybe an option to consider? Couldn't see it mentioned in the readme.txt
Just like to bump this one up.
For extra funkiness points the MCM options could be "Initial squad size: X" and "Maximum squad size: Y"
Difference between X and Y would drive how big the XCOM spawn point square would need to be (adding 1 for extra characters like escorted VIPs)
And then, one could create additional GTS Tactics to get from X to Y (as BlueRaja's "More Squad Size Upgrades" mod does). I guess a single, generic icon would be needed for all of the "squad size" tactics.
Some kind of Supplies cost would need to be defined too, maybe previous tier cost +75.
Hrm, then there's the Skyranger ready screen and fitting all those new bods on. BlueRaja's mod (IIRC) squeezes the sizes of the soldier info boxes to fit them all on. -bg-'s "Squad Select Fix For 7 Soldiers" adds a scroll bar.
Double hrm. And then this is going to run up against Long War Toolbox and its changes. Perhaps there's some way of detecting if that mod's running and disabling these hypothetical options I'm blithering about. I have no idea if that's even possible...
Thanks for the mod, but I have a problem -- when I try to throw a flashbang grenade, the game crashes, like it crashes when I try to run the game without copying files from CookedPCConsole mod folder to CookedPCConsole game folder.
This looks fantastic, I'm no modder so a lot of this went over my head but as I understand things extending the events and such which other mods can hook into will, surely, prove very useful to others.
I think, and whilst you say you don't want to update the Description pane here too much, that it's worth calling out the dependency on Mod Config Menu.
I haven't downloaded this (yet) as the next update is currently queued for me in Steam so...
Finally, as this is a highlander mod and there can be only one... Have you looked at the functionality available in other highlander mods? I don't know of many but Grimy's Highlander Mod (Workshop link as the Nexus version isn't getting the love) is one which springs to mind (as it's recommended for people who use his Loot mod). I don't use either (Highlander or Loot) but looking through the Highlander mod changes there's a lot of crossover but some unique items in there.
I know, I know, first post is a "Wah, wah, wah - add some stuff" one. That wasn't really what I was hoping to achieve, this really looks like the Connor MacLeod of Highlander mods. Thank you.
Extending the current codebase where possible, allowing other mods to function better, is actually the reason why I started making this mod in the first place. I have plans for a new mission type mod in the future that can only be accomplished with a Highlander-type mod, so I figured why not try to make a mod designed around potentially making other modders' lives easier. New events, helper classes, bug fixes, slight gameplay enhancements (from my perspective anyways), that sort of thing. Granted, as the game gets patches it gets official code added that makes some things easier, and some things obsolete, but at the very least this mod existing won't hurt anything, and if people find a use for it then all the better.
And if you have any suggestions, feel free to bring them up! This is the sort of thing where if a modder needs a custom event in the core code that they can't modify without a highlander mod, I would totally add it in for them. If someone has a gameplay idea that would make the game better, I would totally add it in. My intention is to try and make this the best damn highlander mod that it can be.
Good point on MCM. As of this writing MCM's just built-in to this mod because I just wanted to see if this mod actually functioned on Nexus and the Workshop. The MCM releases aren't public as of RIGHT now, but they should be up soon and I'll switch over to using that as a dependency and make it more prominent (possibly within the hour in fact). At least in the Workshop, I believe I can just mark another mod as a dependency that will be downloaded automatically, but I'm not sure how that works in Nexus, if I can only "suggest" the dependency and people have to download both at the same time. I'll try and figure it out!
Grimy's mod is interesting, but it's not a mod that I would play with. I personally don't like playing with Training Roulette (and as an aside, I hope he removed Phantom and Conceal from Specialists, they're bugged on Specialists). Or the random-stats that was included in Long War by default (though it doesn't look like that is a part of Grimy's mod). I found that random-stats just made one soldier on my team always the target of enemy shots because they had 2 less defense then your tank, or something to that affect. Very annoying.
Dodge tweaks isn't something I would play with either, I think. If you're taking shots at a 50%+ chance to hit it's basically just making your shots hit more often and for more damage, and I'm very wary of any changes that can tilt the balance in the player's favor. I mean, it's nice that it is a bit of a compromise instead of just removing dodge at 100% chances to hit, which I really don't like and doesn't make sense at all. But I like having enemies dodge shots occasionally, for some enemies that's a big factor in their defense and survivability and I wouldn't want to take that away from them.
Removing Itchy Trigger Tentacle I'm on the fence about. I've run in to situations where an enemy climbed a ladder to flank my entire squad then took a shot instead of running away. But I kind of like having that fear, as it does force me to proactively deal with pods that are close instead of react to them. I feel as though that's the intention of the game designers, as they removed the ability for Kill Zone to trigger enemy pods during alien activity. Setting up an overwatch trap and hoping you get flanked and spotted seems to be designed as a less-than-ideal scenario and something that you should only do with the knowledge that while you might get 6 free shots at the enemy, you might get shot at in return. (As far as I know, proximity mines is the only/best way to pop a pod on Alien Activity and get free overwatch shots, which may indicate that proximity mines are in need of a nerf.)
Bug fixes are definitely appreciated though. It's on my radar to take a look at the PCS permanent bonus bug. A couple bugs that I did fix in the pre-May 12th version of the game/this mod have been fixed in the official patch (related to mimic beacons and AWC). And I intend to take a look at zip-mode and make tweaks to it to match my own desires (namely that I don't want increased animation speeds that make the game look cartoony, I just want less time spent where the camera is just looking at something and literally nothing is happening). There's about 20+ bullet points in my todo list.
(Addendum: The mod that I want to add in the future is a replacement for Protect the Device missions. XCOM would spawn next to the objective and have to defend it from waves of aliens. The issue that I needed this highlander mod for, is that making XCOM spawn next to the objective without problems is impossible, and needed modifications to the spawning algorithms.)
I was actually more interested in some of the bug fixes included in Grimy's mod rather than the gameplay changes he'd made. For most of them I think I agree with you in that it makes the player's life easier. I'm almost at the end of my second play through so can't say what effect the alien rulers and grenade nerfs will have on my next go through but I feel they'll make things harder and the changes in Grimy's mod don't particularly appeal.
Of his fixes this seemed the one with the most widespread utility, for players: "OnLoadedSavedGame triggers for all active mods, not just newly installed mods". I'd've thought there are a number of mods which get updated and having that event activate would enable some cleanup of old stuff. But I am no a modder so don't really know how XCOM 2 hangs together in that regard
You can set file dependencies in Nexus entries, look for Required Files in the Admin panel. You can set files on Nexus or external sites. When someone downloads your mod they'll be presented with a "hey, you need this as well" dialogue they have to OK before downloading. No idea how that works with Nexus Mod Manager as I've never used NMM.
I'm 100% behind you on Zip mode. Personally, I'm not using it or Stop Wasting My Time or Faster Avenger Menus (although the time reduction of the Avatar-related events in the latter is appealing), the only similar mod I'm using is Quiet Bradford. But something like you describe sounds right up my street. Presumably some kind of INI boolean could control whether a particular camera event is shortened or removed?
Reading through your Google doc I did wonder if you were looking to shake up the Protect the Device missions or not, and you are! Excellent. Just an idea but have the option to completely override the existing mission type or to have your mission type appear randomly (say 50% of the time). So the existing mission type could be a "Clear the area" mission and yours a "defend the device". People could adjust the % to suit their tastes. Just a thought, but your mod: your rules.
Thanks!
[Edit: Random emoticons]
This thread: Camera stuck under Avenger after mission over on the Steam Workshop talks about an issue I've encountered myself and a number of others. I remember -bg- saying that it related memory usage.
Long story short, AlexF talks here and here about the steps needed to ensure that his Tech Tree mod wasn't leaking memory (seems modders need to be clearing their variables themselves rather than relying on the built in garbage collector.
Is this something which this mod could do? I think it maybe too much to ask (sounds like a change operating at a level below the existing items included here), but you never know unless you do.
I've run in to issues with holding on to screen references before, while working on some components of this mod. If you save a reference to a HUD component and go from the Avenger to a tactical mission, then the game can slow to a crawl and flash between different colors. I actually still have a recording of that exact thing happening, I'll upload it and post a link here tomorrow, haha. But I'm pretty sure there's no real way to change this behavior: Mods just have to keep track of screen references and make sure to clean them up. Standard programming stuff really.
Yeah, when I get around to tweaking zip mode I'll make sure to make it configurable. It's just so awkward right now: Too slow with the camera freezing for 10 seconds on a new pod to REALLY make sure you pay attention, and too goofy when enabled. I'm pretty sure there's some built-in configuration options for adjusting zip mode already if you look in the INIs, but I haven't looked in great detail so I'm just going to do it all at once when it's next on my list.
I actually haven't had to deal with OnLoadedSavedGame events yet, but it seems strange that he would change that behavior. It looks like it's supposed to only run when a savegame is loaded that did not have a mod previously installed, but it also looks like there are reports that the event doesn't quite work 100% correctly. Maybe he's doing it as a means of "at least the mod will get called", and it's up to the mod to make sure that it is capable of handling this event called multiple times.
I'd be wary of making that sort of a change in this mod, as I worry that changing the behavior of this to fix some edge cases may break other mods that currently function correctly. But if the community pretty much as a whole says that it is a necessity and is best practice, then I wouldn't object. (Mods can theoretically be written to not break if that event is called multiple times, so that could just be their own best practice and if they break, it's their fault.)
There's a couple mods out there that adjust Protect Device missions by changing the device's HP behavior, for example decreasing its HP on early levels and increasing it later so it can't be three-shot killed by an Andromedon, and I'll probably add-in some sort of mechanism directly to this mod at some point in the future. But I also really like the idea of switching it up so it's more of a defense mission and not just Yet Another Timed Mission but with a different coat of paint. It would definitely be optional, as most components of this mod aim to be through the options menu. Maybe I should work on that soon, I already have most of the mission scripting done, it's just a matter of balancing and working out how I want the reinforcements to act.
their parentsthe garbage collector.Similarly with the OnLoadedSavedGame event, I think you've a lot better grasp of the engine's intricacies than I have :)
I'm using the Configurable Protect Device mod, as you say it stops a one-shot on protect device missions in late game. The proper defence type mission type you're describing sounds excellent. Personally, I'd(given the chance) probably have the chance of that appearing at 60-80% with vanilla for the remainder, just for variety.
I guess you need to think about how long one of these defence missions would last, and also after the timer runs out why isn't there a need to defend it anymore. I guess Resistance techs are doing something for x turns and then it doesn't matter if the device is destroyed or not.
Hrm. Leads me to think of another mission type, a kind of hybrid. Squad starts concealed with a VIP / NPC engineer, need to get to device (no time limit). Perhaps guarded by a pod or two. NPC engineer then starts haxx0ring device and the countdown timer starts, ADVENT reinforcement waves come in at the start of the haxx0ring and player has to defend both engineer and device. When he's done everyone heads to evac.
I dunno. Ideas are the easy part :)
I'll keep my eye out for any things which look like they could be included in this mod, thanks again for making it.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner.
Guess the risk:reward with that would need a chunk of Intel for successfully accomplishing it, although success could mean leaving the engineer behind in this case as his job is done?
Also this is what it looks like when you maintain screen references and the garbage collector can't clean them up: https://youtu.be/rIiHqPKhCyk
Trippy