Suggestions for TFTD Guide I want to make

[bagelx]

I am thinking of making a TFTD strategy guide, it is not as much as a FAQ that I want to do, but a more indepth guide/reference.

 

I have seen a few of the guides/FAQ out there, and the problem is that there's not alot and they are not that compelete.

 

I read the Kasey USG and it is more like half FAQ/half guide, though the details are the most I have seen anywhere. I agree it is the best one out there. But that's the thing, cuz I have a few problems with it.

 

I am not an expert on the game but I found some errors and missing info needed in the USG. I am sure he can fix them easily, or update or whatever (if he wants to) but I like to do one myself. And lots of stuff in it are repeated.

 

I am kind of lazy and sometimes lack determination to finish stuff I want to do. So I really need to set my goal ASAP to keep me going, lest my interest fades out.

 

So I want to know what people would want in a new FAQ.

I want to add a lot reference stat details that probably nobody cares about.

 

ie. I asked about how much energy is recovered each combat turn,

and this detail is probably among the more useful information out of the ones I want to include. A taste of the less useful details: what exactly are the alien stats, how much to transfer items.

 

Anyway, don't want to drag this on too far, so would people like more details like those? And in regard to this, I really want to get hold of electronic copy (cuz i am cheap and lazy) of the TFTD:Official Strategy Guide from Prima. (ie if ppl can or already did scan or type in the information in there) cuz i know that they have a lot of the number details already in there that takes me forever to figure out from the game.

 

Ok, so here are some choices:

- detailed info / [faq & tips/hints] / manual or some combination of these

- just an update of kasey's USG to fix and add stuff

- text based (easier for distribution ie gamefaq)

- html with pure text so have better navigation

(better layout and find things faster)

- html with lots of other stuff that probably will be a website

 

So these are some things I like to know what people think, any other suggestions will also be appreciated.

 

Right now I am thinking it be more like a half detail reference with half faq/tips and it will html with text only.

 

Again, the OSG is crucial to this, and if i can get most of what is in there, I will at least try to convert it to electronic format or help distribute it.

 

FYI, the OSG should contain cool info like (not verified): armor strengths/weakness/calculation, accuracy tables??, to-hit modifiers??, dmg/explosive dmg, morale. I bet many of you don't know how armor actually works (i don't right now either) and what the heck are to-hit modifiers that's what i like to know.

 

Lastly, SORRY SORRY for this long post and congrats for reading to here. Plz respond.

[bevan]

maybe you should do something like what they are doing in the UFO forum bit get the experienced people to put in posts about different aspects of the game

[BladeFireLight]

I have some massive stuff for a stratigy guide for TFTD. and would love to contribute..

 

I personaly would like to see a verry detailed one consisting of stratigies used by some of the more veteran playes and why it is they come to their decisions...

 

some ingame or mockup images would be nice..

 

I personaly would prefer a html based one as it is the most portable.. but a PDF also would be nice

 

-Blade FireLight

[bagelx]

I started working on the guide, first used ms word to do it, but it too messy for html, so using Dreamweaver instead.

 

I have 80% of the table of contents with the topics, and adding more sub topics as I go on.

 

So, Bladefire light, what kind of strategy do you have? ie. what format are they in (typed up or in your head) and which exacts topics are they about.

If you can share some info about game mechanics (tables, numbers & formulas, etc) I need those the most.

 

And for the ingame and mockup (not really understand mockup in this case) images, I love to do that, but it is lot of work and hard to integrate with the guide (eg. gamefaq.com prob won't accept it). It is more like something you would have on a website than in a guide.

 

 

So I really need opinions and suggestions, input for the strategy. Everybody please help.

[The Demi-Godly One]

Are you going to put a section in telling how to install it on XP?

[bagelx]

I think i will. Why do you specifically ask about XP? I know that many ppl have problems with dos versions in XP and it seems to me that not even ppl like NKF were able to fix all their problems (though they suggested a lot of things to try).

 

My would be suggestion is to get the Col Edition or Gold (it seems more and more to me that they are the same thing, I thought they were different before).

 

Col. ED. works fine on my XP, but can't tell/try/fix it with other ppl's XP since each have different configs. The dos one also ran on both my XP and W2K but the XP one had problems with a consistent crashing in one mission whenever I jumped from higher level places, or just walking down a stair.

 

The problems with the dos vers for both Windows is the speed. Some part of the game is slow and other parts freaking fast (firing speed, scroll, geoscape clock). I have success slowing it down a bit with slow program and also the VDM Sound (addon, driver thingie , dunno how to call it).

 

I would recommend VDM Sound to anyone for running old dos games, it gets you Sound in old dos games for W2K (maybe XP needs it too).

 

So, ya, I will definitedly put all I know in the guide, and also I hope to fill in the information gaps that is present in the stuff above. ie. I will do a lot of testing for this and many other things in the guide and read more stuff of info out here on the web.

[NKF]

Sadly, because every computer system has different hardware and software configurations, there's never any specific solutions for avoiding or getting around the general protection faults (the cause for a lot of the crashes) that you encounter in UFO or TFTD. The only real solution is to just be persistent or patient.

 

Actually, what people call UFO Gold today, really is just a stand-alone copy of the Collectors Edition of UFO minus the other games. The readme file still has information for the other games.

 

UFO Gold is also the name you see on the status bar when alt-tabbing out of the game.

 

The original 'UFO Gold' was a dos release of the game with the v1.4 update. I'm guessing they overhauled this particular release for inclusion into the Collectors Edition, and the name stuck.

 

- NKF

[bagelx]

Wow, NKF, you know everything.

Ya, what caught me was the the taskbar saying it's gold version when you alt-tab.

 

Also, there's confusion (at least for me) that some ppl say that the version that came with those PC Mag CD's full version are gold versions. Is this true? Are they the same as the games in the Col. Ed. separated?

 

I like to get these stuff straighten out so I can put it in my guide.

[NKF]

No I don't.

 

The cd that comes with the PCGamer June 2000 edition (which I've got), has the full version of UFO. The magazine refers to it as UFO Gold, where, as I said, it's really just the Collectors Edition minus all the games except UFO. They did the same thing to the Wing Commander trilogy, and took out all the games except the first Wing Commander (also on that same cd).

 

- NKF

[Sgt. Strike]

Actually, bagelx, you can have two different versions. One strictly text that would get posted to www.gamefaqs.com, and the like, and another one with graphics, either just as a website, a .pdf, or both.

Hey, I got a start to a guide myself, want it to look over, and check out?

Personally, and this is nothing about Kasey, but I don't like the chpater setup, myself, in his guide, too straight forward, and there are parts missing from the one copy of his that I have.

[bagelx]

Hey, Sgt, Strike,

Ya, I would love to look at the guide you have start.

 

I was thinking of having 2 versions after I am done. I will work on the html (not website) version as the main one and then convert it to text only which should be easy.

 

The website idea is good, but I just too lazy to setup a website, capture and post screenshots, etc. Besides, many sites already have pics of some of the UFOpedia (like aliens, weapons). Unless, you are talking about some other types of graphics (eg. battlescape tactics) which I will still be too lazy to do , but there's more reasons to do them. So what graphics?

 

As for PDF, I don't have PDF programs and I don't really see the need for using PDF.

 

Email me at bagelx@hotmail.com, thanks

[NKF]

Mmm, screenshots eh?

 

You could show some of the interesting line-of-site errors that tend to crop up in the game. Like an alien or civilian being invisible when they're standing at the base of a flight of stairs even though you're standing right next to them. The only way to actually make them 'appear' is to stand behind the flight of stairs.. Happens in UFO too for some reason.

 

Or perhaps not.

 

You could also take some to show how your soldier's line of site works, like taking a screenshot to show such situations where a single alien can block the line of site of the soldier somewhat and prevent the soldier from seeing all the aliens directly behind it. (UFO's medium scout offers a good example of this if there are a number of aliens inside it. There's probably an equivalent in TFTD that can be found to demonstrate this).

 

Or some interesting areas of the alien colonies and artefact sites that are worth noting, like the upper alcoves in the black chamber with the shaft to the synonium device, in the second level of artefact sites, where hidden aliens, usually tentaculats, like to hide. Or the northern wing of the top-side level of the alien colony, where there a group of tentaculats often start (or the central lift, where lots of tasoth with DPL launchers begin). Or, better still, the upper levels of the area where the synonium device can be found in alien colonies to make finding it all that much easier (I got rather a neat one somewhere).

 

- NKF

[Sgt. Strike]

bagelx, mind if I e-mail you it in .zip form? It's the closest I have, right now. I'm about to redo my hard drive soon, but I want to finish playing out TFTD, first, and perhaps C&C Tiberian Sun, but I'm not sure about the second, yet. Maybe start a new game of that. I'll send you a copy here in a few.