Can the Beginner Bug Be Fixed?

[Alienated]

I played TFTD many times but I never realised that I played it on beginner level until I got informed by the ufopaedia.org that there is such a bug. I thought they just made TFTD easier (weaker enemies in less numbers) than its parent.

 

I noticed the game also returns to English as default language. I suspect this issue is also the same bug. I noticed (it wasn't hard) the game uses more memory card space than necessary. EU used two or three blocks for a geoscape save, TFTD also uses this size but once you save in the battlescape, your geoscape saves cost you seven or more blocks from then on.

 

I suspect this behavior has something in common with the beginner bug. They say the beginner bug is triggered by the first battlescape mission. It isn't clear to me yet whether this includes a saving in the battlescape or your game remains in superhuman (or other set mode) mode while you save only in geoscape (three blocks).

 

Is it possible that the save game malfunction sets the difficulty level to default (beginner) (and the language to default (English)) and can I set it again by GameShark to stay on the set mode (superhuman for one)? Well, I am sure that I can set it to superhuman because everything can be set (every data that is saved can be modified by GameShark). The question is whether it stays that way. I don't know for sure whether the beginner bug affects the first mission already or the first mission is still on the set difficulty level.

[NKF]

Unless it's a problem with the Playstation edition, TFTD doesn't have the difficulty bug. It's only a problem in the dos version of UFO. The PSX version of UFO definitely has it fixed.

 

There is a rumour some have put out that TFTD reverts to Superhuman no matter what difficulty level you choose, but this is definitely not the case. If you want to check, use the following page on the wiki for reference:

 

https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Alien_Stats_(TFTD)

 

Use the MC Reader and scan an alien and see how they compare against the core stats listed there. Also look up the Calculating Statistics section half way down the article.

 

Also the reason the TFTD saves with the battlescape are much bigger on the PSX memory card is because the maps in TFTD tend to be much larger than UFO's.

 

- NKF

[Alienated]

It is the table on the wikipage that made me realise my games in TFTD are on Beginner level. By the info on wikipages, alien armor is halved only on beginner level. My conclusion is the PSXer TFTD has the very same bug EU used to have. The number of alien sub crew also confirms this. I get about 15 aliens per Dreadnought. However, aliens don't lack aggression with floating base attacks, but that may be accounted to the increased general difficulty of the mission pack.

 

I know the maps are slightly larger in TFTD though the geoscape saves should be almost the same size as in EU, two or three blocks whereas an old game of mine takes ten blocks in geoscape. It seems the program once allocates memory card space, it remains that way. Quite annoying, I could use those seven blocks... Not to mention the game (EU and TFTD) is unable to handle none but one save file per memory card whereas you could have stored five geoscape saved games per memory card.

 

It seems this bug therefore is unknown to you, wiki contributors. Well, I will test some things about this issue someday and report in this topic, until then I still wait for info hoping this is already solved by somebody.

 

This difficulty bug is a serious one anyway, do you agree?

 

 

Edit:

What! I did a quick search for TFTD GameShark codes. There isn't any published! If I can solve this bug by GameShark, I may be called a pioneer. The search result suggests I may as well begin to bleeping debug and hack immediately because there ain't coming help for sure.

[Alienated]

Okay, I've got it!

 

I read the mind of a Lobster Man Soldier yesterday in the old saved game[1]. Then I compared the stats to the wikipage[2] and found out that the saved game is on Superhuman:

   TU  EN HP BR RA FA TA ST Fr LR Re Un
 1 80 129 90 90 72  3 62 84 10 10  7  5
 2 56  90 90 90 60 54 62 70 20 20 15 10

As you can see, the PSX version was made very easy. They increased the Time Units, Energy, Reactions, and Strength according to difficulty setting, but the armor remained the half value of the beginner level and the firing accuracy is alternative but mostly zero. USO crew numbers also never seem to reach the usual UFO substitutes. I don't know how the intermediate difficulty levels work but go figure.

 

It's fortunate they didn't do this to Enemy Unknown for PSX.

 

And I have to correct my statements about the memory card usage. First it allocates two or three blocks in the geoscape. And after you have been in a mission, it allocates ten blocks no matter you saved or not during the battlescape. And I need to add that if you abandon game or turn off and on your PSX and start a new game and save in the battlescape, the program doesn't erase the ten blocks and create a two- or three-block saved game but overwrites data, for the new saved game also takes ten blocks without going to a mission. It works like leper. It seems software companies with a name containing the "Micro" part infect and damn everything. Microprose probably received a percentage from memory card sellings.

 

And I noticed one more thing: the reactions of the lobster man soldier had an empty bar to 86 or 87. Maybe it can reach that value later in the game (my save plays in 2041 already) but probably something is messed up.

 

For my part, this topic is locked.

 

I have to correct my statement again. TFTD always allocates ten blocks for a geoscape save whereas it uses only one-three blocks.