Interlude: The Key to the Lock
(Yoko Shimomura, Parasite Eve - Missing Perspective)
The time has come my friends, to choose our path. Once you have researched the Tiny Drill and its accompanying technologies, you have a choice between four different Codices: Gold, Green, Red and Grey. Each of these codexes leads to a different set of equipment and technology that you will be able to research and utilize.
This very dated overview page on the UFOpaedia gives you a very basic idea of all of the special equipment that each color has. Contains spoilers so read at your own risk and try to be discrete.
ALL of the colors have SOME overlap with the others, there are only one or two actual things specific to each color, such as the variant of the Menace Class attack ship you will have under your control.
The following is my very cursory overview of the four options. Note that I have only ever researched one of these, and I haven’t actually finished a game of this mod yet.
The biggest impact the four Codex choices have is on Psionics, which have been very strongly and heavily overhauled into something resembling a magic system in this game. I personally find the Psionic system in this game unwieldy and confusing so I don’t mind leaving it by the wayside, but from what I understand it can still be just as broken and overpowered as in the old XCOM, you just need to put your mind to developing it.
(Note the Psionics in XPiratez are Line of Sight only, big difference from the last two LPs)
Be aware that a large amount of technology in the game is not dependent on any of the Codices, so even if we somehow end up with a Codex that sucks or that I’m too much of a dipshit to play properly with, that won’t cut us off from basic armor, spacesuits, mecha, battlefield nuclear weapons, warp weaponry, etc. It’ll just limit our intermediate options to a specific focus.
Finally, all of this information is subject to change as the game is patched. Three years ago, people were talking about how Red was the most useless Codex and wondering aloud why anyone would pick it, these days Gold is considered the worst. Any one source you look up is liable to tell you something different!
People who have played deeper into this mod than me or seen more of its development like
@A_Callow_Youth might be able to tell you guys more. Anyone is free to weigh in, just put spoilers on stuff if it gets really revealing.
GOLD
PROS:
- Considered the most balanced of the four codices, with middle of the road options for armor, weapons, craft and some basic psionics.
- Unlocks equipment quicker than the other Codices.
- Fastest Menace Class attack ship.
- Gold is the color given to people in First Place.
CONS:
- Jack of all trades, master of none; all of the other codices still do their particular focus better.
- Ship is the weakest and carries only 12 crew.
- Has better Psionics than Red and green, but still very limited compared to Grey.
- Gold is a tacky color.
GREEN
This was the default Codex from which all of the other ones have been modeled on. I know this because in the old as fuck 2015 version of the mod, your Menace ship is green and a lot of the basic equipment available to you is the same as what the Green Codex unlocks.
PROS:
- Strongest class in terms of healing. Best health kits, along with I believe an armor type capable of substantial healing at a distance.
- Ship has the largest troop capacity at 18.
- Excellent armor, most of which it shares with Red.
- Green is the site color of Kiwi Farms.
CONS:
- Weak in terms of psionics compared to the other Codices except for Red.
- Lacking in destructive power compared to the other Codices.
- Ship is very slow compared to the others. Even the combat-focused Red’s ship is 60% faster.
- Green is not a creative color.
RED
PROS:
- Unlocks the widest range of options for weaponry and destructive power.
- Has access to all of the toughest armor in the game which it shares with Green, but allows the player to unlock them earlier.
- Menace Class attack ship is combat focused, having excellent speed, very heavy armor and decent weapon loadouts while also having a crew capacity of 16.
- Red is my favorite color.
- I also have the most experience playing with Red, what little of it there is.
CONS:
- Blowing things up and breaking shit is basically all its good at, other than armor.
- Has the least options for psionics of the four Codices.
- Red is the color of COMMUNISM and REPUBLICANS, REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
GREY yeah I know I fucking picked Taupe instead of grey for the text color, it won't show up otherwise
PROS:
- Has overwhelmingly the best and most varied set of psionics and psionic equipment in the game, including the strongest mind control.
- Menace Class attack ship can go to space, none of the other three can, granting earlier access to orbital missions.
- One of the secondary craft types is aquatic, replacing the weak and shitty Blowfish.
- Grey is the most neutral color.
CONS:
- Armor and craft are very weak or middle of the road, especially well into the endgame.
- Weaponry is somewhat limited, player is expected to master and rely on Psionics in battle.
- Grey is the most neutral color.
There's apparently something wrong with the poll, so we're gonna have to vote the old-fashioned way like in the Victoria thread.
Codex Options Are:
Make sure you have this icon in the post you intend to cast you vote with!
I will close the vote in two weeks, on Friday December 17th, at 11:00 PM EST. You can change your vote before that time. if you change your vote, edit your original post please, it will make counting the votes easier.
