Hello, and thanks for the cool free game!
Here are some feature requests and suggestions. Being a non-programmer, these are probably huge orders to implement, so I will be patient. (My game lost some of my text -- emails, ufopaedia entries -- so I apologize in advance if these have already been requested, or if they already exist but I couldn't see them!)
In general, for the noobs, a bit more mouse-over communication would be cool. Like tell me my interaction options when I select a UFO ("double-click to chase", etc.), or when I mouse-over a weapon I get a box that tells me what that weapon is good for, and what type of soldier would best use that weapon.
Base Mode
1. On the Buildings screen, show a bit more information on the info screen when I select a building -- What the building is for, what's the benefit of having one v.s. not having one, capacity, what would be the effect of adding another one, etc.
1. Warn me when I try to send a ship out with an unequipped soldier, or send out a ship with less than a full team. Automatic substitution would be nice. (E.g. add a new, fully equipped member to the team when a soldier is killed. Ask me if I want to swap out a healthy soldier for a wounded soldier on the next mission.)
2. It seemed like there was no way to cycle through available equipment to put in a slot on a ship. Maybe adding some arrows so I can choose which weapon (or item) to put in a selected slot. Also, drag-and-drop would be cool here (like equipping a soldier's inventory).
3. It would be great to have suggestions based on a soldier's stats and skills. E.g. "This soldier would be a good sniper.", "This soldier should carry a __________."
4. For the lazy folks (ahem), I would really like more things to be automated. An Automatic Production mode would be great, where my workers stay busy even if I don't tell them what to make. Same with scientists. If they finish a project and have nothing to do, let them automatically start on something else. (Keeping with the production queue idea, adding "suggestions" for next-in-queue.)
5. More automation: maybe a few equipment templates for soldiers, so i don't have to drag & drop everything. Maybe a few "style" templates (Sniper, Marine, etc.) and a few "skill" templates (Speed, Strength, Accuracy). For example, I click "sniper" and the selected soldier gets a sniper rifle, extra ammo, goggles, etc. Or I can click "Speed" and it gives the soldier weapons appropriate to his high Speed score. (With safeguards that substitute or leave empty any slots where the standard equipment is not available.)
Tactical Mode
Maybe it's just me, but I find this mode confusing, and even a little bit tedious, especially when the aliens are hiding. Here are a few things that might help improve:
1. It's hard to figure out where anything is in tactical mode. Panning to creatures instead of cutting would help give a better sense of the "lay of the land", so we can figure out where the pesky little critters are.
2. A "last seen" marker for living aliens that have been spotted and are still alive. An arrow showing the direction they disappeared to would be cool too. (Maybe 2 separate number boxes in the top right of the screen -- the one that lets us cycle through visible aliens, and a new one that lets us cycle between "last seen" locations.)
3. An overview map inset of the whole mission area, with box for the active area, would be a big help help.
4. A zoom feature where I can zoom out but stay on the same level, thus seeing more of the play area.
5. Let my troops notice an alien if they're in line of sight, regardless of facing -- or make it an option to make it easier on noobs and hobby gamers.
6. Make the inventory button (and any buttons that pop a screen) a toggle. Click once, inventory appears. Click again, inventory disappears.
7. A toggle for line of sight would be cool. (press a button, blue and red lines appear showing which civilians/aliens my selected soldier can see).
8. Show the ranges of weapons (while I'm aiming), and maybe a couple of stats on what my soldier thinks his chances of hitting are, so I can tell if I'm wasting my time aiming at an alien on the other side of the screen (or thru a window, or 3 stories up).
9. Let me loot the aliens' bodies after Victory.
10. Make stairs, holes, ramps, and any other areas where soldiers can switch levels a teeny bit more obvious. Yeah, I know....
I hope these suggestions help. Thanks again for the great game!
