Impressions

[vadim]

Just tried 2.1. Very impressive! Won't be long until it's as good or better than original.

A few things, however:

Most important: It lacks "creepiness". It could really use some eerie music and darkness. The original games were scary even in VGA because you never knew what was hiding in the darkness, but could hear creepy things all around. Seeing the whole map makes things much easier too.

I know I selected the easy mode, but the sudden shift from very mediocre soldiers to really good ones (stats in the 70-100% range) was strange. The starting soldiers should always be pretty bad, otherwise losing a soldier is unimportant. Now in the original games having a soldier who went through 20 missions die was almost a tragedy.

Everything should really be destructible. I know it's an engine issue, but it's weird to have brutal weaponry that can't make a hole in a wall. The aircraft should take damage and even completely blow up if damaged enough, to discourage using it as shielding. Also I may be wrong, but it seemed that for things with a blast radius, shooting at an unreachable alien seemed to result in an explosion with no damage even if it exploded near enough, while shooting at the ground seemed to work fine.

Other than that, it seems to be progressing really well!

[PandaKnight]

Almost a tragedy? I screamed when that happened back in X-com.

I don't think dropship destructibility is a good idea: I like how X-com elevated it to avoid that, as a way to avoid having it abused as cover. Really though, if it got blown up, do you expect them to go, "Oh well, you lost all your soldiers because they got lost in a rain forest! Such a shame!"

I would just quit if that happened.

[TroubleMaker]

I don't think dropship destructibility is a good idea

It is a really good idea! In UFO:EU you COULD destroy your Valkyrie (or whatever was the name?) using some highly destructive from alien's arsenal. Do not remember the names of weaponry, and it does not matter - all destructAble should be destructIble.

[TroubleMaker]

Just tried that version.

Impressed! Even some defects like walk-thru-walls and mis-coordinated movement on some maps would not decrease the pleasure of playing.

Can't understand:
1. Why UFO launches missiles at direction which leads to my base, but it starts firing too early, launches from too far distance.
2. What happened with base? After removal of facility, some other become "interlaced" and blinking. I.e. the large UFO hangar overlays on laboratory and total storage space in base stats now is "-20K+"
3. Why the small UFO hangars does not appear in base stats? Only human hangars and large UFOh's.
4. What should do the "disassemble" button?
5. Why I've seen aliens... carrying and using human rocket launcher or frag grenades? Why ortnok carried human IR-googles in his palm?
6. Why now is required to shot armor-less alien at least twice with HE-rocket from distance of 2-5 meters?
7. Why plasma blade appeared as possible choice for arming missile defence?
8. (tactical) Why grenades-pack for grenade launcher disappeared after loading a weapon with another kind of grenades? The first grenades were fired only once and the pack was not empty!

It's good that transfer now done without using of military aircrafts. Also, random obstacles in base's basements are good.
I think, the description and pictures of base structures should be in UFOpedia: their entrance possibilities may influent on base planning (i.e. power station with its only door is placed to farthest corner of base entrance, next the command centre, then storages and barracks: all these buildings are unreachable from outside.

RF button with rocket launcher should be enabled: in real life the soldier can shoot his bazooka, suddenly seeng the enemy at safe range.

My strategy now is: I've founded a base near Panama and filled it with radars... Got GLOBAL coverage! No any UFO can hide from my super-radar site. Now I can dismantle radars on other bases.

About base defense. In "UFO:Apocalypse" there was a such thing as "security station" (seen its name only in Russian, so may mistake with English one). It was a block equipped with self-aiming launchers firing non-guided rockets or machine-guns. I thing something similar should be implemented.

Sorry for nightmareous English...