Hello. I have recently downloaded ufo-ai 2.2 and have to say, I am impressed. Even with alot of the game not implimented you have a workable and highly enjoyable game. With that said i will throw my opinions around in the hopes of some great revisions in the future.
I like the idea of a training center to enhance skills. Some can be enhanced on the battlefield but to be honest you learn more in a training enviroment. I can see strength, mind and to a lesser extent speed getting minor enhancements during combat. IE Strength for carrying heavy equipment etc, Mind can come from almost anything and speed from using light equipment and rushing an opponent. Weapon skills can also be enhanced somewhat but by far most points should come from training.
As a combat vet and a PMI (primary marksmanship instructor) for the US Marines I can tell you. You learn more in the classroom and on the range then you can in actual combat. During combat is where you learn how to implement that training in a effective way. This is especially true for weapon skills. You don't have the time in combat to see how the wind, target cover or movement effected you shot, so little is gleaned from it. All you know is you shot at it and now it's not shooting at you anymore and thats good enough. It's not like your targets going to pop back up and tell you where you hit him like they do on a range.
I personally don't like most of the (in combat) ways stated so far. IMO you learn more from close quarters shots in combat then extreme range simply because you can quickly see the results. At long ranges all you know is he went down. it could have been a center mass hit or you blew off his big toe. Either way he's going down with a difference of at least 4 feet. Although that is effective fire it's not accurate.
My 2 cents worth.
I would say make some sort of ticker. If your skill is 15 then you need 15 successful engagements to go to 16 skill etc. Bursts and full auto shots still count as 1 engagement. This discourages farming of stats and makes it a more natural and self limiting system.
Range buildings should be as large as a workshop or bigger. (10 person max)
A gym facility should be implemented as a separate building (lab sized) (10 person max)
Troops that are training are removed from the available troops for missions. ( takes X hours to be deployable )
The same system as the in combat ticker should be used. Make a fixed amount of engagements per hour and that is how many they get.
Max of 12 hours training per troop per day.
Example
* I have 12 troops at base 4.
* I have a 2 wounded so they can't train.
* I decide to put 2 of my troops into training so I keep my 8 combat ready troops for deployment
* Trooper z and y start training. they are going to get (X) (will use 5) ticks per hour. If I pull them out of training then they lose that hours worth of training and it takes them (X) hours to be combat ready again. "Trooper Z reporting for duty" message or something
* 2 hours later terror mission comes up. My mighty 8 leave and when they return 5 hours later you have 3 WIA.
* Now I have a choice pull the 2 out of training or be ready for a 5 man mission.
* I leave my guys in training. My fighting 5 look tough enough.
* 4 hours go by and a scout UFO has been shot down in the area.
* My fighting 5 need the added support so I pull the 2 out of training to go on the mission. ((2+5+4)-1)=10 hours of training
* 10 x 5 = 50 ticks in the individual skill. Lets say one close and one HE.
* Trooper z had a (close) skill of 34 entering training. He needs 34 ticks to go to 35. He's now 35 skill and 16 ticks toward 36
* Trooper y had a (HE) skill of 46. He's now 47 with 4 ticks towards 48
* In (X) hour, (will use 2), I will have 7 combat ready troops plus anyone that has healed by then.
If this is to fast of slow then just adjust the variables
Summary and notes
I have no clue how this would be scripted/programmed into the game or if it's even feasable. Thats up to you. Saved games would have to keep track of each troop and each skills current ticks. (Close-35`16)
Does time pass on the geoscape while your in a battlescape?
Mind skill comes from combat only is ok with me
Gym would work on the same system but with a lower max time per day I would think.
Building a base for mostly training would be best I think. Transfer troops in and out as needed.
New troops gained thru mission success should, IMO, be better then starting troops. These should be specialists sent from around the world to help the cause.
Difficulty level should play a part in the variables. IE Ticks per hour of training, time until combat redeployment, etc
I am still new to the game and I have no clue what the higher difficulty games and the late game troops skills are like so forgive me or enlighten me.
