Help with mission deployment

[Rich.h]

First off loving the 2.4 build, however I still have one problem. When my transport touches down and a mission starts, my troops are scattered about the dropship rather than all inside it as per classic ufo. Often this results in many of them dying due to touching down right next to a bunch of aliens.

Now I realise it isn't the pilots fault for sneaky aliens, however I would like to hope my troops are not so brain dead they blindly charge down the ramps singing about rifles and guns. I would prefer to have the option of troops in the dropship bay ready to deploy as I wish.

Is this already possible and I missed it or could it be added?

[H-Hour]

The starting positions of soldiers is set by the mapper when he creates the map, which is why every map is different.

[TallTroll]

I mostly prefer having people start outside, as it cuts out many turns of creeping slowly out of the dropship and establishing your first perimeter, you can get into the action more quickly. You're also less vunerable to a grenade tossed into the dropship (I lost more than one UFO / TFTD team that way), and sucky psionic strength, when that gets implemented (I lost more than one team to the first few encounters with psychic aliens, when your otherwise awesome, but with terrible Psi scores soldiers reveal themselves)

[Crystan]

I dont like it either if the troops are scattered. A good idea would be if you could choose some presets (or create own) where your soldiers should spawned (around/in your dropship) at mission start.

[gargy2002]

Often this results in many of them dying due to touching down right next to a bunch of aliens.

That's right, I have to retry almost each crash fighter mission at least twice to get a better map or I would be without soldiers too soon...

[Nutter]

I actually prefer landing next to the crash.
Saves time.

[MCR]

I dont like it either if the troops are scattered. A good idea would be if you could choose some presets (or create own) where your soldiers should spawned (around/in your dropship) at mission start.

I support that idea.
Here we also could icorporate more advantages for researched dropships. As we do not have a interior for one of them (raptor), the freedom to place soldiers could be bigger for each dropship upgrade.
So while presets for the firebird and herakles would allow starting positions only inside the craft, the raptor would allow for positioning outside...
The area/freedom of positioning could be bigger with each upgrade (firebird: just 14 position-possibilities, herakles: over 50 (but just inside), raptor: 50 or more positions around the craft)

[jerm]

I think having too much choice can be a bad thing. I can totally see troop placement becoming a hassle later on. Especially when the ability to deploy 8+ troops becomes available. Imagine having to place 12-16 soldiers EVERY mission - even for a silly landed/crashed scout.

Besides, it makes sense that soldiers leap out and setup a perimeter as soon as the craft lands (maybe even slightly before it does) instead of camping in the ship. This is essentially what you spend the first 1-2 turns doing anyway so it saves time.

As for spawning right next to aliens, I think it's a map design issue, not really a deployment problem. And even if you spawned right next to the alien craft, it's possible to avoid deaths by carefully watching what each alien is holding and where their facing. Plasma rifles/blasters>PlasmaPistols>Melee weapon>Facing away. I've had my troops survive numerous close encounters this way. Unlike the original UFO, they don't turn around and shoot in reaction (which was DAMNED SCARY).

[Crystan]

I think having too much choice can be a bad thing. I can totally see troop placement becoming a hassle later on. Especially when the ability to deploy 8+ troops becomes available. Imagine having to place 12-16 soldiers EVERY mission - even for a silly landed/crashed scout.

Thats why i came up with the presets idea. And a "use always" would fix your concerns.