General > Discussion

Some ideas on 2.5

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krolyn:
First of all, let me just congratulate all the devs. UFO:AI is pretty nice and each new version comes with substantial improvements!

I've played 2.4 for a little bit (since it was the table version) but as 2.5 gets close to being stable too, I decided to take look at it. Generally I must say it is considerable better than 2.4, but I feel there are still some relatively simple things that could be implemented that IMHO would considerably improve gameplay:

*** CENTER ON SOLDIERS
- Why is that pressing a number (soldiers shortkey) selects AND centers on the soldier? It's annoying having to constantly move the map arround just because the shortkey automatically centers on the soldier. I suggest that pressing it selects the soldier if he is not selected. If he is already selected, than centers on the soldier.

*** VISIBLE ALIENS/CIVILIANS
- Another issue I find frustrating is never knowing which aliens/civilians a soldier can actually see. Is there a way to show them on the map. Just showing the red/blue lines again (when an alien or civilian is first seen) would be a big improvement!

*** ENCUMBRANCE
Having an encumbrance factor in the game is, I think, an excelent addition to 2.5 but I feel right now it is a bit simplistic. Nevertheless, this as already been discussed elsewhere (http://ufoai.org/forum/index.php/topic,7319)

*** UNDESTRUCTIBLE OBJECTS
- I understand that for practical reasons not all objects can be destructible in the maps, but I was wondering if a little tweak would be possible: to make them "invisible" to shooting! This came to me when playing the bungalow map where the house is surrounded by a wooden fence that, although just wood, resists all shots! I think this shouldn't be too difficult to implement and it could be extended to other "soft" objects: wood fences, tree canopies, bushes, ...

*** SHOOTING/COVER
- A bit related to the previous issue, is it possible to shoot over fences/walls/obstacles when standing? In the bungalow scenario I just mentioned, it was impossible to shoot over the fence even when standing....

*** SOLDIER ORDER IN SQUAD
- For me is easier if the soldier types are always in the same positions (e.g. close combat on 1 and 2; snipers on 7 and 8 ). Would it be possible to add an option to change soldiers order in the squad? right now you can do it by removing and re-assigning soldiers but i think it would be nicer if you had some way to directly change soldier's order in the squad.

*** CRASHED UFOs
- One of the few things I liked better in 2.4 was that the crashed UFO missions actually had a crashed UFO! It actually doesn't change the game much but is kinda nice to see it... Were they removed on purpose? Also, I totally agree with another thread that crashed UFO mission should have a probability of starting with dead aliens. This could even be the same as the UFO condition: if the UFO condition is at 25% (meaning, pretty destroyed) the aliens would only have a 25% chance of crash landing alive.

*** BUNGALOW map
- A minor suggestion to the bungalow map: add more surrounding space. Right now the player starts too close to the house and there is no time to scout the terrain since the aliens are all inside the house and start imediately shooting

*** CIVILIANS
- Civilians are supposed to run away from aliens and towards PHALANX soldiers. You kinda see that now (although not always), but I'd suggest that they effectively leave the map if they reach a map border, like if they managed to escape...

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I also have a couple more suggestions but I believe they may be a bit more complicated to implement.

*** ALIEN OBJECTIVES
- In different missions, aliens should have different spawning strategies and weapons. So, for example, a UFO crash would be more defensive (aliens move less and are barricaded/hiding all close together) with standard/assault/ligther weapons (could also depend on UFO type), where on a terror mission aliens would be more offensive (spread through the map destroying/killing everything in sight) and with more destrucitve weapons (grenades, launchers, explosives, etc...); and when aliens attack a base they'd be actively searching for the soldiers (instead of wondering arround) and carrying heavy weapons (plasma rifles/blasters).

*** UNDO MOVEMENT
- Sometimes you make a mistake and click the wrong place. Would it be possible to allow to undo the last movement?

Duke:
Welcome to the forum and thanks for the compliment on behalf of the dev team :)

Your suggestions contain the whole bandwith from "will not work" via "existing FR" through "innovative idea". The latter two will suffer from 'not enough dev capacity'. So you should ask yourself: How can I contribute. eg. 'Crashed ufo' and 'bungalow' are plain mapping issues. Mapping is rather easy to learn.

As for the 'undo movement': no, not possible. But you can avoid misclicks by setting "confirm actions"->movement in the options menu.

krolyn:

Just out of curiosity, from the top 5 "issues" is there any that falls into the "not possible" category? It's just I think those would really make a difference in the gameplay...

In the meantime I'll try to see how things work and if I can help in any way.

Thanks for the tip on confirming movement orders... ;)

Noordung:
you can already shoot over some obsticles. but not all maps are done in ths way (some walls are just too hugh). so if you want to make new maps or change old ones you are welcome to do so.

Duke:
*** CENTER ON SOLDIERS
I don't like that 'same key, different function' concept too much. Zooming out helps a lot here.

*** VISIBLE ALIENS/CIVILIANS
Didn't understand why that would be an improvement / what you need that for.

*** ENCUMBRANCE
Not my construction site, so no comment.

*** UNDESTRUCTIBLE OBJECTS
Did you read this: http://ufoai.org/wiki/3_Taboos ?

*** SHOOTING/COVER
Should be. However, the muzzle height is not always where the animation suggests.

*** SOLDIER ORDER IN SQUAD
existing FR.

*** CRASHED UFOs
mapping

*** BUNGALOW map
mapping.

*** CIVILIANS
Innovative idea, but the civvies will have left he map after 2-4 turns. There are more complex plans to involve the civvies in the gameplay. Like ordering them where to go, hide, gather ... maybe even arm them.

*** ALIEN OBJECTIVES
I think we have something like that already in place. Maybe it is not scripted/balance correctly.

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