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Some general remarks/questions & bugs

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evilgrass:
Hi, I thought I'd register here to give a bit of feedback on this amazing game. First of all, I want to say UFO:AI really is fantastic. So detailed, polished and balanced, it's sometimes hard to believe it is free & open source. I'm having a lot of fun with it and am grateful that there are people out there that have invested their free time into developing something that I can enjoy right now, for free. So, thank you, devs!

That said, I have a few questions and remarks. I'm pretty new to this game so perhaps someone can enlighten me on a few subjects.

1) In all of my games at one point or another I become unable to build any installation except bases. Is there some cap to the number of installations allowed? In my last game I built a base and three SAMs around it, and then wanted to build a Yard but couldn't, because the list of installations to build only contained a Base. In the FAQ it says you need two bases to be able to build a Yard, but in previous games I was able to build one right away. In any case, I built a second base to try it out but no cigar: still only Base showed up in the "build installation" menu. Is this a bug? Or is there some rule as to when you're allowed to build external installations?

2) This one's definitely a bug (*): after playing a few battle maps, I become unable to click on any level above 4 when in battlescape mode. The button will be blue, indicating the level exists on that map, but when I hover over it, the number does not light up like the others, and when I click nothing happens. I suspect it's something simple with the button, because e.g. when I spot an alien on level 5 and click on the number (to the top right of the screen) that cycles through the aliens, it zooms to level 5 just fine (this is also the workaround I usually use to get to see the unclickable levels. Also, as soon as you get a soldier on a level you can of course zoom to that level by clicking that soldier's number). Has this been reported yet?

Btw on a side note, what's the harm in just making all levels available (clickable) on all maps? On maps that don't have high levels, clicking on a higher level could simply show the map from higher up. This is the case already with some maps, but not others.

3) On the map "Luxurious Resort" (IIRC), you start out on a beach with no cover, while aliens are on the roof of the building you're facing. You can't shoot the aliens because they are at the back of the roof, but they will be able to take potshots at you in their turn. I have no idea what to do on that map: I usually just run from the beach to the building on the left, but usually lose a soldier, and get others wounded. In other cases there is actually also an alien on top of the left building, and even more people die. It seems like a very screwy starting position from a gameplay point of view, and frankly a little unrealistic from a military point of view: how did those soldiers get there unharmed anyway? Where is the dropship? Who made the decision to put those men there in the open?

4) I can't start the map editor (*). When I click it from the start menu, Windows will go to low visual effects mode, and the process will be running in task manager, hogging one core whole, but nothing will be happening. After a while I just get bored waiting and end the process. In the radiant.log only says:

--- Code: ---Started logging to C:/Users/Bas/AppData/Local/UFOAI/radiant/radiant.log
Today is: Wed Jul 30 12:54:54 2014

This is UFORadiant '1.6.0' compiled Apr 14 2014
XMLRegistry: Importing XML file: D:/UFOAI-2.5/radiant/user.xml
XMLRegistry: Importing XML file: D:/UFOAI-2.5/radiant/colours.xml
XMLRegistry: Importing XML file: D:/UFOAI-2.5/radiant/input.xml
XMLRegistry: Importing XML file: D:/UFOAI-2.5/radiant/menu.xml
XMLRegistry: Importing XML file: D:/UFOAI-2.5/radiant/game.xml
XMLRegistry: no user.xml in C:/Users/Bas/AppData/Local/UFOAI/radiant/user.xml
--- End code ---
I tried simply copying user.xml & others to that AppData folder, but that didn't help.

5) Here's a small bug (*) that doesn't really affect the game but should be pretty basic: When you hire a soldier that is NOT the next one on the list (let's say you skip one of the hire-able soldiers), and then go into the Equip Soldiers screen and rename the newly hired soldier, press enter to confirm, the soldier will vanish from the list! In fact all soldiers that are separated by a "gap" in the employees screen list will disappear from the list in the Equipment screen. When you leave the equipment screen then go back in, the soldiers will be backed, properly renamed and all.

6) This brings me to a suggestion (plz ignore if already proposed before): I usually rename a soldier to indicate his/her role after the name. E.g. I will rename "John Doe" to "John Doe (SN)" if he's a sniper. I sometimes also attach "(WND)" if he's wounded. This is useful as a reminder because in some other screens you can't see what he is, plus in the Equipping screen it also gives a bit of overview (you can see how many snipers you already have and do you really need another one). It could be a good idea to attach status icons to a name in a similar vein. E.g. there could be an icon indicating that soldier's presumed role (based on what primary weapon he's carrying, or was carrying on his last mission), and whether and how badly he's wounded (could be e.g. the letters WND in a box that is redder the more wounded the soldiers is). A bit like how footballers in Football Manager have status icons in front of their name.

7) Isn't reaction fire a bit OP? I've had times when a Shevaar comes around a corner and blasts&kills one soldier, then in my turn I try to shoot him with one of my other soldiers but the Shevaar reaction-one-shot-kills him, then I try to shoot him with a third soldier, who ALSO dies in the same way! That can't be right. I mean, realistically, after the first soldier is killed, the two other soldiers would turn around and start shooting at him simultaneously: the fact that it happens one after another in this game is basically only because of how the UI is organized. The Shevaar should be able to perhaps kill one other soldier, but not both (he can't target them both at the same time). In the FAQ it notes that this is how it was in the original X-Com but I also remember the devs saying they want to improve upon the original X-Com rather than simply making an X-Com with shinier graphics. This would be a good point to make one such 'improvement', I'd say. Anyway, in the meantime, any tips for how to kill a reaction-fire-enabled Shevaar with a plasma blaster from close range, with only conventional weapons available?

(*) For the bugs: my system is:
Windows 7 Ultimate (x64), SP1
Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 @ 2.66 GHz
4.00 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT, driver version: 332.21
edit: forgot to say, I'm running the standard UFO:AI 2.5, 32 bit version (is there even 64 bit?).

Noordung:
1) 3 instalations per base.
3) use smoke granades.
7) search forums for reaction fire mechanics. there are a lot of information about it and how it works. here is one... http://ufoai.org/forum/index.php/topic,8702.0.html

evilgrass:

--- Quote from: Noordung on July 30, 2014, 03:27:18 pm ---1) 3 instalations per base.
3) use smoke granades.
7) search forums for reaction fire mechanics. there are a lot of information about it and how it works. here is one... http://ufoai.org/forum/index.php/topic,8702.0.html

--- End quote ---

1) Any special requirements on the bases for them to count? Any buildings required?
3) Thanks! Interesting, I'll try it!
7) Ok I'll look into it. Btw is reaction fire infinite? Can an alien/soldier shoot as many times as their happens to be an enemy in their sights for long enough? E.g. is it possible for an alien to kill off 8 soldiers (in the manner I described above) in reaction fire a single turn? Or does the alien also consume TUs while reaction-firing, running out of them at some point?

Noordung:
no, its always 3.
it think it can shoot till all reserved TUs are used. (but better check on other topics) in 2.6 from... hmm... cant remember when i saw alien shooting RF about 5 times. but i gues it was bug. it was in first turn. so maybe in 1st turn some RF bug can happen.

evilgrass:

--- Quote from: Noordung on July 30, 2014, 04:18:21 pm ---no, its always 3.
it think it can shoot till all reserved TUs are used. (but better check on other topics) in 2.6 from... hmm... cant remember when i saw alien shooting RF about 5 times. but i gues it was bug. it was in first turn. so maybe in 1st turn some RF bug can happen.

--- End quote ---

Actually, in my current game I had 2 bases and 3 SAM sites but was unable to build a Yard (or Radar or SAM). However, when I completed the command center on my 2nd base, I was able to build the external installations again. So I guess only bases with command centers count.

I guess since a plasma blaster ball only takes 8 TUs, it can do perhaps 3 reaction shots in the human turn. But I saw a tip by following your link: next time I'm just going to walk around the Shevaar and shoot him in the back! :)

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