Messages

1

Discussion / Re: Review & Suggestions

« on: July 07, 2012, 06:03:49 pm »

I can only speak about the latest version (2.5-dev). In this version, a soldier will engage in reaction fire if an alien has expended more than the TUs the soldier requires for the reaction fire shot while in view of the soldier. This means that the firemode you choose for reaction fire is very important. If it is an 8TU mode, the soldier will fire after the alien uses 8 TUs in front of him. If it is 25 TU, the soldier will fire after the alien uses 25 TUs (ie - rarely).

Q - Does that include TU's the alien needs for shooting? In other words, if an alien moves 5 TU's within my sight, than tries to shoot me for 7 TU's, am I right to expect that my flame thrower will dish out its 8 TU's worth of reaction (bon)fire , while the alien would still need a further 4 TU's to try and figure out how to fire his gun?

djivi

2

Tactics / Re: Combat Medics

« on: July 07, 2012, 03:00:00 pm »

+2.  I use the same tactic.  It helps always having someone close by who can heal, and it's saved many a life.  Plus, as you get down to the end of a mission, I usually try to heal everyone to full no matter what.  It is much faster than having them heal in the hospital. Then it really helps to have a healing party with everyone.

This definitely works the best for me too. Effective and flexible. I don't feel like planning any other tactical details until arriving at the battle scene. There I like to have maximum freedom in setting up the operation, e.g. starting 2, 3, or 4 units, counting 2 till 5 heads each. Keeping units not more than 1 till 1,5 moves apart, at any time, a soldier from one unit may join another unit that got into trouble. As long as everyone stays somewhere near anyone else, wounds can be healed early next turn, for the greater part. Wounds from alien reaction fire often the very same turn. While nobody gets hurt, all can wield weapons, quickly killing as much vermin as possible. (Panicked aliens do a lot less damage, so you want to see this happen rather sooner than later . If anyone gets hurt, they don't need to retreat to a medic. You gain in all cases.

P.S. Even the Machine Gunners carry a medikit in their belt and two spare magazines in their backpacks, since they rock without any side arms.  .

djivi

3

Design / Re: Things to learn from Xenonauts?

« on: July 06, 2012, 01:46:51 am »

+!

I guess it might be possible to appease all parties with what is already there - different difficulty levels. Toughest level should be made *really* tough so it would be difficult for anyone, save/loader or otherwise.

+! indeed!

On the toughest level I would really *expect* to return from missions with an incomplete squad more often than not. (With the 8-soldier squad limit (of version 2.4 and before) being slightly raised, the immediate tactical penalty for losing a few soldiers should become bearable.) However, the pool of available recruits should then be large enough to compensate your losses, though definitely without being anywhere near unlimited. For example, arrange the pool as follows:

• A slightly larger pool of candidate recruits to start the game with. At the moment of hiring, wages up till the end of the month (proportionally) must be paid in advance, plus a one-time hiring bonus for each newly recruited soldier, to somewhat compensate the families they leave behind .
• Average stats of recruits in the pool should vary. Let's assume we have the list of candidates sorted by their average stats, ranging uniformly from pathetic to reasonable. Then the total number of acceptable candidates will be proportional to the pool size. With the pool becoming smaller, you can either take sissies or hold out till next month .
• The base pool size should be reduced as a penalty for soldiers lost in battle during the previous month.
• Make the number of available (new) recruits at the beginning of each new month proportional with the hiring bonus you will grant each newly recruited soldier, the next month. The player should be able to adapt the hiring bonus (in the financial statistics screen and/or the recruitment screen).

djivi

4

Tactics / Re: What about cash???

« on: July 05, 2012, 05:52:09 pm »

Tip - In 2.2 Bolter Rifle earns you slightly more per hour than the Assault Rifle.

In 2.4 all the production costs appear to be identical to the price listed in the Buy/Sell screen. When selling items you receive somewhat less than the listed price. Conclusion, production of items for sale only consumes cash (and worker time).
Q - Btw, is this intended?
If so, then I even might prefer my initial base to be auto-created without the Workshop, so I can decide to invest it into something more urgent.

P.S. Since this is my first post to the forum - great game, congrats!!!

djivi