Messages

1

Tactics / Re: 2.5 dev combat

« on: November 06, 2012, 08:54:32 am »

One issue I've noticed: Aimed fire on the assault weapons seems useless as anything other than "ammo saving" mode. As far as I can tell, the reasons are twofold:

1) The spread reduction relative to the other fire types is pretty low; you can pretty much always get more hits by firing more shots instead.

2) Aimed shots use the Sniper skill, not the Assault skill. Your soldiers are thus using the "wrong" skill, worsening the accuracy balance further.

H-Hour, could you take a look at this? Much obliged!

So often, it happens to me that I position my troops near doors, and alien opens them...there is no space to flank him to avoid reaction fire, and some aliens already have needlers that are deadly even against nanocomposite armors. How do you deal with that?

Plasma Blade. 6 TUs to insta-kill any enemy in the game - even armored Ortnoks!
Just don't spend them recklessly; each one costs 50 Alien Materials and 1500 worker-hours to replace.

2

Discussion / Re: Help us out: how many scientists do you have?

« on: November 01, 2012, 04:31:21 pm »

I have another question to add to the mix. How are your finances? Is it difficult to pay for 70-80 scientists or are you rolling in the cash after 5-6 months?

All nations kept at Exuberant, so monthly funding more than covers operating costs. The remainder isn't actually all that much when it comes to things like base expansion, but selling surplus alien equipment generally takes care of that.

3

Tactics / Re: I <3 Smoke Grenades

« on: November 01, 2012, 05:13:19 am »

I'd have used them more if they didn't murder my poor, poor FPS every time I popped one.

But yes, they are singularly awesome. I no longer have to put my troops' lives in the hands of the RNG and its one-hit-kill particle beam rifles!

On that tangential note, do flashbangs work in 2.5-dev? I couldn't tell what they do the few times I tried them.

4

Discussion / Re: Help us out: how many scientists do you have?

« on: November 01, 2012, 05:07:03 am »

Loading up an old save:

Standard
5 Feb 2085
80 scientists spread over three bases. Many of them will be laid off in a month or two when I run out of things to research, though this was with an older version of the game (pre-Hybrid Rocket, even).

(note that I've had that many scientists since at least 1 Oct 2084 where my previous save is, likely earlier)

5

Discussion / Re: Thanks for making this game

« on: October 23, 2012, 07:14:34 pm »

IMO instant reaction fire on turning a corner would, without any other modifications, massively bog down close combat (or even open combat, if the enemy has any accurate weapons). Turn a corner or open a door? Get shot dead!
A couple of things would help it work much better:

- A way to "peek" around corners without completely exposing yourself. Goggles already do this, but they may be on the short list for nerfing, and they shouldn't be mandatory items anyway.
- Being able to suppress defenders around a corner/from cover (one way would be the "blind fire" mechanic some shooters have coupled with a suppression system), and/or throw grenades/flashbangs from around corners effectively.

Optimally the aliens (with their 'orrible, 'orrible AI) would need to be able to do the same as well.

The current system isn't particularly realistic or even believable (dealing with aliens in close quarters consists of running up beside them and shooting/stabbing them in the side)... but it kind of works.

6

Discussion / 2.5-dev: Power Armor vs. top-tier alien weapons

« on: October 22, 2012, 12:51:44 pm »

(I realize 2.5-dev is still undergoing extensive changes, so I apologize if this is a known issue)

So, I've been playing UFO:AI to feed my XCOM cravings (since I can't afford XCOM:EU). Really enjoying 2.5 (despite the constant crashes), especially the new wounding system and the huge increase in diversity of maps from when I last played (2.3). Still a few balance issues remain, but I'm sure you guys have heard about them a dozen times already. However, there's one that doesn't seem to have been posted about before, so here's my thread on it:

The Power Armor.
It Does Nothing against particle beams (or even needlers, but I can live with that) at all. A single rifle hit still reliably kills my best soldiers, or at the very least wounds them so badly they almost invariably bleed to death the next turn even with immediate medical attention. Given that each suit costs 36k credits (more than a Saracen!), only appears after particle beam weapons do, and imposes considerable TU penalties, this is a bit annoying.

Looking at armour.ufo, the listed protection values against particle beams are actually negative. I initially assumed this meant heavier armors would take more damage from particle beams, but ad hoc testing with PHALANX troops shooting each other suggested there's not a readily apparent difference.

Is this intentional? Comments?