Messages

1

Tactics / Re: Bases placement and type

« on: March 10, 2010, 02:22:53 pm »

Wait, Radar?  I know aliens can enter at the Entrance and via any Hangar (not just large ones), but they can enter at the Radar station, too?

Yeah that surprised me too but there is a surface entrance to the standard radar at least. There is no surface entrance to the small hangars but I'm not sure if aliens might start there or not.

Although the stiletto has good firepower with 3 weapon hardpoints, and can use a small hangar instead of a large one, the saracen has the advantage of being faster and having better range, which is important early on given that UFOs are fast and your ability to locate and intercept them is very limited anyway.

If you want to catch as many as you can then yes. I prefer to hit hard when they get close enough and let the odd one slip through. I find the terror missions more fun than crashed ufo's. Two stilleto's seem to do the job of three saracens within standard radar range and the difference in space taken up in the base is huge.

Due to the fact that your administration and base upkeep costs rise with every base you establish, it's important to squeeze as much functionality as you can out of each installation.  This is why all of my bases are capable of detection, interception, and recovery, and at least one peripheral function; either production or research.

I like to stick to two combat teams so that they gain plenty of experience. I also like to have specialised bases so that I can focus resources on getting one thing done quickly. I try to make the first base quite general purpose because though otherwise it takes too long to upgrade my troops equipment.

2

Feature Requests / Re: A tactical benefit to autopsy research

« on: March 09, 2010, 11:34:36 am »

Fair enough. I like your idea better too btw. Mine was just meant as an easier coding option.

3

Tactics / Re: Bases placement and type

« on: March 09, 2010, 11:33:21 am »

I typically put a base on every major continent; North America (around Wichita, Kansas, 'cuz Roswell isn't central enough), South America (a little northwest of Brasília), Asia (Ulaanbataar), Africa (Central Chad), and Antarctica (South Pole).  To cover the gaps, I place Radar Towers in north-central Australia, South Africa (making sure it covers Madagascar),  the eastern peninsula of Russia (in the middle of nowhere due south of Leningradsky), and the middle of Iceland.

That's weird, Witchita, Ulaanbataar and the South Pole are three of the sites I use too.

I've just been playing a "debug" (cheat) game to try out some of the new weapons. I experimented with base placement a bit and put one on every continent. This leaves one base available, which I put in northern greenland.

I only use two bases with dropships. In this game they were northern greenland and the south pole. The other bases were all manufacturing (no need for research cause I cheated.

In a non-cheating game I think I would put my first base in Witchita with a large hangar, two small, and room for two workshops and four labs. Next two bases would go in Campo Grande, Brazil and Bologna, Italy. The first of these would be research and workshop without hangars, the second would have three large hangars for saracens and two or three workshops. After a second combat team base in Ulaanbataar, this one without research, I would have to see if I could afford the upkeep on any more. I was losing quite a lot of money in the cheating game.

If I did go for the full allowance of bases again I would probably put one on each continent, including antartica and the extra one would go in Hawaii or Samoa. Perhaps some of the later bases would be little more than living quarters and advanced radar to save on costs.

As for base layout it is worth considering that large hangars and radar allow aliens to enter. I'm not sure about missile and laser batteries as no aliens have managed to land at such a base in my games. I try to group radar and large hangars around the entrance and place my living quarters around them. I quite like the idea of combining a lasaer and a missile battery in one base, I hadn't thought of that.

4

Feature Requests / Re: A tactical benefit to autopsy research

« on: March 09, 2010, 10:44:38 am »

I did specify aimed shots, perhaps I should have made that clearer.

5

Feature Requests / Re: Automatic weapons upgrades? .... and also ammo as a weapon function?...

« on: March 09, 2010, 10:37:56 am »

Btw, the pistol used is UFA AI isn't 9mm. Read ufopaedia a bit.

My mistake, it's 7.62mm. Not sure why but I was assuming it would fire 9x19mm NATO.

And what are those "battle rifles" of yours supposed to be? High caliber ARs? I'm sorry that's impossible unless you want to treat your soldiers with dislodged shoulder after they try to fire burst from it.

The assault rifle in game is described as firing 4.7mm ammunition. By battle rifle I mean something like an FN FAL or Beretta BM59 which fire 7.62x51mm NATO. I'm not saying this should necessarily be included in the game, but it makes more sense IMHO than upgrading an assault rifle with alien tech.

6

Feature Requests / Re: A tactical benefit to autopsy research

« on: March 09, 2010, 10:06:39 am »

I quite like this idea. It also made me think of a simpler alternative: increase the damage of aimed shots against aliens you have researched.

7

Feature Requests / Re: Automatic weapons upgrades? .... and also ammo as a weapon function?...

« on: March 06, 2010, 03:01:53 pm »

Making the 9mm pistol and assault rifle more powerful makes little sense to me. If you want such weapons then use desert eagles and battle rifles. Small arms are small because that's what the soldiers can handle not because we lack the technology to make more powerful guns.

8

Bugs prior to release 2.3 / Re: Reaction Fire?

« on: March 03, 2010, 12:28:25 pm »

I'm also using linux svn. I don't get the message "No fire mode selected for reaction fire", it seems to set up ok and reserve TU's. To get some reaction fire in skirmish I had to use a soldier as bait to draw a knife wielding alien out of hiding. I got no reaction fire when the gun wielders were popping out of cover and firing several shots at my soldiers.

I've played through the early stages of the campaign despite this problem and seen no reaction fire from my guys or the aliens in over a dozen missions.

9

Bugs prior to release 2.3 / Re: Reaction Fire?

« on: March 02, 2010, 12:42:07 pm »

It works for me in skirmish but not in the campaign.

10

Discussion / Re: Coilgun best weapon in Close Quarter Combat - human cqc weapon?

« on: February 25, 2010, 06:14:34 pm »

- An electromagnetic Assault Rifle is theoretically doable with a good enough power source, but this falls into the realm of a new weapon. I can see this happening before a five-barrel coilgun in the real world. Actually it would probably go Sniper, then Semi-Auto, and then 3-Round Burst, but anyways... The way I imagine this would be solid metal bullets/slugs/whatever with a basic automatic feeding mechanism as used in modern weapons. The difference would be that the barrel would be a rail or coil accelerator and the ammo would probably feed in as far back as possible, potentially having the magazine attach to or near the shoulder stock. The weapon could release several projectiles each time the accelerator "fired". Full auto wouldn't be possible unless you had the power to keep the accelerator on for several seconds, but firing a 3-shot burst wouldn't take any longer than firing one. The rounds would probably be smaller than those used in a sniper weapon.

There's already an electromagnetic rifle just like this. Perhaps if the 3-shot burst cost less action points it would be quite effective in cqc.

11

Feature Requests / Re: Reaction fire

« on: June 07, 2009, 11:55:53 am »

Sounds like you're using "Reserve TUs for shooting" (the pistol icon). This just helps you avoid moving too far to shoot. Try clicking the primary weapon button (the crosshairs) then clicking the circle next to the firemode you want to use for reaction fire.

Works for me.

12

Artwork / Re: PHALANX soldiers look a bit too stocky

« on: May 22, 2009, 07:29:12 pm »

Yes he is. http://ufoai.ninex.info/forum/index.php?topic=3403.0

13

Design / Re: More on the Storyline/Game mesh

« on: May 18, 2009, 03:55:09 pm »

I don't like the idea of tying PHALANX to one nation; we're not all americans playing this game. I do think it would be better to start out with the aliens being more covert though. PHALANX could be tasked with dealing with isolated incidents. Then later in the game, after Mumbai, they would be the natural choice to go on the offensive as they have most experience against the aliens. This way the players role would remain important throughout the game. The story could reflect an increased international response without it affecting the game too much i think.

14

Tactics / Re: Your Tactics

« on: May 18, 2009, 02:43:44 pm »

My usual squad:
1 Flamer
1 Micro-Shotgun
3-4 Bolters
1 Coilgun
1-2 Heavy Lasers

The flamer and micro shotgun are great for clearing out spaceships with multiple aliens still inside.

Not sure why noone seems to like the bolter. At ranges of less than 15 squares where I tend to engage the enemy they are quite accurate enough, especially with an experienced soldier, and the good armour penetration keeps them deadly well into the game. For sniping they are clearly not as good as sniper rifles or coil guns but that's not my style really anyway. I do like them to work in pairs though or to work with other specialists as the reaction fire is rarely sufficient to deal with more than one alien.

I find the coilgun is most useful in the first round before the enemy dive for cover. It's quite good for area denial on some maps too but I find that if I rely on snipers too much then the civvies get killed too easily.

The Heavy Laser(s) are quite adaptable. They tend to be used to guard the backs of my assault troops or to keep aliens pinned down while my other troops close in for the kill.

Playing in this style I rarely lose a civilian. I also don't use medikits as I prefer to finish the battle quickly and get them back to base.

15

Tactics / Re: A bunch of noob questions and many thanks :)

« on: February 23, 2009, 09:38:07 am »

1. You can't at the start of the game. Research opens up a couple of options later on.
2. By winning tactical battles.
3. If it says 3/40 it means you got 40 items of three different types.
4. Not noticed that one.
5. You get funds from the different nations at the start of each month depending on how happy they are. You can also sell equipment and ufos.
6. Click the ufo a couple of times and a menu should pop up to select ships or bases to attack it with.