Messages

76

Design / Re: Noob question: campaign.ufo documentation

« on: January 20, 2008, 10:17:04 am »

I dont know if you are SUPPOSED to build bases early, but i usually build my full set of bases in May...one extended research bases, one extended production base and 5 radar/interception bases...

77

FAQ / How to modify the Stats-advancement?

« on: January 20, 2008, 02:49:01 am »

Id like to modify the stats-advancement of my soldiers...the advancement of their weapon stats seems quite ok, and finally realized that their accuracy will become slowly better...but concerning speed there is no advancement i noticed...ok, just after about 20 missions and about 10-15 kills per soldier...not enough for me...

78

Tactics / Re: How do you protect the Firebird?

« on: January 19, 2008, 11:30:37 am »

Just downloaded 2.2 and am getting annoyed at the frequency with which I'm losing my Firebird.  I don't see how you are supposed to escort it with the fighters, so how do you keep it from being shot down by alien craft?

I never even ry to protect my firebird, as it was never attacked...when and how did this happen?

79

Feature Requests / Re: Some bugs in 2.2

« on: January 18, 2008, 04:47:19 pm »

This is implemented, but you need to research UFO fighter before disassembling it. And in order to research UFO fighter, you need to research UFO scout before.

Thx...that means i will have to wait for a landed scout...

edit: got it! 

80

Feature Requests / Re: Some bugs in 2.2

« on: January 18, 2008, 01:00:40 pm »

see our http://ufoai.ninex.info/wiki/index.php/FAQ for the path where to search the savegames.

please also post your bugs at our bugtracker - that helps us to ... yes, keep track of them...
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=805242&group_id=157793&func=browse

unfortunately, i lost the save...sorry. But i have another question:

I retrieved an alien fighter, had an UFO hangar ready, but i cant disassemble it...or neither transfer it to another base...bug or simply not implemented yet?

81

Discussion / Re: estimating factors for to-hit-chance

« on: January 18, 2008, 12:51:13 pm »

Thanks for the fast reply! This really helps!

How much is 1 movement field in metres?

82

Discussion / estimating factors for to-hit-chance

« on: January 18, 2008, 12:10:46 pm »

Dont know if these questions belong here, but i give it a try:

It think it is really important to make your shots count -> a high damage weapon is useless if you dont hit often enough. Therefore i am searching for some information about the exact effects of the the follwiong factors (Version 2.2):

Accuracy vs. Weapon skill:
How do these two factors EXACTLY influence the chance to hit?

Their importance greatly effects my choice of troopers...right now i value accuracy over wepon skill, as accuracy is really slow to improve...

To give an example: I want to have an sniper for long range shots. Two troopers could qualify:

Nr.1:  Accuracy 27, but Sniper only 18
Nr.2:  Accuracy only 21, but Sniper 28

Which one will have a better chance to hit on, lets say, 20 "Hexes" distance (same weapon)

Range vs. Spread:

In understand that the range limit of course limits your maximum range and that spread is an indicator of the amount of misfire/the amount of spreading your single shots.

1. What does this range (e.g. range 22) actually mean? 22 feet? 22 "hexes"? 22 meters? I assume that "hexes" are meant...but then: Sniper rifles and bolters have a range of 250! That is much more than any map will ever have...are there any benefits on aiming on targets much closer than the maximum range?

2. What does spread 2,3 or 4 actually mean? How important  are these numbers? I actually know, the higher the spread, the more bullets will hit surrounding "hexes". And this might be used for additional effects (killing more than one target per shot), so i dont realy need to know the exact effects of spread for these fire modes (full auto, spray)

But when not using some full-auto, but a single shot (e. g. snap shot, aimed shot) lesser spread is perferred of course. At this point range comes into play.

Which weapon will have a better chance to hit?

Situation: Two troopers, identical accuracy and identical weapon skill. There is an enemy at 20 "hexes":

Nr. 3: Laser Pistol ( Range 60, Spread 0,4)
Nr. 4: Laser Rifle (Range 90, Spread 1)
Nr. 5: Particle Beam Rifle (Range 150, Spread 1,5)
Nr. 6: Bolter (Range 250, Spread 1,7)
Nr. 7: Sniper Rifle (Range 250, Spread 0,9)

I assume that range MUST have an impact, otherwise the CLOSE combat weapon "Laser pistol" should have the best chance to hit...and this cant be. But how BIG are the effects of spread and range combined...

One last pint: I was really pleasantly surprised by the laser weaponry. If spread has some consirable impact on the chances to hit, lasers might become actually useful for precise fire...

83

Feature Requests / Re: Some ideas for balancing

« on: January 17, 2008, 12:31:28 am »

"Remove some starting equipment, especially combat armor."

No, thank you. Just because for balance reason? How silly is it
to move against very dangerous aliens without armour? Come on ...
noone would do that. If you want to balance the research project,
then find other ways.

I see your point. You could argue that there is no armor that could be useful against aliens. Or that normal kevlar is automaticly donned.

The reason why i want to remove it is to give the player an additional possibility to improve the soldiers without the need for an additional model for another type of armor. And if the firepower of the aliens is scaled down the same way (just reducing their damage or only giving them plasma pistols e.g.) the beginning would not change...

"Remove the alien armor from the beginning of the game"
Guess you suggest this only because alien armour will become
useful. (Or in general, all alien tech.)
A suggestion is to simply make researching alien stuff
harder/more expensive/more time consuming.

Not really the reason. Having the aliens START with armor, there is lesser development. Right now it only takes a few months (just ran one test game on hard and the aliens had medium and tachyon weapons armor in may...) for the aliens to be armed to their maximum. You have tons to research and your own development takes some "jumps"...from railgun to nanoarmor to tachyon guns e.g. you just pick always the best stuff...no need to research plasma tech...no need to research lasers and so on...

"Put some tech before the railgun. "
Agreed. Though, you didnt specify what exactly to put before.

cause i have no real good idea...i simply want to postpone the development of the railgun till midgame.

"Improve the laser (kind of replacement for the rail gun) and make it a little less powerful "
I think this is a bad suggestion. The way lies to make rail gun harder to get, rather
than making laser a replacement for the rail gun.

Ok, lets try it the other way round: make lasers really useful! Right now they are useless!

And i dont think the increasing the research costs of railguns is a good idea. I would expect all of my first researchable techs to be reasonably fast...and it might be a bad surprise if the first tech you start (railgun) takes months...an alternative might be, that there ist a kind of expected research time stated somewhere. This way you could have the choice to choose your research way with much more strategical conderations...

"Right now, if a UFO is detected, there is almost no chance to get it (had about 10 UFO sightings, lauched fighters and lost contact...boring)."
Depends on the bases and interceptors. If one has enough bases with several interceptors from different directions, it is
normally very easy to intercept an UFO.

On the hard levels though, I do indeed have cash problems

Ok, that would work...and if i built some more bases, cash would really become less abundant...a nice way to burn the 6 millions i acumulated...

What I think could happen would be that the alien tech gets a slight boost, the research cost is increased too,
and maybe the initial requirements for "decoding" alien tech could be made a bit harder as well.

This would simply slow down the players development, but the development of the aliens would still be finished after a few months... Right now you see a new alien, a new weapon, a new armor every second tactical mission an you go "Wow, what is that!" in the beginning...but after the first half year, there is no new challenge

84

Feature Requests / Re: Some bugs in 2.2

« on: January 17, 2008, 12:06:58 am »

So found a "real" bug this time...game crashes after i return to base

i get a visual c++ error with the expression: *cargo.alientype

would attach the save, but i cant find it...

85

Discussion / Re: Weapons Categories

« on: January 15, 2008, 05:48:49 pm »

I actually have no clue about the diffrences of using a Mac10, a G3 or any other firearms...

So you suggest to split the "close combat" skill into several categoreis...sure, one could do that and your arguments are sound...but to keep the gameplay simple, just one category is sufficent for me...right now, i almost never use any close combat weapons...

86

Discussion / Re: Weapons Categories

« on: January 15, 2008, 02:44:43 am »

Categories are ok for me. This way you pervent, that a single soldier becomes a specialist for snipers (great at ranged fire) and at the same time MGs (great for heavy, close combar use)...you habe to specialise. And that adds some strategical decisions. regardless of any realistic considerations.

87

Feature Requests / Some ideas for balancing

« on: January 15, 2008, 02:40:22 am »

After I started a new campaign (hard difficulty,just arrived in May, first year) i came up with some thoughts about balancing:

1) For me, the aliens develop new weaponry just TOO fast. I know, Phalanx is meant to be inferior and outgunned...but i will capture my first tachyon beams rifle before i even started to research any plasma tech (went for railgun, alien armor and nanacomp armor -> survival of my soldiers is more important then weaponry...) It is just boring to know that you will be able to research any alien weapon within a few months...why should i even bother to research lasers? I just pick the most advanced stuff! AFAIK, the tech development could be much more dynamic and interesting. I few ideas:

Remove some starting equipment, especially combat armor. You will use it anyways, you could decrease weapon damage for an equal effect. This way you could start to research an additional "terran tech" and improve you soldiers by this. Furthermore, i would delay the new "armor tech" a while.

Slow down the improving weaponry of the aliens a lot. Without the combat armor, they will still be a threat, even with plasma pistols. Remove the alien armor from the beginning of the game (found one on the first encounter). This way, the terran equipment will stay efficient for some time and then introduce armored aliens (you might even improve the armor, to make new developments urgent)

Put some tech before the railgun. It is just boring to be able to research one weapon that can be used for all the game as first tech. I think the railgun would be a nice addition for the midgame.

Improve the laser (kind of replacement for the rail gun) and make it a little less powerful (perhaps even with some benefits e.g. high range, high precision, high armor penetration) than plasma technology. This way researching laser will start to become useful.

Remove the Saracen from the start, have him being researched and improve the stats (especially speed). Right now, if a UFO is detected, there is almost no chance to get it (had about 10 UFO sightings, lauched fighters and lost contact...boring). If the saracen becomes much faster, at least you will have some means to actually shot some UFOs down...

Remove polymer armor for fighters. Add some new terran fighter weaponry (capital lasers, laser guided rockets, improved fighter armor) and make them efficient enough to shot down small UFOs and to survive more encounters. Make air fights a clear decision: Either you win and survive or you lose. This way you will have to decide if you want to "pimp" your fighters or your ground troops.

Add some special ammo (e.g. armor piercing). This way, the normal weaponry (like assault rifles) stays interesting a much longer time...

I imagine the development of the conflict like this: The aliens invaded and have a starting advantage in techs (plasma psitols and rifles, only two simple species). Phalanx starts to counter their invasion and brings up some new terran answers (development of better terran tech (lasers, combat armor, saracen, bolter etc.) Right when the terrans think they are getting closer, the aliens take one further step (new alien armor, plasma blaster and granades, new species) and phalanx has to come up with new solutions (copy the armor, armor piercing bullets, copy the alien tech) and this dance can be repeated again and again.

88

Feature Requests / Re: Some bugs in 2.2

« on: January 15, 2008, 02:04:32 am »

I noticed this earlier.  It's because the battle continues even after one ship has been destroyed.  Any missiles and projectiles that the destroyed craft had fired will continue along their path, and if the victorious ship is in their path then it will most likely be destroyed.

This does not seem all that realistic to me.  It is possible, but realistically two ships would never just go straight at it in this fashion, one would be tailing the other, so this situation would not occur very often.

For the geoscape it would probably be difficult to show a proper dogfight without it looking a little on the retarded side, but imo missiles from a craft should disappear once it has been destroyed.

I realized this, after i shot down some scouts...so it is no bug. But still it is simply annoying. I can shoot down any Harvester close enough to my base, but i just costs me about 25K (Stiletto + 1 Missile Rack). Regardless of any discussion about realism, it is just no fun...

89

Feature Requests / Some bugs in 2.2

« on: January 14, 2008, 06:31:06 pm »

I just downloaded 2.2 and I discovered some minor bugs:

1. After i shot down an UFO (typically Harvester) i get the message, that the battle ist lost and I lose the fighter.

2. Something is wrong with production/production times: I have 10 workers employed and after 20 days they were unable to produce a single bolter.

3. Sometimes you cant see the HP of your soldiers when assigning them to your craft, which makes it quite uncomfortable to sort out wounded soliders...