61
Discussion / Re: Feedback 2.3
« on: August 05, 2010, 05:23:33 am »
Using plasma rifles pretty much invalidates any complaints about missing at long range.
News:
New board
Show Posts
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
62
Tactics / Re: Storming harvester
« on: August 05, 2010, 12:06:56 am »
Be careful with the stunning; there seems to be a bug that makes it rather difficult to kill an alien who's standing in the same tile as a previously stunned alien.
63
Discussion / Re: Feedback 2.3
« on: August 04, 2010, 12:45:23 am »- Soldiers gain experience way too slow. After fifty or more missions my best guy is still only Competent in Assault Weapons while he'd be already a superhero in the old UFO.
Two notes --
1- I don't believe you gain any experience if you do auto-missions.
2- Some soldiers start out FAR superior to others -- e.g. stat ranges 25-40 or so. This is a 1% random die roll. I'm not terribly fond of this (IMHO, this should probably be somewhat frontloaded -- surviving elites joining you in the beginning -- followed by conscript-level replacements for a while, and then a greater chance of elites later once you've proven yourself and there's been time for training). The current system encourages save-scumming because of the magnitude of impact (given that this combines with the stat-gain system to make these guys pretty much permanently superior, because they need the same XP to gain N points above starting stats as far inferior ones do... and it increases superlinearly w/ N.)
Quote
- The thing that pisses me the most is the "balancing" of the game, namely the better weapons you have the tougher the opponents become. Indeed there's supposed to be some challenge but not like this. I mean what the heck happened to the weapons, or are my soldiers up against Terminators? A simple Taman grunt takes more than a burst shot from a Plasma Rifle from point blank range, although it's not wearing any armor. And they tend to become wonderful snipers as well, they can hit my soldiers with a plasma pistol from kilometers without a problem. Soon it comes down to this: if the enemy sees you, you are toast, period. And it all ends up in playing "Retry" again and again - there goes excitement. It seems my soldiers have no chance, and it's not the kind of thrilling no-chance-but-we-are-heroes thing. It's the game-unbalanced-to-unfair-and-rather-boring thing.
Haven't really seen this. Not unusual to clear a map against a Harvester's worth with 1-2 wounds, total. But I don't use the plasma weapons at all, except for the plasma pistol as last-ditch sidearm -- all laser rifles, heavy lasers, and sniper rifles for the distance work (common factor: very low spread values, even for the burst modes on the lasers).
Quote
- Have anybody mentioned that there are way too many tactical missions? It'd be useful to have a difficulty setting to set them. Actually there's an UFO landing somewhere every hour and that gives really little time for strategic playing. Also it chewes up soldiers real fast and here we get to that stupid Retry button again. (Hey, the solution is NOT removing the Retry button!)
- Talking about tac missions, it's quite boring when all off sudden an avalanche of Harvesters appear and all land in the same environment. I'm just done with the 6th farm shootout in a row and I am quite bored. But you can't just skip these.
Agreed on frequency and tedium. Even with 70+ scientists researching three techs in three bases, and multiple UFO disassemblies occurring at one time, production/research figures are slow enough and mission variety low enough that it's extremely repetitive.
This combines with certain nasty bugs (like the fbxrd's Tropical/Harvester map where you can't enter the staircase room, and the many flashing textures on certain maps with an older ATI card) and the non-success rate with auto-mission (currently estimate automission success rate at maybe 2-3%... with heavy lasers, laser rifles, sniper rifles, nanocomposite armor, and a fair number of Proficient skills w/ one having reached Very Good... and a record of complete stomping when played manually) -- and it's very 'meh' while waiting to finish coilgun and stingray research. Never mind the time it takes to get antimatter so I can actually *fly* the two Dragons that I've built.
From the alien's perspective, I would have expected them to pause to regroup and analyze the situation, then come back with more numbers, more toys, better skills, better tactics, or some combination thereof. Haven't seen any Sheevars or Bloodspiders, any UFO above Harvester.
Quote
It is rather odd that a field medikit can heal a mortally wounded soldier just immediately, but it takes weeks in a high-tech hospital for them to recover. Also, recovering takes waaaay too much time.
Known weirdness.
Quote
- Also in the old UFO, when a soldier got wounded, he lost one Health point every turn from then on, until the mission ended or he died. Now the soldiers can fight on without a flaw with half of their heads chopped off with a Kerrblade. WTF?
Wounds do affect accuracy by increasing your spread values, so you don't want to engage in a sniper duel when wounded. That said, it doesn't reduce your TU, AFAICT, and wounds don't get worse.
64
Discussion / Re: How many bases can you purchase?
« on: August 03, 2010, 12:18:27 am »
To be more explicit:
1- Down UFO.
2- Disassemble it.
3- Depending on the type of UFO, there is a chance you get an Alien Detection item. Larger UFOs tend to yield more stuff. This is defined in one of the .ufo files.
4- Research Alien Materials, if you haven't already.
5- Research Alien Detection.
Then you can build an Advanced Radar building in a base. It is not an 'upgrade' in the RTS sense, but a new building (and one that does not require the original radar building to operate).
You can work out (and modify, if you like) the research tree by poking in the .ufo files -- the dependencies are there, not hardcoded in some .c file.
1- Down UFO.
2- Disassemble it.
3- Depending on the type of UFO, there is a chance you get an Alien Detection item. Larger UFOs tend to yield more stuff. This is defined in one of the .ufo files.
4- Research Alien Materials, if you haven't already.
5- Research Alien Detection.
Then you can build an Advanced Radar building in a base. It is not an 'upgrade' in the RTS sense, but a new building (and one that does not require the original radar building to operate).
You can work out (and modify, if you like) the research tree by poking in the .ufo files -- the dependencies are there, not hardcoded in some .c file.
65
Feature Requests / Re: Equip Soldiers - Weapons Categories and Skills
« on: August 02, 2010, 10:17:29 pm »
One problem is that skills aren't tied to the weapon per se, but the fire mode. One weapon can have multiple fire modes. For instance, it is entirely legal (and already done, IIRC) to have an Aimed Shot mode use 'sniper' while a Snap Shot mode uses 'assault' for the very same weapon. The grenade launcher can launch flechette rounds (ala the shotgun); I'd have to check the .ufo file (or load up the game) to verify whether that actually uses the 'High Explosive' skill or not.
It would make sense to allow some sortability of the soldiers, however, as well as perhaps color-coding the stat values so that unusually high values draw the eye. This would be particularly useful for identifying elites.
It would make sense to allow some sortability of the soldiers, however, as well as perhaps color-coding the stat values so that unusually high values draw the eye. This would be particularly useful for identifying elites.
66
Tactics / Re: What are PHALANX supposed to be? I.D.I.O.T.S.?
« on: July 31, 2010, 08:20:25 pm »
And, incidentally, starting stats matter a lot -- the XP it takes to reach a given stat are based on how much higher it is than the original statistic, not the new value. That is, it takes the same XP to go from e.g. Accuracy of 32 to Accuracy of 50, as it takes to go from an Accuracy of 17 to an Accuracy of 35, because both are 18 above the starting value. And it's an exponential curve...
67
Tactics / Re: What are PHALANX supposed to be? I.D.I.O.T.S.?
« on: July 31, 2010, 08:16:07 pm »
Turns out that each potential recruit has a 1% chance to be an elite (vs. a generalist, or a specialist)... and they rock. I found this out by leafing through the 2.4 source, but it's in stable -- I just found somebody whom I haven't hired yet, but with these stats:
Strength 32
Speed 28
Accuracy 37
Mind 43
Close Combat 28
Heavy Weapons 36
Assault Weapons 36
Sniper Rifles 29
High Explosives 30
Health 124
And another with Str 31, Spd 28, Acc 32, Mind 32, Close 29, Heavy 37, Assault 33, Sniper 39, High Exp 35, Health 114.
Strength 32
Speed 28
Accuracy 37
Mind 43
Close Combat 28
Heavy Weapons 36
Assault Weapons 36
Sniper Rifles 29
High Explosives 30
Health 124
And another with Str 31, Spd 28, Acc 32, Mind 32, Close 29, Heavy 37, Assault 33, Sniper 39, High Exp 35, Health 114.
68
Tactics / Re: What's your favorite weapon?
« on: July 31, 2010, 08:05:36 pm »
Hmmmmmmm.
Eyeballing the 2.4 trunk, I notice that the Bolter has a 'throughwall' flag of 2 (which, judging from quick grep + skim, means that it should be able to penetrate up to two walls of thickness less than 8... units of some sort, at reduced damage (the first penetration divides damage by sqrt(2), I think; the second, again by sqrt(3)). For comparison, all human laser weapons lack a throughwall value, the sniper rifle = 1, the coilgun = 3, and the chain gun has throughwall = 5.
As a side note, weapon preferences might change if the display showed estimates of post-armor damage (after, say, you've already researched the armor).
e.g. (all numbers from 2.4-trunk)
laser rifle: using pulsed fire, 3 shots, laser-medium damage type, "42 5" damage value. 12 TUs cost.
If I read the code right, each shot can do 37-47 points before armor... but then, we subtract damage reduction from armor. Alien medium armor reduces laser_medium damage by 26, so that's 11-21 points per shot or 33-63 for 12 TUs if you hit 100%.
Damage is adjusted for difficulty after armor reduction, and is a multiplier, not a flat bonus/reduction.
heavy laser: using pulsed fire, 15 TUs, 3 shots, laser-heavy, "52 6".
46-58, subtract alien medium armor damage reduction vs. laser-heavy of 24, means 22-34 per shot or 66-102 damage for 15 TUs if you hit 100%.
sniper rifle: aimed shot, 18 TUs, normal-heavy, "105 0".
105 pts, subtract medium armor DR of 22 = 83 damage for 18 TUs.
coil gun: aimed shot, 18 TUs, normal-heavy, "180 36"...
144-216 pts, subtract 22 = 122-194 points for 18 TUs
bolter rifle: 3-round burst, 14 TUs, normal-heavy, "75 10" -
65-85 pts, subtract 22, 43-63 x3 ~ 129-189 if you hit 100%.
submachine gun, 15-shot full auto, 18 TUs, normal-light, "20 4" -
16-24 pts, subtract 31 from medium armor = you do the minimum 1 pt per shot that hits
flamethrower: 60-shot Inferno, 12 TUs, fire_flamer, "6 2" -
4..8, less 3 from medium armor = 1..5 per shot that hits - 60..300 if you hit 100%, but average a very nasty 180.
particle beam cannon "Unrestricted Blast", 1 8-ammo-using shot, 28 TUs, splash damage of "210 20", particlebeam-heavy, blast radius = 4:
if at ground zero, damage = 190-230, less 24 point reduction from medium armor == you're still toast.
damage at 3 units away = 190..230 x (1-3/4) = 47.5..57.5, less armor reduction = 19.5..29.5.
particle beam rifle vs. nanocomposite armor, 15 TU aimed shot (particlebeam-medium), "90 15" --
75-105 damage, less 17 from armor - 58-88 damage.
plasma blade vs. nanocomposite armor, 7 TU 'lock' "300 5", plasma-heavy
295-305, less... 20 points, but it doesn't matter...
kerrblade vs. nanocomposite armor, 14 TU slash, "180 45" monomolecular --
135-225, less 12 = 123-213 points.
For reference, a Taman should have 100-130 health, Ortnoks 120-160, Shevaar 120-160, Bloodspiders 150, and your average new recruit 80-110.
As a side note (noticing this because they're in the same file...) 1% chance for any of your singleplayer-game recruits to be 'elite'... which gives them FAR higher starting stats. Strength 25-35, Speed 25-35, Accuracy 30-40, Mind 30-45, weapon skills 25-40, health 100-130. For comparison, other recruits will have 15-25 strength and speed, 20-30 accuracy, 20-35 mind, and either 15-25 all weapon skills (non-specialists) or 25-40 in one weapon skill and 13-23 in the rest.
Taman soldiers will have far higher stats (accuracy 40-50, weapon skills 50-90); what hurts their hitting ability is that they don't crouch much when shooting, and that they tend to have weapons with higher spread values.
Eyeballing the 2.4 trunk, I notice that the Bolter has a 'throughwall' flag of 2 (which, judging from quick grep + skim, means that it should be able to penetrate up to two walls of thickness less than 8... units of some sort, at reduced damage (the first penetration divides damage by sqrt(2), I think; the second, again by sqrt(3)). For comparison, all human laser weapons lack a throughwall value, the sniper rifle = 1, the coilgun = 3, and the chain gun has throughwall = 5.
As a side note, weapon preferences might change if the display showed estimates of post-armor damage (after, say, you've already researched the armor).
e.g. (all numbers from 2.4-trunk)
laser rifle: using pulsed fire, 3 shots, laser-medium damage type, "42 5" damage value. 12 TUs cost.
If I read the code right, each shot can do 37-47 points before armor... but then, we subtract damage reduction from armor. Alien medium armor reduces laser_medium damage by 26, so that's 11-21 points per shot or 33-63 for 12 TUs if you hit 100%.
Damage is adjusted for difficulty after armor reduction, and is a multiplier, not a flat bonus/reduction.
heavy laser: using pulsed fire, 15 TUs, 3 shots, laser-heavy, "52 6".
46-58, subtract alien medium armor damage reduction vs. laser-heavy of 24, means 22-34 per shot or 66-102 damage for 15 TUs if you hit 100%.
sniper rifle: aimed shot, 18 TUs, normal-heavy, "105 0".
105 pts, subtract medium armor DR of 22 = 83 damage for 18 TUs.
coil gun: aimed shot, 18 TUs, normal-heavy, "180 36"...
144-216 pts, subtract 22 = 122-194 points for 18 TUs
bolter rifle: 3-round burst, 14 TUs, normal-heavy, "75 10" -
65-85 pts, subtract 22, 43-63 x3 ~ 129-189 if you hit 100%.
submachine gun, 15-shot full auto, 18 TUs, normal-light, "20 4" -
16-24 pts, subtract 31 from medium armor = you do the minimum 1 pt per shot that hits
flamethrower: 60-shot Inferno, 12 TUs, fire_flamer, "6 2" -
4..8, less 3 from medium armor = 1..5 per shot that hits - 60..300 if you hit 100%, but average a very nasty 180.
particle beam cannon "Unrestricted Blast", 1 8-ammo-using shot, 28 TUs, splash damage of "210 20", particlebeam-heavy, blast radius = 4:
if at ground zero, damage = 190-230, less 24 point reduction from medium armor == you're still toast.
damage at 3 units away = 190..230 x (1-3/4) = 47.5..57.5, less armor reduction = 19.5..29.5.
particle beam rifle vs. nanocomposite armor, 15 TU aimed shot (particlebeam-medium), "90 15" --
75-105 damage, less 17 from armor - 58-88 damage.
plasma blade vs. nanocomposite armor, 7 TU 'lock' "300 5", plasma-heavy
295-305, less... 20 points, but it doesn't matter...
kerrblade vs. nanocomposite armor, 14 TU slash, "180 45" monomolecular --
135-225, less 12 = 123-213 points.
For reference, a Taman should have 100-130 health, Ortnoks 120-160, Shevaar 120-160, Bloodspiders 150, and your average new recruit 80-110.
As a side note (noticing this because they're in the same file...) 1% chance for any of your singleplayer-game recruits to be 'elite'... which gives them FAR higher starting stats. Strength 25-35, Speed 25-35, Accuracy 30-40, Mind 30-45, weapon skills 25-40, health 100-130. For comparison, other recruits will have 15-25 strength and speed, 20-30 accuracy, 20-35 mind, and either 15-25 all weapon skills (non-specialists) or 25-40 in one weapon skill and 13-23 in the rest.
Taman soldiers will have far higher stats (accuracy 40-50, weapon skills 50-90); what hurts their hitting ability is that they don't crouch much when shooting, and that they tend to have weapons with higher spread values.
69
Tactics / Re: Storming harvester
« on: July 29, 2010, 09:44:05 pm »
Yeah, lasers would make this easier...
My current standard loadout would be:
- One grenadier -- laser rifle (primary) / grenade launcher (for extreme FIBUA, like harvesters). No reaction fire, so fire/retreat is a must.
- One flamethrower -- laser rifle / FT. FT is even moreso for CQB only. A 12 TU Inferno will kill many aliens... but is not guaranteed, so save TU to retreat. In FT mode, is normally standing for faster movement.
- Two laser rifles / plasma pistol. The plasma pistol is very rarely drawn, but is faster than reloading. LRs have some chance for RF, being among the faster-firing weapons.
- Two heavy lasers / plasma pistol. Heavy lasers do a fair bit of my killing at range; the damage advantage over LRs is significant because of the way armor works, but they're not as good as RF due to higher TU cost.
- Two snipers / plasma pistols.
Medikits, nanocomposite armor for greater survivability. IR goggles for all. Aliens do not currently regenerate or use medikits, as far as I can tell, so the long-term hurt-each-other game works in your favor as long as you don't actually die -- pull your wounded back and fix them up ASAP, while the aliens accumulate wounds (and inaccuracy penalties). Ammunition is cheap.
Those who aren't the GL or FT folks tend to carry two grenades but rarely use them.
General --
- Save the harvester for last, at least if it's intact. If it's intact, there's only one two-door bay where they can emerge, anyway. You'll occasionally have LOS to somebody in the cockpit, but AFAICT you can't actually *shoot* them (nor they you).
- Typically I'll have the sniper + heavy lasers sweep close to the outside starting with the cockpit (1 sniper + 1 HL each side), stopping every few squares to use IR to find the aliens. The good case is that they're all in the first floor. If I do find aliens far forward, I'll detach one sniper by them to give the aliens something to fixate on -- they can see you through the walls and behave accordingly.
- Sniper(s) + HL sweep *wide* around the exits moving slowly so that they can ever more see more of the tricky zone right by the entrance, but that they're far away that the aliens' generally worse weapon spreads matter slightly. IR goggles used to see anybody near. LR + FT + GL hug the exterior of the ship, waiting for SR+HL to provide cover. If there's a single alien in striking distance, FT may rush, Inferno, and then dodge back out of LOS.
- Breaching team is FT backed in LR in one door, GL backed by LR in another. HLs may or may not be used to maintain perimeter, if not detached already SRs are detached to IR scanning.
- Aliens stuck in the cockpit are quite vulnerable because there are niches in the hallway, and corners closer to the entrances, while you can bombard them with GL fire if they approach. The hard phase is if there are multiple aliens upstairs; then you want FT + LRs. A patient player can wait around for some of them to every so often attempt the stairs.
- Frequent pauses for IR... and to let aliens go berserk and stupid.
My current standard loadout would be:
- One grenadier -- laser rifle (primary) / grenade launcher (for extreme FIBUA, like harvesters). No reaction fire, so fire/retreat is a must.
- One flamethrower -- laser rifle / FT. FT is even moreso for CQB only. A 12 TU Inferno will kill many aliens... but is not guaranteed, so save TU to retreat. In FT mode, is normally standing for faster movement.
- Two laser rifles / plasma pistol. The plasma pistol is very rarely drawn, but is faster than reloading. LRs have some chance for RF, being among the faster-firing weapons.
- Two heavy lasers / plasma pistol. Heavy lasers do a fair bit of my killing at range; the damage advantage over LRs is significant because of the way armor works, but they're not as good as RF due to higher TU cost.
- Two snipers / plasma pistols.
Medikits, nanocomposite armor for greater survivability. IR goggles for all. Aliens do not currently regenerate or use medikits, as far as I can tell, so the long-term hurt-each-other game works in your favor as long as you don't actually die -- pull your wounded back and fix them up ASAP, while the aliens accumulate wounds (and inaccuracy penalties). Ammunition is cheap.
Those who aren't the GL or FT folks tend to carry two grenades but rarely use them.
General --
- Save the harvester for last, at least if it's intact. If it's intact, there's only one two-door bay where they can emerge, anyway. You'll occasionally have LOS to somebody in the cockpit, but AFAICT you can't actually *shoot* them (nor they you).
- Typically I'll have the sniper + heavy lasers sweep close to the outside starting with the cockpit (1 sniper + 1 HL each side), stopping every few squares to use IR to find the aliens. The good case is that they're all in the first floor. If I do find aliens far forward, I'll detach one sniper by them to give the aliens something to fixate on -- they can see you through the walls and behave accordingly.
- Sniper(s) + HL sweep *wide* around the exits moving slowly so that they can ever more see more of the tricky zone right by the entrance, but that they're far away that the aliens' generally worse weapon spreads matter slightly. IR goggles used to see anybody near. LR + FT + GL hug the exterior of the ship, waiting for SR+HL to provide cover. If there's a single alien in striking distance, FT may rush, Inferno, and then dodge back out of LOS.
- Breaching team is FT backed in LR in one door, GL backed by LR in another. HLs may or may not be used to maintain perimeter, if not detached already SRs are detached to IR scanning.
- Aliens stuck in the cockpit are quite vulnerable because there are niches in the hallway, and corners closer to the entrances, while you can bombard them with GL fire if they approach. The hard phase is if there are multiple aliens upstairs; then you want FT + LRs. A patient player can wait around for some of them to every so often attempt the stairs.
- Frequent pauses for IR... and to let aliens go berserk and stupid.
70
Discussion / Re: Disassembly time
« on: July 28, 2010, 11:40:49 pm »That wouldn't make any sense. You don't cut a UFO in half and disassemble it in two bases, don't you?
Who's to say that the disassembly doesn't take place in the yard itself, and that therefore it should be possible to pool workers up to the yard's capacity?
71
Discussion / Re: Disassembly time
« on: July 28, 2010, 07:13:58 am »
I don't see a way to share any production task (which would include disassembly) across multiple bases, so -- you could have the two bases working on two UFOs at one time but not two bases on one UFO, AFAICT.
72
Discussion / Re: Disassembly time
« on: July 28, 2010, 05:17:25 am »
Not a bad idea, although of course there's the huge 20-day initial lag while you get your antimatter storage set up.
For what it's worth, it's strictly linear (i.e. man-hours required / # of workers you can use, and all workers will be used unless you for some reason hired more than your workshops can use), and at least in 2.3-stable there is no penalty for distance to the UFO yard.
For what it's worth, it's strictly linear (i.e. man-hours required / # of workers you can use, and all workers will be used unless you for some reason hired more than your workshops can use), and at least in 2.3-stable there is no penalty for distance to the UFO yard.
73
Discussion / Re: Request for Clarification on Skill Improvement
« on: July 28, 2010, 05:00:39 am »
Based on some skimming of the source for 2.3 stable release:
0: strength (XP gain is flat per mission)
1: speed (XP gain based on movement -- distance, TUs)
2: accuracy (XP gain based on kills with any weapon, but gain is 50% higher for fire modes that use 'sniper' skill)
3: mind (XP gain based on kills, plus a flat per mission bonus)
4: close combat (all XP gain for weapon skills is based strictly on kills using that skill)
5: heavy
6: assault
7: sniper
8: explosive
9: health (XP gain is based on total XP gain for the mission)
XP gain per skill per mission is capped; caps again depend on skill.
Generally new_skill = original_skill + (XP/100)^0.6.
0: strength (XP gain is flat per mission)
1: speed (XP gain based on movement -- distance, TUs)
2: accuracy (XP gain based on kills with any weapon, but gain is 50% higher for fire modes that use 'sniper' skill)
3: mind (XP gain based on kills, plus a flat per mission bonus)
4: close combat (all XP gain for weapon skills is based strictly on kills using that skill)
5: heavy
6: assault
7: sniper
8: explosive
9: health (XP gain is based on total XP gain for the mission)
XP gain per skill per mission is capped; caps again depend on skill.
Generally new_skill = original_skill + (XP/100)^0.6.
74
Tactics / Re: What are PHALANX supposed to be? I.D.I.O.T.S.?
« on: July 26, 2010, 09:30:58 pm »So I guess the last one includes the fire mode I select for RF?
No wonder I stopped getting RF since I put all my troops on higher damage, higher TU modes instead of the "snapshots". I'll try going back to snapshots instead and see if it makes a difference. If true it makes pistols more useful in close quarters to proc those RF as the alien comes round the corner.
If memory serves, the answer is 'yes' -- provided that you do have enough TUs left for the more expensive firemode. I seem to recall that if you don't have enough TUs for that one, but you do have enough TUs for another fire mode, it'll use that as a fallback. It'll also only check your primary weapon; e.g. sniper rifle in right hand, plasma pistol in left == no reaction fire, because you can't fire a sniper rifle when also holding the pistol, and the plasma pistol isn't eligible since it's in the off hand.
75
Tactics / Re: What are PHALANX supposed to be? I.D.I.O.T.S.?
« on: July 25, 2010, 08:41:07 pm »
The machine guns are definitely more in the SAW mode than, say, water-cooled belt-fed MG42 line. They do make quite respectable short/medium-range weapons for an assault team early on, when alien armor isn't very heavy and when your accuracy typically isn't high either.
A note on the hit mechanics -- practically all direct-fire weapons are essentially equally accurate within their permitted ranges in that they will be centered on the target's center. What varies is the precision, which is calculated in angular terms, and which is based on such things as the 'spread' rating of the weapon, a possible modifier if you're crouched (IIRC, no weapon currently is *less* accurate when crouched), the shooter's accuracy score, the shooter's skill with that particular weapon/fire mode combination, the weapon's balance modifiers (possibly unused so far, unsure; I haven't been digging through the code that long), and the shooter's injuries, if anything.
Since it's computed in angular terms and not some absolute error measured in distance... when you're very close, these factors matter a lot less as even a fairly significant deviation in angle might not be enough to miss the target. What you want then is normally damage-per-TU (especially early, where alien armor is less of an issue; since armor appears to be reducing damage in *absolute* amounts rather than relative, heavier armor encourages high-damage-per-shot weapons unless the armor is relatively ineffective against a given damage type), which encourages automatics, flamethrowers and even plasma pistols over the sniper rifle. The FT is special; because one blast is treated as many, many individual shots, it's rather likely that you'll hit with more than a few.
And yeah, the dropship itself is useful as (indestructible, as with everything else; you can lose them to interceptors in the air, but currently you can't lose them in the battlescape) cover.
A note on the hit mechanics -- practically all direct-fire weapons are essentially equally accurate within their permitted ranges in that they will be centered on the target's center. What varies is the precision, which is calculated in angular terms, and which is based on such things as the 'spread' rating of the weapon, a possible modifier if you're crouched (IIRC, no weapon currently is *less* accurate when crouched), the shooter's accuracy score, the shooter's skill with that particular weapon/fire mode combination, the weapon's balance modifiers (possibly unused so far, unsure; I haven't been digging through the code that long), and the shooter's injuries, if anything.
Since it's computed in angular terms and not some absolute error measured in distance... when you're very close, these factors matter a lot less as even a fairly significant deviation in angle might not be enough to miss the target. What you want then is normally damage-per-TU (especially early, where alien armor is less of an issue; since armor appears to be reducing damage in *absolute* amounts rather than relative, heavier armor encourages high-damage-per-shot weapons unless the armor is relatively ineffective against a given damage type), which encourages automatics, flamethrowers and even plasma pistols over the sniper rifle. The FT is special; because one blast is treated as many, many individual shots, it's rather likely that you'll hit with more than a few.
And yeah, the dropship itself is useful as (indestructible, as with everything else; you can lose them to interceptors in the air, but currently you can't lose them in the battlescape) cover.