Changing soldier recrutation system

[Nevasith]

I came to an idea of an addition to the current system-
recruit training- that way you would have unlimited supply of soldiers but you would have to train them from the beginning. How would it work? You have virtually unlimited supply of people willing to become a part of phalanx. There would be a recruitment centre where first selection would take place- health tests including viruses tests and other prerequisites for future soldiers (this part would not exist at all, the base structure would be needed just to access recruits.
After that the special big structure (2x1 tiles, as 2x2 would be to big[2x2 means four squares]) would be needed to start training. That way you will never get soldiers with stats higher than 20, but you can stress some aspects more than others- before you start training you chose if its going to be a sniper (with 20 skill, lol) or a heavy gunner or an assault meat. Training takes some time- for game balance lets say 25 days and credits as you need to give them food, living space and so on - maybe 2x2 barracks is not that bad idea as it would contain training space and living quarters.
Barracks would supply up to 20 recruits at the same time. After the training they would be available to transfer to specific base. This would make also another specialised base- training centre.
Of course all stats and sizes are just my guess- feel free to tune them to your liking.

Nothing would change with the normal soldiers- you could still hire some veterans from nations, but my solution would help with the soldier shortage in some circumstances.

PS maybe highly specialized training would bring one stat to 30, another to 20 and the rest to 10-15 randomly?

[BTAxis]

The main issues I see with this proposal are as follows:
- the need for yet another facility (base space is already at a premium)
- the need for additional interface and code
- militia with stats that low are probably not worth training. The higher the initial stats the easier it is to get that stat up high (since the initial stat doesn't count to the diminishing return stat increase). So professional soldiers are always going to be more valuable. on the other hand, allowing to train up milita to the same initial stats as soldiers would suggest it takes 25 days for a normal citizen to be turned into an elite soldier. If that were the case the aliens wouldn't stand a chance on Earth.

So that's why I don't think this is going to work.

[Nevasith]

at the moment there is plenty of space- most of my bases are anyway only radars with interceptors and a SAM. One HQ with dropship and the assault team, one big research base with labs, radar, sam contaminations and UFO hangars; another base with workshops which gives actually 3 really used bases.
Professional soldier you can hire immediately, while for the recruit you have to wait. As for the training time- dont go so crazy about the realism, as one hit from plasma pistol would always be lethal-super heated plasma will instantly fry anyone- and no armor will be able to withstand the temperature of few thousand degree and will not only melt, but should burn all oxygen in the explosion proximity , not to mention other alien weapons- particle pistol would be able to kill few rowed man in nanoarmors and still breach through a concrete wall taking the kinetic energy of near-the light speed particles.

The only argument that really is an issue is the code and interface. If that is a problem for the programmers than discussing it any further is pointless.

I always thought(unlike the lore from plasma blade research) that we have more man than the aliens and, while they are difficult to kill and can take many humans with them before falling dead

[Shak]

Regarding base space, maybe use the Teamroom as the facility with an added tech discovery needed to start training soldiers
With the interface, my understanding is that the medic/hospital screen will become available to use since that whole system is being scrapped in favor of pilots?

For the training idea as a whole, I agree with BTAxis that its a waste of time to train recruits. But, to be able to train your soldiers in a chosen discipline would be nice. Many times my most promoted officer is a bit useless in the field and the ability to leave him/her at base training up some Sniper/Assault skills would be great.

[TrashMan]

Just allow a HUGE starting pool to select your initial 8 soldiers.. variety.

You often get terrible initial soldier selection - their stats either stink to the heavens or they look terrible (some heads really do look like they don't belong on a body)

[sirg]

How about creating your squad from the start, but having only a limited amount of points to spread around, so you can't create 1 supersoldier for example.

I'm thinking about something like picking a soldier from the list and being able to increase his strength, intellect, sniper skill, etc by 10 or 20 points, but only with the 1st 8 people.

[BTAxis]

Well, at the moment the skill range is 1-100, where the inital stats are somewhere between 20 and 45, and the projected training increase for a typical soldier career is 50 points. That pretty much already uses up the whole range. That's a problem, not just with a system like that but with several other things we have planned (implants, badges). The range is going to have to increase to have more values, just to fit in all of those effects.

Speaking of badges, I think that could be a good way to replace the current specialist soldiers, which are pretty unnoticeable at the moment. Instead of creating soldiers from different templates as is the case now, a soldier would always be the basic grunt, but with a small chance of having a "certified sniper" badge (or something) that gives him an initial stat bonus.

[Shak]

I love the badge idea, seems very versitile.
To counteract the bonuses stacking too high, you could put an upper limit on some of the additions. I.e.
"Novice Sniper" Badge gives 15 skill points, skill limit of 50.
"Certified Sniper" Badge gives 25 skill points, skill limit 75.

[DanielOR]

Specialists are grand, but I have to say - at the moment random fluctuation is enough to push a soldier towards one specialty vs. another and they develop into specialists over time.  The idea I like best from what I've heard here is increasing the starting pull dramatically so that the random fluctuation provides enough variety.  Maybe I do not get to have a guy who is fast and great with grenades and small arms right away - life's tough.  I equip him and, provided he lives, he will get better.

I've heard this brought up before - how about training corses?  They were quite handy in UFO:aftermath.  I would propose the following:

A soldier can be assigned to train.  They cannot be in a hospital, cannot go on a mission during training.  Training itself, two options for implementation:

A) training on-ste.  That means a soldier trains between missions.  After a mission a soldier can be assigned to an intense one day course.  During that time they are unavaliable.  They have some probability to improve their selected skill by 1 point.  The worse the skill to begin with, the more likely they are to improve.

B) training off-base.  A soldier is listed as "training off-site".  They are gone for, say, 9 days - week-long course, day each way to travel.  The course improves the skill some random amount, also dependent on current skill level.

LOgic: raw recruits can be turned into at least decent soldiers over several weeks of intense training in one specialty.  Of course, they are unavailable all that time.  And the training is costly.  An experienced operator can also improve, but after a year of sniping another week will not help as much.  Plus, that week your best sniper is not killing aliens but instead hitting on that hot babe of a range instructor. 

[sirg]

I love the badge idea, seems very versitile.
To counteract the bonuses stacking too high, you could put an upper limit on some of the additions. I.e.
"Novice Sniper" Badge gives 15 skill points, skill limit of 50.
"Certified Sniper" Badge gives 25 skill points, skill limit 75.

Very good game concept idea!

I think the main problem, or at least for me it was, creating a decent squad at the very start of the campaign. Sometimes I had to restart the game several times to get a good mix of random soldiers.

So having a way to customize your starting squad makes things much easier, because your soldiers won't be so useless and vulnerable.

[TrashMan]

Speaking of badges, I think that could be a good way to replace the current specialist soldiers, which are pretty unnoticeable at the moment. Instead of creating soldiers from different templates as is the case now, a soldier would always be the basic grunt, but with a small chance of having a "certified sniper" badge (or something) that gives him an initial stat bonus.

Meh..since when does a badge give you increased abilitites?
Badges are rewards/marks for some abilities you already have.

Maybe if you do it like in WH40K: Chaos Gate - 5 kills in one mission and high overall stats? The soldier gets the Crux Terminatus badge and is allowed to wear Terminator Armor. Not to mention enemies are scared s***less of any marine with that symbol.

[BTAxis]

Meh..since when does a badge give you increased abilitites?

That's been part of the plan for a long time.

[TrashMan]

I mean how the hell is that supposed to work?

What? You get a badge of Merit for corageus actions under fire and it somehow makes you a better soldier? You don't get any skillz with the badge. You get the badge for having those skillz. In other words, badges are recognitions of skills/merrits you developed and gained gradually.

The way you describe them they sound like implants. Badge of Speed +5

[BTAxis]

It's a game mechanic. It's intended to let a soldier grow, and at the same time to let the player bond with the character. You can compare it to the parsonality trait system in the Total War games. Each trait incurs some modification to stats. That's how it will be with badges as well.

[sirg]

I like the idea. The soldier got the badge for outstanding performance anyway, so it's logical to "spend" it in a skill increase.