Dranak Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 (edited) There have been lots of threads where we talk about how things feel, or how we're investing "a lot" in X, but not many threads featuring actual numbers. In the interest of having actual numbers for balance discussion, I started a new game and logged every event/expense/income on a month by month basis. These numbers were from 19.2, hence me not posting them in the current Geoscape thread. I will be doing this again for all my future playthroughs. Summary: Build 2 bases, each with 3 foxtrots then start investing in ground upgrades. I deliberately made some sub-optimal choices (first base in northern China, second in USA). The only aircraft I built were 6 Foxtrots, with three at each base. I never lost an aircraft, and generally spent money as fast as I got it on the way to getting up 6 Foxes, then started investing in ground combat until I unlocked Marauders (which I didn't quite get to before 19.3 came out). Explanations: "Air" includes hangars, aircraft, and air weapons. "Ground" includes soldiers, gear, transports. "Infrastructure" is everything else. September: Expenses: Air 350K (66%) | Ground 0 (0%) | Infrastructure 175K (33%) Income: Recovered from missions 326K (39%) | Starting income 500k (61%) UFO Contacts: 7 Light Scouts UFO Killed: 6 Light Scouts Ground Missions: 7 Light Scouts October Expenses: Air 500K (42%) | Ground 0 (0%) | Infrastructure 700K (58%) Income: Recovered 332K (26%) | Monthly 921K (74%) UFO Contacts: 4 Fighters, 5 Scouts, 7 Fighterx3, 1 Bomber UFO Killed: 3 Fighters, 3 Scouts, 2 Fighterx3, 1 Bomber Ground Missions: 3 Scouts, 1 Terror November Expenses: Air 750K (66%) | Ground 160k (14%) | Infrastructure 225k (20%) Income: Recovered 676k (41%) | Monthly 964k (59%) UFO Contacts: 5 Fighter, 4 Fighterx3, 3 Corvette/escorts, 2 Corvettes, 1 Bomber, 3 Heavy Fighter UFO Killed: 4 Fighters, 4 Fightersx3, 1 Corvette/escorts, 1 Corvette, 1 Bomber, 3 Heavy Fighter Missions: 3 Terror, 1 Corvette, 1 Base assault Comments: I missed a lot of UFOs while my second wing of Foxtrots was finishing production. December Expenses: Air 0k (0%) | Ground 840k (62%) | Infrastructure 525k (38%) Income: Recovered 1054k (54%) | Monthly 899k (46%) UFO Contacts: 3 Bomber, 8 Heavy Fighter, 4 Landing Ship, 1 Landing Ship/escorts, 2 H Fighterx3, 1 Cruiser UFO Kills: 2 Bomber, 6 Heavy Fighter, 2 Landing Ship, 1 Landing Ship/escorts, 2 H Fighterx3, 1 Cruiser Missions: 3 Terror, 1 Landing Ship, 1 Base Assault Comment: Skipped a terror mission because it was late Dec and I still hadn't unlocked plasma explosives for lack of appropriate ships. In related news, terror missions are now penalized for skipping but not for aborting. Edited July 7, 2013 by Dranak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thothkins Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 very interesting reading. thanks for going to all that trouble. How did you find the general escalation of the game? I notice ground missions are 7-4-5-5 so the chinook is kept at relatively the same level of use. Contacts though is 7-17-18-19 so the interceptors are very busy indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dranak Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 In terms of general pacing, I fought way more light scouts than any other assaultable UFO, which makes me think that phase is slightly too long. After the second month, I did more terror missions and base assaults than UFO assaults, which feels like there are too many of them. That could probably be improved by reducing the number of fighters and replacing them with assaultable UFOs. In terms of economy, it still feels off that the best thing to do is completely ignore gear for troops for a couple months until you have a second base/squadron of Foxtrots up, but that seems pretty clearly to be the optimal way to play currently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thothkins Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Yeah, I agree with you on all of that. I get hamstrung on the supplying aircraft for the second base because I invariably build 2 suits of Wolf Armour for the assault troops. That's all it takes to derail it As for UFOs, having a few for novice players seems like a good idea (better when more maps are in) so they get the hang of the battlescape. Perhaps another to enjoy any lessons learned painfully in the first three. Then on to scouts, which seem very few in my games. I'm used to EU1994 terror mission frequency, so that's 1 or 2 a month. I can see that a funding nation on the brink of leaving may have a few more. They want to end the resistance there quickly. You get a chance at succeeding in those missions to hold on for a little longer. Likewise I can see them attacking your base once they know where it is. It would be like you finding Cydonia and deciding that you didn't see the point. Constantly seems a bit much to take in the actual game though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dranak Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 I should clarify that by base assault I meant me assaulting an alien base. I had tons of them this playthrough, including 3 at once in Jan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thothkins Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 but that makes a mockery of my figures! A mockery! reprise: I notice ground missions are 7-4-5-5 so the chinook is kept at relatively the same level of use. Contacts though is 7-17-18-19 so the interceptors are very busy indeed. Contacts: 7 17 18 19 Missions: 7 4 4(+1) 4 (+1) where figures in parentheses are Base Defence missions. Still comparatively busy in the skies as opposed to the ground, so you can see where people can struggle in air combat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Name Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Maybe there should be an actual report following this format. (really like it thank you for doing this) I think it would be cool as a feature, but would it be possible to make it a mod? If all else fail I have a backup plan. *gets pen and paper. EDIT: Graphs and stuff would be cool to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queamin Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 (edited) Thanks a lot for posting this, it explains why I have trouble getting the second base up, spending to much on soldiers equipment and I would always get a medical bay (what ever it is called) straight away. edit added and with one base I was always struggling to catch the ticker. Edited July 9, 2013 by Queamin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dranak Posted July 9, 2013 Author Share Posted July 9, 2013 For my next playthrough I intend to try to fully equip my ground squad before expanding (because frankly it's not fun to completely skip all ground upgrades for months), and see how that compares. I expect to have extreme difficulty getting a second base up and running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thothkins Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 there was me going to try it your way and not bother with any ground equipment so I could get a second base up and running Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfr Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 (edited) Yeap, thanks for this info. Looks like there is much more action going on than you can handle. And i believe it's a way more than in original game (need to test that and verify). Looking forward for that "soldiers centric" report. I think it will be more dramatic. Upd.: played for one month in original X-Com on Experienced difficulty level. First base build in north China as well. Second - on Cuba. UFO Contacts: 2 small UFO Killed: 1 large scout Ground Missions: 1 large scout, 1 terror site So i guess it's safe to say that Xenonauts send a lot more alien ships than original game. Edited July 10, 2013 by Newfr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StellarRat Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 I think we need an increase in the funding $ by nations. That would solve a lot of balance issues. Right now, you simply can't buy much of anything quickly and losing expensive stuff is too hard to recover from. I'm not just talking about aircraft either. And it's nearly impossible to fund more than one base even under the best conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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