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Disappointing ground combat


llunak

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+1 aliens need to shoot more... even if it makes the ai seem less sophisticated.

one thing i've also noticed is that playing an unknown map makes a HUGE difference in the tension/fear factor. Whilst the dev team is doing the whole time/$/feature dance at the moment it would be hugely beneficial if a map contest and official integration occured after launch.

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the more I play it the more I dislike it, to the point of now finding it worse than the combat in the OG.

Alien Passivity

I agree here. There's a lack of fire from them generally. They do make better use of cover than previously. But they don't take advantage of situations where my soldiers are exposed. I'm only on light scouts in the new build, but it's a lot easier to take out UFO occupants than before. I've not seen the aliens come out and fight, even when they are being picked off. So, the passive ones don't seem to have a plan and the aggressive ones don;t press advantages (although cover is used far more.)

Using Cover

I agree, but then I use cover a lot more in Xenonauts to avoid getting shot at, so it's possibly working as intended. I don;t get pinned down much I notice though. Alien passivity as above.

Alien Stats

I disagree on this one. I like having them this tough to add to the challenge in the earlier part of the game. If their stats ramp up through their ranks, then the challenge should be there later as well. If the AI gets tweaked a little to be less passive, there will some great game moments trying to kill them off. They will be tough and dangerous.

Reaction Fire

It's not something I use too frequently, due to playing style, but it has been effective in UFO scenarios where the aliens have come out to be faced with a hail of gunfire.

Reapers

If they are still as tough, and can show up anywhere and have plenty of APs they may be too strong for players. Gong back to earlier points, if the way to beat Reapers is to hang around the Chinook because other aliens won't do anything, then perhaps changing the aggressiveness of the other aliens is the issue. Changing that would negate that player tactic, forcing them to go out and face Reapers on the move.

Squad Size

My memory cell tells me it got cut from ten to eight as it was felt that the Xenonauts were too strong for the aliens in previous versions. Too many soldiers for the map sizes was also mentioned. The latter at least seem to be no longer an issue as you point out. I don't bother researching the vehicles either, as I prefer focusing on getting an experienced squad. I have found the maps a little longer in this build. With the AI this hasn't caused to many issues, but should the aliens start wandering a bit more, then I could see myself having to be much more cautious and sweep the battlescape more thoroughly as I go. That's something I don;t mind doing. The maps aren't long enough for me to lose much in the way of tension at present. I did like 10 though, especially as the Chinook is used for such a long part of the game.

I generally play on normal, just as it's the vanilla setting. Even there it's possible to lose 1 a mission if you're not careful. So I'd be cautious about amplifying the difficulty too much from there.

The OG was a more tense experience. This is partly the maps. Claustrophobic Farms, with hedgerows and roofs for aliens to snipe from. More tactically challenging UFO interiors. Closely packed industrial terror sites with long ranging Chrysalids.

But there's a map pack there, so variety won't be an issue for long. There's been changes in the maps since the last build I played. So, I'm having fun with that.

It's partly the AI, some of which is touched upon as above. You can see that a lot of work has been put in. It's a fine line between aliens not firing quite enough and your soldier's constantly getting mown down by aliens who use cover better than you do.

I'll have a clearer picture of all this when I get up to the larger ships to see how well the aliens defend those on this build. I'm not seeing anything that's broken as such.

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I think thothkins offers an excellent summary. I would also like to add that the vertical aspect is still missng from the maps. If you take high ground, your shots are still blocked by cover and objects same as if you were firing from ground level. And the aliens are still not capable of ascending stairs. Rooftop sectoids added an excellent tense element to the original game.

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