One major balance issue I'm having is that I'm not properly challenged after day ~220 forward. Nothing is pressuring me to complete the UUO missions and I can just wait and focus on making my assault team even more OP, just clicking and auto resolving UFOs. At that phase of the game I should really feel the alien campaign ramping up and starting to get a proper stranglehold of earth. Multiple alien bases around the globe, UUO strikes getting more and more frequent with higher panic damage, terror strikes and reapers swooping whole cities. Currently I'm just skipping single terror missions and letting alien bases be while waiting for my next tech upgrade... and with nano fabricator, $7 million in bank and super effective, supporter boosted nano-workshops, I can easily generate unlimited exotic materials and skip all the crash site missions.

I reached operation endgame with only 2 bases. One with 3 geminis and one with 3 phantoms. That was all I needed and I went with pretty much 0 panic around the globe. It was easy to down even a battleship with just 3 phantoms. 

I didn't need mind shield, didn't even research it. Didn't use focus mind. Didn't have a single mind control where I wasn't able to kill the controller immediately. Stalker armour felt weak and enemies one shotted my snipers from long distances. Weapon tech tiers felt like there was maybe one too many. As I only needed to complete maybe 3 tactical missions between starting to research UUO and Operation ENDGAME), the gauss tech felt a bit unnecessary step before fusion, especially as there's so few missions I felt I needed to complete.

I wish I had more combat against eternals. All 2 contacts I had against them before endgame were over before they had time to do anything.

The tactical gameplay starts to get a bit stale from day 200> as aliens struggle to keep up with the player. Regular gunplay is a bit "been there, done that" at that point of the game and at least for me the challenge just isn't there any more. And then the tactical missions start to become quite one note and stale. (Even if the first third of the game offered a nice challenge) So adding more and tougher mind control gameplay would make aliens feel threatening again and add new gameplay challenges where my 100+ TU, high acc, high hp soldiers would need to adapt. 

As aliens level up, they should all get a new ability towards the end game. Currently they just receive more stats, which doesn't add much as the player progresses at ~same pace. Only exception are psyons that get mind control, which would be perfect if it was more potent. Maybe mind control needs squad view and longer control time?

Other 2 main races need similar new mechanics to keep the player on their toes as the game progresses. Later wraith could have teleport + better invisibity cloak and sebillian could have shields and symbiote grenades.

So TLDR, more mid-game panic, scarier UUO, evolving challenge, more mind control, tougher mind control, more eternals, tougher eternals. Tougher final battle, tougher high eternal with some unique twist that makes me adapt. Now I can just rush in and shoot it dead. Tougher TOP3 UFOs.

I'm new to the game and really enjoying the latest GOG-Release. The game runs fine, but my scroll speed is very slow:

1. is there an option to set the map scrolling in ground combat to a "hold-and-drag"-Button (for example the middle mouse button)?

   To me, this would be great, because you can adjust the scroll speed with your hand when you move the mouse slow or fast.

2. if there is no option for 1. (and it will not be added), is there any way to adjust the scroll speed for the mouse-scrolling at the edge of the map in the game options?

Many thanks,

rookie51

How am I supposed to deal with them?

Any options? 

Thanks

The biggest problem is that it's by far impossible to lose due to panic. This gives the player INFINITE time to make all the upgrades and prepare the team for the tactical missions at the end of the game. There's no pressure.

It's possible to win the game in Commander mode, even with only one or two bases, using Angel planes with missiles to shoot down UFOs and earn money, avoiding combat and waiting indefinitely until you have the necessary investigations and equipment to form the Terminator team that destroys everything the aliens have.

Panic is very easy to manage; UFOs roaming freely in the airspace increase panic very little, and Alien (and Cleaner) Bases can remain visible for a long time without any consequences. The player can afford to skip a Terror mission; this only increases panic by 35, which can be easily negated using OPs. Orbital bombardments also cause little panic. This is because, for humans, it's easy to lower panic by having INFINITE time to prepare for the more difficult tactical missions. Just having a couple of basic Angel planes equipped with missiles is enough to shoot down any top-tier alien UFO and escape the escort, or even if the escort shoots one down, the mission is considered a success and the panic drops. And, when having the Gemini, any challenge ceases to exist, everything is shot down even if you play very poorly in aerial battles, and it's easy to keep panic at zero.

Here are some suggestions to correct this problem:

- UFO bombings should cause much more panic.
- Many more UFOs should appear in areas without Xenonaut radar coverage.
- Angel should not be able to shoot down Harvester or Cruiser UFOs alone.
- If there is an escort, success should only be considered if all UFOs are shot down, not just the main UFO.
- Avoiding going to a Terror should set that zone to a maximum panic level of 100.
- Each day the Alien/Cleaners base is visible, panic increases.

- There should be an incentive to save civilians in a Terror or a downed UFO, which would reduce panic. Currently, there is no effect if we save some civilians or let them all die.

This would force humans to have more bases and radars on the map and invest in developing the air force, instead of indefinitely postponing attacks on bases or ceasing to fight Terrors.

Another situation is related to the difficulty level. The Commander difficulty level should be aimed at hardcore players (as is my case), and the Veteran difficulty level at good players who appreciate challenges. However, in the final stages of the game, this doesn't happen, and the game is too easy. We go from a game with suspense and uncertainty, where the player is punished for bad decisions, to a game of complete alien extermination where it's impossible to lose missions or aerial combat, and where you only lose a Gemini plane or a soldier equipped with the latest armor due to very bad luck or severe incompetence.

Suggestions to improve this:
- Eternals should appear in the late game, in terror missions, on cruiser ships, and on harvesters. It doesn't make sense for only three Eternals to appear in the entire game! To access the final mission, set the objective as interrogating an Eternal commander, not a regular Eternal.

- Mind Control needs to be much more dangerous. I suggest it lasts at least two turns, and when the soldier breaks free from alien control, they have zero action points for that turn. I had a situation where a Heavy was controlled, on the next play he returned to my control with all the AP, found the Psion who controlled him and took him down in a burst of machine gun fire. In addition, it should be impossible to resist the Eternal's Mind Control, even with 100 bravery.
- Some Aliens should be immune and not lose aim in the smoke, the most obvious being the Androns, which are robots and can have thermal vision, also the Sibilians, who are already weak from afar, could be immune similar to Xenonauts 1.
- The Reapers' attack should be 100% effective against all armor.
- Alien weapons in the late game should also improve and cause more damage to top armor.
- In the final mission, the High Eternal should be surrounded by more Eternals and only have the best aliens with him, Sibilians, Praetorians, Cyberdrones, Elite Wrath.
- It should be practically impossible to take down the last Battleship UFOs without using Gemini planes.

Another aspect that works poorly and is harmless. The alien interceptors seeking air dominance can't shoot down anything. When they intercept human planes, they just put them below the map, turn on the afterburner, and leave, and there's no battle! This option shouldn't exist.

It would also be good if there was a possibility for the alien fighters to intercept the Skyranger and tactical teams on long trips, forcing humans to take fighter escorts.

Regarding immersion in the game, it would be good to make it mandatory to do the campaign investigations as soon as they appear. I left them all for the end; I was already being bombarded when I did them, and the texts didn't match the stage of the game I was in. Also, at the Cleaners' base, it doesn't make sense to have normal agents, who are supposedly human and don't know they are defending Aliens, in a base with Psions.

For the sake of immersion, I would also change the original plot, keeping the year 2026 and the current countrys instead of an alternate reality where the USSR still exists, but I realize that would be asking too much.

Lastly, in the Steam achievements, it would be good to have one for a soldier who earns all the medals, for those who manage to get all the supporters, and for those who manage to finish the game on Ironman difficulty and at what difficulty level. Ironman Soldier, Ironman Veteran, etc.

In my opinion, this type of game only makes sense to play on Ironman mode. If you load a mission when it goes wrong or you lose a key soldier, the uncertainty and suspense in the final outcome disappear, and it's lame. I understand you have to sell as much as possible, and that save scumming players wouldn't buy it, but this type of practice shouldn't be encouraged. You could follow the example of Crusader Kings III, which only allows Steam achievements to be earned in certain settings; in this case, only playing on Ironman mode allows achievements.

I hope this constructive criticism has been helpful, and once again, congratulations on making this game in the tradition of the original XCOM/UFO from the 90s!

So, let's face it, we are far from young ! And yes, our eyes are not good as they were.

Wear glasses is not always possible depending how far your are from the screen and so on.

So yes, I think it's REALLY important to be able to increase the font size for all text on screen.

As it is now (Milestone 3), It's really too small for my taste and make the game hard to play

French translation is also a bit strange, and some texte are missing (replaced by error messages like "missing thing xxx"),

But as a whole, It seem it will be a great game at the end... I'm happy to have fund it. But please, just increase the font size :)

It is now v1.0 and i have waited.

And... Laser Weapons still have no reason to exist over Acceleration weapons... other than environment destruction, which have many other alt methods.

They do the same damage. there is no actual accuracy buff. there is no penetration. 

Breaking it down simply. 
Laser < > Accel
---Dam
Pistol: 33 - 33 Damage
Rifle: 40 - 40 Damage
Shotgun: 3x33 - 3x33
Precision rifle: 46 - 46
LMG: 40 - 40.
---Pen
Pistol: 0 - 5 Penetration
Rifle: 0 - 5 Pen
Shotgun: 0 - 3
Precision rifle: 10 - 12
LMG: 0 - 5
---Range
Pistol: 12 - 12 tiles
Rifle: 20 - 20
Shotgun: 10 - 10
Precision Rifle: 30 - 30
LMG: 20 - 20
---Hit bonus (gonna speed this up)
Pistol: 2.25% (both)
Rifle: 1.5% (both)
Shotty: 6.25% (Both)
Sniper: 0% (both)
LMG: 1.5% (both)
---Ammo Cap
Pistol: 5 - 15
Rifle: 5 - 20
Shotgun: 3 - 8
Sniper: 3 - 5
LMG: 30 - 50
---Fire modes TU usage, all the same.

So... in general. iv liked the idea of the laser weapons and their look in the game for a long time. but never liked that they wernt as useful as the Acceleration weapon line. 

If they actually DID get accuracy buffs. ya, thatd be amazing. and thats really all it does need. Because the later game inf ammo upgrade would make these weapons alot more relevant when needing to carry the Tactical Module, plates, automed, the psy thing. 

But then again, i rarely even need to reload weapons i do have. 

Iv been in and out of threads here, on steam, and other forums about the Laser vs Accel lines. but they both have people going back and forth. From my understanding, Lasers and Accel are basically the same area of 'tech tree' just side by side. Do you want to do more Environmental damage? or do more direct damage to the enemy? Given lasers do have a better endgame point of ammo not being an issue, the effectiveness on enemy units stays the same. And then by the time you get to that level of R&D for the inf ammo for laser weapons, you will be close to or already have unlocked Gauss weapons. Making the combat effectiveness of both Accel and Lasers pointless. (other than fall back due to resource shortages)

Am i missing anything? 

P.S. I’ve figured out the format for translation files (CSV with GUID / Key / Text / Translation). Where should the mod’s translation file live in the mod folder structure?

P.S.2 I also noticed a behaviour that looks like a bug: if I save the game in one language and then switch to another language, some UI strings stay untranslated (I saw this on the research screen).

And another question: I'm actively going to do modding, and where is the best place to post questions, here on the forum or discord.

standard_military_weaponry.json

The best alien UFOs don't even stand a chance against the Gemini planes... in tactical battles, as soon as you use the latest armor and fusion weapons, the game changes completely and we become alien exterminators without needing much strategy.

And to make matters worse, it's very easy to keep panic at zero on the strategic map, giving the player infinite time to prepare and complete the final missions.

• +1 to +5: 1,000 Progress Points
• +6 to +10: 1,250 Progress Points
• +11 to +15: 1,500 Progress Points
• +16 to +20: 1,750 Progress Points
• +21 to +25: 2,000 Progress Points
• +26 to +30: 3,000 Progress Points
• +31 onward: 4,000 Progress Points
   

• The first 5 points are earned in 2.5 missions.
• Points 6 to 10 in 3.125 missions.
• Points 11 to 15 in 3.75 missions.
• Points 16 to 20 in 4.375 missions.
• Points 21 to 25 in 5 missions.
• Points 26 to 30 in 7.5 missions.
• Points 31 to 65 in 70 missions.

• A "Super Recruit" with a begining attribute value of 65 reaches 95 in 26.25 missions and 100 in 36.25 missions.
• A "Weak Recruit" with a begining attribute value of 35 reaches 65 in 26.25 missions and 100 in 96.25 missions.
  
  That’s 60 extra missions required for the weak recruit to max out his worse attribute—meaning it takes 2.66 times longer (+166%) to max out.

• Stat 35 to 65: 1,000 Progress Points per +1 attribute
• Stat 66 to 70: 1,250 Progress Points
• Stat 71 to 75: 1,500 Progress Points
• Stat 76 to 80: 1,750 Progress Points
• Stat 81 to 85: 2,000 Progress Points
• Stat 86 to 90: 3,000 Progress Points
• Stat 91 to 100: 4,000 Progress Points
   

• A recruit with a begining attribute value of 65  reaches 90 in 23.75 missions and 100 in 43.75 missions (33.75 with NA bonus). 
• A recruit with a begining attribute value of 35 reaches 90 in 38.75 missions and 100 in 58.75 missions (48.75 with NA bonus).
   

Controlling panic is so easy that you can stop going to Terrors and immediately compensate with OPs.

It's possible to have zero panic even without half the map under radar control...

The panic caused by bombers in uncontrolled zones should be much greater, the panic caused by Terrors should be enormous for the player to be forced to fight, the panic caused by delays in attacking alien bases should be great with each passing day without going there. OPs spent to control panic should be more and have a much longer cooldown.

The player should feel pressured to invest in more bases and radars, and better planes to control air space. They should be pressured to attack alien bases quickly and shouldn't be able to avoid Terror attacks without panic levels reaching their maximum.

See the attached picture please... this is in Commander difficulty, panic ZERO. Why should the player risk to go to a Terror if after it can lower it down again with few OPs?