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I think we’re seeing the dynamic between a vocal minority and a silent majority here. Rather than making the efforts to complain on the forums, they would just not buy the game. I still remember how heated about air combat discussions was on the feature threads, where a lot of people only make accounts just to make backlash against the turn based system to stem the tide of a few people making constant comments supporting it. This only died down when Chris decided to brought back both the original base system and real time air combat. Even the biggest thread on the general discussion on how X2 stayed too much similar to the first game was also defended by the silent majority. Your argument on how real time doesn’t fit really, it’s just your bias showing. You have given no concrete reasoning to why having a small real time section to break up the monotony of turn based combat is not a good thing (something a lot of people addressed and complained about during the first implementation). Not to mention it’s extremely hard to create a fair system of autoresolve of a turn based combat system, forcing the people who already hate it to play it in order to even follow, a huge problem with games like Total War: Warhammer and it’s terrible siege combat. How it fits or not is entirely based on your opinion of the first game. The whole point of the mini game to be fast, short and easy to autoresolve is that the main focus of Xenonauts is the ground combat, not the air game. Making the air game taking 50% of the game is not really the point at all. Your comparison of Xenonauts and the Subset games is also extremely jarring and thematically unfit as well. The entire point of Into the Breach was to have the gameplay portray the lumbering methodical movement of giant mechas and kaijus and because of that it is turn based. While FTL wanted to have the gameplay represents the frantic combat and movement flow of space ships. Just seeing this we can see that the fast movement of the air game should be closer than FTL than anything else. The planes and UFOs are not gigantic lumering robots but dynamic fast moving machines that are extremely unpredictable. The X-Division mod has already demonstrated that this could work, X2 will only need to deepen this. Like adding more equipment for movement like boosters, teleport pack, anti-missile point defense, energy shields and different weapon setups. Also locational damage for UFOs. The insertion of Starcraft like mechanics of replacement for aircraft is also annoying. The planes and more importantly the pilots should be irreplaceable assets like in real combat to represent the already established atmosphere of the game. Loosing one pilot after a failed rescue mission should be punishment enough. The role of Xenonauts should be the only elite force that is capable of downing UFOs, let the dying and loosing to the NATO and Soviets.

That is a really interesting argument for removing the pause button. My gut reaction is that I enjoy the perfect-or-die split-second timing of air combat - but then I'm the type of gamer who will reload until I nail it. There are a couple of points I think worth pulling apart. Fit. Opposition to real time is usually pretty vocal. The slow-intellectual strategy style of play doesn't chime too well with a mini-game that calls for quick reactions and button bashing. Any air combat system has to fit in well with the game as a whole. The pause button doesn't fit. But then a real time strategy, even without a pause button, doesn't fit either. Using Subset Games as exemplar, the goal should be Enter the Breach rather than FTL. A turn-based mini-game, even with a very simple rock paper scissors basis would make a good fit, even if it lacked excitement. Punishment. I think you're dead on here. Personally, I prefer the game to pit me against difficult challenges rather than severe punishments. A hard battle is great, even sustaining losses. But any losses that take an hour (in the real world) to recuperate are just not worth the effort. I don't want to invest that much into the game. So, on reflection, I think the air war should basically be unwinnable through the majority of the game. Instead of dominating the skies, the player merely manages to fight for a small corner of them. Losing a bunch of planes is fine, so long as you down a couple of UFOs in the process, or fend off the worst of the bombing runs.