ScottyJ8705

Alien attack/escalation: May I suggest that the first wave start with only 5 ufo or so, 10 may be a bit much for only a couple aircraft to deal with. Escalate to 10 in a month or two. I fully agree the game needs a bit more difficulty, this in an ALIEN INVASION after all. I would almost suggest a base attack in the first wave, the aliens only send a very small contingent of caesans because in all honesty, they don't think much of us as a threat. It's relatively easy to beat but it has to be because all you'll have is rookies and it lets you know the aliens mean business. Air Combat: Make the aircraft modable, unlocking different variations of existing in game planes. Unlock a Foxtrot with a cannon (Foxtrot H) for heavy?, unlock an extra missile rack or maybe external fuel tanks for the Condor to help it get the range you need early in game. I'd say the UFOs don't need more HP; air combat doesn't need to last longer, dogfights are supposed to be quick and dangerous. I don't remember which mod it was that had the escorts turn to face you at the start of an engagement, that was definitely a step in the right direction. Air combat weapons have pretty decent balance, at least in early-mid game, the enemies just need to have more intelligence and awareness for being experienced conquerors. I also agree with there being some sort of missile defense system on the larger/largest of alien ships, intercepting 1 missile every 5 seconds or so. Special Missions: Any "invasion" would require ground combat and establishing bases from which to run a ground campaign. It would make sense that the alien menace would want to go for the big cities and population centers of Earth and really hammer it to us. Terror missions would obviously include heavily armed soldiers mean to go kick some serious butt. A crew should be outfitted to their specific mission. The aliens should be really quick to get bases built and stay one step ahead of the poor little earthlings. Economic Changes: Obvious changes like what were stated above and in other forum threads all make sense. Pay for all that your soldiers carry into battle and more or less purchase/construct it all in the workshop (ammo, grenades, weapons, equipment). Instant construction would be preferred for all these basic starting items so it's more like purchasing them for use. Vary what rewards you get in correlation to the size of ship and type of mission the UFO is on as stated by podbelski above. More alenium/alloys for larger ships, less for smaller ones. It's hard to find a mod that changes some economics and doesn't include a whole lot of other crap you don't really want. Also, make airstriking crash sites less profitable because almost everything would be destroyed and very little recovered.

Hey, not sure if it was already said. With the bayonet idea someone had, can't you make it just so when you do a normal melee attack that it can take into account the weapon you are holding? So the ranged weapon isn't doing the melee attack but the melee attack is just getting a boost because you have a bayonet on your gun. I guess when you melee the weapon just says yes or no to having a bayonet to make the attack stronger or have more armor penetration or whatever. It seems that would be more possible/plausible.