ScottyWired

Who knows? Maybe if we leave that pile of bolts there long enough it'll coalesce into an interceptor. It's the only way to explain how the DC-10 came to exist.

Absolutely. Most actions in a game are mundane- move, crouch, take a potshot that's probably going to miss. They're boring and there's no need for suspense, just get it over with. The only time a player should wait is when something dramatic is going to happen. Launching a big rocket, busting open UFO door, landing a kill shot, and such

Pretty much that. Everyone is right handed so it's a little weird. When peeking into a UFO door, grenades are blocked but gunfire is not. You can see a dead trooper on the ground who threw a grenade against the wall and got shot to death on the alien turn.

Ooh gives me an idea. What if in-base labs and workshops were massively more expensive, and early-game has you relying on civilian facilities? Factories and universities that are semi-randomly scattered on the world map that you send your engineers and scientists to be overseers at, with very minor decreases in efficiency depending on distance from a base. This would create another factor to think about when placing bases, rather than just pure radar coverage. UFOs would also actively target the facilities being used by the player, so it creates an actual choice when confronted by multiple UFOs in a region. Which one is performing a terror mission? Which one is targeting my civilian factory? My shiny new dropship is going to be destroyed while it's still being built, but is protecting it worth my relations with the region?

Oh yeah where is the C4? Just started my first run with v7 and can't see it on the loadout screen. Since shooting hulls is out of the question so I've been going John Wick on these ayys with smoke grenades and knives. Seriously, just four grenadiers for smoke/suppression and six knife-only users with high TU. As long as regular squads remain equally viable, please don't nerf the knife. Meme loadouts are just so much fun (and they also don't destroy UFO components) Ah, C4 is now behind UFO Design Analysis

Seems pretty feasible to me. The game already has destructible environments and random enemy placement, and while the map is loading just run the random placement algorithm with explosions instead of alien spawns. Throw in some extra rules to cultivate the RNG like varying explosion sizes, random fires, generating burn mark decals etc and you're all set.

I do see how extra voicing would be a massive extra development burden. But still, even just text bubbles would work wonders for adding personality. Would be modder and localisation friendly too. Little decals on helmets and other small trinkets for veterans would also be great. Still gonna stand firm by my criticism of the death sounds though. If that's going to be the maximum extent of the voicing, it's gotta be less anti-climactic than "ooagh"

Xenonauts 1 was fantastic from a gameplay perspective, but everyone I've talked to has agreed it's biggest weakness was a lack of style and flair. The in-depth research texts, the world radar screen, and the music are awesome dark mood setters, but there's also areas that lack that personality. And not all of it needs to be grim, having some aspects that are cool or cheesy or lighthearted has been proven in boatloads of books and movies and games to be a great way to amplify the dark stuff by giving it some contrast. So here's just a random sampling of little touches that I think would elevate the game's mood- More voicing. It's basically a staple of strategy games to have low-budget cheesy-but-straightfaced voice acting. If you write up a script and go "nah that line is embarrassingly lame", that line is probably perfect. The "oof" and "ugh" of soldiers dying is kind of let-down. It doesn't have to be professionals, just get everyone in the office to do their most genuine "AAAGGGGGHHHHHHH" or "IT BURNS" or "GAAAAHHHH THE PAIN" Just a quick little "orders?" or "yes?" when you select a soldier. Pilot radio chatter while executing orders. "Ready to sortie" "Moving to intercept" "Boat deleted" "Moving!" "Taking point!" "Firing!" "Eat this!" "Reloading!" "Smoke out!". EVERY action should be accompanied by a variety of lines. Special rare lines for very specific circumstances to surprise the player. Hitting a UFO door with a high explosive: "Knock knock!" Throwing grenades through the window: "Delivery!" Stun baton an alien within their own ship: "Two hour parking limit!". Just some semi-witty silly stuff like that to give soldiers some humanity as compared to the cold aliens. Same with aliens. More hissing, and louder. Lotsa green spray, and green blood decals on more surfaces than is necessary Have civilians scream and freak out. Maybe sometimes assist the Xenonauts by pointing in the general direction of where they saw aliens? And for more stuff on the sound front- have the dropship's engines revved up and have a visual effect kicking up dust around the ship. Makes it more dramatic when it feels like the ship has just touched down moments ago and is ready to leave at any second. And just more ambiance in general. Have shotgun users do a big loud reload pump after every shot. The coolest part about shotguns is the whole "CHK-CHUCK" after firing. More physics force on ragdolls when killed by explosives. More blood. Blood on walls, blood on clothes, blood on hands after performing first aid, green alien blood on soldiers shooting at point blank. More mess. Bullet casings, rubble from bullet impacts, plasma burns, shattered glass, spilled coffee and scattered papers in office buildings, little junk like that. Throw weapons on a random nearby tile after dying. Give a very small chance of misfiring after being dropped, for that extra bit of chaos. Have smoke last longer, but lean over and be pushed away from its initial spot by wind. I'd like to hear what other cute little touches the community thinks would elevate this game

Yeah this one is a gamebreaker for me. Especially when civilians walk over and cause a softlock

On X1 maps, I always found it kind of silly when your soldiers are taking cover behind a scenery tank but the tank isn't doing anything. With the removal of player vehicles in X2, I think it'd be great to have static local forces vehicles on maps. Having the ability to move would be overpowered of course, but it would feel like you're actually cooperating with local ground forces if you could mark targets with a flare and have it lay down some fat explosions within its line of sight. A moment of joy and a small section of the map where you can feel safe during a terror mission, before venturing off and clearing the rest of the map. And if your opponent is something invincible but dumb like an Andron, you could weave it into the strategy to lure them there. Meanwhile smarter aliens know that it's a bad idea to go near the explosive-spewing treaded saucer, or will flank it and fire some plasma at its soft rear and side armour.