RustyNayle

Yeah, thanks. Sorry, I only noticed that it was already there once I started my second play through. I wish on the Steam page (and easily seen here on the forums) they had an extensive list of all of the mods that were included in X:CE. Oh well, it works great, and I can see in the Xe2 demo they have taken your idea further with even larger icons representing the equipment they're carrynig, etc

Can you please upload this to the Steam workshop?

Can you please upload this to the Steam workshop?

Can you please upload this to the Steam workshop?

Can you please upload this to the Steam workshop?

Can you please upload this to the Steam workshop?

Can you please upload this to the Steam workshop?

I'm glad you thought of this thread, it was something I was thinking of starting myself, but I've been spamming the forum a bit too much already. One of my favourite Xe1 mods is Tactical Armouries as it did a great job of using asymmetric weapon upgrades to give each tier its own strengths, which is something discussed on this forum that would be good in Xe2, e.g. lasers more accurate and high damage but lacking auto (hence best at long range), ballistic retain flexible fire options, mags have better burst fire and armor penetration (and the mod also gave the aliens advancements in armor as the game progressed), plasma had very high damage but low ammo and less fire options. Kabill also tweaked the way suppression works so armored sollies/aliens can actually be suppressed, and encouraged pistol use by making inventory swaps and grenade use while using two-handed weapons cost more TU, and they only took up 2x1 inventory space rather than the entire belt. All of this, with solly carrying capacity also being reduced, really made you think about what each one is carrying (overall a great middle ground towards some of the potential changes discussed for Xe2 while still using the basic mechanics of Xe1). X:CE - simple things like mousewheel support and sort by column in base, faster alien turns and improved Lore+ was great. Any amount of extra effort put into the story and feel of the game rather than just the engine and game balance help with a more immersive feel, and give you more ability to create something noticeably unique right from the get go. Enhanced Crash Sites - you have already mentioned elsewhere you want to make UFOs destructible (which Fire in the Hole! did for Xe1) so we don't need to talk about that, but I liked it how with this mod there could be a big fire already on the map, which actually affected which route my sollies had to take on approach to the craft, which helped make up for lack of map diversity until I started using some of the other maps, and even gave some smoke cover to one or both sides, making it more replayable. It also made the whole thing more realistic and immersive. I'd love to see using chunks of a UFO that has broken up on impact as cover. Anything that makes assaults on the same UFOs different on each mission is good. 120 degrees view angle , as it was annoying having keep right clicking to look around a corner here and there, and repeat this every few steps, rather than just incorporate a mechanic for sollies' peripheral vision, their constant "heads on swivel" so to speak. They still had to turn to shoot of course. Hold the Line - made ranked officers more important for defense against psionics since it reworked the morale system. Projectile Overhaul - made the game look a lot better, with projectile look and movement that matched the weapon type. Laser bolts were a bit buggy though.

I think the point of a cold / secret war environment is, you won't always hire a well trained soldier as a beginner agent. They could have been ear-marked from various intelligence / enforcement agencies and called upon as needed, since the info they learn on recruitment is on such a need-to-know basis. They can't exactly advertise publicly for applicants!

Why do they need to use a destructible craft to do short distance hyper jumps (gating / phasing), when they can have man portable devices (which exhaust their energy in the process) that do it? Just because someone has Trek-like tech in beaming, why do they have to be able to be able to send stuff into targets (it's expensive to do, remember, especially with no means to harvest new alenium on Earth), have T1000 tech, etc

As I said, the idea is not that they actually want a full-scale nuclear war - at least, not until they have left Earth. They want the world powers to be occupied with intrigue against each other while they find what they're after, and who's to say that ancient alien tech isn't proofed against nuclear bombs, it's survived the shifting of techtonic plates and all sorts of things through the ages, right? If they wanted full scale annihilation right away, they would just mind control the world leaders and/or those next to the buttons to launch away (or they'd find a way to do it themselves, since they have the tech). If this is somehow a continuation of the storyline of Xe1 (even though it has been said it's going to be an alternate reality / timeline), then perhaps the last surviving Praetor managed to warp his battleship from the dimension where the first war took place to this one, and he is still holding a terrible grudge against humanity and wants to see / experience their paranoia and suffering, feeling it first hand through his dark psychic powers. However, his meddling over the last few decades has attracted the attention of the Praetors of this dimension (who might not have been corrupted by the Caesans in the same way as the ones in Xe1, but are working with the Psyons in a different way), and that's why he's in a rush to find what he's after and will accidentally expose himself more and more throughout Xe2 as he gets more desperate?

If teleportation is only one-way from a massive ship with the capacity to do so, and consumes whole alenium cell (or much more?) per person each time they do it, then it would explain why it is possible, but very difficult for them to do so. Hence why they're getting humans to do their dirty work. The Xenonauts may never fully understand the tech, let alone be able to use it themselves. It could at the most basic level be explained by a small scale hyperdrive jump? It's alien tech, we don't have to understand it. We just have to find a way to interfere with them using the tech so we can defeat them.

I would so love to see more of these pause, plan your move, and then both turns occur simultaneously. It's semi-turn based. XCOM: Apocalypse was turn-based or real-time (with pause option), but FS seemed like a great mix. I just couldn't get immersed in FS1 due to the graphics, though. This one looks better, but why not make it look great while experimenting with new gameplay options?

I definitely like the idea of having to cap a whole weapon for each soldier rather than be able to research one, and then be able to produce them from raw materials. I loved the Xe1 approach of their mid-game craft being real world craft that were adapted, rather than built from scratch. I definitely don't think in the span of the game the humans should be able to completely understand everything about alien weapons to be able to reproduce an exact replica from raw materials, only through piecing together salvaged components, adapting existing weapons for a different function does it even begin to make sense. The scientist can still earn his Nobel prize without having to totally understand and be able to manufacture alien tech.

Taking the gamey approach, if there were a single mod slot, into which bayonet, flashlight, laser sights, scope, motion scanner, or whatever could be placed, and/or if only soldiers with special training could use certain items, this would encourage diversity of use. I actually like the idea of "wasting" TUs to look through the scope / binoculars to dispel a bit of the Fog of War in a narrow cone until the end of turn. Spotters working with snipers would definitely form some sort of synergy / soldier bonding if you're going to use that mechanic. In Xe1 it was challenging when aliens with better sight than humans would be sniping from a distance but there was no way to try and spot them while remaining in cover, so you always had to rush them (which brought you into range of more enemies). This is a much better option, I think!

An automated heavy weapon constantly on overwatch could work if many missions were time sensitive, e.g. you have to test your newfound knowledge of xenolinguistics / alien computers and try and hack into the UFO door before they get their engines back online and take off. Having to make a choice between using the onboard rockets to breach the hull, or keeping them on standby in case you need them to cover your soldiers retreat would be another option. Again, if the aliens are about to self-destruct their craft, that's another reason to hurry up. You definitely can't camp at your craft during terror missions – and the civilians, instead of miraculously disappearing because a soldier stood next to them, could actually need to be escorted to the dropship by one of your soldiers, who in most cases can then leave them there under the protection of the automated gun (or not, if you chose to mount a scanner, extra troop carrying capacity, or drone control centre instead). Camping really only works with the traditional UFO model of every alien will fight to the last in every mission, but in a “secret war” environment with few aliens, they will most likely be retreating after taking some casualties, or automatically on the run as soon as Xenonauts show up once the conflicts are more even. The Xenonauts themselves will most likely want to leave as soon as possible if they don't want locals to know they were there either, the earlier the research / strike team is extracted, the more time the clean up crew has to properly remove all evidence, wipe security footage, fabricate a cover up, and use neuralysers on potential witnesses. I would certainly prefer that if automated weapons were put on dropships, that these be the only way heavy weapons make it into the game – Xenonauts are an organisation made up of former intelligence agents, scientists, other randoms that needed to be recruited, and very few actual highly paid military experts. A secretive operation that need to travel light and adapt to any situation does not support the idea of massive miniguns, rocket launchers, etc You never saw the Stargate teams carrying heavy weapons with them to other worlds, because the nature of their missions (and mode of transport) didn't require it. Only later did it become full blown war. Let's also go the other direction, rather that putting more stuff on the dropship, why not have them use conventional vehicles to "hide in plain sight" while en route to the strike zone if it's during the day in an urban environment where even stealth helicopters are not entirely viable. Xenonauts driving cars like MiB, or even riding trains / buses to get to a site would look very different from traditional XCOM games (except for X-COM: Apocalypse, but it wasn't done for secrecy reasons, more economical), but I reckon it could still work.

You really want to argue with the game creator, mate? If you have a better idea, go make your own game! People come up with ideas and pour their hearts into it, the fact that he's not being entirely autocratic but is consulting with the fan base and getting them to contribute during the planning and production process is a great thing. Don't fight him on every front here, it is not constructive or well received. Learn to take a hint.

I am definitely a strong supporter of the various backgrounds idea, I have discussed it on some of the other threads as well, but I'm not so much a fan of some of the later things you mentioned. I think in a "secret war" game, the Xenonauts should be a very small tight knit team, and it would be great to bring scientists, engineers and medics along for the ride - a bit like Star Trek, but definitely akin to Stargate. Combat skills of such specialists would start out much less, but they would learn in the field and in the training room over time. I just don't think a standard military soldier would have the xenolinguistics / computer skills to hack into UFO security and open a door, let alone let a virus loose in their system to prevent it from automated self destruct or remote return to base, so a computer scientist in the field would be essential. Some of the more experimental tech being developed would also require a combat engineer or doctor to operate it. Whenever the Xenonauts activity gets exposed in the field, there would be the possibility of having to capture / gag / rescue a reporter, intelligence agent, or even an average joe bloe, or they could actually be recruited instead. This would make the Xenonaut recruit pool quite varied, and many of them would start off with very poor combat skills, which actually explains the traditional beginning gameplay nicely. To recruit a soldier with combat experience would be very expensive, but should be possible. They just won't have any training in XCOM gear, etc

I think standard rifles should definitely have at least one mod spot. This would allow the fitting of a silencer / suppressor, bayonet, flashlight, telescope, laser sight, high cap mag, etc, depending on the type of weapon.

Borrowing from “The Bureau: XCOM Declassified”, agents from each class (Commando, Engineer, Support or Recon) were recruited from different world agencies which shaped their base skills before they started to train in XCOM skills. If you were looking for a soldier with high accuracy, then you could request a hitman from the black market, a marksman from the army, or a wet work specialist from the CIA – which might require improving relations with one or more of these organisations in order to recruit from their pool.

Yes I actually suggested this in another thread, without knowing it was already here. It's a great idea, and taking something that Xe1 did well, and taking it further.

I would be satisfied with at least being able to incapacitate an alien with conventional weapons, check to make sure it is not bleeding out, maybe even stabilise it with a medpack if necessary, then stick it with some tranquilisers and/or bind it so it can be carried back to the dropship. This would still require researching alien physiology to get the tranqs right, but it would remove the need for stun batons to be used in melee, which I always thought were kind of pokey. Pun intended. I guess it did require an increased element of risk though, but I guess walking up to an alien that might have buddies waiting in ambush nearby is still pretty risky as well.

Cloaks in X-COM: Apocalypse were definitely OP. In nuXCOM (I can't remember which number / DLC they were used in), the stealth armor either worked for 1 turn at a time (with cool down / limited uses) unless the soldier used a competing power source (e.g. weapon, or certain special abilities). I think I saw another chameleon suit which only simulated invisibility when the soldier was in full cover with respect to enemies, that's another option.

I think only combat engineers with special training in demolitions should be able to use shaped charges / C4, and it shouldn't be able to be thrown - I know some devices can be jury rigged with timers in real life, but as the OP stated it throws out game mechanics a bit. I think it should take a lot of time to apply it properly to a door or weak point on a structure before retreating for the timer / remote to activate it.