Wyldefyre_CP

Ok, I've been a huge fan of this game and its predecessor for a very long time now. This is my first time completing the entire Xeno2 game and I have a lot to say, so bear with me; I may find the need to gush a bit about the stuff I really, really like, and zero in on the things I'm still not a fan of. There will be a lot more of the former and a lot less of the latter, though! 1. Huge Props for the new Operative System !!! I must've been on vacation or bogged down with work and missed one of the update emails, as I didn't even know this was in the works until I started playing the newest experimental run through. I can't say with enough emphasis how much I LOVE this new Op Sys, and some of the benefits you get from completing a continental 'supporter collective'. One thing I will say - and I suppose it's a bit of a spoiler but it's also an opinion - if you want to achieve full value out of this new system, you'd better start knocking out the Supporter: Intelligence missions early. I think I mucked around with a couple other choices early but quickly realized my mistake and went after each of these with a vengeance afterwards. Getting those extra Operative Points per day increased to the Max (+20) is imperative to allow you the freedom to then pursue all the other Supporter options. I think I spent 100 OP on both 'Raise Funds' and "Reduce Panic' early in the game. Looking back on that, I think the Raise Funds was important for an early jump on base building/research/workshops etc. Playing it on only Soldier Difficulty, I think I could have gotten away without using the other 100 pts on Reduce Panic like I did. While I never spent any Op points on requesting more Alenium or Alloys, I think it's great that that is an option that is available if needed. Really, this whole system is a homerun to me now and I'm loving it. 2. Really Appreciate seeing more Interactions with the Operations Director and Chief Scientist. Some might find this unnecessary or a silly thing to talk about in a review, but I found this interaction to truly heighten my gameplay experience. I want to actually give a darn about the fate of the world and the people I'm working with to save humanity, and this additional interaction helps flesh out the characters and the storyline for me, especially approaching the mid and end game scenarios. I would have liked one last interactive scene between them after completing endgame - perhaps that's still a work in progress - but I'm satisfied with what's been offered. 3. Finally, some freedom with Aircraft Armament! Yes, I've been extremely vocal about this for years. I'm super pumped to say I really got some options to explore this time through on the gameplay. While it still feels quite restrictive - and I have no idea how the implementation of pods that I've been hearing about will affect this - I was able to approach the Gemini ship builds with 2 very different aircraft. While my number was limited (only 2 per base, and I'll talk more about that later in the review) I had one Gemini armed with 2 Fusion Lances, Shielded Plating and a Fuel Pod (which was totally unnecessary but I added it because I could, and it was the only thing that cost only 1 Payload weight, lol). This was my longer range 'DPS Ship'. The next Gemini was my 'Tank' ... equipped with 2 Gauss Blasters. Why Gauss Blasters when I had Fusion Lances available? Well, glad you asked. Coming in at weights of 5 each as opposed to the 6 of the Fusion Lances, arming my Gemini with 2 GBs allowed me the option to do something I'd never done before - put a 2nd set of armor on an aircraft - weighing 3 apiece, 2 Shielded Plating made this thing an absolute beast, and you can bet I put it out in front of my DPS. What about the short range of the GBs? Honestly, not an issue whatsoever. Simply hit the Afterburners on both aircraft until you've got the cones on the target ship and then take them off to start chewing the aliens up. Did I miss not having missiles on either ship? Not one darn bit. In fact, I didn't even bother researching them until I had basically nothing else left for the scientists to do, but that's another point to discuss further down in the review. Back to the positives, I'm thrilled I was able to do something different with the aircraft. I hope that versatility remains in the final game product. 4. The Art. Lovin' It! All the small but very important bits - the character armors, the weapons, the equipment, the aliens, the battlefields, the crashed UFOs - your team has done a solid job of making all of this a great experience. Kudos! 5. The Sound Effects & Music. Solid work. Definitely helps keep me immersed in the game. 6. I See You Brought The City Killer back, and that was (surprisingly) ok. Definitely appreciated the timing of when this was reintroduced into the game, and it had a sense of belonging in there that I didn't really feel in early iterations. The missions to go out and deal with it were also fun experiences. That there was more to still do after that, also a big plus. 7. Specially Engineered Equipment. While I didn't utilize all of these, having the options to select among so many of them was very welcome. I deviated from my normal game run throughs this time by going after the Actuator Modules once my soldiers started wearing the Vanguard Armor. Initially, I was just going to use this as a 'leg up' for those soldiers who were lacking a bit in the strength department, but I think by the endgame I had everyone using them. The combination of extra TUs on the Vanguard Armor and the extra Strength provided by the Actuators allowed me to do some extra attacks with soldiers - akin to the early days of Xenonauts 2 - that I hadn't been able to do otherwise. I missed those days and that option, so I was very glad to see that back! I'm not sure if I'm all gushed out here - there are likely some other things that I really liked that I will have to come back to here, but this has gotten rather lengthy already! Those were the positive points - I think I will break the review down into 2 additional posts - one with the new things I appreciated seeing but didn't end up utilizing for various reasons - and then the second which will mostly focus on the reasons why some of those options fell by the wayside for me, along with some suggestions for how to mitigate those issues.

I just had to share ... https://www.yahoo.com/news/nasa-found-secret-military-buried-160000867.html

The one right before this new one, is it possible to capture an alien leader per the quest assignment? I got the 'that's the end of the current game' around Day 321 ... but then again, it took me nearly that long to capture my first 'live' mentarch this go around. That has never been a real problem before, but this go around it seemed in each spaceship the lone mentarch was either already dead (most of the time) or elected suicide-by-soldier on overwatch. So I think my 'capture an alien leader' assignment popped up just barely before I hit that 'end of current game' bit. I have noticed on that particular experimental build that the aliens in the larger ships tend to get antsy and not do much 'lay in wait and lurk'. I believe I've downed at least 3 or 4 battleships now (playing into the 400s on Days) and I think I've yet to get further than about halfway into exploring one before it notifies me that I've killed all the aliens that were still inside. That iteration also doesn't seem to specify whether I've killed standard alien soldier types, officers or leaders ... it's only when I manage to stun an alien that I tend to get an identifier of that type on the combat log. That said, I'm fairly sure I haven't been killing any alien leaders on any battleships up to this point. Just curious, as I have a few singularity cores with no current use - that could be because of the story end or perhaps b/c I haven't interrogated a leader yet, I'm not 100% sure. Please give me a yell if I'm spinning my wheels just for fun at this point. I've really enjoyed this previous experimental run through and plan to post a pros and cons analysis of it on the forum in short order. There were a lot of positives, and a few things that could still use ironing out. I'm also excited to get cracking on the new Experimental Build with the arc-shot grenade launchers.

Maybe I'm off, but any time I've thought of going back to using the shotgun, I end up opting for the rifle instead. It just seems to me the 3 shot burst from the rifle (especially at close range) is better than the 3 shot burst from the shotgun, and of course, at longer range, there is no comparison. I don't use shotguns for my assault troops, either. Shield and pistol troops are the first boots on the ground and much less likely to be turned into fertilizer on the first two rounds as the Welcome Wagon engages the dropship. Later I can also sub out the pistol for the stun baton and still keep the shield defense going. I think the shotgun needs a significant adjustment up to justify its use in the game.

Awww, no carrying spare grenade launcher ammo on my Colossuses for my grenade launching buddies anymore, eh? Shux, darn, lol! That new arc thing for launchers is going to be interesting ... outside the UFO's, that's going to be a great addition. Inside the UFOs, though ... well, tbh, I probably won't miss not having them there as much as the benefits outside, as even with extra grenade ammo, I tended to be running near empty by the time I used them to be the UFO door openers. Having a good pistol and being a step or two behind the shield bearers still gives them valid use on overwatch going forward from there. Gets me thinking of a couple other possibilities, though. Like instead of locking Colossus into an MG-Heavy-Only role, being able to designate them into Grenadiers would be fun. Just those heavier weapons. Also could leave the door open for a Bazooka Class, employing the straight on trajectory technique the GL's had been utilizing all this time for those who would still like the 'straight forward' approach. Just thoughts here!

I know sometimes I may seem all grouch and gripes on this board, but I wouldn't keep coming back to play (and playtest it) if I didn't have a real love for the game and the concept. Time to point out some of the cool things I'm noticing here in the experimental build - they might be in other builds, too - could be I'm just noticing some of them here. 1) 3D rendering of the Mentarch in combat: Those tentacles ... they're really swaying ... and that brain looks a lot ... brainer! Definitely a more sinister look than I remember it having before. 2) Fighting Abductor ships ... Those things take a beating to bring down, even with 2 Phantoms armed with a Laser Cannon Each and 2 sets of alenium missiles each. No complaints, that's cool. Wondering if I switch up to torpedoes if that might help - at the moment I don't have the decoder to be able to identify which ship is which just yet, but it might not hurt to go half missile and half torpedo at any rate for the near future. Also, that slow plodding weapon they fire right out the gate deserves paying attention to ... it's like a dull homing torpedo itself ... gotta be sure to stay clear of that ... finally, that 'tracking cone' that appears withing the ring of capable firing area seeks to act like a slow turret they're having to bring around to fire another weapon. Also something to plot your rolls left and right by. Really interesting adjustments to the air combat. Enemy fighters firing right out the gate with longer range missiles also adds some unexpected new combat thrills! 3) I think I've seen this before, but having some of the citizenry armed with lasers and fighting back in advanced game terror missions is also encouraging to see. I don't mind an NPC getting a kill steal or two from me along the way. Especially if it's a darn Reaper, lol ... 4) Speaking of Reapers, my first 'Alien Base' in this game (after the cleaner HQ, that is) was a nest crawling with Reapers, right in my HQ's backyard. Though I intentionally flew in during the day, the game made it a 'night mission' ... in a way, I can understand that ... a hive would likely be underground and the illumination would likely be scant - there were other aliens in there, so it wasn't purely a Hive, I guess, but there were enough Reapers to really slow my exploration to a fearful crawl, and having that ominous night mission music pervading throughout did a number on the nerves. That's not a complaint, that's a thumbs up. Giving shield carriers a measure of safety vs Reapers (while they still have a working shield) is also something I heartily approve of. If it definitely helped increase my survival rating while down there! I'm sure there's another handful or more of things I've noticed that are new and interesting. These are the ones that first come to mind. I'll add more as I remember or stumble across them. Thanks again for all the great work on X2.

My suggestion to that concern would be to adjust your hardpoints .... 3 for the Angel instead of 4 makes it a one gun and one missile carrier, with the 3rd slot open for either fuel or armor. You could also choose to ramp up the payload req for the better armors along the way. This would enable a person to still lightly armor their Angels early game if they so chose, but need a better aircraft for the heavier/quality armor. Adjusting Hardpoints could also be useful as a reward down the line for more versatility with the better aircraft builds and ramp up 4, 5 or 6. Please also keep in mind that if down the road you do feel like maybe an aircraft build's become 'too powerful', there's another surefire way to blunt that power - not by taking away from the aircraft - but by increasing the enemy aircraft stats. I will argue every time that freedom to experiment and do more things wins out over restrictions to do much less things every time. I hate feeling pigeon-holed or led by the nose to do a specific build and that build only when I play a game. Appreciate all the work you're doing to best enhance the game, and thanks for the quick reply!

Please, why?? These aircraft are hardly overpowered, Chris. I come back to my experimental game today to find my Angels trimmed back from Payload 12 to Payload 10 and my just created 2nd Phantom trimmed from 15 down to 13 ... the paint's barely dry on the poor thing. What's funny is, my initial payloads are still locked in on my Angel's and my other existing Phantom, as if they still had their 12 and 15 stats. Which is to say, my 2 Angels are giving up any armor at all for the right to carry 1 forward Laser Lance Mount and 2 Missile Launchers, and my unnerfed Phantom's carrying the same setup, but could afford to add armor to his 4 slot. These were fun setups ... my Angels were certainly taking it a bit on the chin running around with no armor, but they were giving nearly as good as they got. It just felt right, you know? Now what will they be able to carry ... squat diddly little, it seems. And now my freshly minted 2nd Phantom gets the joy of carrying one Laser Lance, one missile launcher and armor ... and absolutely nothing in the 4th slot. With the Laser Lance eating an ungodly 8 payload slots there's not even room for an extra fuel tank in 4th place. My humble suggestion here (and naturally, it's only a suggestion) is that there is Nothing Broken about the aircraft vs alien craft process. There could actually afford to be some latitude given to the armament situation (see my previous post about adding more hard mounts along the way) to allow for more versatility, fun, and freedom of options when equipping your craft. Who doesn't want to imagine your flight team madly scrambling, say, to sub out standard air missiles with torpedoes for a tougher enemy ship spotted on the radars? Or removing all missiles for some extra cannons in a straight out fighter dogfight? Or mixing and matching among same aircraft types to separate 'bombers' and 'fighter escorts' of our own choosing? Just currently feeling like every time I start to enjoy the aircraft setup, it gets nerfed out from under me.

3 - 4 - 5 actually would work fine for me ... it'd give you fresh options out the gate for the Angel and still give me useful options on the Gemini . Or another option would be to mix up the hard mount values on some of the weaponry. Make some of the light cannons require just one hard mount. Make some of the heavy torpedoes require 2 hard mounts. Missiles that split up into multiple mini missiles when fired. Cannons with ranges other than just 3 and 6. Variety is the spice of life.

On this iteration of the game, I'm busily crafting and then equipping my newest ship to the fold, the Gemini Interceptor ... I'm stoked as I see the payload is 15, so I've calculated I can arm it with 2 fusion torpedoes and then 2 Gauss cannons., making it more effective than my Phantoms. 5+5+2+2 = 14 Payload, which I couldn't do with the Phantoms since they had the 13 Payload limit. So it was a rather sad situation when I heard the 'brrrp!' error and realized I had a hardpoint issue. While the bump up from Angel to Phantom feels like a solid reward, the move from Phantom to Gemini feels ... much less. As we're still saddled with the same restrictive 4 hardpoints, bumping the payload up to 15 seems hardly worthwhile. It already comes with 20 armor, doesn't need anymore fuel than it already has, either, and neither of those attachments would seem like a reason to bother with increasing the payload, as even with a Laser Lance I wouldn't go over the 13 Payload threshold of the Phantom. My argument would be to bring the hardpoint total for the Gemini to 6. $1,200,000 is a rather fantastical sum to shell out for her. I'd hope to be able to equip her better than the $800,000 Phantom.

@Kouki You're welcome! I'm glad I could help, and super stoked that I don't have to start my game completely over, too. Lol :)

BUG SOLVED !!! This is truly bizarre ... I had wracked my brain over what was new and had caused my elite squad to start CTD'ing ... new techs I had discovered, new equipment, what could be setting it off, while other squads seemed to have no problems, even with the advanced gear and the advanced dropship .... It came down to this one soldier I have, named VICK. Poor guy didn't know he was wrecking my missions - how could he - things had been going just fine up to a point, and he was my best surviving unit, having wracked up over 50 kills, to the point where I had decided the medals themselves weren't enough, I was going to make an adjustment to his nametag... Mind you, I've done this in the past with no issues ... when my soldiers get 10 kills, they get one asterisk (*NAME*) on either side of their name. 20 kills gets them a second set of asterisks on either side (**NAME**) You run out of room if you keep doing that after every 10 kills, so I decided after 50 kills I would change it up a bit, and here's where I ran into my issue. I decided at 50 kills, I was going to revert from asterisks (*) to carets (^) and I gave him plenty. ^^^VICK^^^ was the culprit. Further testing reveals that ANY caret attached to my soldier's name causes this same problem. ^^VICK^^ ^VICK^ ^VICK* *VICK^ and even just VI^CK all caused me to CTD on the terror site. Removing any carets from his name totally prevented the CTD from happening and let me start the mission. Very weird! I guess we need to take carets off the menu for the time being, Boys & Girls!

Narrowing it down, maybe .... my secondary unit managed to get to the Terror Mission with the Skyhawk and had no CTD. So that left me wondering if it was the Dragonfly itself, or something to deal with one of my crew. Took all my elites out of the Dragonfly, put in some new recruits with basic weapons, sent them back, wholly expecting a CTD, and the mission started without a hitch. So it's not the Dragonfly ... seems to be either something my elites are carrying or .... I have another theory or two ... back in a bit ...

That's a good thought. I just went back to my OP CTD to refresh that game log, but I don't see any new log info since 9/11/2023, and that looks indeed like dated material from months ago. Wonder if the current log got moved to a different home ... the only other thing that seems to be updating is something called steam_autocloud.vdf

Well, damn ... it's starting to look like it might be squad related ... just sent the same squad (my best soldiers and gear) to an Alien Terror Mission and same CTD problem. I'm wondering if it is related to this flight suit technology that I paid out the whazoo for and then never saw in action. Once my engineers said it was done, I don't think I've been on a new mission without the CTD, and the UFOpedia doesn't even seem to list it as a documented accomplishment. Though I would've guessed that would've been applied world-wide to all my soldiers and not just base specific to my top troops. I didn't see any option for flying available to my poor scrubs stationed at the secondary base when they went after the Abductors. This keeps getting more curious.