Viking1978

I will not speak about "the right" or "the wrong," but I think you have made "a pretty good" choice here. However, it's just not that clear anymore which ideas will be kept of the previous discussions... Will anything be kept? Is it still the idea that missions are secretive? (No real preference here, but a secret organisation could explain e.g. less competent shooting skills as discussed) Will there be raids on/by human factions? (I hope so) Will there be air battles again? (Not necessary for me) Will there be many aliens or only one special alien with human-like helpers in tactical missions? (Maybe a combination of the two is possible?) ... I guess many of the design choices will become clear pretty soon At least now we will eventually see the full potential of that face generator... I'm pretty curious about that... I liked the results from the demo, although indeed I think they are more suited for generic profiles than for set profiles (Jagged Alliance style). Anyway, I'm still curious where this is all leading to. And I like the fact that we will be able to hire more or less experienced personnel... seems like a great combination of Xcom3: Apocalypse and Jagged Alliance... I hope there will be the occasional bargain also. CheerS

Well, technically 41 if you count the IMP character. Anyway, no worries, I just got really excited some months ago when reading about the face editor and seeing the (single) result in the demo. Now it felt like: react now or this is it and it didn't sound like it would be easily moddable with kickstarter characters and the 40 being based on the UI... Hence the reaction.

@trueman11 I think you are asking really a lot here, especially concerning the voice acting! The costs for it are not to be underestimated from what I have heard. Probably the least of most people's worries.

@Chris I understand your reasoning concerning placeholders etc. I just think these are aspects that will be difficult to test in a tactical mission or in a short demo. I mean, maybe it requires more game-time, but I can be wrong... As I can be wrong about what I said in other threads. If I were making a placeholder, I would go for the middle-ground, like a 0-10 system, but that's your choice, of corpse. Anyway, looking at Xenonauts 1, I'm sure you guys will create a great game! Looking promising for sure!

@Chris As I hear that the character system is still in development, here is some feedback: I personally think a 0-5 range is too limited indeed and this may sound blunt, but don't waste your time on it. I think the "levelling up" of soldiers is a good part of the fun in xcom: ufo defense, the previous Xenonauts game, and also in the Jagged Alliance games, actually. It feels like you are achieving something, you see that your favorites get better and you get some lesser soldiers to become useful. A 0-10 range sounds already better, but it could be a good idea to have both a 0-10 and a 0-99 system combined. Let's say you will see an area with stats, a 0-10 system (5 stars - actually 10 halve stars), but when you mouse over it a tooltip pops up that shows all the actual stats in a 0-99 system. Both micro & macro, everybody happy. Also, I would have set profiles that still allow for a degree of randomness for replayability reasons, so call them semi-set, if you will: - In the price there could be something like a 30% randomness per profile - In the stats there could be a 10% randomness: the 0-10 star system may stay the same in every start of the game, but the 0-99 stats from the tooltip may be different. An example to make this clearer: In my first game I recruit John X for $7200. Stats: 4 stars in Combat, 2 and a half stars in Science, etc. He actually has 72 in Combat, and 45 in Science when I browse over the stars and read the tooltip. In my next game I am able to recruit John X for $6000. Stats: 4 stars in Combat, 2 and a half stars in Science (the same as in every game), etc. But he actually has 78 in Combat and 41 in Science in this game. It is just nice to compare soldier stats and find a good deal. Concening your argument to fit everyone and all info in one page... Do you really think that this weighs up against the advantages of having more choice? I think that if you go for a basic set of 40, it will be one of the points you will get most criticism on and so probably will regret. Look at Jagged Alliance 2 for inspiration... Some sorting buttons will do the trick for multiple pages and I think you will want some sorting options anyway. I suppose there are two kinds of players: those that really get into the game and those that are less involved and just want to finish the game and get some steam achievements, the kind that miss part of the fun that others have, but are result-oriented. Anyway, I think both would like to have many soldiers to recruit. One group to have a lot of choice & variety (replayability), the other to have a lot of replacements. @endersbladeMore skills can be nice, but I definitely prefer a system that you gain experience by your actions rather than by allocating some kind of bonus points.

Great to hear, Chris! Sounds perfect to me... Also nice that to read that the Xenonauts need some sleep. Cheers!

Hi, I really like almost all of the new ideas from this October Update. Looks promising, again! Concerning the need of scientists in some missions as I have been reading above... Maybe instead of dissecting the bodies in a lab, there is a reason that this has to be done in the field as well as possible (e.g. because the alien bodies are desintegrating at a quick pace?). Or maybe some technology would be self-destructive if one doesn't act quickly? Anyway, there are probably many reasons why a good scientist can be handy... Maybe the doctoring skill can be linked to this as well or the opening of some access points in some alien crafts, etc. Two aspects I have some remarks about. I like the idea of fixed character profiles. Actually, I don't really have a preference, as long as a feature is implemented well. In this case the implementation sounds promising, but I only hope that there will be enough characters to choose from. From other games I know that there will be always favourites and those you really don't want in your team, just because you don't like their appearance or their stats don't suit your playstyle. I do not think it is a good idea to force a player to play with most characters. You need characters who stand out, because they are a good value for money, and some that stand out for their stats, but in order to get these you need the opposite as well... So, I was thinking more like around 120 characters. I think it would be a waste to not fully use that face editor you already have designed and have been talking about (I am still really curious about it), so why not create a few more? In my opinion it does not matter if some profiles are similar, as they will differ in price, appearance, etc. A question that comes to mind: I hear numbers like 10-15 characters at the end of the game, so I was wondering if there will be only one Xenonauts base or more? (The original Jagged Alliance 2 base game had around 70 playable characters in total, which was really on the low side. It is not without a reason that the v.1.13 comunity platform expanded on this, resurrecting like 50 characters from the first game + adding an additional amount of first-person characters that became also hireable. Anyway, I think 120 is a lot more comfortable... and it is more fun to play with characters that you choose than that you have to pick because you don't have an option). Another thing that I have some ideas about is that missions will be all at night. Maybe this is a decision based on context (that everything has to be done in secret?), but it has some implications. In the original Xcom:Ufo Defense and Xenonauts game night missions (apart from bringing variety) gave an extra thrill, because the aliens had a vision advantage, which they did not have in daylight. If you now make night missions the default missions, I think part of that thrill will get lost. Also, I really enjoy the graphics of daylight missions... the atmosphere, clearness, brightness of the environment etc. In my opinion it would be really a pity if these missions would be cut from the game. Anyway, I'm sure that the characters need to rest sometimes also. Is it really not an option to keep it more in the line of Xenonauts 1 and keep research, rest, special missions / government raids etc for at night, while the bulk of missions occur during the day? I mean, some special technology could probably cover up a lot also if that were the problem. Whatever you decide, I hope that there will at least be some missions during the day also.

Thanks for the answer. So it is not a delicate subject, that's something, but I don't know much more now. I still hope to receive some feedback on my feedback from the developer also... My intention was to make some suggestions that are relatively simple to implement, but that would make a big difference...

I am starting to wonder if I touched some delicate subject that everybody is avoiding....

Hi, I'll skip the intro, keep it short & to the point. I played the first game, have been following the forum, and like where Xenonauts 2 is going, so I want to pitch in my two cents in the form of suggestions, things that - in my eyes - would greatly benefit the game, give a big + for replayability: * Concerning stats - keep the system transparant and interesting: - have an unreachable, but clear maximum for stats (e.g. 100); the closer to the maximum, the slower the improvements - have the option to train a stat in the base and have a training maximum for stats (training can go really slow, but at least you have the impression that your soldiers are doing something useful) - have different patterns for the soldiers' evolution, some may have more/less talent in certain aspects than others, e.g. one soldier may quickly improve his accuracy stat, but need more time for his strength stats (we are talking about humans, right?) - keep all the above editable in an xml-file and the patterns could be explicit or not according to game settings -> There is no fun in knowing in advance that shooting x times at your enemy will add y points after a mission while not knowing what the maximum is. It doesn't make it any better if this is for several stats.... * Concerning factions - add human enemies: - I really like that in the first Xenonauts game there are some humans that help you in a mission, as if you have some allies, but it would make a big difference if there was at least one human enemy faction as well. They could use exactly the same system that aliens use (e.g. bases popping up, infiltrating your base), but could give you supplies that you can use immediately, like weapons, grenades, ammo, as well as a vehicle & more experienced soldier (in rare cases). E.g. after fighting a certain faction there is a 10% chance of persuading a stunned enemy soldier to join your cause (I wouldn't make the chance higher than 10% as - in my eyes - it should be more like a bonus, an awesome, lucky event, than a reason to attack the enemy faction and stun everyone). However, a human enemy faction would bring more variety being a different kind of enemy using different weapons (i.e. use of shields, machine guns, grenades, rocket launchers like the Xenonauts) in a different setting. Furthermore, the player has another interesting option to train his soldiers that would feel like a different kind of mission. Most importantly, it would feel different to the player... To me this was one of the most interesting, fun features of UFO: Apocalypse. The factions could take the shape of cultists, extremists, some secret intelligence agency etc., I'm sure this would fit the story. (- You could expand on this and also add more factions in the form of companies... Whereas UFO: Apocalypse has them on a city level, Xenonauts 2 could have them on a global level, but I fear this would be suggesting, asking too much, especially going more into detail, although it would make things more interesting e.g. to choose the position of your bases, to make sure you keep good relations in order to have all back-up materials for designing a piece of equipment, etc.) So far for my two cents, I hope to see some reaction on this. Keep up the good work - cheerS