Max_Caine

A second reminder, discussion regarding ATLAS and general base mechanics already moved to another thread: here

This forum supports robust debate. It doesn't support drama. Everything that can be said in the lore topic has been said, and now we're dipping into playground behavior. Please can I ask that the lore topic of discussion re. PALU and Charon in this thread be dropped.

Here's a quote from the OP in the Xenonuats 2 Ground Combat thread. Rodmar, is that close to the kind of thing you envision?

Fox, please do not spam multiple popular threads with questions that are only slightly related in an effort to get answers for your own mod. If you continue to do this, the spam will be deleted and merged into a new thread.

I honestly think there's a dichotomy of design with PD. The game offers me a lot of options for fighting. All of the characters you hire come with a starting weapon, you get heavy-to-light weapons right from the get go, two thirds of the equipment you can build from the start is related to combat, your agents perks are slated towards combat, their trained skills are all to do with combat and ALL of the stuff you loot in a mission is either weapons or armour. But, if I start a fight in a mission I've done something wrong. Straight away reinforcements will pile in. Then either more reinforcements are queued up, or an air strike is queued up, and this will continue to happen until my team either escapes or are all killed. As you always hit your target, weight of numbers matters more in this game than it does in a game where there's a chance to miss and guess what? The enemy outnumbers you. I completed a mission recently where I spent three quarters of a tedious hour getting agents into position to ko as many mooks as possible in a simultaneous strike so I could then take out the remaining agents as rapidly as I can. PD gives me all these options for fighting, but it slaps me down if I then use the tools it gives me.

There will be a closed beta stage. Those backers who selected that as part of their reward will participate in that. Then there will be an Early Access stage. Everyone else will get to participate in that. We have not entered the closed beta stage yet.

Unlike most X-Com-a-likes, X1 put as much emphasis on the strategic map as it does on the ground combat. X1 was a game of two halves, and it would appear that X2 is going to continue in that vein. A reasonably fast, turn-based minigame with interesting strategic choices slots into that philosophy, and segues smoothly into ground combat. EDIT: From a modding perspective, something like the air combat proposed for X2 is a godsend, as there are more variables to play with when modding UFO fights.

Having played PD a bit more now, the strategic map has some important lessons for X2. While there are things you can do on the map, Most of them are progress bars. Because almost every action you can take on the map is a non-interactive progress bar, time on the strategic map is sped up so as little time as possible is spent on the strategic map. If time wasn't sped up, then it would get boring fast. In X1, you spent a LOT of time looking at the strategic map. I don't imagine this is going to change significantly for X2, but if agents are going to play a meaningful role on the strategic map then there are going to have to be ways to distract from little agent progress bars filling up.

To add to Akrakorn, the impression I get from it is that it's been tested by people who knew the mechanics, therefore they never needed it to be explained to them and the game has been shaped by people who are used to its oddities, so they don't push for things that a fresh face would ask for. This is a possible pitfall for X2, I hope that we get a steady stream of fresh faces trying different things so that the game doesn't fit an insider's idea of how the game should work.

The most fun you'll have in the tactical missions is when you aren't fighting. It plays out a lot like Invisible Inc. The game encourages you to sneak around and slip past patrols as there's only so many people you can ko or kill before enemy agents come looking for you. It's a lot of fun working out patrol routes and slipping past mooks. Actual combat feels like MGS, where you're punished for not successfully sneaking.

The ground combat in Phantom Doctrine doesn't make any really fundamental changes to the way combat is handled, other than perhaps the way that shooting is handled. Most of the changes are on the more abstract layer - the way the the game handled such things as off-table support, team actions, etc. etc.

If I remember correctly, they got wiped due to issues with hosting - not more sinster than that.

There won't be. The Community Edition is not supported by Goldhawk Interactive. To report problems with Community Edition report it here.