thecaptain

Shortcomings of the game aside, playing the modded demo is a blast! Two sectoid commanders on Classic difficulty are just barely beatable with the starting squad of four (bulked up with magical ghost/flying kevlar). There's a demo editor to play with different (spoilery) enemy types, and a way to edit the demo so the actual (second) mission shows up first instead of the tutorial mission: http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?140536-Demo-Editor-I-just-Made& I haven't used the editor yet, only the modded demo files that pit you against two sectoid commanders, two heavy floaters, and two (gulp) chryssalids. It's not exactly xcom in all its features, but the difficulty and brutality sure is there. Whoever set the demo to easy mode shot themselves in the foot. I played these two early missions from the demo at PAX last month, and in the full build this second mission was just about as "tutorial-y" as the first. After moving the heavy onto the roof, in the second turn they teach you how to fire the rocket and use overwatch, and walk you through some other squad positioning and tactics. I believe all the enemies were sectoids as well. This might explain why the demo mission feels so weird and linear, with seemingly nonexistent enemy AI and preplaced enemies: originally it's a linear, showcase, tutorial mission that they "de-tutorialified" for the demo. A very weird choice overall.

As to machine gun burst fire and suppression: (apologies if this has already been mentioned in the thread) Similar to how the assault rifle is proposed to fire a single aimed/snap shot (higher damage, lower suppression), and a ~3 shot burst (low damage chance, high suppression): Perhaps the "snap/aimed" machine gun shots should fire a burst of individual bullets as they currently do in game (eg: 3 to 5 bullets), while the "burst fire" should rattle off a long burst which deals higher suppression damage. This would help machineguns chew through ammo much faster, while still allowing them to take individually targeted, damage dealing shots and suppress a wider area when needed.

Will there be kickstarter options for people who have already purchased the game? I got a premium preorder ages ago, and would still like to support development, but don't need a second copy. I've seen a few kickstarters with tip jars and the like. (It looks like there was a $5 option removed?) Thanks!