BlackSheepxs

Thanks Chris. Focusing on the Windows platform first is perfectly understandable. Windows will be the main cash flow platform. We really appreciate the effort that you take the time to bring native Linux support. For X2 getting ultra wide 3440x1440 support is fantastic news!!!! Unity engine should will work well! When you get to the stage to optimize for Linux it's always good to look at which one is the more popular to support. 2017 1. Linux Mint (Cinnamon) by far the most popular Linux of 2017. based on Debian like the Ubuntu so it will work nicely, note Ubuntu next Major update (happens every 2 years is due in April and will switch to new Linux Kernel ( Ubuntu 18.04 Gnome shell) 2. Linux Manjaro Gnome/KDE fastest growing distro and there is a big chance it may overtake Linux Mint. https://distrowatch.com/ Thanks brother

Good points Rodmar18, however I like that Goldhawk makes the effort to have a native Linux version instead of wine / Playonlinux only. We need more Native support for Linux games to grow the community and Goldhawk is on board.

I see your point Chris, On research: No I'm not suggesting on having access to each weapon type in the begining. Research is the heart of the xcom/UFO/xenonauts games. The exitment to get the weapon upgrade or to the next type of weapon before you get your ass kicked is paramount. That is why I also suggested that we fix that xcom remake (2012) did wrong where the programers made the research time or tech tree so close to able get plasma weapons, anyone who played the game once or looks at the tactical suggestions all skipping laser weapons becuase you could get plasma almost the same time. Why even add weapons into the game when noone who played the game before going to use. That is just silly. So on the contrary to start with all weapons the reseach should actually take longer time or more complicated tree to get the the next weapon. That would make all players think twice if they can afford to skip a weapon type. Still possible but may not pay off for the wait to skip one. Weapon scaling: Through testing and feedback (from team, Alpha, Beta testing....) the right balance could be found. The weapons should get better ofcourse to worth the effort ballistic>Laser>Plasma>MAG ... (new type) but there could be more depth in tactics and replayability (even with what you use) when you have to crunch the numbers. In early game completting your first research you say for my new recruits I give the ballistics because that extra 2 shots/TU gives me to at least hit the Aliens once (more chance) with my Rookie and give the laser to the soliders who have more kills and experience under their belt. Sure laser is more accurate and at this stage probably can one hit most aliens but you could shoot fewer times with it. So there will be still an arugment to shoot more times and hit at least ones for Rookies at blank range. Eventually ofcurose as the game advance Noraml Rifle/Guns will be obsolete and no point to use at all. In mid game when you have laser with all soldiers and just researched plasma the same argument can be made. Rookie soilders need more accuracy so they keep the laser at this stage they may need to hit the target twice with laser vs once with plasma but at least hit it. Or I liked the idea that lasers have similar damage to plasma but can only be more accurate with aimed shots and will not blast theough barriers. That is a huge trade off to hold on to laser but might worth it to some of your soilders. This is just brainstroming and ideas to make weapons more interesting then just let's get the next ones. Conclusion: Make weapons types different in feel, look and abilites from each other. Regardless of Pros & Cons, scale the damage up with each new types of weapons enough to make you want to research it but not enough to make it the only viable weapon. Sure you not going to use Normal rifles at late game. They will be useless but as you get to Laser/Plasma/MAG there could be an argument which suits your soilders the best. For example why would I even consider to use a weaker weapon with the roketeer? You will pick the strongest one but with other soilders you may find a long distance shot better with lower damage laser over the higer damage plasma. Then once that soilders accuracy is top notch you may still want to give him plasma and give laser to the noobs for better accuracy. Just an Idead Chris & Goldhawk team to think about. We all want X2 to be bigger & better and be a huge success. You may like the idea or only just one or two part of the idea to invest time in it. Maybe evolve some new ideas from it. Just have a brainstorm seassion about it.

Hard to pick favoirte but here is a few I jump back to time to time. - XCOM: Defence & TFTD - awesome atmosphere and story. - Transport Tycoon Deluxe - Huge debth and options. There were a lot of attempts to make a similar game but it's still the best. Graphics still work nicely even today. - Original Theme Park - So much fun building the rides and it wasn't focused on rollercosters only. It was much bigger. - Master of Orion 2 - Endless possiblities - Dungeon keeper - Loved that for a change your not the hero. Thinking from a diffrent perspective. Great! - Settlers 2 (Anniversary) I didn't like the direction with Settlers 3 onwards - Settlers 2 built on the success of Settlers and it was pleasure to watch for hours how you build, discover and expand. - Final Fantasy 7 - Do we need a reason? It considered one of the best games ever made and always into top of the rankings even 20 years after.

There should be clear difference in benefits between the weapon types. With CONS and Pros to each tier. It would add more depth to the game when you have a trade off between weapon types and no boring or straight forward that you just jump to the next upgrade. Plus it would also mix up the weapons types per soldiers. It would be nice to see mixed team with different type off weapons. Let me break it down to make more sense. Giving examples Projectile weapons Pros: Doesn't require power cells, stock up with magazines fastest weapon reload time. Lighter weapon type so more action per TU to make up for less power. CON: less damage compared to other weapons. This could be a benefit for Assaults class to fire more times in close combat losing damage but chance to hit the target increase with the extra two shots. Players could keep projectiles on assault class or upgrade to next type depending on their play styles. Animations. Watching the bullets or rockets fly as they shoot. A pistol magazine swapped or a new rocket loaded into the launcher while reloading. Laser Weapons Pros: Most Accurate weapon with decent damage. This should be the most accurate weapon in the game. Agree with Chris that it shouldn't guarantee a 100% hit but in the hit chance calculator the chances should be much higher to hit with laser over the other weapons. With a trade off in the CONS focuses. Cons: while lasers will be more accurate over other weapons. Lasers will do more damage than projectiles but would take more TU to reload the cells over the projectile magazines. Lasers will do less damage than plasma but it will be more accurate and faster to reload over plasma. The middle ground between the two. Also laser weapons (expect heavy ones) could not blast through doors or walls like with other weapon types. I think it's a nice trade for a higher accuracy weapon and would give players more options for example with their snipers. Do I upgrade to plasma losing accuracy but get a little extra damage...... This would be fun. Animations: With lasers you could see a laser point on the targeted unit and when the soldier fires we could see a long line laser beam between the solider and it's target across the battlefield as it hits/misses. The laser shot sound should be like the high pitched laser towers in command and conquer as they fire. Reload: It would be nice to see and hear when soldiers replace the power cells on the guns or heavy weapons and hear an electric charge sound as the replace cells placed in. A little deeper and louder one with heavier weapons. Last point on lasers in the firaxis XCOM lasers are skipped with a lot of players because it's so close to research plasma while laser comes out that they don't want to spend the money. That is sad to see any weapon added to a game and bearly used. In XCOM reboot, there should be a steeper research requirements between each weapon type would give a much higher feel of accomplishment to get to the next weapons and would give time with each weapon type for players to play with instead of skipping them, Also with Pros and cons per weapons 100 players will have 100 different combination of weapons they prefer with their Soldiers. Some would still go for the more damage (plasma) but some would trade of for a higher accuracy (laser) or more shots per TU (Projetile) Plasma Weapons Pros: Hardest hitting between the 3 type to really dish out damage. Cons: Accuracy is better than projectile but worse then laser. Recharge/reload time is longer then projectile and laser but it have higher damage and can go through obstacles walls if shot from the right angle. Animations: With Plasma we would see a green glowing light traveling across the battlefield hitting or missing the target with a deep humming sound as they fly. Reload/recharge there could be a clever animation a little different from lasers when soldiers put in the new cells. I could imagine a sound like in ghost busters when the charge packs turned on when cells are replaced/reloaded. Conclusion: I think developers should focus to make sure all type of weapons have their benefits and not all players will chose the same paths how they arm their soldiers. Animations and animation sounds should also be distinctly different from each other. It's really cool and never boring in XCOM to watch different color weapons and sounds firing off against each other. What you think guys?

Hi Goldhawk team, thank you for giving love to our beloved OLD XCOM: Defence game by bringing the magic back. Your effort to please as many of the fans as possible is appricated. A few questions on the upcoming X2 1. Will there be 3440x1440 ultrawide monitor support? (ultrawide gaming got really popular the last few years it would be great to see this option in the upcomg X2. (firaxis also added ultrawide support to their reboot. In the begining even in window mode there was a bug that the mouse pointer didn't line up with the tiles in ultrawide screen but with later patches it got resolved) 2. Will X2 run with dirextX/OpenGL or Vulkan multiplatform API (Vulkan is much better since porting is a breeze to any platform with Vulkan API) 3. Linux support. There are many many Linux distros but the two Major ones are Debian based (like Linux Mint No.1 and Ubuntu No4. popularity) and Arch based (like Arch or Manjaro No2) As I understand X2 should run in most Linux distors but can you please make sure the Arch and Debian based ones are well supported? 4. GOG vs Steam. I prefer buying my games on the DRM free GOG however the OS support info did not match on gog & steam. GoG stated Ubuntu 14.04 & 16.04 support Steam stated: Any Linux distros from 2010 onward. Beacuse it wasn't so clear on GoG what patches and support released through them and also steam had more recent news on Xenonauts I picked it up on steam instead. Can you make sure you talk to both companies on release so we get identical OS requriments and patch updates on both serives? 5. A neat feature. When Firaxis created the XCOM reboot they contacted Alienware to add the AlienFX lights to their game. I'm part of the Alienware comminity and you be surprised on the amount of Alienware users playing XCOM & Xenonauts. (AlienFX games control the lights on all Alienware computers Desktop/Laptop/Steam Machine) in xcom Base operation: lights turned yellow. Plane fights: lights flashing ground combat: your turn green and Alien turn Red It was a nice feature and benifited both companies. Alienware added xcom on their AlienFX games list and Firaxis get free advertisment publicity in the Alienware community, AlienFX feature would be a nice and cheap feature to implement. Thanks Chris, Goldhawk team hope to hear from you. Peace Syd