Komandos

Missions in Xenonauts are really monotonous. I was constantly forced to come up with additional conditions (rules, restrictions) for myself in order to diversify UFO capture missions.

If the key soldiers (sniper, grenade launcher) are on the third line of defense (offensive), then the chances of losing them are small. In the first line there are soldiers with a shield, whose task is only to open targets. They don't even need to shoot: he looked out, showed the enemy to other soldiers, hid. You don't have to be good soldiers to do that. In the second line there are machine gunners and stormtroopers. They need armor more than others. The status (health) indicator of the armored suit is really necessary

Yes. The game does not take into account the consumption of ammunition for small arms. And I think that the game will not take into account the consumption of armor plates in the armor of a soldier. (Armor repair).

Let's say there is a territory (planet Earth) divided into regions. UFO squadrons descend from space to Earth, where the activity of each UFO increases discontent in the region over which the UFO is carrying out its mission. When the height of UFO activity reaches a maximum, the region goes out of control of earthlings. To prevent UFOs from carrying out their mission over the region, X-COM fighters block UFOs with an attack. However, the war for the region (the UFO crash in the region) reduces funding (income) from this region. (As a result of economic damage from the fighting). Thus: the more X-COM military bases are built and the more fighting around military bases, the less revenue from the territory. This explains the limitations on the number of "X-COM" military bases in the game. Regions over which there is no alien activity and no fighting (UFO crashes) do not suffer economically and give more income (money). Every month (once a month), each region reduces the negative impact of UFOs on its territory by a certain amount (depending on the properties of the region). This is the state aid of the region, which is able to compensate for some of the mistakes of X-COM. Also: if all regions (countries) without exception have "UFO activity" on their territory, then this amount of "activity" disappears, as in the game Tetris. The player receives a bonus. For example, the patriotism of the inhabitants of the planet earth is growing. If the activity of UFOs in at least one region is zero, then cash receipts in this region increase, but there is no decrease in the schedule of discontent of earthlings (UFO activity) in the regions. (As in the case described above). The frequency of alien UFO attacks and the number of alien UFOs is increasing every month. The player can deploy temporary (mobile) bases in cities of any country to shoot peaks of UFO activity. The total number of temporary and permanent databases is limited. (For example, a total of 9 pieces together). Construction cannot be carried out on a temporary basis. Storage capacity is limited by freight transport.

If the player's soldiers survive too well in the first armor, then what's the point of creating a second one? (Better armor than the previous one.)

This also applies to the desirable behavior (AI) of aliens. Why should I train and select the best soldiers (take care of them in battle) if any hired recruit can easily cope with the aliens? For example, thanks to the armor.

If a shot hits directly in the face, a soldier, even in good armor, can die from a pistol bullet. In such games, it makes sense to think not about the safety of individual soldiers, but about the safety of the entire tactical unit. The sniper can sit far behind the stormtroopers. He probably won't need an armored suit at all. And it will be the most advanced soldier in the game. A stormtrooper soldier is often attacked by aliens. And you won't be able to avoid it. And you will lose stormtrooper soldiers all the time. To have an advanced stormtrooper soldier at the end of the game - you will need: - Or great luck. - Or impenetrable armor suits. - Or weak aliens. - Or a "training center" that constantly improves recruits.

This???

At one time, I made a modification of the soldier's personal inventory for the game UFO 1-2 (open Xcom). (that was before) : Pockets allowed the equipment to be divided into separate groups by category. Which was convenient for the game. However, in the game "Xenonauts" in the tactical control panel there are separate buttons for grenades, first aid kits, ammunition. Which is convenient. However, the inventory pockets themselves are not so convenient (visually) to fill with equipment sorted by category. If you are interested in my opinion, then I am in favor of adding a few more strips of pockets to the personal inventory of the soldier "Xenonauts 2". (Backpack 4x5; Bib 1x5; belt 1x5; the rest 1x5). At the bottom there is a place under the belt and backpack.

After playing a bit of Xenonauts, I also found the fights boring. The soldiers are walking in dense crowds, but they still don't have enough firepower to keep the enemy at a safe distance. Then I increased the visual distance from 25 to 35. The base range of the weapon has also been increased by the same amount. The number of aliens has doubled. The number of my soldiers in the amphibious transport was set to the maximum (16 soldiers). The fighting has become dynamic. Almost at every step I had fire or visual contact with the enemy. 16 soldiers and an increased viewing range (shooting) allowed me to occupy the front for the entire width of the map. Up to 40 aliens could be encountered in one battle. (For complete happiness, I tried to increase the crew to 18-20 people, but nothing came of it). As a result: Thanks to the ability to edit resources, I think the game turned out to be quite successful.

In the game "Jagged Alliance 2" professional mercenaries fight against less professional soldiers, but more numerous. In UFOs 1-2; Xenonauts - the opposite is true. Less experienced, but numerous detachments of people are fighting with stronger, but smaller detachments of aliens. The role element is smaller here.

In UFO 1-2 it was like this. The aliens were higher in quality (at the beginning of the game). The people were strong in numbers. Especially when the ship "Avenger" with a capacity of 26 soldiers appeared. The victory in the mission compensated for all the losses. And the large number of soldiers participating in the mission made the loss of a few soldiers insignificant. In the middle of the game (when the quality level of human soldiers approached the aliens) this made the fight in UFO 1 a bit boring. Which was fixed in UFO 2 by increasing the number of aliens and completing missions from the "two series". In Xenonauts, I would increase the number of human soldiers to 16 (at the beginning of the game) and to 20 at the end of the game. (Which will allow you to lose less combat experience when one sollat is killed, and train more soldiers in combat). Also: I would double the characteristics of the aliens. I would add a "Learning Center" to the game. The "Training Center" will allow you to suffer fewer losses from the death of experienced soldiers in battle.

In the game "Jagged Alliance 2", the combat position of a lying soldier has proven itself very well if there was a need to hide out of the blue. In the "Xenonauts" all kinds of objects are scattered everywhere for the opportunity to hide. Tactical shields have also been added to the game (to be able to hide out of the blue). UFO 1-2, of course, did just fine without it. But for tactics, the possibility of tactical adaptation of soldiers to the terrain gives more solutions for the same task.

How much will the probability of hitting a soldier decrease if the soldier sits down?

If you add the ability for soldiers to "lie down on the ground" in the Xenonauts 2 game, (the probability of hitting a soldier decreases 5-10 times). Then it will be great.

In which case does the player change the team without waiting for instructions received from the game? This always happens when there are several squads on the base, and each squad is focused on completing its mission. Since in the game: the task of all missions is the same (capturing UFOs), and the tactics of fighting different aliens are very little different, the rotation of soldiers in the game turns out to be forced.

In any case, what a soldier will take with him into battle depends on his carrying capacity, and not on the number of special pockets. When the inventory pockets are fully occupied, and the soldiers will still have the carrying capacity (the ability to carry more weight) - only then should you think about additional places in a more advanced suit.

If the penetrating power of the weapon is such that it depends on the distance to the target, then a soldier without armor (if hit in the head or body) will always die at any distance. While a soldier in armor has a chance to survive at a certain distance. And the better the armor, the closer the soldier can safely get to the aliens.

For the aliens, you can make a weapon with a motion detector. Which shoots at a target out of sight at lightning speed if the target hits the scope. For example, when the alien turns. Or at the expense of AP, which an alien can spend on "scanning the terrain with a detector." This will increase the difficulty of the game. And this will be an interesting feature of Xenonauts 2. The accuracy of such aiming may not be great, but it will explain "shooting out of the dark." Also, for xenonauts, you can come up with the function "throw (stick out) tactical shield from around the corner" to provoke the alien to react (shooting) and protect the operative.

On YouTube, I watched a video of the latest version of the Xenonauts 2 game. A squad of soldiers is forced to walk in a dense crowd so that the combined firepower is enough to destroy 1-2 aliens who ran out from close range. An increase in the range of visibility and an increase in the range of weapons will allow soldiers to disperse and control a wider front of the map with their help.

You are (most likely) testing a game with one amphibious transport on the base. I had up to three transports (in Xenonauts 1) on the same base. The garrison of the base was (3*16)*2 = 96 soldiers. The interface is convenient when the number of soldiers is approximately 2 *16 = 32 (on one base). But if there are more soldiers, it is difficult to find a suitable one.

In the first Xenonauts game, I had to edit the interface window for personnel management to make it convenient. It was easier to edit the interface than to put up with its inconveniences. I saw the video game "Xenonauts 2". And if the game allows, I will have to edit the interface again to simplify the assignment of the crew.

In the first game, portraits of soldiers were often repeated. I can create a huge database of such portraits in Artbrider. What can be used as a bonus addition to the game. I won't take anything for work. In addition, your artists can also use Artbridger to create a large database of portraits quickly and cheaply..

I don't like too small a list (transport hangar) for crew loading. The list is not only small, but also without the possibility of sorting by the parameters of soldiers. I have to constantly check all the fighters personally, in search of a suitable one.

1. Each continent (country) has its own landscape (urban buildings), which is fundamentally different from the landscape of other countries. This ensures that each region will have its own tactics of warfare. 1+ Each alien race tends more towards different regions. This also ensures that each region will have its own tactics and complexity of combat operations. Each region will differ not only in financial benefits. 2. There should be several parallel technologies, each of which can be developed from the beginning to the end of the game. If some artifacts are unique (once or several times during the whole game - for example: a unique spaceship; a unique alien base). then, by transferring this artifact into the hands of one or another researcher, you will be able to independently choose the global technological specialization of your team. There should be at least three such possible paths of development. Allows you to make the game interesting for many adventures. 3. The Tetris principle. I think everyone has seen this game. Various types of "UFOs" descend to "earth" from the sky. The player's task is to deploy and land them in the right place for himself with the help of "air defense means". If mobile means of "air defense" do it in such a way that UFOs are forced to adjust their course and choose a place for their actions in a predictable place for the player. For example: some types of UFOs purposefully target the location of your fighter jets and bases, which causes discontent in the region and threatens to collapse the economy and reduce funding. Other types of UFOs, on the contrary, develop speed and land troops away from your bases and fighters. But this is fraught with a complete loss of regions. Although the economy may not change. The player's goal is to distribute a uniform load across all regions of the planet in order to avoid dangerous "peaks of activity" of UFOs in certain regions. To do this, air defense systems should be more mobile. Namely, it is necessary to add the possibility of placing temporary bases and airfields in major cities of the planet. This will make cities a strategic resource, not just empty points on the map. Naturally, the number of temporary airfields should be limited so that they can cover a very limited number of regions of the globe. (Prevention only in the place of possible occurrence of peaks of UFO activity). Since the player is unable to predict which UFO squadron will appear next, the task of directing UFO activity to a reliable region and blocking UFO activity in a depleted region will not be trivial.