Raffik

Thank you for the thoughts. A fire can be started without matches, it´s just more elaborate. Not bringing c4 would mean you´d need multiple HEVY rounds, frags or demo charges (which are usually taken to a combat anyways and are used now as well) to breach through for example. If nothing is at hand (nothing left), you´ll have to abort the mission (and possibly return later, equipped better - not sure if the game mechanic allows that though) or load the previous save (just before the mission) to prepare better Idea about capturing a Mentarch to access the UFO - interesting thought, although I don´t see how a "card" could be used (swiped) on the UFO to enter. A c4 will work effectively even without a research Just joking, I see your point. After research the doors would just open regardless of the actual action to open the doors (that kind of works now already, my idea was to stop that and make the entry more dramatic). Idea about the Alien Security System to use of alien weapons - good point - i recall the discussions about this topic and Chris not being in favor of it - hope he changes his mind, would be nice addition to the game in some situations. For the research, Alien Electronics for the alien weapons usage could work as well. I will quote myself here fom the previous discussions about the alien weapons, plasma in particular: If there are human plasma weapons in scope, why use the alien ones (aside of the situations mentioned in the threads before, like no ammo left etc)? If there is no scope for human plasma, then definitely that would be cool (not manufactured though, only what you can grab on the battlefield (pistols, rifles, grenades, clips - all weapons and items are collected automatically, I did not mean to "grab" each item), with high weight and high TU cost per shot - accuracy penalty not sure - could be as well, as the weapon in heavy, but then noone would be encouraged to use such a weapon anyway imo)

Does anyone have an idea, why the UFO doors can be opened easily, like if the Xenonauts (and civilians) had keys to the UFOs? Is it a placeholder for the EA only perhaps? Its like the thing travelled through space and after it landed or was shot down, the aliens on board just invited everyone to a party. I think that the UFO doors should be breached using c4, not opened by soldiers or civilians casually walking through it or by a few shots from kinetic or laser weapons.. I recall some videos from X1, where the player needed to destroy the the doors using either an explosive or high energy weapons, to be able to attack the UFO interior. That would make sense imo...

Had the same idea Absolutely agree! Instead of hours, I would probably use percentage of cleaner SAR mission encounter during tactical mission in days. Also the crash sites in general could use more "crash site-ish" maps, like crash trails behind the UFO, fragments laying around, fires, destroyed buildings, destroyed UFOs or escape pods.... hope this will come in the finished game. For the "cleaning away" there could be off-site instalations on the geoscape for storing the UFO´s for disassembly, research and resource gathering. Or, one could always sell them.

Currently in the EA, there are 4 modules, that a soldier can equip to his backpack/vest: Targetting, Automed, Armor and Actuator. All 4 fit into the backpack, still allowing additional 9 items to be carried. I believe, that it would help the versatility and capability of the team, if there were some more modules, that would "specialize" certain soldiers on specific tasks, such as a scout for example. Whilecthere were good ideas alredy about additional modules, I think, that bringing another type of equipment could give the player another level of tactical gameplay. Drone module The drone itself would be a module, taking space in the backpack (3x3 or 4x4) so the soldier would still be able to carry equipment or some extra gear. There would be a remote, appearing in the secondary weapon slot of the soldier once the drone would be deployed (like by the c4). The drone itself would be relatively fragile (say 30 HP) with high amount of TUs (80), but with no armor (but a very small target wit bonus to defense) and only a small weapon carrying capacity (pistol/stun gun f.e. with average accuracy of 50) for self defense (or even without weapons, but with a camera, to reveal bigger area). It would be used mainly for scouting the area, not for combat. The deploy and undeploy of the drone would be costly (say 60-75% TUs), as the operator would work with the drone ( needs to concentrate on the task). Motion scanner This could be module or a piece of equipment (secondary weapon slot wereable) - soldier wearing it would be able to see trails of movement from previous AI turn, using thermal imaging for a limited distance (10-15 tiles t.e.) Each use of the scanner would cost 10 TU. It would be useful to locate an enemy, that went to hide during AI turn f.e. The location of a signal could be shown on the battlescape by a questionmark for the soldier wearing the module making the player aware, that a trail has been found on the scanner. Possible disadvantages: any movement would be shown, including civilians. Another disadvantage could be, that explosions from the AI turn could show heat trails as well Claymore mine Equipment, similar in function to c4, but with effect in a cone, originating from the mine in a wedge shape of 5-6 tiles in same direction the mine would be planted in (cost 10 TU). Its size would be smaller than the c4 (2×2), dealing kinetic damage (45+). Same as the c4, the trigger would be remote, controled by the soldier, that planted it. Proximity land mine Equipment, planted without a remote fuse. Smaller than Claymore (2×1), with slightly less damage (45). After planting (10 TU) the mine, it would activate at the end of turn. Enemy, that would approach its effect radius (3×3 tiles), would trigger the mine for a kinetic damage to anything in the area of effect. Possible disadvantages: civilians could trigger it as well.

It astonishes me every time I shot down a UFO, that it lands in perfect condition with just a few scratches on the hull. What I believe would be a cool addition to mission variety, is adding models of partially destroyed UFOs and creating tactical maps with trails on the ground behind the UFO, impact craters, fires around the crashed UFO, buidings destroyed by impacts of parts of the UFO etc... Depending on the weaponry used to shoot down the UFO, it would suffer various degree of catastrophic damage, while main hull would be intact (could be broken into multiple parts in case of late game weaponry usage) On the map of the crash site, there could be large fires near the crash-site, smoke, buidings destroyed by impacts of the fragments etc, which could be laying around the main hull (engines, turrets, hull plates) and useful as cover Some UFOs could be destroyed in mid air but the crews managed to bail out in the escape pods just before impact, so only escape pods (and UFO wreckage) would be on the map in different locations (cities, forests, fields, roads, lakes, farms etc) with various numbers of surviving aliens. Also there could be a probability of Cleaners trying to rescue the alien survivors, the higher, the longer it would take the player to send a squad to secure the UFO crash site (usually the timer is about 3 days, so on day 1 25%, day 2 50%, day 3 75% probability to meet a cleaner rescue team) This would give a big variety to tactical scenarios and missions in my opinion.

Did you have something like this in mind perhaps? Found this suggestion in the X2 Discord. Add another bar, that would show the capacity for extra equipment the dropship could take..

no offense taken my friend, you raised a valid point - discussing about play styles or opinions does not bring much to the collective effort. Lets focus on bringing ideas forward, just as @Ogilvy the Astronomersuggested with his summary of the ideas.

touchy? Like I was touched personally and offended you mean? Au contraire my friend, I am not offended or touchy at all, I was trying to explain my logic and standpoint only.

Hi guys, especially testers of the previous builds alpha/beta) There are pics and videos on the web, showing a dropship resembling the v-280 valor, in the EA though, the ch-46 Skyranger is used. Is the Valor something that will come into the game later or was it only used for testing?

And that is why the soldiers have backpacks to carry only the needed gear, not more to not be overloaded during combat. No soldier carries more to dump it on the ground when a firefight starts and return to it during combat. That is real life. The game is not. With the same logic, the soldier in the game would have to drop his full backpack and be without spare ammo or additional armor plates in combat. Right. The player has full right to prepare well given the possibilities in the game. Which is the backpack storage space and the weight allowance of a soldier. Overloading the soldiers is an exploit of the game mmechanic. Again, as I said before, if not restricted, you are free to use it a much as you like.

Yes, had the same in mind as well. Once the UFO is down, the alien species is not shown anymore, but it should be, as the tactics against diff species might differ as well.

Interesting idea. For mid or late game perhaps. Terror mission in particular would be suited for this. Either this machine alone or with some foot soldiers supporting it (this could replace the cyberdrones) I'd imagine it with powerful plasma and fusion weaponry as well as a tertiary weapon for point defense, that would be an absolute beast. Lethal for even late-tier armor probably. But for the sake of the game play I believe the player would have to have an option to combat such 5x5 behemoth in a tactical mission, meaning it would have to be possible to destroy it. My take would be a lot of rocket launchers and a 3x3 vehicle (none of the both unfortunately in the game currently)

IRL those backpacks are not meant to be used during combat, as it makes the soldiers ineffective. As soon as a combat patrol takes place, the lighter the better, as mobility is key. Those full gears are full of food and various equipment, that support the soldier during multiple day missions/deployments. If we use the same logic on X2, it has missions, that are relatively short and quick to resolve, so no extensive equipment would be used during combat mission. Overstocking soldiers realy feels like an exploit in my eyes too, just like @Ogilvy the Astronomer said before. But it does not mean, that it cannot be used, if you like such play style and the game does not prohibit it I believe, that Ogilvy did a good job to sum up the ideas, that came up in this thread and we can only hope, that @Chris and the devs will take inspiration from it and implement some of it into the game.

Thank you. A lot has been said for this topic and having an overview is helpful. I personally would go either for 2 or 3 and b in the bonuses.

I would like that. Like it used to be in TFTD, luxury cruise ship terror mission for example. As some of the aliens seem to be amphibious in origin (wraith, sebillian), that would be nice touch adding those. We already have helos as dropships, no need for fast boats. Perhaps the amphibious alien species could build outposts on the sea or even under water, as the seas remain largely outside radar cover. During tactical missions, both species could have the ability to traverse water (maps with lots of water would be needed though)

Hmm... haven't tried that yet. I usually don't use the demo charges, I like the frags better. I might give the demo a chance in the next gameplay. Lasers seem to work good as well Thats the exact description of the tactic I do use against the cyberdrone - using its superior senses against it However, bringing a sturdy unit that can eat a few shots head on would still be cool

Not necessarilly. I understand it would be fair from the balance standpoint, but as the alien technology is more advanced, very powerful weapons can be used in a smaller unit. The Cyberdrone is an example of that. It already feels like being a multi tile enemy and with its powerfull weaponry and overwatch ability, it would balance out. Currently, to beat the cyberdrone, you need (better said my tactic used is) a couple of guys to flank it from multiple sides and use its superb senses against it to get shots to the back or sides. MARS is no match for it, so bringing a unit, that could withstand multiple shots from it would be cool. When you face plasma weaponry in early game, then bringing in heavier armor units is a logical step.

Hi Doubleskulls, thank you for confirming. I think the Stalker armour's camouflage effect should work better, so it can be used for scouting for example or for avoidance of hits, as it trades off protection for camouflage. Hi devs ( @Chris) could the stalker armour be looked at perhaps, so it is more effective? Currently I believe, that more players (me including) tend to skip it, as the effect of it is not very palpable.

As per the differences between X1and X2 announced by @Chris "The large 3x3 vehicles from the first game are replaced by smaller and more modular 1x1 vehicles. This might initially sound like a downgrade, but in practice they are way cooler:" I do agree, that MARS is more versatile than the bulky 3x3 vehicles, it would be still great to have the Scimitar in early game as a heavy UGV, which would provide a sturdy combat platform with heavy armor (crushing through walls and objects as well - even rhe ones MARS cannot) to provide additional firepower and heavy cover for the soldiers. The MARS is indeed cool, but not so much survivable when faced with plasma weapons for example (about 2 shots from plasma with heavy plating) I do understand the mentioned issues with pathfinding, also it could only fit into the initial dropship, as the Dragonfly has not much space left fully loaded (no idea how much space the ultimate dropship will have, assuming 16 slots with max 2 vehicles 1x1)That could be also a limiting factor to its usage - old dropship only.

Could the MARS be used as additional carrier of extra equipment perhaps? It has a greyed out "backpack" as well, what about using it for extra storage space for clips, grenades etc? It is a limited space (5x5 i believe, but could be made smaller, say 3x3) and as a mechanized unit, the TU loss because of the excess weight could be smaller (say half) than by regular soldier, but still a thing to consider. Or, there could be additional primary available (lets call it MULE), which would "unlock" the backpack area and only allow the secondary weapon to be used, sacrificing the primary weapon for storage space usage, but without loss of mobility.

You're right. Currently, there is no big difference between a grenade thrower (soldier) and grenade launcher (weapon) In ideal situation, the HEVY would have additional type of ammo (flechette), so it could be turned into a shotgun in case of need

According to @Chris and changes between X1 and X2: There’s some new armour, including the Stalker Stealth Suit which provides active camouflage. I am wondering if the armour works as it should, as my snipers use the stalker and get shot at and hit very often on long distances (15+ tiles) although the armour should reduce the accuracy of the shots for each tile of distance... It seems to work for the wraiths quite well, but not so much for the player.... May be its just me or has anyone else here the same feeling as well?

the MARS secondary weapon smoke grenade launcher fires in an arch, it should be possible to update the HEVY to fire in an arch as well. As well as add additional ammo type for the HEVY - flechette rounds, which would keep the direct fire mode and act as a shotgun in CQC combat, effectively giving the grenadier another role in the combat.

There are events, like UFO sightings, journalists being arrested, politicians murdered etc popping out on the geoscape every now and then, which increase the panic in the region they happen. I think it would be great, if a game mechanic would be implemented, that at least some of the missions would trigger an option to send a combat team to investigate (the event would have a timer, so that the player could click on it and either accept to send a combat team or not), gather intelligence or capture the assasin in a tactical mission. Positive outcome could then decrease the panic in the region by a bit (say 5 points or so). Negative outcome or no reaction would keep the raised panic level. Such missions could be of small scale on a small map to not interfere too much with the overal goal of the game, but could give the player a chace to proactively lower the panic levels in a region. On the same note, it would encourage the player to build more bases and recruit more combat teams to have a chance to react to such events. If I am not mistaken, one or two of the event descriptions even said "...local government/forces expect/awaits Xenonaut support" or something with similar meaning. I mean it would be cool to have a chance to react to these call outs on a tactical map (gather evidence/data just like with the cleaner cells or to capture/kill the assasins(s)) or in case of military plane shot down a rescue mission, civil plane down SAR mission to save a VIP from that plane, defend a military base etc.. Those missions would give the player a deeper involvement in the world and create more immersive experiance in my opinion. Any thoughts?

I do not and I routinely run out of H.E.V.Y. rounds only. If I loose the shield or run out of ammo, then so be it and I need to adjust my tactics to reflect that fact. I rather elaborate on how to flank that mf-er who just destroyed my shield than to run for a new one. But that is my play style preference only. Overstocking works fine as well I assume