meowmers

as it stands, the Rocket Launcher and SAW are pretty useless, the AR and DMR are more accurate and less dangerous. missing a rocket shot is pretty likely, takes too much time and if you are lucky enough to hit destroys the target completely. something faster and resembles a long range thrown grenade would be better, where even if you miss you'd still be pretty close to the target. which is the point of explosive projectiles.

thanks guys.

any variety is good as long as it is optional or dynamic within the campaign. it would get ridiculous if you couldn't progress because you weren't prepared for a certain kind of mission. in one of the silent storm games, early on, there was a story mission where you had to defuse bombs within a time limit. It was easily impossible and if you weren't careful with saves required a restart. In XCOM you could totally pooch most missions and still recover.

i think the equipment is supposed to have more of a generic feel. what would be the point of a dozen different rifles if you are just going to upgrade to lasers in a few weeks. This kind of extends to everything being easily replaceable, including troops, they just happen to have names and faces.

seconded.

weapon/equipment specializations are a bad idea because they limit and funnel players into a certain style. If i want to equip my guys with just Rocket Launchers, i shouldn't need all Heavys. There shouldn't be any additional advantages to taking a "balanced" squad, and i dont think it should even be suggested. what if specializations worked like the medals except with stats. someone who is good at shooting is a good marksman. so FA>60 gives a bonus, FA>70 gives double bonus. it simulates training, natural ability, familiarization and conditioning

I've noticed that i can move my troops pretty much as fast i can click on them. i with thats what the OP meant. that would make the Hidden Movement a lot shorter. Also JA2 1.13 implements(optionally) "lazy civilians" to reduce their turn length. i dont think this is the best idea for this game but something could be done.

this kind of happened in Silent Storm, the Panzerkliens took over halfway through and it becomes impossible to play without them making engineers totally overpowered. Also, HWPs already take up 4 soldiers, then i'd need 1 more to pilot, not worth it. i have noticed some of the Xenos wearing what looks like exoskeletons and plowing through walls though so... I would however like to see Interceptors gain exp. to be able to fight on their own after a while. micro-managing the battles gets pretty tedious. could lead to rescue pilot missions.

there should definitely be a solid progression, with regression limited mostly to taste and small advantages (lasers not needing ammo). Your guys start off at a pronounced disadvantage, so there is not really a need to "roshambo" for balance. it is already implemented that you cant just pick up and use alien weapons, so maybe Lasers and Plasma could be incredibly expensive to produce so they end up being support and elite weapons with the bulk of your force using cheaper equipment.

on a realistic level, given the time-period. wouldn't a lot of men be dead or actively serving and Xenonauts would take who they could get. Also, if a woman wanted to see combat, in the west, signing up here would probably be the only way.

I like a lot of the ideas, but it everything including the rewards should have an optional feel. The game shouldnt be unwinnable because you can't get past a certain mission or it doesnt fit your play style. I am hoping for more friendly/hostile interaction with non-alien factions. something like Apocalypse. so that if you wanted to go rogue and become an arms dealer you could still fund your operation. that gave me the image of Xenonauts busting into the state of the Union to assassinate the president who is suspected to have been replaced or has become sympathetic to the Aliens.

yeah i noticed that the missions that the ships are currently on, seem to be focused on you. which is cool. Scouts looking for your base and fighters patrolling the area where your interceptors disappear. i'm just kind of hoping that the aliens have to play the game against you. XCom tried to simulate this but it was fudged random events IIRC.

I'm really like what you guys have made so far and look forward to more. However, Im finding that even without the game balance, i enjoy the game difficulty(?). Im only on the second month and im up to 60+ UFOs and scrounging for cash to support the bases to keep global coverage. I heard that this game is implementing a more sophisticated system for the simulated invasion and was thinking it should implement a phase like this where you are getting hammered but if you can fight it off the alien force will change tactics. like if the aliens started with Scouting, then moved to Abductions, then a straight up Invasion, guns blazing, like in the movies, then after that failed they'd move to remote base building and Infiltration then having infiltrated governments global Warfare between Alien backed Nations and Xenonaut backed Nations.

I had the idea of tying the maps for missions even more to the geoscape map with a "population density overlay". essentially the SatMap would show lights under the night part to give an idea of the population in an area and whether the maps would be in populated areas or the middle of nowhere. and it would look neat animated. also, more specific terror and other missions, like the cruise ship ones from TFTD. maps that are just of a specific full size building like a school or a mall... I thought up a mission where you'd think you were in the woods but then as you explored you'd find walls and it turned out the ufo crashed into an arboretum. or the NA council could have you shoot up a Soviet military base using plasma weapons to make it look like aliens did it. you don;t have to accept but lose major rep if anyone escapes. or monthly Manufacturing/Sales quotas for subsidies. on the practical side, it'd be nice if civilians had a specific objective during missions. Like get to the choppa, or hide and stay put. the Hidden Movement in turnbased games always gets really annoying when non combatants are running around especially when you are hunting for that last guy. (Ive noticed with the new AI aliens seem to like to get to ground if they are outnumbered).

wouldn't it be simple enough to have a few Modules at different cost that would determine the initial maximum base size. like a 1x1 version of the 2x2 headquarters we are using now. im kind of against anything that forces or even suggests you play a certain devised way even if it's the way that most people decided to play back in XCOM. I already play with specialized bases, if the game was streamlined to that play style it would take away some of the challenge of managing bases that way and reduce viability of other tactics. I think it's best to keep things as freeform as possible and let players develop their own limits but it's really up to the developers. I like the idea of Dungeon Keeper style rock carving especially when it comes to base defense.

it's like the invisible civilians you have now. make it so you can't autodetect them but the shadow appears and there's a crosshair to shoot them.

what about pimping out your troops as a PMC to nations to increase their funding or just give you a cash bonus. these would be optional and appear just like terror missions except you'd fight OpFor guys instead of aliens. or optional geoscape missions like to shoot down a ufo in specific territory in a month and not recover it so the country can get their hands on it. or reduce your coverage over a country, so another can get an "advantage" (NATO vs. WP stuff). none of the missions would really have an impact on the game except extra cash or improved scores.

dude...Aliens...

i have a long history with XCOM i love this game maybe more.

I preordered the premium alpha yesterday, looks like that was a mistake. Desura is giving me a mirrors error and i can't download the 16.1 standalone without purchasing the standard Alpha also. why can't you just use SVN for updates? sorry for the lame first post but it's frustrating to pay extra not to be able to play a game.