Phoenix

To be honest, I do not like the current psionics system. It took what was bad from the OLD X-COM. It simply sucks and is too random. Low tier Psi aliens SHOULD have you directly in their LoS, while high tier PSI aliens should have at least any of the aliens to have LoS on your team member. I can understand when then PSI thing applies globally when you are assaulting the Alien base, but that's it. Any other map should have LoS restrictions. PSI wars should be the one thing that the game should have copied from the Firaxi's X-COM.

TBH I'd rather have some advanced armor that actually INCREASES sight, but at the cost of protection to the same tech regular combat armor (for example we have Wolf armor, why not make Buzzard with greater sight range? or if you do not want to give the jump ability and increased sight, give some advanced scout armor option - you get fancy visors yet, they serve no purpose (no enhanced sight at night, no enhanced sight during day time, and I am quite sure they do not enhance to-hit chance)

Don't you get the bonus dmg for the life aliens though? according to research results you do.

I approve, there is a need for tighter/more dense urban maps, especially on terror missions which are supposed to be in large urban metropolises.

Start selling alloys and some other stuff early on. the fast operational second base will pay for itself, once corvettes start appearing, so rather early

Well I have two bases running, both with 2 condors and a mig, and I am at the beginning of November and electronics is about to get researched. got 3 more hangars in each base building so by 12th I should have 6 hangars in each, but while I can add a condor to each base and produce 4 more migs, that will be around 24th November, and I guess I will need 2 foxtrots basically NOW if I understand the forum correctly. so far though I only encountered the Corvette, which a Foxtrot can easily handle (first UFO contact in November around 4th) and still regular wings of fighters, which I can handle with two condors with a bit of micro (because they do not evade missiles - fortunately ) I suspect I will have to put production of laser weapons for some unknown future and move straight to corsairs before December starts... but then again as far as the Androns, etc. are concerned and no new enemy type will suddenly start be a real pain, I guess armor less soldiers with ballistic weapons will have to do and they can manage good so far (as long as I will be avoiding night missions).

I had Allenium warheads in month one.... wtf? Although I was lucky to get very early fairly intact Large scout (power source requirement)

Well to be honest I am exploting this a bit, but only because I find night terror missions currently too frustrating If there were some special armors for scouts with extended vision at night (you know, things like UV, infra red, etc), then I would not play with this at all

I actually love them... That's why I have a whole wing of my condors myself + a foxtrot... you can easily win with two condors if you do some micro (currently only though as they seem to be too slow to evade first missile). Later on you will need 3 v 3 i guess (only one stingray will connect, and each will have to go head on with the fighters after one stingray hits). It also gives the sense of alien invasion.. you do not fight overwhelming odds only on the ground but also in the air... Personally though I'd rather prefer to have mre focus on the pilots than the aircrafts in terms of the cost and replaceability, then we could have some costs of aircraft reduced, (initial free upgraded, special material cost only) and focus on the men and women in these awesome machines

My biggest surprise when I transitioned straight from the demo alpha build to 18,51 was the smaller squad... that struck me unnecessary, although I admit that this makes you play more "safe" and missions are still perfectly doable.. I'd not mind a slot dedicated to a vehicle only so you cannot trade soldiers for a vehicle, but you can deploy a vehicle in addition to this smaller squad (it's perfectly fine as you have to research and then produce your first vehicle). I admit, I'd use a vehicle as rocket support though and would dedicate my heavies to LMG duty only

Well I've managed to get the second base operational and running at around 18th October 1) Got luck because I had around 4-5 Large scout missions in September, which earn some hefty cash + 3-4 light scouts 2) Had to sell around 100 alloys 40 plasma clips and 4 power cores 3) In the first base I've built only 1 additional living quarters + medical center 4) I have 16 soldiers which i try to rotate, 15 scientists, 15 engineers 5) I've manufactured only one foxtrot ASAP in the main base, did not buy any additional condors and did not build any additional hangars in the main base 6) nothing manufactured so far aside of one foxtrot, despite having access to scout car, jackal, wolf, buzzard armors, all laser weapon types By the end of October I have 3 active hangars in the secondary base, store room, radar, living quarters, and two additional hangars. In the main base I am building 5th hangar, because more fighters start to appear on the map so having 3 interceptors + 1 torpedo carrier seems a good idea. The main base has staff of 15 scientists and engineers, 16 soldiers, while the secondary base has 12 soldiers so far, but soon will expand to 16 as well. The corvettes are the main source of income now, trying to crash land them all the time. Still avoiding night time missions though. Research looks good, now I have only left alien electronics, two advanced plasma weapons, and interogations of Caesan, Sembillian, Hariidan, Reaper After these projects will be completed, I guess there will be this electorshock grenade, Corsair interceptor, and Scimtar tank, plus all the plasma weaponry for humans, but these are projects for November, and I guess that by December I should have a fleet of corsairs ready, laser weapons equipped on all soldiers and some armor on a few of them. Tactical mission squads consist of: 4 riflemen (assault rifles and some grenades) 2 snipers (precision rifles) 2 heavies (either 2 LMGs or 1 LMG + 1 Rocket Launcher) Usually I make sweep of the map with two squads of 4 men, sometimes I wait for the other squad if I see that there might be some fire fight where the other squad can get a flanking position on appearing aliens. I was rushing this build so there was some save scumming, but it's doable even without it, just didn't want to work on this longer than needed to check the "fast secondary base" project.

Well I generally sit now one additional living quarters, medic center and MAYBE one hangar for second foxtrot. generally selling most plasma clips and alloys, since you won;t be able to produce much out of these until late month two. If you get lucky and intercept 3-4 large scouts + around 6 light scouts, then you get quite a hefty income from the missions. That allows you to set up the base core somewhere in the month two. Expanding it is a bit tricky as in order to have it operational at a minimum level you need living quarters, radar, storeroom, and 3 hangars (drop ship, 1 condor, 1 foxtrot) and soldiers. That's minimum 650k in buildings,120k in soldiers, and 400k in planes... That's A LOT!!! we are talking here about 1,2 mln + whatever advanced weaponary/armor you may need. Considering the current funding it's very difficult to gather and you basically need to focus all spendings on this, and even then you need to be somewhat lucky and do not let soldiers die and get a lot of missions

Ok I've played some more and need to re-evaluate: The research is fine.. it's just a matter of getting some luck on the UFO activity and a large scout in the first month... Given that everything goes ok. I've probably overreacted at first with building a vast airforce.... 3 condors and 3 foxtrots seem to be an overkill... especially once you will get allenium warheads going... 2 condors and 1 foxtrot should be enough That saving on three hangars and three aircrafts allows you to expanded probably in a reasonably timely fashion to the most needed sector of the earth given the funding status Night missions are still dangerous to the point where I try to avoid them if I only can... especially night terror missions... because apparently it's the game's logic to have the drop ship surrounded by 5 aliens and then 3 more idling and running away on the other side of the quite large map. I am so far disappointed in regards to interior combat and UFO breaches. Maps that I've experienced so far, were mostly a shootout in the open with some maneuvering to get some flanking shots to bypass cover.. if in doubt, use rockets... or spray and pray with LMGs Grenades take a lot of APs to use...and their accuracy is abysmal... what makes them generally useless, with the exception of stun grenade which you still have to use at close range, but the stunning smoke density compared to the stun rocket makes it a superior alien capturing tool Shotguns and pistols feel completely obsolete due to non-existent UFO breaches (majority of aliens are outside, and once you are nearing the UFO remaining ones just rush out to fight you in the open). A bit disappointed in the sizes of interiors of UFOs when comparing that to old XCOM or even the new XCOM. I admit I reached only November so far, so maybe that will change. (although I have Wolf, Buzzard armor, all plasma and laser weapons researched, Scimtar tank, Corsair, etc.) Probably need to wait for some larger UFO than Corvette to capture "commander" type alien and perhaps get some new dropship with higher capacity. I didn't notice any alloys or allenium requirements when cost of manufacturing was presented. It only showed monetary cost. Is that intended?

I am ok with the ground combat difficulty, although night time terror missions and having drop ship always surrounded by 3-5 aliens is kinda of annoying... Once you get out of the drop ship stage, there are around 3-4 more alines to kill on the entire map, and they mostly run away, since you outnumber them... Not sure how random it is, perhaps I had just a streak of bad luck (I lose usually 2-3 soldiers in the first stage and maybe one later on as a result of some misfortune or simply not calculating APs properly), but normally I would throw the pilots of the drop ship from the sky high before the next mission for landing in such a hot zone. The research seems a bit slow, because terror missions and Corvettes appear in month two, and you have no means to destroy the corvettes (I've tried and kited with 3 condors, hitting all the stingrays and and depleting all the rounds from two condors that managed to sit on the tail of the corvette, that's 500 rounds and it didn't crash). cash compared to the purchases you have to make is kind of hard to get... if I want air superiority, then once I build two hangars, I cannot afford to make two foxtrots to deal with month 2 corvettes. Laser weapons seem to have an awful lot of requirements before you can even start researching ones, but still you can deal with Androns and the Yoda aliens fairly ok with ballistics. LMG saved the day The fast weapon progression of aliens is kind of a problem to me. jackal armors do squat vs heavy plasmas in mid month two and you have to call for a trade off either the armors or base buildings like hangars, medical center. I am not sure why the amount of soldiers was dropped to 8 or 6+ vehicle, from what used to be in Alpha 8+ vehicle or 12 soldiers... I think it is very hard to get any secondary base up and running in a reasonable amount of time. Was there a huge hit to the monthly funding? By the end of month 3 I couldn't even get first base running properly with lack of proper airforce to deal with more and more corvettes and just produced first laser weapons for ground troops - night time terror mission in Moscow went badly... 6 dead by the end of turn 3, because 5-6 aliens camping around the drop ship in their sight radius, 2 others were simply evaced and bombs dropped on the city. I like the unlimited ammo, which removes he chore of producing something obvious and small scale compared to other things

@ Chris This is odd... I have not receive any e-mail with the text above, but only some survey request to fill in some info... is it possible, that there should have been another e-mail coming out once the survey was filled? Did I miss something... How exactly does it work for the KS backer? Should I transition to PMs with you if more details are needed?

@Chris, Any ETA on these keys for KS backers??

Hmm I know that it might be a bit late for this, but how about making aircrafts FREE (the basic ones, just the order time, while the advanced would cost you some manufacturing time and other resources), but instead focus on pilots? hiring pilots, would be in range of these amounts that are shown, and it could also perhaps an additional level if these pilots could get experience and thus enhance the stats of any aircraft they are flying? (defense, dodge, speed, fuel usage, aim, dmg - as a factor of knowing weak spots) To add some spice, once in a while a shotdown pilot, could make a successful roll on eject attempt and that would trigger search and rescue misson. The vehicle crew could also be in here, if these vehicles are not unmanned.

hmm to be honest. I'd like to be able to engage with up to 2-3 squadrons at the same time... I mean chaining them might be ok, but sometimes you miss the epic air battles, and you can do even fairly ok with lower tier aircrafts (although it costs you more in hangar space)

@Gauddlike The message is rather clear - you purchase the aircraft as far as I recall.. not retro-fit, not "pay for transport", or some other stuff. As a relative cost the "Foxtrot" which I would assume would be a next gen aircraft similar to F-35, which costs approx 110mln USD. that's over 5 times more than F-17 and in game production cost is somewhere near that difference. So relative money units are ok on these two items. Ammo purchases etc., are ok in a conflict scale and management like it is in Jagged Alliance... But doing so on global level organization, where relative costs of ammunition compared to other more strategically important items are basically irrelevant, is just needless waste of time and needless chore to a player. If you really want them then make the cost and production time relatively accurate, which would be almost meaningless.

Ok, If F-17 which approximatelly costs 20mil USD is downgraded to 50k money units, do you really think that relative costs of a single rocket, ammo clip etc, would really matter? to keep the scale somewhat realistic, they would have to cost like 1-10 money units... (a rocket costs around what, 500 USD? ammo clip around 50 USD?) even if you go advanced weaponry where a clip would cost lets say 10k USD look at the relative cost to this F-17... which would mean that it's 2k times less costly so in case of 50k for F-17 that would be 25 money units.... That's why that's irrelevant cost and I would just get infinite ammo supply, but make carrying limits and armor design more trade off based... Manual manufacturing ammunition is just a chore and needless feature, because that's a no brainer. Keep the economy of the game somewhat realistic in scale. Get rid of needless ammo production and concentrate on matters that ARE strategically important on manufacturing level (for example engineers have to be also assigned to raising facilities or to manufacturing of weapons, armors, jets, but not freaking ammunition). Leave the ammo management a tactical decision only, which then requires a lot of work and armor capacities and weight limits.

I would really appreciate some straight answer on the above topic...

@Mikey If they can see that well, then what's the point of black map and revealing it? The whole map should be then visible if soldiers can see and shoot clearly from one end of the map to the other given no hard obstacles like buildings in the way (to be honest this is one of the points that makes me annoyed... they are flying over the UFO crash/landing site, probably some sort of aerial recon as well and yet you walk in the dark as if the cone of active sight would not be enough) The cone of sight of a soldier simulates his visual perception ability (sight range) so obviously if there is another solider 100m furhter he can't see clearly the same objects like that solider.

I would apply a same rule as on the burst (because of the potential collateral damage) + weight already kind of limits amount of explosives on the field (+ potential loss of artifacts and corpses like in XCOM:EU?)

pinpointing a location for artilery, airstrikes or mortar teams is far different then yelling "nazis in the bushes" and sending a random volley of shots in the direction If your soldier does not have the ability to see the target, then the base accuracy should be cut by 60% on single shots and by 20% on bursts. It makes no sense whatsoever to be able to shot at targets with full accuracy when the soldier has no vision and only was given a general direction, hostile at coordinate xy234 or alien last seen on the second floor left window. One thing that XCOM EU did right is the effective LoF not exceeding the range of sight of the soldier unless you have a scoped weapon specialists with specific training. Another was making you commit to actions, so no silly tactics, hide behind some door, then next turn just open it to spot aliens then close them again and let others shoot from way back. It can be tweaked so the weapon can fire for much longer range, but your base aim takes severe penalties if the soldier doesn't have the target in his own vision range. Again, if you do not see it, you can't aim properly.

TBH I'd rather have a system where ammo clips are a tactical decision "amount on the field vs weight limits" instead of a chore of manufacturing every single clip. Just make them infinite supply at base, but make sure that weapon cost is upped accordingly. I guess the same logic applies for aircraft weaponry - you just produce "a slot", but once equipped you do not have to constantly manufacture missiles. It would be ok. enough given relative costs of aircrafts, facilities, etc. I wouldn't mind adding also a resource cost on researches (for example if you want to research alien grenades you need to invest some allenium, captured grenades, alloys, etc.) A good addition could also be carrying space on each armor type. For example the very light armor gives you more space in the backpack and belt, while very heavy limits you basically to a space for couple of clips and grenades plus your main weapon.