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Voeter

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Posts posted by Voeter

  1. Don't know if it ties into all the other "ceiling bugs" reported, but if not here is a save and screenshot to illustrate. I've breached a corvette and there is one specific spot I can stand on @ the lower interior from which I get vision on the entire second floor... Note the arrow of my xenonaut selected on the lower floor and the vision he provides.

    xenonauts look through ceiling.jpg

    Looking glass.sav

    xenonauts look through ceiling.jpg

    Looking glass.sav

    577e7cf57c09a_xenonautslookthroughceilin

    Looking glass.sav

  2. As the title says. I teleported into my own popped stun gas grenade in a landing ship, went unconscious and the game froze. The same is reproducable and also happens if my dude does -not- go unconscious. Screenie added to illustrate and savegame where you can reproduce in the same turn.

    [edit] by "froze" I don't mean a lockup. I just cannot do anything, but the game is still responsive in the sense that I can easily shut it down via windows/alt+f4 and the process is still running [/edit]

    [ATTACH]4077[/ATTACH]

    xenonauts 1_03 gas grenade bug.jpg

    Voeter in combat 2.sav

    xenonauts 1_03 gas grenade bug.jpg

    Voeter in combat 2.sav

    577e7cf096532_xenonauts1_03gasgrenadebug

  3. What damage variance would burst have? I like the idea though.

    I don't' date=' because the average damage you do will already go up simply because of higher chance to score a hit. I know my last post was really long, but at least check out the two damage tables. Here you see that if you want the average damage per shot to remain the same, the only way to increase damage done on a hit is to [i']lower accuracy[/i]. You -could- of course also lower average damage of the weapon to compensate for your idea, but that would simply mean that aimed shots become more and more cost-effective in -any- situation, eventually making snap shots and normal fire virtually useless at -any- range.

    Currently using an aimed shot is only cost effective (in damage per TU used) at (near) maximum range of the weapon used. If you increase the (average) damage on aimed shots, keep it the same on normal shots and lower it on snap shots it very quickly. If you up the damage on aimed shots by only 10% (and lower it by 10% for snapshots) it's almost as damaging to use aimed shots as it is using normal or snapshots. Skew the damage by 20% and it'll always be best to use aimed shots. It's mathematically possible to change the system to incorporate your idea, but that would mean changing the basics of the entire system right now.

    [EDIT]By the way, it might be important to note that I did not simple increase variance in my calculations as you mentioned, but I skewed it in favor of aimed shots (and against snap shots, with normal shots remaining the same as it is now). Simply increasing variance would also mean you have a chance to score a lot LOWER damage hits on aimed shots and that did not seem the intent of your idea.[/EDIT]

  4. Fun discussion. Can't resist putting in my 2 cents ;)

    TL;DR: Add a range modifier to weapons to keep the overall system intact, but add a bit of realism and make the game "feel" better

    I feel like we're discussing whether you prefer playing a game like chess over a game of poker. In chess 100% of what you do makes 100% of the difference in the outcome of your game/battle. In poker it's a lower percentage because part of it is caused by the sheer randomness of chance. IMHO the latter suits and simulates a "real" battle a -lot- more. Why? Because it accounts for a lot of "real" variables not directly accounted for in the calculations the game makes itself: a strong NNE wind blowing right as you fire your shot, angling it away a degree, a quick jerk-like reaction from the intended target, causing the bullet/laser/plasma bolt to end up 2 inches away from the intended target, etc. etc.

    That said, I really love a good amount of randomness in the damage you cause with your shots, simulating (in essence) the part of the body you hit. This randomness in -no way- diminishes the tactics needed to be successful, considering both you -and- the enemy gets the same (dis)advantage from this system. It only causes the need for you to adapt your strategy to be successful and (of course) that it is more difficult to get through every mission with all your xenonauts alive. In fact, if there is -one- thing I really love about the x-com(like) games it's the fact that even though you might have a really good chance to be on top in any given situation it could all go to hell and you lose Rambo "Predator" Terminator you lovingly crafted into the badass he is today. I honestly feel like there's a lot more emotion and thus fun in going all-in with a pair of aces with a chance of losing against someone than knowing that the next move with your queen will net you the checkmate 1000/1000 times. It might give you the satisfaction of the win, but -not- the thrill of knowing you could actually lose that queen and have to rethink your strategies. If you do -not- like the first option, there's always the option to save and load.

    Now I feel most, if not all of you agree that at least a certain randomness in the game is wanted and the main gripe I picked up over the last 10 pages is the fact that some situations don't "feel right". (actually I mostly have this with the grenades in xenonauts, but I guess it happens

    ;)

    I think there's a fairly simple solution that works well to compensate any mentioned gripe, and that is to add either to hit modifiers per weapon for short, medium and long engagement ranges or both to hit and damage modifiers. The latter option might seem the better choice for some (a shotgun or rifle does more damage at point blank range than it does at 15 yards, right?) but actually it will only lower your chance to hit if you don't want your average damage done to become insane (ie. a shotgun almost always hitting AND instagibbing an alien). Here's a small table explaining both situations, where the average damage done per hit is still the same as is current per the wiki (ie. 25 dmg for the ballistic rifle and 35 for both shotty and sniper rifle):

    RM.JPG

    The important parts are the hit chance and the damage done per shot. I hope most of the table is self-explanatory but here is a breakdown for the shotgun why this "feels" right and/or is realistic: At small range the shotgun is outfitted best to hit and do it's awesome damage potential. This is explained by the highest dmg/shot on that range for any weapon AND the fact that it does the most damage/shot (= absolute damage) along with the sniper rifle. A sniper rifle might do the same damage per hit, but of course it's much harder to hit at this range with the weapon and optics designed for medium to long range engagements.

    These numbers are of course arbitrary and you can fiddle around with the to hit % and absolute damage a bit if wanted/needed. I'd say keep the current to hit chances for the medium range and adjust for short and long ranges per weapon so the damage/shot changes appropriately.

    Good idea or not?

    @ Aaron & Chris: is this something you guys would be willing to consider implementing or should we drop thinking along these lines?

    [edit] a couple of typo's and such.[/edit]

    RM.JPG

    RM.JPG.607dfda86728c2dd6caafc0e0f7934df.

  5. I was counting it up and I'm pretty sure I got to over a hundred.

    With the neww randomness in damage you do a minimum of 12,5 (does it get rounded down or up??) Damage with the ballistic rifle. If the seb was armoured in any way you could do even less. Took that into account? I remember hitting one of 'em 7 times with a ballistic rifle before it went down on the steam stable build, and there you do a minimum of 20 dmg per shot. The bugger probably had armour tho

  6. (...)

    So, this being said, I don't think that the <alien name> analysis researches are ever going to be done unless there's nothing else left to do. I'm afraid that unless that 10% damage boost is worth waiting on better weapons, armor, aircraft, etc, they're simply not going to be done.

    TL;DR Laser research is much better than the extra damage research

    I wholeheartedly agree on this point. Researching this tech needs to cause you to kill aliens faster. I tried to calculate the actual use of researching either the 10% damage bonus or the laser weapons. I was mostly interested in the amount of hits needed to kill an alien. For these purposes I calculated the difference between for Caesans and Sebillians only, because those are the aliens you will mostly find in the beginning of the game:

    CTH.JPG

    I used average hp found in the wiki for both the Caesans and Sebillians (ie. 45 and 60 respectively). Please note also that I did -not- account for the higher armour penetration of the laser rifle, so in fact the above numbers are skewed even a bit more in favour of the laser rifle.

    So, in short the +10% damage research give you ZERO chance extra to one-shot a Caesan or Sebillian, around 10% extra to 2-shot and 6% extra to 3-shot. This opposed to the laser rifle which gives a whopping 21% more to 1-shot a caesan (in fact, it gives you -a- chance to one-shot an average caesan) and none vs sebillians, around 30% more to 2-shot and about 15% to 3-shot, not to mention a guarantee to kill an average caesan.

    Fun fact is that the increasing of the randomness of damage actually caused the extra damage research to become -less- effective vs the laser weapon in this case, as you can see in the kill potential:

    CTH2.JPG

    As far as I can tell the laser research is at least 3x as effective as the extra damage. Considering you can actually 1-shot some aliens with the laser tech and the added TU gain -and- massive extra survivability chance I say the + damage research should become easier to do and/or more effective. Especially considering you need to research multiple topics to get the bonus damage instead of the flat out extra damage potential with the laser research in 1 go.

    [EDIT] Ignore the extra attachment to the message. This was added on accident [/EDIT]

    CTH.JPG

    CTH.JPG

    CTH.JPG

    CTH2.JPG

    CTH.JPG.af83c8a3f79a7b215de02f418b89544c

    CTH.JPG.7e604fe0ab153a121402c687374c9cc8

    CTH2.JPG.02e29d3edbfae08585033bd194b6c2d

  7. I had a similar fun experience, on my iron man game, in my main base... I was chasing the last 2 remaining aliens, one of them being a wraith. Considering this was the 2nd wraith I ever encountered (I shot the first during a terror mission without even noticing it had teleport powers) I didn't give the teleporting it's due consideration...

    I ran up all my soldiers towards the two remaining aliens. One of them was hiding behind some crates, waiting for me to blow them up or snipe him. The wraith was teleporting back and forth between 2 rooms the last 5 turns. After killing the first alien, the wraith decided to teleport not to it's usual 1 of 2 rooms, but RIGHT INTO MY COMMAND CENTER! I had only 1 soldier still nearby. I ran everybody back as fast as I could, but didn't manage to kill it in 3 turns, since only my crappily ballistic rifle-equipped soldier could shoot at it. I was already crying that this would cost me the game, since it would hold my command center for 3 turns. But what did the brilliant AI decide? To TELEPORT AWAY ON TURN 3! :rolleyes: Even better was that it teleported just out of sight range of 3-4 of my soldiers and it got killed the turn after. So, for everybody doing a base defense: always keep 1 guy in the command center since the wraith doesn't seem to want to teleport into visual range of any of your soldiers :)

  8. In my perspective the game is too easy. I'm playing on the highest difficulty and have been on 6 missions. 1 dead, 1 wounded and injured. I think I have 6 majors and I'm pretty close to having super soldiers soon.

    The ground fights needs be more brutal. Ai needs to be vastly improved and be more coordinated and aggressive...

    Super soldiers after 6 missions? I think we have a differing opinion on what that means I guess :P

    It's after one of my xenonauts participated in 15-20 missions that he hit one stat @100 (strength) and has 85+ TU's. He might qualify I guess...

    Apart from that I for one believe that the first 6 missions should be quite winnable, even on the highest difficulty setting. Just wait until you get the aliens with the higher tier plasma weapons and see them instakill some of your elite xenonauts in 1 hit. In short: play at least a few months before saying it's too easy. Besides, max difficulty shouldn't mean impossible, right? :)

  9. Voeter, on iron man, you are lucky you didn't play one mission I played yesterday: when I landed, I had five aliens close to Charlie, and after the first move, I had five wounded soldiers! A bit later (after restarting from a save), I went into a building and stood by the door waiting for the next move to open the door and see what was on the other side. However there was an unseen alien right outside the door who beat me to it, opened the door during his turn and killed my soldier and wounded another standing behind him.

    And all this was on "easy" with the stable version and the small mod by Sathra.

    Haha, that has x-com syndrome written all over it ;) These things happen and force you to really play it as safe as possible. Get 5 aliens right in front of your dropship? That's why I bring a rocket launcher en lots and lots of grenades. Run up to a door with no TU's remaining? Yes, you risk alien hugging times. And even if you do everything "right" there's still that lucky (or, as it is in xenonauts not -that- lucky) shot in the face on your most elite soldier from an alien shooting from 10 miles away. Hey, at least the soldiers don't panic yet and go bonkers with their new laser scattergun in the middle of your formation... :D

  10. Only been playing with the b19v4 steam build for 2 days, but these bugs annoy me the most:

    - Aliens "wallhacking", especially near their own spaceship instagibbing my veteran soldiers with 1 burst of automatic fire through a wall :mad:

    - My interceptor squad getting drawn into combat over and over and over again after I disengaged the first battle until the point my 3 ships crash down from a lack of fuel... ugh

    - The fact that sometimes my xenonaut's movement doesn't stop automatically when an alien is spotted; a surefire way to be in a really bad spot with not enough TU left to do something about it

    - Lack of visual cues with spotted aliens half-hidden in the fog of war. Also, it sometimes causes some squadmates to -not- get a targeting icon when I'm positive the cursor is pointing at the exact spot where the alien is standing. If this is intentional, then nvm and excuse me ;)

  11. I had my first landing ship experience and it was a breeze. Some bozo in there decided (probably because he could wallhack and was aiming for me) to fire off a missile, hit one of the ship components and blew itself and who knows how many more aliens to giblets. There was only one alien left afterwards who probably thought it best to get the f*** out of there, and got a nice welcome from my xenonauts by means of melty face by laser. And there was much rejoicing.

    As for the ballroom, that's exactly why all my soldiers are equipped with all sorts of grenades and one of them even has a rocket launcher in the event that blowing up some ultra-advanced tech is preferable over losing your 80+ TU xenonauts. Hell, it might even be possible to take some c4 and blow a chunk out of the spaceship wall and assault them from there. Is it? If it is that would be awesome :P

  12. I for one think it's quite manageable tbh, at least up until december. I started off playing on veteran, iron man mode. I got through the first month just fine, with 1 interceptor lost and -no- soldiers. Yes, it takes 2-3 hits to kill off the first aliens and sometimes even more for the snakey ones (sorry, can't seem to remember those new alien names). I had no idea what I was doing research-wise tho and in the second month I had severe problems with the medium ships coming in and me still running around with ballistic weaponry against larger forces of stronger aliens. I learned a lot and adapted tho and could much better on a second try.

    I did try it again, but this time on normal difficulty, still iron man mode. I'm nearing the end of month 2, but doing much better. I lost about 5-8 soldiers, about half of them because of cheating/buggy AI firing through walls near their spacecraft where none of them actually had vision on me. I lost 2 interceptors and 1 dropship. One interceptor was lost because I was stupid and sent my badly damaged foxtrot out in front to shoot a fighter and my dropship was lost because I didn't know those could be intercepted and shot down. You live, you learn :P

    All in all, although the pacing might be a bit harder at the start than the original EU, imho it's not quite -that- bad if you know what you're doing. And fyi, I always have 15 xenonauts in total, hiring new recruits the moment I lose some. I'm considering upping the total to 20 on my main base after the month ends (and I get another 100-150k extra funding). So, thus far I haven't seen the problem described by henri5, at least not on normal difficulty. Also, if you rush the research for laser tech and better explosives on veteran I suppose it won't be -that- much more difficult.

  13. Since this discussion seems mostly a 1v1 disagreement maybe my 2 cents adds a bit to the discussion :P

    Realism issues (ie. the "Black Swan Effect") aside for me it would break immersion if my xenonauts had a superhuman 360 degree cone, err.. circle of vision. I really love that I have to make sure to fan everybody out as to check as much of my flanks as possible as to not get caught with my pants down from a hidden alien. In fact I believe it will take away a bit of the thrill of exploring the map. A slightly different example to illustrate:

    After cautiously exploring the area around the crash-landed UFO with the riflemen and snipers having killed off the three defending aliens, Cpt. Greystalker took his shotgun out of his backpack and walked up to the front door of the alien spaceship. "Greystalker in position, moving in on your mark commander". After getting the order he runs into the spaceship and sees one of those filthy bastards on his left. In his cautionless battle-adrenalin pumped frenzy he turns towards it, quickly triggering his pump action benelli: "DIEEEEEE ALIEN SCUMBAAAARRGHHHH! grgll.... ugh...", completely missing the other occupant standing to his (former) right blasting him full of hot plasma surprise.

    Now these kinds of scenario's have me shouting at my screen, telling myself off what a complete retard I was in not checking both corners, fully realising that could (and most probably would) have caused a reaction shot because turning around takes action points. This again forces me to rethink my entire strategy and next time maybe throw in pre-emptive flashbangs, rockets or whatnot. Effectively having had 360 degree vision would have completely negated the need for this. I either would have seen 1 alien and shot it to bits or instantly seen two (or more) aliens and (probably) would have been able to run back and then deploy aforementioned (concussive) explosive. So, it would in fact make the game easier and, for me, kill a lot of the suspense.

    TL;DR: I disagree with free rotation for it's not only unrealistic, but also breaks immersion and makes the game unnecessarily easier.

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