Josip Broz Tito

Exactly, it'd be cool to see some reference to this in higher-tier research.

That's the thing though- it's not really intuitive : ( I wouldn't've likely figured it out w/out a LOT of frustration if I hadn't read about it from Dranak. Some form of link to a basic guide or in-game tips for beginners would be awesome.

I don't recall a time limit other than the turn 20 'aliens get restless and attack' in TFTD for crashes. That didn't end the match, just meant the aliens would come out of hiding on turn 20 if I recall. If there was a time limit- I don't see a reason for it in xenonauts tbh. It's not hard to blow up hiding spots or find aliens. That said, more ammo for the machinegun would be great ; ) At least 300 rounds since that equals 2x infantry carrying 2x ammo on them and one loaded.

I'd say you should be able to return the vehicle to the chopper and abort. No reason to have a time-limit. It'd handicap the aliens even further.

If we go with the 'they're all clones' methodology that leaves the question: why aren't aliens at terror sites all elite quality troops? Why don't they all have the same TU's etc? We as players are left to assume that they may be genetic clones, but have been artificially imprinted with different knowledge. Why? Because the aliens are mass-produced products. It is likely faster/more cost efficient to specialize them to different tasks. Non-coms have less TU's and accuracy because they're only imprinted with rudimentry aim and combat experience, but likely have better piloting and engineering skills. The higher the ranks of aliens go, it can be assumed there are less of them given the amount of knowledge/time that has to be input into their minds. Why would this take time? In humans, neural pathways change in our minds based on knowledge gained, which takes time and highlights that learning is a process. In the cloned aliens they can speed up the process, but the neural pathways still need some time to form. For the combat clones, the neural pathways also need to adequately connect with the muscles to allow more fiber recruitment on demand (thus higher TU's and strength). With the above, I too concluded the aliens were grown with different goals, but with some restriction to just making them all 'elite'. This also begs the question: why aren't aliens in terror missions using the most powerful weapons in their arsenal when they'll obviously have to contend with resistance? There must be some reason why their equipment is available in a pyramid pattern.

Nice, a funding screen would be a great addition. Kinda rough having to hover over each block and read small type : )

You raised a lot of great points. 1. Opening a UFO without entering: stand next to it, hover over the door until you get the door open symbol, then right-click. Faster UFO clear, highest risk method. 2. Alternately, you can blow up UFO doors with c4, grenades(ineffective) or rockets. This will kill/supress aliens near the door and keeps your troops safer from reaction fire. However, alien corpses/aliens killed will gib and you will lose out on equipment. Fastest clear method, safe, but lose equipment. Option 3 for opening UFO's (my favorite): Use gunfire to open the door. Click your weapon, then hover over the door until it turns green with a % accuracy amount, then select your aim level. It may take a few turns to shoot it open, but you don't damage any corpses behind the door and have an unobstructed view to rake the inside w/ gunfire. IMO it's the most cost-effective way to breach and the safest. Takes the longest though. Building Foxtrots + hangars: I'm assuming that the free hangar is where the foxtrot is kept while being refitted with heat resistance and sensors. I understand the annoyance, but I feel it makes sense in the game. Your other points= I'm in agreement with. An easier first mission, or a tutorial mission might be a great way to introduce players to the game. Having that initial difficulty is important, but has to be balanced against player frustration.

Lol, good point. Now if I could only weave together a good "there goes the neighborhood" joke. An option to enable hints and basic advice on lower difficulties would be great for newer players, and maybe some more seasoned ones as well. E.x. letting people know you can set missiles to 'hold fire', or letting players know they can breach UFO's by opening the door/explosives/gunfire and the pros and cons of each.

Lol, works too, I've tried that a few times. Doesn't seem to instagib aliens a few tiles back from the door (which is good)...just corpses in the area (which makes me sad). Definitely faster though. New gas rockets are pretty dope.

I like the idea of tying up the crew of the chinook as advisors, with a pyramid requirement to be sent. Meaning, you can send one commander ranked soldier or 2 whatever's below that etc. to advise the locals. Higher ranked soldiers would be better at directing the locals in what to expect. This might encourage a bit of crew rotation in order to keep an officer available to advise. Also, the larger the UFO, the higher the number of officers that are required to be sent. e.x. a medium ship might require 3 commanders or equivalents in lesser rank. This way, if you want to autoresolve a UFO crash, you have to balance between running missions to train soldiers to be able to do so vs the increased revenue. More hard choices= more fun. Having to send 5 scientists and 5 technicians or so might be a good requirement, as they'd know how to disassemble the ships safely and give crash-courses to locals in alien tech. I'm seeing it this way: once alien biology and the datacore for that type of UFO is researched, the option to let UFO's be handled by locals with xenonaut advisement becomes available. The reason: in the lore it states that without a low-oxygen environment the aliens suffer toxic shock and die. What does this mean? The Xenonauts advise the local forces with how to deal with aliens outside of the craft, then a hole is punched into the UFO(previously recovered UFO's= weakpoints/structure known), then the local forces wait a day or so before sending scouts in. In the case of androns, it'll be a matter of using explosives. Locals could also use chemical weapons to suffocate/burn fleshy aliens. I hope I wasn't to textful, however I do feel the above ideas are valid : )

Reread what I posted- you fire while they're still rolling from the first : ) The missile will track just enough to hit them before they can roll again. Give it a little practice before dismissing it.

Put one on pause, then fire it when the UFO is halfway through it's dodge of the first missile you fired. The 2nd missile fired will hit.

You guys are going to have a bad time when aliens are programmed to use grenades- spread your guys out. Friendly fire isn't that bad right now unless you go out of your way to place your troops to maximize the chance of it occurring. Even in alien bases- it's an easily avoidable problem at this point until the devs can fix the issue. I feel the thread is overblowing the issue a bit.

I've only ever noticed that if more than one alien was present. I've also noticed that if the action the xenonaut took changed, such as an alien outside firing at a xenonaut walking by it, then once more when it opened a door. I'm ok with that since opening a door can take as much time (if not more) as running a small distance. If the alien has the time units= why not. It's not happening 1 tile of movement after another right now anyway. Reaction shots are about all aliens have going for them at this point aside from rudimentary aggression.

doesn't instantly open, I've never counted, but it takes a few rounds w/ 1 rifle and a machine-gun shooting it- less if you shoot it with a sniper rifle too. Once you reach lasers, they go down very fast. Fun fact- if a sniper rifle round destroys a door it will keep going, possibly hitting any aliens standing in the path of the bullet. Always a good time.

I've always liked the spike in difficulty terror missions gave/give. To me, it really gives that impression that you aren't the aggressor in this situation and you do NOT have the advantage. You have failed to down the UFO that started the mission, and are stuck trying to contain the situation. These missions really make rocket launchers shine. A hint on lower difficulties to bring extra ammo, smokes, and explosives might be a good idea for newer players. As for base defense= I don't see that as an issue. At that stage of the game, you need to to think about keeping some troops at base for the extra defense, as well as maybe a defense turret or two. Rockets shine in base defense as well. Only wish was that the geoscape base tile layout was larger so that you could design more defensible bases like in TFTD.

Absolutely no need to open the door or be near it if you don't want the risk: shoot it open w/ bullets. Doesn't take to many and you wont destroy equipment like you would w/ c4. After you shoot it down, it's just a matter of raking the inside w/ a machinegun to keep them suppressed/kill them. Once you have stun grenades, you can run a soldier in from the side to throw them in while staying out of alien LOS.

I like the air mini-game too. Why settle to be an x-com clone when you can expand upon the original too.

Yeah, I bet they'll start adding in mid and late-game saves. Furthest I've gotten was all armor researched and plasma weapons, with massive ships having just arrived. Glad I have content to look forward to.

Huh? Being able to only use foxtrots was repetitive : ) I find the air battles to be much better now that I have to use condors and corsairs against smaller ships. Being forced to make choices makes the game better.

Wow, that'd be rly cool : ) Look at you making vehicles even more relevant.

I like the option to do multiple engagements. All that situation means is that capital ships might need fighter escorts more often.

The current sight ranges might be an incentive to always use at least one vehicle if you want to reduce troop exposure. Or you're allowed to bring two troops (w/ more firepower) at the cost of higher exposure. Makes sense to me as it is, but I can see how the low sight range to scale could be irritating.

Tip: Shoot doors open, don't use C4 (unless you can afford the lost alien equipment). Machineguns make short work of doors.

I hope so, it'd be cool to see the aliens grenade and burst fire into smoke.