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Alatar

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Everything posted by Alatar

  1. Done that, thank you. As well as I point out things that make me upset, I'd like to give a thumbs up to a prompt response and nice costumer care, I'm not used to that, sadly. Thanks!
  2. Hello, long time no see, I basically zoned out of updates, as they were more infurating than encouraging. Now that I see a probable release in months, I'd like to address one concern. The thing is, five years delay in a project is something that I think grants some flexibility on your part, in my humble opinion. Things can change drastically in five years, there are sadly some people who supported this game who will not be able to enjoy it, for several reasons. In my personal case, there has been a change in preferences, five years ago I used GoG a lot, so I opted for a GoG key. Now, I've all but abandoned that platform, and this game would be the only reason to install GoG again. Don't you think there should be some room for flexibility, and to allow us to change our options? I understand that, logistically, it could be something impossible to do, or too costly, but at least, could you maybe take a survey and see if this case is common or rare? I can see that it'd be a disaster if thousands of people would ask for it, but if we're only some dozens, maybe it would be manageable, I don't know. I wasn't intending to be grouchy, but now that I'm on it, I will add that I only backed the game when you said you were going to implement a system with more stealth and different missions, like in Phantom Doctrine. One of the things that delayed the project so much was that change and then the change back to the classic style. To get another classic XCOM game, I could have waited, I would have bought this on discount, actually. So, you've disappointed me in every possible level as a costumer. I don't really expect compensation for this disappointment, as we all know kickstarter isn't a closed product and everything is subject to change, so I have no legal claim on this, but I think I'd ask, anyway, as just going with it silently will get me nothing, and maybe you'll be ethically compelled to make things better, as I don't really know your company ethics. Also, I know you're very sorry that I'm disappointed, I don't want words, I want actions, if there aren't going to be any actions, just tell me and I'll fall forever silent again.
  3. Founded! For me and a friend, Second Lieutenant step. He'll need the Spanish translation, though, so I hope it'll be going soon. By the way, the 150.000 achievement is unlocked, as expected. :)
  4. I also think that the "only night"missions are not realistic, but you need to take into account that this is a game and you must allow some room for mechanics which make it easier to program or handle things,even if they're not realistic. I understand that the logic here is to have staff do something in the strategic later during the day (investigate, construct, repair, infiltrate) and go on a mission during the night. What I'm not sure I understand is the way fatigue will be handled. Will there be 3 8-hours periods and if you make someone work all 3 of them they get tired, or people get tired by performing actions and they must rest periodically or what? I hope it doesn't relay too heavily on micromanagement and we can just set people on their jobs and just adjust things when we're tight.
  5. Hey, Chris, you (and the rest of the team) are the developers and you get to decide, but I think many of us were (or are now) quite hyped and can't help but to vent our ideas in quite a forceful manner. But we don't know what's going inside the developer's cage so, take all them for what they're worth, no more. That said, I have lots of ideas. I try not to impose myself on people so I keep them to myself but this one I'll say: what if you indeed try to please everybody? You've already have the models and lots of resources in art and animations for a heavy combat vs Aliens gameplay. So, you could think of your game as one of stages: first you know almost nothing, just that there are aliens infiltrating governments and you have to stop them. In this fase you could have some missions with alien combat in abduction missions or aliens attacking not infiltrated governments that you must defend. Then, you unveil the alien conspiration and have a more heavy duty gameplay trying to defeat the aliens, destroying their mothership or whatever is the endgame goal. I don't know the system but I think it shouldn't be too hard (it'll indeed need work, of course) to develop a tool in the beginning of the game or even in an outside tool to adjust the parameters so that you can play the game "as is", heavy on the infiltration or with a fast infiltration and investigation phase and a longer combat oriented phase. That way, you get the game you prefer, and even can adjust the game parameters in different games to try different experiences. For example: setting the amount of intel you need to uncover an alien and the amount of aliens / humans that there will be in the missions. As I said, I don't know the system, or the team, so i don't know if you have the resources to do that, or if you've already considered that, but I think it would be a good compromise. And, with that, I'll try to keep my mouth shut and leave the developers to develop
  6. First, onto inspiration for some of the mechanics: Unfortunately, I didn't get to know JA games, but I liked the new one Back in Action (I think it's my most played game in Steam with over 120 hours). The camouflage in the game is not very good but the idea is really good, I guess that's something you meant with a cross between the systems in XC2 and JA2. I'd also recommend that you look at one game which is currently in development, it's in Early Access in Steam: "Vigilantes". It's more of a RPG with tactical combat but the idea of surveillance and gathering intel in interrogation is very good. I think you should get a look at that system and come up with some ideas for your X2 intel system. I also liked the Long War 2 intel gathering and infiltration system. I like doing solo missions with lots of infiltration to steal an asset or hack a computer. So, I suggest you consider scalating the missions as you get more intel, and having very few missions available, with very few level. Maybe at first you have no idea what level of infiltration governments have, and you need to find out. You set up surveillance (strategic mission) on a country, then get the intel to throw an infiltration mission and steal some documents or something like that, then you find the location of alien agents, you can assault them, and finally you go for the big bad alien. Something like that, it's only an idea suggestion so you can elaborate and develop something along that lines, or maybe consider it and start brainstorming another ideas and ditch this one. Now, on stats, we don't really know how they translate to the tactical combat but, having 5 ranks, that probably means that Accuracy 1 gets you 20% and Accuracy 2 40%. Those are too big gaps between them. 0-100 are much more flexible, much easier to translate to a % system and much more rewarding because we can see how one soldier increased her Accuracy stat from 57 to 58. I know you won't probably go for the 5 ranks ultimately, just adding my nail to that coffin. Seeing as you said 10-15 people in endgame, and 4 stats (Science, Engineering, Accuracy, Bravery?) I think you're thinking of 2 scientists, 2 engineers, around 6 core soldiers and around 5 dual class. Well, let me add another class: Covert Ops, Infiltrator, Operative, Agent, something like that. In the strategy layer, you need people doing something. Even in X1 days or even weeks could pass without a combat mission. So, you have to occupy people's time: - Scientists investigate. OK. - Engineers build new equipment or repair damaged one. OK. - Operatives go on intel gathering missions. This requires its own skill: Scouting or Infiltration, which is also the skill you need in combat missions to scout unseen ahead of the heavy duty soldiers. - Soldiers train. You can have them train stats but there is something much more interesting. You said you were considering the need for Science or Engineering ranks to weild some weapons. Well, as you've seen, this idea is not well received. But someone mentioned that maybe soldiers need training to use them. So do it, have them assist to courses to learn to use the new weapons and armor. Not only that, require special equipment and weapons, such as motion sensors, demolition charges, machine guns, to be unlocked as a training course. This is both realistic and allows for customization of your squad. You'll have the heavy weapons expert, the scout, the sniper, the explosives expert, and many more. Also, you'll need to decide who gets the course for laser rifles first. Eventually, everybody will be able to fire one, but this adds deepness to the strategy composition of your squad. In combat missions, Scientists, Engineers and Operatives can fill their own role. You can have special equipment which can only be operated by soldiers with some ranks in Science or Engineering, but these items give several advantages, like improved detection (something really useful), better defense, and so on. You can also bar the deployment of drones or vehicles if there isn't someone with a certain rank in Engineering, or allow them to do field repairs, for example. Operatives are the easiest. You add the Scouting skill to the chance of remaining undetected. Finally, regarding the stats being fixed by armor, let me tell you that there are some stats that you definetely NEED in a tactical game, specially if you're aiming to reduce the staff that much, making each person unique: Speed, HP, Accuracy and Bravery. I'd also add strength if you think of including melee weapons, or for heavy weapons as you did in X1, but those 4 are core in any tactical squad game. Of course, they may very well be affected by armor, but that only adds a level to the decision making complexity. Do I have my fastest character wear light armor so that he has more TU or do I give him heavy armor because he can carry it while still having enough TU to be effective? I'm writing this at 5.45 AM, this excited I was that I couldn't sleep after getting home tonight, I had to take those ideas out of my mind.
  7. Hey! I missed this update completely, so I'm replying just now because I just saw it. First, let me tell you that I'm really excited about the idea. Before, I liked the game because I enjoyed X1 but was a bit neutral because, well, it was the same old thing. Now, we are seeing something different. Of course, some of the mechanics have been used before (there's hardly something really new after so many years) but this seems to be a completely new game, so that's exciting. I guess that's what happened to the development team, also. Doing something again, upgraded or improved, but the same old song, it's not really exciting. But developing something really new, that is something worth doing! And now, onto some suggestions (which I'll put in another post to organize things a bit).
  8. I changed my HD and had to update Windows manually to get GOG Galaxy working, so I've seen an incredible level of advance, since the first PCT to this latest version (haven't played any in between). Here's what I found (I suppose it's just repetitive but still): Targeting cursor is unstable, sometimes it appears, sometimes not, but whenever you click on an alien your soldier shoots, so it's working fine, just an issue with the display. I've found lots of tiles I can't click to move on them. Usually it's solved with a change of perspective but I found one I couldn't click on. With a Sergeant (shotgun), while he and an alien stood by a tree (90ยบ from each other) I couldn't click on the tile in between to position the sergeant beside the alien, I had to move him in angle away from the alien, then I could click on the tile. No position allowed to click on that tile. Friendly fire is still too usual, both to your characters and to the cover you're using. Knowing about friendly fire, I was all too careful not to shoot through one of my soldiers, but I still shot down a rock I was using as cover. One of the lesser aliens rebeled and shot one of the officers (actually killing him). The block values are disconcerting. In X1 I knew that, if my shot was past two 50% block, it was impassable. Now, I shot with the machine gun through several 30% (at least 4), two 50% and one 70% and still scored 2 hits, with a supposed 6% chance. AI seems a bit weird, they stay in the open and shoot through walls (and sometimes hit...). Suppression seems to be hard, I only got one officer suppressed once, with a one time shot, and couldn't suppress another even when I was burst firing the machine gun every single turn. On the bright side, maps look quite lively, with lots of paths and shelters, interface seems to work fine and the models and animations look very good. I miss a zoom to see the details, but I don't know if that's within the possibilities of the engine, so... Congratulations and keep up the good work! Looking forward to seeing the game in early release state!
  9. I'm not going to criticize graphics or design, we all know what an alpha is, but I agree with the general feeling that it's difficult to see the enemies. Soldiers are easier because the blue color contrasts better in this environment, and the gray psyons blend in with the rocks and trees. Another issue is the kind of 3D engine used, depending on the environment, it's very difficult to see certain spots. For example, in the beginning, before moving, it's very difficult to consider the exact spot you want your soldier to position in the river, at the center, the wall just right of the leftmost bridge. That's because the good angle to watch this zone is from the right down (down is your side, where your soldiers start), that is, one E keystroke, but a tree is impending sight from that angle. Some kind of transparency is to be considered. Gameplay was alright, some frame jumps but everything OK, considering the phase. I suppose there's not much strategy involved, with only weapons and armor available, but I thought it was very easy, aliens were fairly straightforward. Sure, I got some lucky shots, but it felt easy. Maybe I'm used to covers and long range combat which is favored in this scenario (open spaces) but still. I only lost my sniper because, not seeing well were the last officer came from, I positioned him in the wrong spot. Again, sighting issue. Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4 GHz 8 Gb RAM (DDR2 if I recall it correctly) 2xGTX560 SLI W7, 5,7 score in Windows Experience (due to old HD, updating to SSD in a few days) Forgot to say, after killing the last alien, UI disappears and there's no way to exit except Alt+Tab and close it from Windows, is that intended? After tinkering a bit to see the rest of the scenario and hitting all keys one by one to see if I could end turn or exit, graphics changed, highliting allowed movements in green, impassable in red, is this a feature or a graphic failure?
  10. I'm Spanish and I have translated several texts (technical and literary) to and from English, although I'm in no way a professional translator (I just looked up at wordreference how many fs and ss professional has, so you tell me...). You could sum up all the text to translate and divide that among us, then we could all share and correct everything among ourselves. Count me up, I'd prefer doing some big chunks such as the xenopedia entries but I'll do anything I can
  11. I did that too. Wanted to see the difference between carbine I just manufactured and rifle so I had to take off the rifle from one guy. When I reassigned it, as llunak said, it went at 0 ammo and still had one in storage. Weird enough, after several missions I got the base attacked and my sniper had a regular ballistic rifle instead of the precision laser. I'm in the stable game, so it was v20 hotfix 1.
  12. I hadn't thought of validating the cache files, thank you, I'm doing right now. The link for the file is: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zoj21tw2bdtecv1/2014-01-31_11.37.20.sav Also, I'm in my first base defense. Do Alien Turns take forever? I'm thinking the answer is probably yes, but you know, turns were long in the beginning of alien base attacks, but tended to shorten once they were going down, of course. How many aliens will typically attack the base (I'm on normal, just tasting the game), and how does that affect the turns length? I'm thinking if this is a freezing issue also...
  13. Hello, I'm new to the forum and I've searched thoroughly but couldn't find this bug reported. Version: v20 Hotfix Place: Crash site near Warsaw Map: Industrial at night Team: Six soldiers in Jackal Armor (manufacturing laser weapons, but not yet in the team), 1 Hunter with Machine Guns AI characters: I found one Caesan and saw at least one policeman. Bug: When I hit End Turn, the Hidden Turn screen goes up and nothing moves. Even if I'm on sight of the enemy or the civilians, the Hidden Turn screen doesn't flicker. I saw there are issues with extremely long AI turns so I let it on, wen to the supermarket and back (over 1 hour) and still nothing, so I guess it's frozen. It doesn't matter what I do, I tried loading and hitting End Turn without moving and it still freezes. Went on sight of the enemy I can reach without shooting, shot it, nothing works. I have the savegame for this mission in case you can run it and see what's broken. If there's any tool that can allow me to run the game and see the AI process I could do that, but I think one of the game programmers would be better (of course). I haven't found a workaround in the thread for it, but if someone knows of one, let me know. For now, I'll just save it in case you can use it to find a problem and Abort Mission.
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