Akavit
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Posts posted by Akavit
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Selling female portraits would look bad now that Chris has said he'd be including a starter set as a feature.
I was also under the impression that the portrait artist was getting maxed out with work already. If that's not the case I'd suggest offering more slots of the $200.00 option. I'm pretty sure they'd sell as well as they did the first two days.
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I'll bet that people would pay an extra $25.00 to have their least favored 70's politicians show up in an alien abduction notice in the Geoscape. Perhaps in-laws and lawyers too.
That might reflect poorly on Goldhawk though. It would be funny despite that.
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Yes and no. I don't think the mission objectives will be the same but I also don't think they'll be a new mission type either. I was under the impression that they'd be used in terrorist missions. None of the tilesets with the exception of the Reaper option came bundled with a promise for a completely new mission type from what I read.
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Thanks. That did the trick.
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Yes. I've been looking it over some and the visual feedback does exist. It's an upgrade from the old Outlaws map-making tools which only had a CAD type 2D interface to work with.
Painting stuff seems reasonably straight-forward as well. The hardest part looks to be doing all the little settings and that's more of a learning curve issue than actual difficulty. Given some time with the community posting feedback and tips online I think this will work.
The main issue I see right now is that the preview/painting screen doesn't open as a window like it says it will. If it did the whole process would be much faster. Alt-tabbing to move between the two is a pain.
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The reason for not nuking the alien hive is because there's civilians there (let's assume this)! They were abducted for experiments and stuff... So the Xenonauts must go there, rescue them and blast the hive from it's core!
How is that a reason for not nuking the place? Do we get paid for saving them or something?
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I haven't looked at the current editor yet but I have no doubt it's far easier to use than the ones that came with games I've worked with in the past. I'm not concerned with a lack of maps because if there aren't enough to suit me while playing I'll make them myself and upload them as well.
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Labor isn't a problem for a modding community. If modders are interested in creating new tilesets they will do so. Doing a reaper tileset would be especially viable since it the difference in visual style could be glossed over due to its alien nature. I suspect the work could be done using mostly open source software. The modeling and rendering could probably be done in Sketchup.
The two things that do stop modders are the lack of development tools and engine limitations. If Goldhawk releases their development tools after the game is launched then the only hurdles remaining are within the game engine itself.
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The tileset isn't the issue. I'm sure someone could make one and add it to the game without a problem. It's engine support that's critical. If the code-base isn't there to permit spawning nodes for reapers then it's not possible to add it to the game unless someone capable enough to modify the game engine does it.
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Now to wait for the Reaper Hive dlc.
Actually it's rather funny because I normally can't stand infinite spawning enemies either. I don't like it in FPS and didn't care for the mood of Space Hulk myself (though I didn't actually play it). In a turn-based X-Com style game it did sound a lot more interesting though and I was curious to see how it would turn out.
Plus it would likely have added some new options for modders to toy with.
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It wasn't so much a put down as referring to the fact that more maps were something we already had in the bag. We'll get them faster now but it'll amount to the same in the end (hence the reference to short-term thinking). Getting more engine features was my priority since once the game is released, there's nothing we can do to add to it.
Tile art is good so I actually voted all of that pretty high. I just don't care much for fighting on military bases hence the lack of interest in it. I did vote it high though since as Jean says, once the game is released we aren't likely to get new tilesets.
It's just the level designer that boggles the mind for me. Everything else makes perfect sense.
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Hmm. It unfortunately seems that most people think short term rather than long. I still see a dedicated level designer as a complete waste of resources. It's strange that people actually wanted that more than anything.
Stuff like reaper missions, motion detectors and tall grass will likely never make it ingame as player-made mods if they require engine support. Modding Xenonauts is next to impossible from what I've heard so adding new game mechanics once it's released is pretty much out of the question.
Hopefully the Kickstarter can make it to at least the Soviet tileset since that's the only thing near the top of the list that I look forward to.
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Are most players aware that there's a level design tool in the current build? If I'm correct, we should be able to make as many maps as we like for the game after it's released?
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I'm of the same mind as Erutan. I don't have a place for posters and don't have much use for t-shirts either. Things that I don't use will probably end up at a secondhand store so hopefully Chris gives us the option to forgo a portion of our rewards so money won't be wasted on them.
The art book sounds nice but there again, I'm trying to minimize the personal belongings that I keep around so I may not hand onto that either.
My interest really lies in the game itself and having the fun of seeing myself show up in an X-Com style game.
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Those kinds of things are what would add a lot of depth, diversity and replayability to a game – certainly more than “tall grass”.
Actually, the tall grass feature is what made the top of my vote list. Destructible terrain and the ability to set fire to fields were the most enjoyable features in X-Com for me. Without tall grass it won't be possible to torch a field with a flamethrower then watch the fire spread over time.
Things like proximity grenades, reaper mission, motion detectors came immediately after. New tilesets followed that.
Features that are entirely cosmetic and don't contribute to actual gameplay got the lowest votes. Pilot names and callsigns, and memorials along with female soldiers are on that list.
A dedicated level designer seemed fairly low priority to me as I believe that we are supposed to get a level editor tool with the game. If players can create new maps I expect that after the game is released there will soon be hundreds of downloadable maps to add to the game. No need to spend development time doing something that is so easy for the fans to do.
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I remember awhile back we were told that fire mechanics were coded into the game but currently do nothing because the flammable tiles needed for fire to spread were not in the game.
If the above is true then what I'd like to see more than anything else are flammable items such as wooden walls, hay bales, tall grass, wheat fields, etc. Fire was my favorite feature in X-Com.
Collapsible buildings - I'm assuming that it's already in game since it was planned but I haven't tested it to see if it is or not. If not, then I'd like to see this make it in as well.
Super advanced AI would be excellent. Some things I'd like to see aliens doing are as follows:
- Work together in teams that tend to stay within LOS.
- Attempt to destroy a building if they see multiple soldiers within.
- Flanking attempts.
- Work together in teams that tend to stay within LOS.
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I'm using Win 64-bit with no issues of the type you've described. It can't be the OS that's your problem. As far as video cards go, I'm just using an older nVidia card. I think it's a gtx 460 or something like that.
Is there a chance that having the absolute latest driver is a problem? A one day old driver hasn't been around long enough for people to have reported obscure bugs regarding it.
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Hey folks! I upped my pledge to $200.00. That leaves a scant 6 spots available of the most coveted position for the rest of you to fight over.
I can do grim and dour for a good cause.
$29,837 in less than 48 hours.
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5% funded as of now.
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You don't have to be under 35 to get the name option. It's the $200.00 option that includes a portrait that has the age requirements. I didn't go for the portrait option, just the name.
If I wanted to I could probably provide a satisfactory picture though. I'd imagine that avoiding shaving for a few days and skipping sleep would help achieve the glum look Chris wants for all his soldier portraits.
In further news, funding just surpassed the $1,500 mark.
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It's over a $1,000 now. I've jumped on board. Hopefully Chris doesn't think I have a weird name.
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I expect that as the AI project progresses, missions should become a lot harder. Yes, at the moment they are a cakewalk (for me at least) but that's primarily because the current basic AI is too dense to put up a fight. I just flush them out and kill them with sniper fire.
In short, I think that it's way to early to make difficulty balance suggestions of this nature because boosting difficulty now will probably make things near impossible later when all the content (specifically AI) is in the game. When aliens start fighting as a group instead of individuals players will be glad to have a large team of trained soldiers for a mission.
Making the game more difficult by increasing the incompetence of Xenonaut soldiers doesn't sound like a very good idea anyhow. It's far better to make sure the aliens are not incompetent.
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The cone of suppression fire wouldn't have anything to do with individual soldiers. It's akin to the current fire system in which walking through a burning room will hurt a soldier. Walking through an area being saturated with bullets amounts to the same thing whether to soldier was previously suppressed or not. Note that only machine guns and their equivalents would be capable of conducting this type of fire.
Implementing a suppression system in a turn-based game is going to be problematic one way or another. The initial concept proposed by Chris forces soldiers to react in one predictable manner whether or not it fits the situation. Variations of that such as the "takes more AP's to move and shoot" idea will result it soldiers running slower at times when speed is the only thing that will save them or shooting slower at times when fast shooting is the only smart move.
The AOE approach results in damage being dealt out getting separated from the firing animation. That may be a minor issue but I see it as an acceptable trade-off to avoid the short-comings of the other proposals. Turn-based You-Go-I-Go games are inherently awkward anyway when it comes to timing and animation issues. They excel at providing tactical options, not believable cause and effect animations.
The real problems I see with the AoE system I've outlined are with implementation, not the actual gameplay. First, there would have to be a graphic indicating the exclusion zone (probably streaks of tracer fire or energy bursts). Secondly, the movement system would have to detect the AoE and calculate a movement path that doesn't send players through (unless the player really wants to move through). Lastly, the AI would need to be programmed to avoid suicidal charges into the AoE. Accomplishing all that may very well be too complex for Goldhawk to pull off within an acceptable timeframe.
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I'd have to say that I don't care for the AP loss thing either. While it works in some situations, it would be completely unreal and frustrating in others. Suppose that an alien flanks a soldier and succeeds in completely suppressing him? Now the soldier has no cover, cannot return fire and can't move to nearby cover. That isn't an accurate portrayal of suppression, but rather, it mimics the actions of those dumb victims in B movies who see approaching death and do nothing.
While it's not the same as real combat, I'm guessing that suppression in paintball provides a useful model to examine. I've played plenty of games and I know what response players have when under heavy fire. They either duck behind their cover, run to the nearest cover, fall to prone or return fire. The first option (duck behind their cover) is the action that is portrayed by the AP loss model being proposed for Xenonauts. In paintball though, players only react that way if they have cover in the first place. If they don't have cover, they'll never just sit around waiting to be eliminated.
Reduced accuracy however, is an effect of suppression regardless of the situation. I very much agree with putting that effect into the Xenonauts suppression mechanics.
As far as movement goes, paintball players use suppression tactics in a chess-like manner. It's usually not possible to entirely prevent the opponent from moving but it is easy enough to create a lane of fire that makes all movement through that specific area very risky.
What I'd like to see in Xenonauts is a three-fold effect. First, there's the accuracy penalty. Second, negation of reaction fire, Third, suppression fire creates an area of effect (cone-shaped) that stays in place for the remainder of the shooter's round and the subsequent opponent's round. Any attempt to move inside or through the AOE carries the risk of taking damage (greatly reduced if the soldier has cover). This system permits players to have more tactical choices. They can return fire with reduced accuracy, run in hopes of getting to safety or skulk behind cover.
That system also makes it possible to use area of denial tactics when advancing on enemy positions. Firing machine guns at the corners of buildings will make it risky for aliens to rush around the corner and open fire.
I'd also like to make a proposal for machine guns. They should have the option to shoot suppressive fire or short, controlled bursts. Suppressive fire would be the 15 round, inaccurate area of denial attack. The short burst option is there in case the player decides he needs to focus on putting a killing shot into a single enemy. I suggest the controlled fire mode because it's likely that at some point the player will be in a situation where only the machine-gunners are alive. At that point, ammo conservation and enemy kills will be critical.
"How to get Reaper Hive in game?" pondering thread
in Xenonauts General Discussion
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Vanilla only? The best games are the 5-10 year old ones that have been loaded with tons of extra goodies! Professionals can't do a lot of the things accomplished by modders and still remain profitable. Usually games are released with just enough features to be considered a complete game and that's about it.