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Firstly, I just want to note that I really like the most recent changes to the cover system in the experimental build. However there is still two jarring problems. 1. Some of the cover heights are set incorrectly relative to their apparent sprites. For example, some rocks offer 100% cover despite appearing to only come up to about half way on a Xenonaut. Yes this means that you can hide behind them effectively, but you can't shoot over them for some reason? Is this a bug? Or are you not supposed to be able to shoot over all types of cover when stood next to it? 2. The distance at which you can shoot over cover and (possibly) even Xenonauts should be changed to two tiles for all long barreled weapons (i.e not pistols or shotguns). Having your rocket guy hit 10% cover from 2 tiles away (while entertaining) can be mission destroying and just doesn't seem natural

now i know everyone has there preferences but i was wondering if there is a current standard for amount of cover. atm i am making levels that have a lot of cover(using "random" sub-maps ) see attachments. i honestly never played UFO Defense but i was and am still an avid TFTD(Terror from the Deep) player so i'm using those levels as examples. in TFTD there was a lot of cover. in some cases to the point where i won't be able to use my Coelacanth(similar to the Xenonauts hunter ) which is fine by me, i enjoy the Claustrophobic amount of cover. That being said i've also looked at the barron levels of GoldHawk made levels. and i thought that maybe this is the way they are wanting things to be? but i also think that maybe the barron levels are really just temp levels made specifically for testing gameplay mechanics. so what are everyones thoughts on how much cover is too much and how much is too little. in the attachments you'll see the level editor screen shots for examples of what i have done so far for testing. and i rather enjoy it so far. those 5x5 submaps and Desert_cover_5x5_75p_Random as in there is going to be something there 75% of the time 25% nothing. those 10x10 submaps are the same thing but bigger natural "Structures" ranging anywhere from Mixed cover from pathways made with mesa's to a desert abode. anyways..

The following shot is from 9 squares away, kneeling, with no obstructions between, excepting an open UFO door. The shot is fired straight (no deviation angle). So why does he get cover for being in an open doorway? Of course, since there's a guy standing next to the door way, the laser blast magically goes and hits my soldier. ::eyeroll:: [2196] Target: level = 0, pos = (46, 23)[2196] Unmodified accuracy calculation:[2196] range penalty (1.000000) = 1 - ( max(0, dist. to target (9.000000) - weapon range (10)) / weapon range (10) )[b][2196] shoot accuracy from props: 0.500000[/b][2196] shoot accuracy (0.500000) = shoot accuracy (0.500000) - max(0, weapon recoil (0) / 100 - strength (0.500000) )[2196] unmodified accuracy (15.000000) = shoot accuracy (0.500000) * range penalty (1.000000) * weapon accuracy (30.000000)[2196] Generate random value from 1 to 100: rnd = 27[2196] Random value (27) > unmodified accuracy (15.000000) => offset target pos[2196] New target pos = (47, 23)[2196] Generate new random value from 1 to unmodified accuracy (15): rnd = 14[2196] Tile damage (41.500000) = weapon damage (50) * random bonus/penalty (0.830000) * (weapon range (10) / max(dist. to target (9.055386), weapon range (10) )[2196] Terrain bullet score:[2196] terrain bullet score = 1.000000[2196] modified accuracy (15.000000) = unmodified accuracy (15.000000) * terrain bullet score (1.000000)[2196] Random value (14) <= modified accuracy (15.000000) => no check for terrain intersection[2196] master accuracy (15.000000) = modified accuracy (15.000000) (no unit on target tile or it's a vehicle)[2196] >>> End calc bullet trajectory <<<[2196] Pending animation[2196] armour damage reduction (30) = max(0, armour resistance (30) - armour mitigation (0))[2196] Damage (12) = max(0, damage (42) - armourValue (30))[2196] Unit HP (56) = max( -20, unit HP (68) - damage (12) )[2196] Stun damage (0) = max(0, stun damage (0) - armourValue (30)[2196] Unit stun HP (68) = max( 0, unit stun HP (68) - damage (0) )[2196] Pending animation Can we get a reduction in the deviation angle for precision weapons, maybe? You know, things that aren't fired full auto?

Is it possible to edit cover % ?

Hello all, I will keep this short and to the point. Usually when units take cover behind a building or a railway carriage, the surface of these obstacles becomes transparent so as to see where your units are. This also enables you to reselct them during the next turn and also enables you to aim at them to apply heals and such. However, sometimes when my units hid behind cover such as building or railway carriage, the obstacle remains opaque. This stops me from seeing where exactly my units are, stops me selecting them and worst of all stops me from being able to target them. It is quite annoying when you are trying to heal a unit with another unit and the only thing you can target with the medpack is the giant building or railway carrige that is in the way. I feel many of these problem could be fixed if obstacles that are within field of view become transparant as you mouse of them, as opposed to becoming transparent only when a unit is adjecent to it. Thank you for your time, and congratulations on making a game that has already stolen many hours of my life

Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right place to start complaining about this, but I'm just going to go ahead and do it anyway. First let me say that I've clocked up 17 hours playing the game over the last week and for the most part I'm really, really loving it. But to be honest I'm starting to feel like the cover system is as bad as Enemy Unknown. I regularly have aliens shooting at me through solid walls where they can't possibly have line of sight. That's not cool. Often, my troops are getting shot at but apparently I have no line of sight to my attacker, and that's not cool either. Super frustrating! Also, why can't I lob grenades over things! The number of times I've tried to lob a grenade and it just lands at my feet again. It makes me so mad! And another thing: Sometimes aliens seem to just disappear from view. I just played a mission where the tile that an alien had been in was fully illuminated, it's not like it had gone black again because I had no line of sight. It was visible, and it was empty. So I figured the alien had moved away. Nope. I walked my guy over there and suddenly the alien is just back again. I was so upset about it I decided to register on this forum and make this post. And I am naturally a very, very lazy person, so you can appreciate just how upset I must be right now. Oh, and if I shoot an alien in the face at point blank range with a shotgun, it should be dead. If I shoot it twice in the face at point blank range with the same shotgun it should be especially dead. Seriously, I was no more than two or three tiles away. With shotgun. Twice! I mean, come on! Maybe if I understood the mechanics behind this it would all make a bit more sense. But I guess my point is that it just "feels" wrong when this sort of stuff happens. It feels unfair, and unintuitive, and it takes me out of the game. But for the most part, really great game. And being a huge arsehole, saying nice things does not come easy to me. So, you're welcome.

Okay dokey, first thing people need to do is make sure they know how accuracy is calculated. (Regardless of how outdated it is). Other people have discussed what I would call "target range" accuracy formulae, where there are no intervening props or any cover between target and shooter. But I haven't seen any discussion on what happens when there are intervening props or cover, and I think it's past due time to do so. Now, I've been fiddling about with lasers, making them as uber accurate as people want them to be, but there's a big ol' stumbling block to making uber accurate weapons. Props and cover cut massive chunks off the % to-hit. Let's say that solider X has a 95% chance to hit alien Y. Stick a prop in the way which has a 50% chance to block a shot, and solider X now has a 45% chance to hit alien Y (as there is a straight 50% chance that the prop will block the shot). So, ow, it doesn't matter how accurate you make a weapon, props really get in the way (I should know - I've been fiddling!) What's really OTT is if alien Y is hiding behind cover Z as well. Because then you take into account the "cover save" of the object, which is cover stopping chance/solider stopping chance (60%). I suspect that's wrong, because ay caramba, a piece of terrain with a stopping chance of 50% would provide a cover save of .83! You'd never hit a baddy and a baddy could never hit you! I rather think it's cover stopping chance * solider stopping chance, giving a more respectable .3. So if you combine a single intervening prop with a stopping chance of 50% (and there's plenty of that in industrial and terror maps) with a piece of ordinary cover with a stopping chance of 50%, then a hit chance of 95% sinks like a stone to 15%, and there's nothing you can do about it. Well.. except hypervelocity-tagged weapons. Because they just pass through intervening terrain, making AP missiles very useful at winkling out entrenched bad guys. Now that's a pretty persausive argument for flanking a baddy. Cover most ineedly rawks, and props have a significant effect on a shot. But do they have too much of an effect? Is there room for moderation?

the "frequent questions" thread mentions that the cover system works based on the 8 tiles surrounding the tile where the target is. i would assume that cover that is within the line of fire but not directly adjacent to the target would also qualify, but what would happen if a shot that comes in at a diagonal angle crosses two pieces of cover? (if it's even possible) like so: