Training Xenonauts and other Issues like "Infiltration"

[bigjackskid]

I'm back to playing X1 again. Each battle is a frustrating struggle. It would be nice to be able to train your troops in X2 so they can keep up with Xenonauts on the field. In real life, militaries not only have minimum physical requirements, but have minimum intelligence requirements as well. You can't be a tanker in real life if you're bad at math (at least during WW2, I don't know how tank internal stuff has changed) because you have to very quickly make calculations on the fly to hit a target. Xenonauts are not just regular military, they are literally special forces. There is no reason why agents / troops (don't know what the right word is) should be deficient in any way.

Also, please try to avoid the "armor is almost useless" trope. It would be great if every tech item developed has a benefit and is not offset completely by problems or simply so little of an upgrade its not worth it.

Would be interesting to see something similar to "Alien Infiltration %" like there is in X-Com Apocalypse. Possibly within national governments, or NATO and Warsaw, and so forth. More infiltration might mean less funding. This might not work well with the proposed Cold War system in my other thread though.

[Rhishisikk]

It would be interesting to see general status, and then have to run diplomacy missions (or discover non-combat techs) to improve your intel.

I wholeheartedly agree with being able to train non-combat troops.  It shouldn't be anywhere near as fast or reliable as actual combat experience, but it should be possible.

It would be nice to have "early armors" such as a firefighter's suit that wasn't entirely useless against plasma, but barely worth the TU lost.

Also, if Sebillians are getting resurrection, I want their research tree to lead to an increased threshold/chance of reviving your fallen soldiers.

I've also noticed I'm starting to ramble.  But one last thought, I wouldn't mind if the lines between scientist, technician, and soldier were to get a bit blurred.

[RustyNayle]

The 3PS squad game "The Bureau: XCOM De-classified" offered a great explanation for why agents start off with poor combat skills, because they're actually taken from various intelligence and civilian agencies rather than directly from the military.  Same thing in MiB, and even The Matrix.  It's a very common theme in the Cyberpunk genre, actually.  Even XCOM 2 hints at the fact that many of these people are recruited on the fly as they reach out and/or stumble upon XCOM, and when they are rescued by a team, this is why they start out as rookies.  A database of civilians might be flagged for potential use, then called upon when the situation arises, some of them might also accidentally stumble upon too much info and have to be recruited.  These sorts of people have the right background / mindset that will help them handle the difficult circumstances they're about to enter into, they might even have some specialist skills, but combat training is something that really only comes with time in the field.  The new "secret war" idea for X2 certainly suits this explanation better, and is something that could be developed with in-game mechanics as well - training room needs to be used on new recruits / agents that have just been activated before they even have their first mission, and is then used again each time an agent has enough XP to gain a new attribute / ability advancement.