My two cents - suggestions

[Viking1978]

Hi,

I'll skip the intro, keep it short & to the point. I played the first game, have been following the forum, and like where Xenonauts 2 is going, so I want to pitch in my two cents in the form of suggestions, things that - in my eyes - would greatly benefit the game, give a big + for replayability:

* Concerning stats - keep the system transparant and interesting:

- have an unreachable, but clear maximum for stats (e.g. 100); the closer to the maximum, the slower the improvements

- have the option to train a stat in the base and have a training maximum for stats (training can go really slow, but at least you have the impression that your soldiers are doing something useful)

- have different patterns for the soldiers' evolution, some may have more/less talent in certain aspects than others, e.g. one soldier may quickly improve his accuracy stat, but need more time for his strength stats (we are talking about humans, right?)

- keep all the above editable in an xml-file  and the patterns could be explicit or not according to game settings

-> There is no fun in knowing in advance that shooting x times at your enemy will add y points after a mission while not knowing what the maximum is. It doesn't make it any better if this is for several stats....

 

* Concerning factions - add human enemies:

- I really like that in the first Xenonauts game there are some humans that help you in a mission, as if you have some allies, but it would make a big difference if there was at least one human enemy faction as well. They could use exactly the same system that aliens use (e.g. bases popping up, infiltrating your base), but could give you supplies that you can use immediately, like weapons, grenades, ammo, as well as a vehicle & more experienced soldier (in rare cases). E.g. after fighting a certain faction there is a 10% chance of persuading a stunned enemy soldier to join your cause (I wouldn't make the chance higher than 10% as - in my eyes - it should be more like a bonus, an awesome, lucky event, than a reason to attack the enemy faction and stun everyone). However, a human enemy faction would bring more variety being a different kind of enemy using different weapons (i.e. use of shields, machine guns, grenades, rocket launchers like the Xenonauts) in a different setting. Furthermore, the player has another interesting option to train his soldiers that would feel like a different kind of mission. Most importantly, it would feel different to the player... To me this was one of the most interesting, fun features of UFO: Apocalypse. The factions could take the shape of cultists, extremists, some secret intelligence agency etc., I'm sure this would fit the story.

(- You could expand on this and also add more factions in the form of companies... Whereas UFO: Apocalypse has them on a city level, Xenonauts 2 could have them on a global level, but I fear this would be suggesting, asking too much, especially going more into detail, although it would make things more interesting e.g. to choose the position of your bases, to make sure you keep good relations in order to have all back-up materials for designing a piece of equipment, etc.)

So far for my two cents, I hope to see some reaction on this. Keep up the good work - cheerS

Edited August 23, 2017 by Viking1978

[Viking1978]

I am starting to wonder if I touched some delicate subject that everybody is avoiding....

[Sheepy]

7 hours ago, Viking1978 said:

I am starting to wonder if I touched some delicate subject that everybody is avoiding....

Not really.  It's just that forum activity has slowed down after last few updates.

Training I think has been proposed before, multiple times.  Random soldier characteristic has also been lightly discussed.  As for strategic layer, it is a part that we don't know where it is going or whether factions are in plan.  It's in the scope of Phoenix Point and XCOM 2's Chosen DLC, not to mention UFO series, so faction does seem to be the trend, but whether it fits X2 I think it's hard to know at the moment.

I think you can expect that, for the moment, X2 is just reusing X1 system which has been proven and can skip the design and adjustment phase.

[Viking1978]

Thanks for the answer. So it is not a delicate subject, that's something, but I don't know much more now. I still hope to receive some feedback on my feedback from the developer also... My intention was to make some suggestions that are relatively simple to implement, but that would make a big difference...

[benrs]

like your ideas !

I just wrote here a post that suggesting the same as you regarding the supplies you get from the cultist or same as them.

[boo]

I'd like to see corporations fronting Alien (or anti-alien) activities. It'd be a supplement to the existing economic aspect of the game and fit into the secret war ideas.

[boo]

Thank you, developers, for an outstanding game in X1, btw. I've sunk hundreds of hours into it so far and still love it. The balance of gameplay elements is so good.

[endersblade]

- have an unreachable, but clear maximum for stats (e.g. 100); the closer to the maximum, the slower the improvements

No.  You're trying to make this MMO-like - Hey, you can reach the cap, but can you REALLY? Come, sink thousands of hours into this game to try!  Just no.  One of the best things ABOUT the older X-COM and its clones is that you CAN cap out your stats.  If you play the game long enough to have a bunch of super soldiers, you deserve it.  Because the game becomes beatable LONG before that usually happens.  It's the reward of having soldiers survive so long - the payoff for being a good strategist.