My suggestions list - Snipers, deployable weapons, hovercrafts, etc...

[thothkins]

ok, so it's a portal gun that destroys whatever you place the portal on... I just have on question, what is a "boffins"?

well, it could be a portal type gun. It could be a quantum observance device utilising human psionics (you know you want them) and a psi amp just some ideas.

your boffin is your archetypal scientist.. often scruffy, either scientist or engineer - frequently a bit of both, generally whip smart, but may have truck sized blind spots in the little things, like turning on light switches and social interaction.

[raziel1981]

thothkins - this could be quite an interesting idea if implemented correctly. Possible flaw with such a weapon - there is a small chance of it causing a localized space/time singularity where it hits (or perhaps at the point it is being fired from)

Event Horizon anyone?

[thothkins]

Cpl Punishment: Well, the good news is that the Androns are now just a warped, rusty stain on that collapsed building over there.

Major Hugs: ...and the bad.

Cpl Punishment: That would be the tentacled horror form beyond pouring syrup on Commissar Pancakes, Sir.

[Guest]

I don't fully understand how you picture it though. That is my problem with the suggestion

There will be a fourth tier that Chris hasn't unveiled yet. (he has revealed that there will be a fourth tier, just not what it is)

Actually I think the tiers are ballastic, laser, railguns and plasma.

[Gorlom]

Actually I think the tiers are ballastic, laser, railguns and plasma.

Some have assumed it will be railgun yes, but afaik Chris has not confirmed or denied that. If you could provide a post where Chris mentions all four tiers that be wonderful.

And I'm pretty sure its the fourth tier that is yet to be disclosed not the third one.

[Guest]

Some have assumed it will be railgun yes, but afaik Chris has not confirmed or denied that.

Ahem.

[Khall]

Some have assumed it will be railgun yes, but afaik Chris has not confirmed or denied that. If you could provide a post where Chris mentions all four tiers that be wonderful.

And I'm pretty sure its the fourth tier that is yet to be disclosed not the third one.

If you go to

Xenonauts -> Assets -> GUI -> weapons

You'll find some very interesting pictures

[Gorlom]

Well look at that. I was completely wrong. my bad.

[erutan]

I think the problem with artillery, heavy weapons, and 2km snipers isn't that they aren't realistic, but that they offer way too many chances for 1 hit kills you can't effectively avoid, especially in the opening stages of combat. While that is a very realistic aspect of warfare, it would be kind of frustrating for a tactical squad game like Xenonauts. Adding in teleporting enemies would just make that worse - they could teleport into your dropship with grenades, behind cover, etc.

I think a game with those options could be fun, but it's not this game. Perhaps a real time pause game with anonymous soldiers broken into class roles taking place over larger maps?

[Max_Caine]

Hey, raziel1981! EMP damage is in!

[raziel1981]

great Max_Caine! thanks

[crusherven]

I do think it would be interesting if some improved ballistic weapons were in there as alternatives. IIRC, there are three laser weapons (pistol, rifle, heavy) and five starting ballistic weapons (pistol, shotgun, assault rifle, sniper, light machine gun). For my playstyle, the pistol isn't very valuable, meaning I basically only have the two options in laser weaponry assuming I don't keep some of the starting stuff. Having improved human weapons would be an easy way to give players more options without having to draw new weapons.0

[Gorlom]

I do think it would be interesting if some improved ballistic weapons were in there as alternatives. IIRC, there are three laser weapons (pistol, rifle, heavy) and five starting ballistic weapons (pistol, shotgun, assault rifle, sniper, light machine gun). For my playstyle, the pistol isn't very valuable, meaning I basically only have the two options in laser weaponry assuming I don't keep some of the starting stuff. Having improved human weapons would be an easy way to give players more options without having to draw new weapons.0

no, that would be 5 laser weapons. Open up your xenonaut folder > assets > wepons > laser and you will find images for: laser pistol, laser carbine, laser rifle, precision laser and scatter laser

In order that would be the equivalent of pistol, smg (replacing shotgun), rifle precision, rifle and mg for the laser tier. the other two tiers will have about the same setup.

As for the pistol: it will be slightly more tempting to use once other stuff makes it in like the assult/breaching shields and stun rods

[crusherven]

no, that would be 5 laser weapons. Open up your xenonaut folder > assets > wepons > laser and you will find images for: laser pistol, laser carbine, laser rifle, precision laser and scatter laser

In order that would be the equivalent of pistol, smg (replacing shotgun), rifle precision, rifle and mg for the laser tier. the other two tiers will have about the same setup.

Good to hear that my memory is bad. The farthest I've gotten I had just started manufacturing laser weapons, and that was back in the first kickstarter build.

As for the pistol: it will be slightly more tempting to use once other stuff makes it in like the assult/breaching shields and stun rods

I agree. I get the impression, though, that a lot of other players have always found more use for the pistol than I have. IMO part of the problem in past xcom games has been that you can still shoot fairly accurately with an off-hand item. In real life, of course, shooting anything bigger than a pistol (indeed, even a pistol) with only one hand is extremely inaccurate.

In TFTD one could argue the pistol was useful in conjunction with melee, though I still think you might as well carry a rifle. I always miss having effective melee weapons in my xcom replays; I liked the expanded tactical options from having that in tftd.

[thothkins]

I can't say I''ve ever found the pistol useful. I was hoping that it would come into it's own with the assault shield.

[Gauddlike]

The pistol will also have a bonus to reaction fire so coupled with the assault shield could make for a really effective breaching option.

It does help that you will only be able to use one handed weapons along with the shield.

[Buzzles]

I can't say I''ve ever found the pistol useful. I was hoping that it would come into it's own with the assault shield.

I think aside from its (essentially non existant) weight and the occasional benefit of that, the basic pistol can be pretty much ignored totally. I know the laser pistol is actually usable, and I'd imagine the further two tier pistols to actually be worthwhile to field.

[Betuor]

I think aside from its (essentially non existant) weight and the occasional benefit of that, the basic pistol can be pretty much ignored totally. I know the laser pistol is actually usable, and I'd imagine the further two tier pistols to actually be worthwhile to field.

Well, how did this get here?

Edited July 7, 2012 by Betuor

[Chris]

In response to the first post - EMP is already in the game, and there will be specialist alien snipers too. The other stuff is unlikely for various reasons that are a bit too long to go into right now.

[Oktober]

I think aside from its (essentially non existant) weight and the occasional benefit of that, the basic pistol can be pretty much ignored totally.

Whatever! I love my pistoliers! I get super excited whenever I manage to score a kill with one. Generally, for each team I'm running, I designate one guy as a mobile nade-chucking, first-aid-providing platform. And so far I've had good luck with scoring pistol-kills with these guys...against Caesans. Despite emptying lots of rounds into Sebillians, still no kills.

I haven't yet played a game in which I could afford to equip my mans with laser-weapons. But that's something to look forward to.

[insert plea for more forgiving budget here.]

[Hardball]

I think that sniping as well as deployable heavier weapons like mortars or the like do not necessarily have to cause unbalance. These merely make it necessary to adapt tactics. To avoid a sniper you need to take better cover and close in on the position as fast as possible while the sniper is relatively immobile, to avoid the mortar you need to take its position as fast as possible. On the other side the aliens would try to concentrate their fire on a soldier who already took out many or reach the position of the mortar (which in my opinion would for the given reasons make only sense in special mission where the xenonauts had to take fortified positions etc.).

This makes the game more interesting and in my opinion the greatest challenge of all UFO games and UFO-inspired games was and is boredom caused be repetitive missions. Not every missions should involve that stuff though.

For the matter of balance:

The sniper could get an accuracy penalty if its target moved a lot. A mortar could have the disadvantage that the round(s) would only arrive at the targeted area one turn later and - being not very accurate - would threaten civilians and cause damage you would want to avoid while dealing damage like a slightly bigger grenade and have a slightly bigger range than a grenade launcher etc. I really do not see any imbalance there. And such basic equipment would be available to a force such as the xenonauts, wouldn't it?

On the other hand it is indeed true that the xenonauts are aiming at being very flexible and swift in their action, so a grenade launcher would do the trick as well if a high angle ballistic flight curve was needed against an alien in good cover. So if there were a mission where an alien heavy assault (which I loved in UFO Afterlight by the way) occured, there could be a mortar or super heavy machine gun or whatever available on the map as a special goodie that could be manned and used for that missions special purpose.

That would spice things up a little, wouldn't it?