More Soldier/Weapon Customization & Controls

[ElTee]

Soldier Customization - Uniforms: I know this is aesthetic, but maan. Even though it'd be aesthetic, I love the idea of messing with color/camo schemes. You could split the slots between helmet, vest/joints and clothing. That, or limbs/vest & clothing. It would add a very nice touch in making the Xenonauts your own. You could have an all black, commando scheme, SWAT style scheme, U.N peacekeeper theme etc. I'd suggest:

Colors: Gray, Dark Gray, Black, Navy Blue, Blue, Green, Olive Drab, Khaki, White

Camo: Urban, Desert, Jungle/Forest is really all you'd need.

Soldier Controls - Mass Select: One slightly annoying thing is that you can't simply move multiple units at once. Being able to drag/drop to select multiple troops to move in a direction would be nice. You could add a toggle to the UI to go by the furthest moving soldier, slowest or averaged speed. This would be very convenient and remove some micromanaging when it isn't needed.

Weapon Customization: I know additional weapons aren't really planned but, any chance of having weapon customization ala Jagged Alliance? I'd absolutely love that. You could have the slots be:

Top: For scopes. Including ones meant for more reflexive use, telescopic sights and night-vision.

Handguard: Forward grips (increased accuracy), flashlights, bipods (less spread/more accuracy when firing in full auto/bursts). Could also be for changing materials for lighter weight (polymer vs wood, for example)

Barrel: Length/weight of the barrel to effect accuracy/recoil/range.

Stock: Removing/adding different kinds of stocks for weight. Having no stock could make a weapon one-handed or even lighter, but it'd effect accuracy and range.

Clip: For a M16 for example, this could be anything from the standard 20 round, to the 30 round magazine to a drum.

For the non-ballistic weapons, other than the above, I think you could do it to represent how 'advanced' or close to the original alien design it is. Say, you could make a laser gun with modern materials outside of the most essential things, but it can't be used after a certain amount of rounds (barrel melting/overheating) or it has less ammo per clip/take up more space (powerpacks). I haven't actually got far enough to use laser/plasma weapons yet, but you get the idea.

Btw, is it possible to pin down enemy aliens? If not, then adding the ability to suppress fire would be pretty sweet.

[Gorzahg]

Fancy uniforms aren't gonna get done as it's just way too much work for what it brings.

You can move a soldier while another is moving. Group moves aren't really suited to TBS.

Weapon customization isn't gonna happen. It's not really worth doing if you have a decent sized arsenal like in Xenonauts.

Yes you can suppress some aliens. Lots of burst fire usually does the trick.

[Gorlom]

Soldier Customization - Uniforms: I know this is aesthetic, but maan. Even though it'd be aesthetic, I love the idea of messing with color/camo schemes. You could split the slots between helmet, vest/joints and clothing. That, or limbs/vest & clothing. It would add a very nice touch in making the Xenonauts your own. You could have an all black, commando scheme, SWAT style scheme, U.N peacekeeper theme etc. I'd suggest:

Colors: Gray, Dark Gray, Black, Navy Blue, Blue, Green, Olive Drab, Khaki, White

Camo: Urban, Desert, Jungle/Forest is really all you'd need.

The game engine can't handle pallet swaps unfortunately You would have to create duplicate sprite sheets of every weapon combination and then edit those copies to have your alternate armour colour. It's tedious and time consuming work and would quickly inflate the number of files in the assets.

You could probably mod it but it doesn't look like it will be included in the official game.

[ElTee]

The game engine can't handle pallet swaps unfortunately You would have to create duplicate sprite sheets of every weapon combination and then edit those copies to have your alternate armour colour. It's tedious and time consuming work and would quickly inflate the number of files in the assets.

You could probably mod it but it doesn't look like it will be included in the official game.

Wow, really? I figured the weapons would be separate from the soldier sprites. Oh well.

[Gauddlike]

The game engine is old and outdated.

It barely covers the basic features and falls over if you try anything fancy.

Goldhawk also don't have rights to alter the engine (and get no replies from the engine owner) so can't add anything that would make their lives easier.

[ElTee]

I assume the devs are confident they can code the game they envision within the limits of the game engine, and nothing has been cut as a result of it?

[Gauddlike]

Nothing has been cut because they are only adding things the engine can support.

[Thann]

In which situation do you need to move more than one soldier at once? I would never use something like that, even if it was implemented. If you overlooked just one alien, it could throw a grenade and kill most of your team.

Weapon customization sounds nice, but I think it would be more work then gain. In this case I prefer to have some more weapons to choose from instead of less weapons and more customization.

[ElTee]

In which situation do you need to move more than one soldier at once? I would never use something like that, even if it was implemented. If you overlooked just one alien, it could throw a grenade and kill most of your team.

Weapon customization sounds nice, but I think it would be more work then gain. In this case I prefer to have some more weapons to choose from instead of less weapons and more customization.

The beautiful thing with modding is that we *would* have more weapons while having the weapon customization. That, or the current amount. Win-win.

If it isn't possible for the game engine though, well, that sucks.

[Gorlom]

you can add weapons through modding. But you can't add the weapon customization function through modding (without accessing the source code), that would need to be added to the core game before anyone can mod those items...

[TrashMan]

PLEASE - add the option to customize each soldiers details (face, name, country, sex)

Not the actual numbers, but all the fluffy, decoration stuff. It will be great for making that special team consisting of your family...or for Let's Plays.

[Gauddlike]

you can add weapons through modding. But you can't add the weapon customization function through modding (without accessing the source code), that would need to be added to the core game before anyone can mod those items...

You may be able to work something in though.

For example if you were to research advanced optics you could then have a production job to build the AR with sights.

It could be a relatively quick production run that required a rifle as one of the materials and produced an identical one, plus whatever bonus you decided the scope should give.

It doesn't help with ground combat sprites though, you would have to make do with the original ones and hope they looked close enough.

[ElTee]

you can add weapons through modding. But you can't add the weapon customization function through modding (without accessing the source code), that would need to be added to the core game before anyone can mod those items...

You completely misread what I said. The part I responded to was

"In this case I prefer to have some more weapons to choose from instead of less weapons and more customization."

If the devs add weapon customization but there aren't many weapons in the game, there is no loss since you could add them in through modding.

[Gorlom]

Yeah, I probably did. I don't even remember if this was the thread I was trying to respond to

(wonder if I was trying to clarify something or respond to something earlier in the thread that I forgot? or if i really got that so wrong.)

Are you asking for the devs to add the function without any content? Or am I misreading again? Bah I'm too tired, I should go to bed!

[ElTee]

Yeah, I probably did. I don't even remember if this was the thread I was trying to respond to

(wonder if I was trying to clarify something or respond to something earlier in the thread that I forgot? or if i really got that so wrong.)

Are you asking for the devs to add the function without any content? Or am I misreading again? Bah I'm too tired, I should go to bed!

No? Try reading the thread from top to bottom, including who I was responding to.

[Gorlom]

Rereading didn't help me that much. Maybe I expressed myself poorly?

I asked if you wanted the devs to add the ability to customize, without adding any of the items to customize weapons with... because modders would add those. The customizing would be the "function" and the items would be the "content" in that last post. Does that make my post clearer?

If the question still doesn't make sense you will have to elaborate instead of telling me to reread it all. Obviously I don't have sufficient reading comprehension (or possibly mind reading powers) to understand what you mean.

[ElTee]

Rereading didn't help me that much. Maybe I expressed myself poorly?

I asked if you wanted the devs to add the ability to customize, without adding any of the items to customize weapons with... because modders would add those. The customizing would be the "function" and the items would be the "content" in that last post. Does that make my post clearer?

If the question still doesn't make sense you will have to elaborate instead of telling me to reread it all. Obviously I don't have sufficient reading comprehension (or possibly mind reading powers) to understand what you mean.

Oh, I guess that's my fault then.

Either would be great IMO. If it's moddable, but the devs don't work on it, it won't be a big deal since modders could add customization themselves. If they do work on content, that'd be great since it's in the core game and you won't have to hope a modder does something good with it.