Automatic game balance adjustment

[Komandos]

The balance of the game should be a self-sustaining system, similar to a nuclear reaction inside stars: when too much hydrogen enters into nuclear reactions, the star expands and nuclear reactions decrease. When too little hydrogen enters into nuclear reactions, the star shrinks under the influence of gravity and the number of nuclear reactions increases. Therefore: when the player achieves too much success: the number of aliens in the tasks should increase. When the player's progress is small, the number of aliens should be unchanged, and even decrease at the "beginner" difficulty level.

 

I suggest doing this as an additional level of difficulty and only for tactical battles on the tactical map. Such a function is not suitable for the strategic level, because it makes meaningless all the strategic advantages that the player receives by adhering to the correct strategy.

[Alienkiller]

Sounds interessting. But how you will manage that?

You can´t do it for UFO-Crashsites (an UFO have an maximum Crew-Capacity like your Transports, which can´t exceeded)

On Terror-Missions / Abduction-Missions you already have an maximum Crew which is heavyly armed.

And so on. The only possible Show Up-Opponent would be the Cleaners.

 

[Komandos]

While playing Xeonauts 1, I increased the number of aliens to 50 aliens per UFO, (by simply changing the values in the file using Excel). What prevents the game from independently increasing the number of aliens in UFOs if the results of the battles show that the player is incredibly strong for this stage of the game?

[Twigg]

Adding more enemies doesn't make the game more interesting or fun, it make it more tedious. There are only so many aliens you can fit on the current maps before it becomes a clown car situation which ruins all the tense atmosphere and immersion the game worked so hard on building up until that point.

[Komandos]

It all depends on what level of difficulty to set the automatic balance of the game. If the game complicates tactical combat every time (creates more enemies) in the presence of a low level of losses. (For example: if the average loss rate  below: one soldier per mission). And vice versa: if the game simplifies tactical combat (creates fewer enemies), if the average loss rate (for example) exceeds three soldiers per mission. - Then this is a fairly simple and cheap way to achieve balance in tactical combat. And a pretty cheap and easy way to create a difficulty level for a beginner.

I do not suggest doing such a balance for experienced players, but for those players who are sensitive to the exact balance of the game (as beginners) - this option "difficulty level Automatic game balance adjustment" - will come in handy.

 

Edited March 11, 2023 by Komandos

[Alienkiller]

Twigg I agree with you. Makes no Sense and would make the Game totaly unrealistic (less Fun etc.).

The only Option would be for that (I say evtl., it must be intern discussed from the Main-Beta-Testers and the Devs together) and an Solution found, that the Cleaners with an small Platoon could come in.

Edited March 11, 2023 by Alienkiller

[MARSHalMELLOW]

Who says other nations wouldn't attempt to secure the alien tech, waiting for you to clear the aliens first, even with cleaner influences. It could be a post release expansion, to introduce new weapons.

An interesting mechanic could be trust of other nations for using the video recordings of cleaners in action from specific nations and authorities to gain a bigger boost in these nations to rout the Cleaners with enough opposition from within the nation.

[Komandos]

It would not be bad to implement the mechanics of the global economy in the game (as it is in X-COM: Apocalypsys), where alien invasions disrupt the balance of economic relations (and with it the availability of certain resources, services, transport and weapons),.

Edited March 13, 2023 by Komandos

[EurekaSeven]

Rather than changing numbers of aliens, changing the crew composition would be a nice touch. Alien would tend.to add.more reapers as crew if the players tend to value civilians, or increase number of robots if players prefer non-lethal/laser weaponry. Also more cleaners can be deployed to crashsite or have an reinforcement mechanism like Phantom Doctrine, stimulating situation that cleaners are more willing to take back the crashsite from xenonauts with all costs

[Alienkiller]

The most Parts which get discussed you wont get in the Base-Game. Where I aggree and which is evtl. adjustable for the first fully Finish Basegame are the Ground-Maps (Failures, Bugfixes, more Variants of them) as well as Alien-Variances from normal Aliens / Robots in the Crash-Sites.

An automatic Ballance-Adjustment we won´t get [Cheating of the AI like in the 1990s C & C-Series, Dune-Strategy-Games f. e.]. The Input will give the Player like f. e. in Hearts of Iron 4, Stellaris and similar from very good todays Games. And we have here too like in UFO-ET-Series and special Strategy- / Manager-Games an Event- / Time-Rotation to the next Level already integrated.

Means: You research f. e. Plasma-Explosives the AI will Upgrade to Fusion-Weapons. If you don´t do that an Timelimiter will do it automatically to give the Player more push-input.

[Komandos]

On 3/22/2023 at 12:37 PM, EurekaSeven said:

Rather than changing numbers of aliens, changing the crew composition would be a nice touch. Alien would tend.to add.more reapers as crew if the players tend to value civilians, or increase number of robots if players prefer non-lethal/laser weaponry. Also more cleaners can be deployed to crashsite or have an reinforcement mechanism like Phantom Doctrine, stimulating situation that cleaners are more willing to take back the crashsite from xenonauts with all costs

I agree. If a player can change the composition of the crew (depending on the actions of the aliens), then why can't the aliens change the composition of the crew (depending on the actions of the player)???