yet another EA feedback and suggestions post

[momerathe]

tl;dr: looking good so far, could use a few tweaks (as expected for early access). Being able to rotate the battlemap is worth the price of admission alone. For context, I was an avid UFO'94 player back in the day, and I played through X1 a couple of times (this is normal for me) about ten years ago.

Judging by other comments I may be alone in this, but I really enjoy the air combat. I like the fact that with some smart tactics (and liberal use of the space bar) you can minimise the damage your fighters take, without it becoming trivial (i.e. you'll almost always take some chip damage). If I had some suggestions, I would buff the magnetic and gauss aircraft weapons, as lasers clearly outclass them right now. I also don't think torpedos have really found their niche - but that could be coming along with larger ships.

The other thing I'd mention is the ramp-up when alien fighters start to appear is quite abrupt, and the player may find themselves sitting on a large stock of now nearly-obsolete angel interceptors, without the wherewithal (cash) to rapidly switch over. In general, actually, I don't think the game conveys to the newer player how important it is to go hard on base expansion and air interception - I've seen one streamer sitting on day 100 with just his starting base and wondering why he's starved for materials and his funding is turning red. 

Speaking of magnetic weapons, these feel like a trap right now. Given that researching lasers is mandatory (for fighter weapons) and I seem to be constantly backlogged on research, the opportunity cost of spending X days on a skippable weapon is too high. I'd recommend cutting the research time, making the weapons cheaper/faster to produce, or both.

other random observations:

Gauss weapons: mechanically they work fine, but I think they could really use a VFX glow-up. Coming after how cool lasers look, they are a bit underwhelming (to repeat: in appearance, not performance). You should be bringing down Thor's hammer on the aliens with thunder and lightning

Please let us transfer engineers/scientists between bases. I wanted to shift my fighter production to a different base due to hangar space, but was disappointed to have to re-hire engineers at the second base.

The dialog box for decommissioning aircraft says something to the effect of "are you sure you want to sell this aircraft" but you don't get any money. I assume  one or other of these is a bug. (If you did get a refund for selling, then that would smooth the Angel-> Phantom transition though)

That's it for now I think. Keep up the good work!

 

EDIT: knew there was something else. Tier 2 shields please! 

Edited August 7, 2023 by momerathe

[doubleskulls]

I'm not sure magnetic weapons are a trap, as they are marginally better than lasers, but you are right getting Heavy Lasers (and Phantoms) early is critical. In my last playthrough I never built any Angel interceptors, and got rid of the 2 I started with as soon as I could replace them. Maybe having the chief scientist recommend research when you go to the screen? For example

"Commander, you seem be ignoring vital research into XXX which help us with YYYY" - really its Alenium Power, and later on Alien Electronics who's headlines don't, at least to me, scream out 'this is critical research, do it soon'. 

I went with 3 labs early on (end of month 2 I think fully staffed) and I probably had more research than I really needed. Next time I'll go with 2 labs only, but get the Quantum Lab upgrade asap. For my next playthrough I think this is the first 10 researches I'd do. 

1. Combat Vehicles
2. Warden Armour 
3. Magnetic Weapons
4. Xenobiology
5. Alenium Power
6. Phantom Interceptor
7. Quantum Teleportation 
8. Laser Weapons
9. Heavy Lasers 
10. Dragonfly Dropship

IMO everything after that is really whatever you want, until Plasma Weapons and Electronics (and Electronics ought to get a recommendation too IMO - electroshock grenades and gauss weapons are very useful. I'll probably end up taking the interrogations as the bonus training & damage is quite nice whilst I'm waiting for . 

[SHOGUN_YAMATO]

15 minutes ago, momerathe said:

Speaking of magnetic weapons, these feel like a trap right now. Given that researching lasers is mandatory (for fighter weapons) and I seem to be constantly backlogged on research, the opportunity cost of spending X days on a skippable weapon is too high. I'd recommend cutting the research time, making the weapons cheaper/faster to produce, or both.

I second on that. Felt it was a complete waist of time and Aliens Alloys and I used them on just like 2 or 3 missions and switched over to laser weapons, which are just fantastic :P

[momerathe]

39 minutes ago, doubleskulls said:

Next time I'll go with 2 labs only, but get the Quantum Lab upgrade asap.

Yeah, I slept on that (or rather, the cleaner base mission) for way too long.

[Dren608]

I build 2 ACC Shot guns and maybe 2 ACC rifles, They help in the early missions , LAZ Sniper and 4-5 LAZ rifles after that, (Until the good stuff comes). The ACC Shot guns I'm still using in Month 4, since I use them at really close range the diff in LAZ Shotgun to ACC Shotgun doesn't seem to matter that much, and the Resources are better spent on other things than LAZ Shotguns.

The are only a "TRAP" if you go all in, as you use up too many resources before you should. A couple can help but main Riflemen probably need to be on LAZ as well as Sniper. I just use the original MG as a suppression/Cover remover. Can't afford the Resources for ACC or LAZ versions. Now ACC Cannons for Fighters are a "TRAP" as LAZ guns for AC are so much better (Range is everything in Air combat)

My 2 cents worth.