Financial Director

I think the game could really use a "talking" head or something similar to help beginners avoid going broke. I've noticed this the most common mistake beginners make while playing. I'm not exactly sure how this would be implemented, but it should be relatively simple for the computer to project if and when you'll broke at the current rate of spending vs. revenue. If it looks bad, the "Financial Director" would pop up and warn you that you're in trouble and perhaps make a few suggestions like "you've lost revenue in North America" or "adding a new base at this time is not adviseable" or "we can't really afford a new aircraft at this time". Otherwise, you just can click or maybe automatically receive and report at the start of each month with a projection of how your finances are doing. If it were added you should be able to toggle it "off" if desired.

I think the game could really use a "talking" head or something similar to help beginners avoid going broke. I've noticed this the most common mistake beginners make while playing. I'm not exactly sure how this would be implemented, but it should be relatively simple for the computer to project if and when you'll broke at the current rate of spending vs. revenue. If it looks bad, the "Financial Director" would pop up and warn you that you're in trouble and perhaps make a few suggestions like "you've lost revenue in North America" or "adding a new base at this time is not adviseable" or "we can't really afford a new aircraft at this time". Otherwise, you just can click or maybe automatically receive and report at the start of each month with a projection of how your finances are doing. If it were added you should be able to toggle it "off" if desired.

There are a couple of leaps of logic here that do not totally fit.

First off virtually everyone who plays a game like this has failed the the money aspect of the game in their first few tries. it happens its part of the learning curve so really should not require what amounts to a pop-up.

The second part is that for a something like that to actually work in the way you are suggesting It would need a considerable amount of independent logic so it can determine if one action or another is going to break the bank as it were. That is a lot of work for what amounts to a glorified financial tutorial function.

Now I do agree that there should be a more noticeable flag or warning when your upkeep exceeds your projected income for the next month. because that is where people dig themselves into a terrible hole

i'd like to see a more detailed report at the end of the month, like a list of bases and upkeep costs, how much I spent this month and on what, how much was earned from missions, bombed crash sites and monthly funding. Maybe even graphs like in original xcom game.

But a talking head? I don't think I'd like the game second-guessing my decisions. Basically I'm broke most of the time since all my money is busy shooting down UFOs and building new bases. I've yet to see where it gets me in the long run, but since the arrival of UFOs worth $50k things are looking pretty good.

I think what might help would be a clear communication of what the action we're about to perform will do to monthly upkeep, by displaying the upkeep next to the current funds and a little number popping up from behind it showing how much more we'd be spending after buying/building something.

That's why I suggested that it could be turned off. I would put a checkbox on the pop-up that says "Don't show this again" or something similar. As far as projecting the budget in the first place, I wasn't suggesting that it be super precise, but it should be relatively simple to tell that you'll go into the red within say a month or two at any given point if nothing changes, kind of like Wrath suggested.