Man, do you even play your own game??? How am I suppose to be faster with such founding:
(Founding)
"Flight glyph"s were around 75% of my income! I am already playing as good as it is possible, because I know the research tree, I know priorities. I won almost every battle or fled (because I already know all enemies (except those pesky elves (RIP no reloading in champagne))), I shoot down almost every craft (that is why I was able to stay above 0 while sky was filled with red crosses). There just no room for mistakes! Right now I have 60 scientists, maybe I can afford additional 20.
I think we are his balance testers.
Too slow for 2023. Maybe i should reconsider geoscape difficulty...
But seriously, scientists are too expensive and research takes too long to be any faster. Especially for someone who
doesn't know the tech tree.
My calculations for time expected required to get Atmospheric Sattelite, which is probably that baloon that Vakrug mentioned. Until you get that, you can't defeat more than 1 base per 5 months on average, since you can't find them any faster. And since you won't be able to defeat any adult or old nests, you really won't be doing even that.
Counting with 30 scientists, since that is how many I can barely afford.
USA police contract: 5/30=1 day
The police contract is signed: 0
first autopsy (Slug Corpse) 100/30=4 days
Shielded Prison 200/30=7 days
Basics of the invader spoken language (from Goblin Fighter): 100/30=4 days
Contact: Savages: 80/30=3 days
Invaders' spoken language: 210/30=7 days
Weak Artifact: 500/30=17 days
Magic Items (from Marauder boss) 3*130/30=13 days
Arriving spots of the Invaders (from marauder Boss, having Magic Items): 2*130/30=9 days
Shielded Lab: 500/30=17 days
Invader paths (from Outcast Mage, having Invader Transport, AsotI, and Magic Items) 5*150/30=25 days
!Sky under control!: 300/30=10 days
Advanced Radars: 400/30=14 days
Rifts: 250/30=9 days
Rift Stabilization: 450/30=15 days
Contract with the US army: 120/30=4 days
Contract with the army is signed: 0/30=0 days
Contact: Invaders: 100/30=4 days
USA special forces equipment: 100/30=4 days
The special forces equipment contract is signed: 0/30=0 days
Large-caliber weapon: 120/30=4 days
The unusual equipment is needed: 0/30=0 days
Internationalization: 350/30=12 days
!X-contract!: 200/30=7 days
Strong Artifact: 600/30=20 days
Psionic: 500/30=17 days
Mana Crystal: 800/30=27 days
Mana Capacitor: 450/30=15
Detection of Mana Sources: 300/30=10 daysThe sum is 279 days. Assuming average research rate, perfect missions, and always having what you need to research already in your stores, you can expect the player to have the Atmospheric satellite no sooner than 279days into the game, which is 6th of October 2020. If they beeline for it.
If, however, the player gets unlucky on interrogation roulette, they don't manage to catch enough Outcast Magi or Marauder Bosses, or even their stabilized rifts all either lead to hostile environment or don't contain a Strong Artifact, it can take a lot longer.
And since beelining for the Atmospheric Satellite means skipping defensive techs (Chitin&Runewood armors) and useful weapons (Bows and Wands), you can't expect players to beeline for it anyway.
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