Nice work here! One thing I experimented a bit with was the black helmet: Instead of making it entirely black I simply swapped the pallete to make it gradually black/grey which looks even better inmho, you should try that and see how you like it.
Apologies for late reply, didn't wanna bump this thread till I had the next update (links on main/first post and
changelog here). I'm assuming you're referring to the black helmet in Plastic Armor for battlescape sprites? I'll have to look at that (got pics?). I really would love to just make them all snow-white (with some hints of light blue and/or silver here and there maybe). Problem is inventory pic doesn't look particularly great in white.
Anyway, been playtesting this thing a couple dozen times (almost) and thought maybe a brief
GAMEFLOW OVERVIEW could be of (little) interest here in terms of pacing and how these mods play out:
(You should never run outta research topics unless you have maybe over 200 scientists at work or something insane like that—100 or so should keep everything running smoothly & fresh.)
PHASE 1: Laser/Gauss Tech, Personal/Plastic Armor, UFO ConstructionYou should be getting Laser/Gauss Pistol by Feb, followed by Laser/Gauss Rifle by March at the earliest (if you neglect to research your first alien corpses and/or UFO components), with Heavy Laser/Gauss maybe by April/May, if not later. This should allow you to play with starting/conventional weapons and diversify your tactics a bit more early on. You should also be unlocking Personal/Plastic Armor by April/May at the latest and start making some money out of the earliest manufacture options that become immediately available (e.g. Alloys/Plastics, Laser/Gauss Weapons, and even Mind Probe/MC Reader once unlocked).
PHASE 2: Laser/Gauss Cannon, Decoder/Resolver, New Fighter/Transport CraftBy May/June you should have at least established a secondary, well-supplied, well-defended base and have unlocked Laser/Gauss Cannon (which should give you a real advantage when it comes to air combat) as well as Hyperwave Decoder/Transmission Resolver, alongside your first *NEW* X-Com fighter/transport crafts. You should also really begin making up some serious money from your manufacturing business by now (hint: Mind Probe/MC Reader should prove *extremely* profitable if you can spare exotic materials).
PHASE 3: Alien Containment, Power/Ion Armor, Psi/MC-Lab, Alien Base AssaultsBy July/Aug you should be unlocking Alien Containment (*), closely followed by Psi/MC-Lab. You should also have unlocked (or be closing in to) Power/Ion Armor around this time and begin raiding the first alien bases and expanding into your third (and/or fourth?) base as well. This phase is marked by increased UFO activity (with mixed races now coming into the picture), manufacturing of new X-Com crafts to replace old (leased) fighters/transporters, X-Com's base expansion across the globe, and the discovery (and subsequent raiding) of alien bases.
(*Note that in TFTD this may come in a bit later, as neither Cryogenics nor Cloning are carried by any UFO "below" Supply Cruiser, whereas Alien Food may be obtained from Harvesters in UFO/EU, usually leading to an earlier unlocking of Alien Containment.)
PHASE 4: Llive Alien Capture + Alien WeaponryBy Sept/Oct you should have taken down couple alien bases and start interrogating your first live aliens to begin unlocking alien tech/weapons (if you haven't done so earlier already). Capturing various ranks is absolutely necessary here, as all ranks contribute to the unlocking of all tech tiers (plus intel on alien missions & UFOs). This will lead you to Plasma Beam/Sonic Oscillator as well as AVENGER/LEVIATHAN (whichever comes first) to really begin counteracting the alien menace in the skies. Also, the discovery of Hovertanks/Displacers will in turn lead to Flying/Mag-Ion Armor, which should give you a serious advantage in battle.
PHASE 5: Endgame (Final Cydonia/T'leth Mission)Endgame may occur as early as Nov/Dec or as late as Mar/April of next year, depending on how soon you capture an Alien Commander and whether or not you want to invest on researching your way into top-tier alien tech (i.e. Blaster/DPL) and/or spend some more time training your Psi/MC-operatives.
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there is another way of doing it but that's rather long winded.
