How do I make psionics require same-turn discovery?

[new_civilian]

I experimented a bit with cheatturn set to 100 and intelligence of psi units set to 0 and got interesting results: It seems the AI still gets the ability to psi-attack you after turn 21 (or if the 2-unit rule triggers), but it will not know your position and/or use the cheat-attack mode.


Anyway: I really like the removal of the AI-cheating, it makes entering USOs/UFOs much more balanced, you now really have a chance to surprise the aliens, it feels like a totally new and better game.

[Meridian]

Depends on how you play I guess.

In UFO, I never get beyond turn 20 (unless I willingly want to train reactions).
In TFTD, sometimes you get close to and over turn 20, especially in ship terror missions, but even then I am grateful for cheating, since it helps prevent bughunts (a little).

[new_civilian]

Yes, true, it does depend a lot on the way of playing. I try to keep my soldiers alive, even when they are mind-controlled, I try to not kill them, but stun them and take them home and sack them there.  I rpg XCom as far as possible...

That's why I hate the cheating AI a lot: You plan a careful and clever entry into the UFO, clear the whole outside and BAMM suddenly when you e.g. enter the UFO the aliens know EXACTLY and MAGICALLY where you are? Nope, no longer working for me, it defeats the whole point of being careful and placing your units tactically clever.

I can live with the PSI cheating, it gives you a reason to hurry without being a brute and stupid AI omni-knowledge cheat.
But that alien knowing exactly where my units hide and where to attack without me being able to counter that? No.

[Meridian]

That's why I hate the cheating AI a lot: You plan a careful and clever entry into the UFO, clear the whole outside and BAMM suddenly when you e.g. enter the UFO the aliens know EXACTLY and MAGICALLY where you are? Nope, no longer working for me, it defeats the whole point of being careful and placing your units tactically clever.

You know, maybe they just have CCTV cameras... even 1-star hotels and lowest-of-the-lowest bars in the middle of nowhere have those nowadays, why wouldn't aliens have them ? Not really any magic in that.

[Arthanor]

Good point Meridian!

Also, a good tactic is one that is recognized too late to be foiled. Given that the AI is quite basic and that it only knows your position without being able to guess what you will do after, it should be plenty doable to come up with tactics it can't handle.

Breaching ufos without losses is hard, yes, but it really should be. A good tactic might mean that you only lose a soldier every other time. If you can not lose soldiers every time, then something is wrong unless you're playing Piratez and raiding low tier ufos. It should not be doable in XCOM.

[new_civilian]

You know, maybe they just have CCTV cameras... even 1-star hotels and lowest-of-the-lowest bars in the middle of nowhere have those nowadays, why wouldn't aliens have them ? Not really any magic in that.

Well, why don't they know then right from the start? They could have invisible nanobot-cameras floating in the skyranger... Also no magic in that. 

Arthanor, I am not necessarily talking about vanilla XCom. What if you fight e.g. human vs. human in a 1950s Total Conversion?
It's not the AI cheat per se that bugs me, but the blunt way it is enforced no matter what.

[Arthanor]

Well, whatever the AI does, I can't believe it's as brutal and ruthless as humans would be. I haven't tried to 1vs1 XCom game, but I am fairly certain that casualties abound on both sides even if your opponent doesn't know your units' positions like the AI does.

I think that in general, unless you are fighting an enemy that you thoroughly dominate, breaching enemy positions should come with casualties regularly enough. That should be true in normal XCom, or in human vs human operations.

All that being said, I agree with you that the transition between no cheat and cheat at a given time limit is contrived.

[new_civilian]

After playing an entire campaign with this mod^AND the cheatturn removed I am absolutely content with the AI behaviour now. Finally there is a real tactical battle going on inside the USO/UFOs, you can surprise aliens and it feels much better to have a fair chance and no longer automatically loose the first  soldier entering the enemy craft and/or having to resort to exploits or overly time-consuming and unrealistic tactics. Realism meaning equal chances here.