I find the Sectopod image for Robot Disassembly a poor choice.
It's a placeholder
But you're right, needs to be changed.
EDIT: New version is up!
More fixes, more changes - nothing REALLY new, but to those who don't play they might come as shocking - starting base that feels like it has fallen on really bad times, WORKING long distance view (thanks to Stian, Yankes & Meridian), and Bonaventura needs to be unlocked before being built. Other than that, new nuances here and there, biggest being changing how lasers deal damage (all have lost 20% power but gained 1/3rd armor penetration) or the refinery and new industrial manufacturing projects to CRANK OUT ONE DOLLAR MORE in late-mid to late game.
But what is sort of a preview of upcoming 0.99 is not only the starting base nerf; it's foremost 4 new marker missions that will spawn randomly, 2-3 per month - easy to fight but well-polished missions, intended for early game, where you attack small outposts of Ratlings, Church, Academy and the Guild. They're a first taste of the things to come. As of now they don't really lead anywhere, but you can at least get a feel. Later, they will lead up to more dangerous and more profitable marker missions, like raid illicit business to catch its owner and cash in the price for his head from Ratmen Mafia, go swimming under the sea, kill some pirate-wannabes who say you're not true, raid a Ghoul-owned chemical plant, rob banks, exchange shots with Marsec Policemen etc. etc. They will evolve into multiple tiers of marker missions that work alongside flight missions (these will have the number of landings reduced, to force air combat to get to them).
During this phase, also the full tech regression will be realized. The game won't get much harder, but even the most basic techs will have to be researched; that way, the starting array of available equipment will be severely hampered (to the musket level), but will become more surmountable as the equipment will appear gradually, first from loot, only later from the store and production. Production will just complement the store first (or the other way around), only in some longer time you will be able to produce stuff that surpasses store selection. Loot driven armory will also allow to skip 'suck' guns (only researched ones will appear in the store - once a certain tier of trading is achieved). Store will be more organized, in time offering better tech and not a kitchen sink like it is now. I took a lot of different opinions from this forum and I need to weigh them; even the people who might feel like I was rude to them I assure were carefully listened to. Also the changes outlined here will start to be implemented:
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,4604.msg64394.html#msg64394But this all also means this update to 0.99 will take much longer than usual. I need to make tons and tons of assets to make this work, write a lot of code, balance, test play etc. Basically overhauling the whole game progression, changing the bare bones story it has now into something resembling what the game was envisioned in the beginning. It will be a huge upgrade, and the time will be worth it, I promise that.
If you want to support me in that gruelling work, you know how to do it
