Equipment for particular troops

[SIMON BAILIE]

In my current game of hardmode I finally scrapped the Skyranger @ base 3 and exchanged it for a Skymarshall instead but I noticed with the exception of pre-primed smoke grenades I have to manually put all the equipment back on each troop even though they were the same troops as the skyranger had in the same order. Is this because the auto equip function does not carry to a new transport? It's just when a troop recovers from an injury and you reassign him to the craft he was on, so long as you have all the equipment/weapons in store, the troop in question will have everything he had before in the same inventory slot(s). It's a pain in the neck having to manually re equip all your troops just because the transport is different.

[Solarius Scorch]

I'd simplify the problem to: allow transfers of all troops and equipment from craft to craft. This is a bit of a pain to do manually, and if it's somehow automated, it should also keep the same people equipped with the same stuff.

How to do it exactly, especially how to expand the UI - I have no idea.

[hellrazor]

Well it would be better, if you could set the Inventory of Soldiers in the Soldier screen.
If you asign them towards a craft, then this equipment would be automatically loaded on the craft.

It would be even better if you could manage this in a more meaningful manner.
Like you can define Roles and each role can have specific equipment sets which you can name and define yourself.
Then you can give those roles towards a Soldier and if he is asign on a craft, it would check if all the equipemtn is avaible, if not only take what is there and offer you the option to either buy it, transfer it or produce it.
And as soon as it becomes avaible at the Base it gets loaded on the craft the soldier is asigned.

[yrizoud]

I wouldn't use a "Role" system :
- It doesn't handle how several soldiers with same combat role should additionally carry some equipment that you need less than 1/soldier (Like 6 scouts would share 3 medikits, 3 tazers, 2 motion detectors). Or complimentary equipment : Some scout with grenade+smoke, some with smoke+proxy, some with grenade+proxy.
- Soldiers have very varied strength. Normally you would adapt your soldiers kits accordingly : the stronger scouts could carry extra grenades and ammo, or even upgrade normal grenades to demolition packs.

IMO the issue is limited to the case stated by Simon : recovering and reassigned soldiers don't carry over their 'expected equipment'. The game applies the auto-equipment algorithm instead.
I think the engine could try reapply the soldier's last known equipment, but there is the issue that the transport's store could not have everything : If there are not enough clips, the soldier will be equipped with an empty weapon! If you don't notice it on mission start, you're going to be in trouble.

[hellrazor]

In my current game of hardmode I finally scrapped the Skyranger @ base 3 and exchanged it for a Skymarshall instead but I noticed with the exception of pre-primed smoke grenades I have to manually put all the equipment back on each troop even though they were the same troops as the skyranger had in the same order. Is this because the auto equip function does not carry to a new transport? It's just when a troop recovers from an injury and you reassign him to the craft he was on, so long as you have all the equipment/weapons in store, the troop in question will have everything he had before in the same inventory slot(s). It's a pain in the neck having to manually re equip all your troops just because the transport is different.

Why do you even use the Skymarshall, use the THUNDER, it is much better, faster, can transport more.
And it is also the first Craft you will research after UFO Construction and the respective unlocks.

[SIMON BAILIE]

The Skymarshall has 2 rear doors as well as the back ramp. In my 5 bases atm I've 2 Skymarshalls, 2 Thunders and an Ironfist dropship, haven't researched Avenger yet and I'm almost at the end of January 2000 but have researched a lot. I'm about to assault 2 of the 4 alien bases that exist, was waiting on my troops psionic defences becoming reasonable. The other 2 are both Muton and will just be milked for E115.

[Meridian]

- Soldiers have very varied strength. Normally you would adapt your soldiers kits accordingly : the stronger scouts could carry extra grenades and ammo, or even upgrade normal grenades to demolition packs.

Hellrazor is not even using soldiers who have strength less than 60 :-)
For the rest of us, the roles don't make too much sense... unless you too play xcom rpg style (i.e. "8 starting rookies save the world"-style).

[Dioxine]

Save-template-to-file option would solve this and many other soldier-equipping problems... Make "role" templates, make "personal" templates, just save, load, change, override to your heart's content (the big Inventory Screen buttons 'save' and 'load' would change to 'save as...' and 'load from...'). All you need is a text save file love What is love? Baby don't hurt me, give me more than 1 template save slot.

[hellrazor]

Hellrazor is not even using soldiers who have strength less than 60 :-)
For the rest of us, the roles don't make too much sense... unless you too play xcom rpg style (i.e. "8 starting rookies save the world"-style).

Well you can play the whole game zerging style, if you like it that way. But i garantee you, if will ever play my mod. This tactic will bite you in your ass in the lategame so hard, that you will run back to daddy hellrazor begging for mercy

Ok enough rediculed.
Well all Soldiers start with a very low str (20-40).
You can asign them roles from the beginning. Dudes with str 38+ get Rocket Launchers + Misseles. Or getSniper Rifles and so on.
Depends totally on your playstyle what you like most.
Give them a few missions, were they have some kills and they will most likely improve there Str.
I personally have my combat teams ordered and sorted and equipted with self asigned roles from the beginning of the game, latest before i start my first mission with this team. It improves combat effectivness and gives me a more fluent playstyle.
And i am lazy. I do not want to equip my teams each time before combat, this is a waste of time. Equip once, check after a few missions and load more on the soldiers who can - done. Off course new Weapons, like Lasers and Plasma require a reequip.

[Solarius Scorch]

Hellrazor, are you saying that someone who plays your mod is supposed to sack a significant portion of recruits upon arrival?

If so, this doesn't makes sense. If the game's mechanics relies upon certain levels of stats, why not just change initial stats?

[hellrazor]

Hellrazor, are you saying that someone who plays your mod is supposed to sack a significant portion of recruits upon arrival?

If so, this doesn't makes sense. If the game's mechanics relies upon certain levels of stats, why not just change initial stats?

Nope i do not say that. I say your aim should be to keep them alive, so they get better and not rush them out in the open and zerging your way through, because it might bite you in the ass later.
Screening is not required, since every soldier can reach his statscaps in ~25-30 missions, if he survives.

[Dioxine]

Well the best way to keep every soldier alive to reach max stats is through savescumming

[hellrazor]

Well the best way to keep every soldier alive to reach max stats is through savescumming

Save scumming is not needed to keep them alive (most of the time). And tragic deaths appear, even for experienced Soldiers.

[yrizoud]

You can asign them roles from the beginning.

The engine doesn't favor it... For example, a good scout needs high reactions to move without being shot. But reactions only improve by DOING reaction fire. So basically, your riflemen who stay on overwatch are the only soldiers who become good scouts, while soldiers on scouting duty never improve at all. As a result, you have to rotate your troops if you want to use them to the best of their ability.

A similar issue is caused by low-damage weapons which give more accuracy experience than heavy weapons : Pistol soldiers will become marksmen over time, while the heavy-plasma wielder who snipes across the map will barely improve.

[hellrazor]

The engine doesn't favor it... For example, a good scout needs high reactions to move without being shot. But reactions only improve by DOING reaction fire. So basically, your riflemen who stay on overwatch are the only soldiers who become good scouts, while soldiers on scouting duty never improve at all. As a result, you have to rotate your troops if you want to use them to the best of their ability.

A similar issue is caused by low-damage weapons which give more accuracy experience than heavy weapons : Pistol soldiers will become marksmen over time, while the heavy-plasma wielder who snipes across the map will barely improve.

Noone says that this needs to static.
Well you reassign them if needed, that is what i do. So they all more or less do have the same reactions in the end.