I'm back! Sorry, it's really hard for me to find the time to sit down and respond to everything properly. It's at least an hour of my time, and I pour my whole free time into modding right now, as I want to finalize 1.0 ASAP. (Well not my
whole free time, but the part where I can still count on my brain to work.)
Solarius, I get the feeling that you're right now existing in some kind of bizarro world where sentences take on some whole new kind of alternative meaning. Why are you trying to imply things I never said?
Well, yeah, looks like a serious misunderstanding problem. I acknowledge that I must have misinterpreted your words, but I swear it was not intentional on my part, and not due to lack of attention. Let's try again.
But I also need to point out that everyone else seems to have understood it exactly the same way as I did, so I don't think the problem is with me...
That random events whose only outcome is punishing the player by substracting points and which can not be avoided, mitigated and have no further consequences (i.e. they are independant of player action regarding their cause and outcome) are a bad idea.
(...)
Well, the thing is, I still can't exactly pinpoint what's so bad about the events. If I understnad correctly, you want them to be something else than they are - to be more
interactive. Which would be nice, I can't deny it, but that's not what they are; it's like criticizing X-Com air combat mechanics for not being a combat simulator. Events have a very specific scope and possible effects, and I'm using them to the fullest.
Events are not meant to have a great impact either way. They're there mostly for the fluff, with only some secondary effects on the gameplay. They're not there to give you a win or a loss, but to provide some context, some lore, to flesh out your role as an X-Com Commander. So, what do you mean by, "it's just a click, so it's meaningless"? From this perspective, books in The Elder Scrolls are pointless, since they "only" give you a +1 to some skill, so what's the point in having all those letters and sentences forming whole stories to read? It's enough to click them!
In my opinion random events are a staple for a reason. They help to spice up the otherwise monotonous experience and dynamically create situtions you wouldnt experience otherwise. Even if, while isolated and by themselves, those appear as simple as loss/gain of research, money, score or whatever the game has.
In addition, since it is a new system tacked onto a functional game, bad events are there to counterbalance good events - to make sure the progression and balance stay somewhat the same.
"Bad" simple events, such as gain/loss of 50 points and some fluff, can be used to enhance the atmosphere, and help with worldbuilding. And "cheaply" bloat event list of course. They are not bad per se.
"Good" complex events or event chains, with dependencies on missions that spawn randomly, can be completely missed (or messed up) by players, despite increased workload required to integrate and maintain them.
I'm quoting Ridan because he's spot on. Gameplay mechanics effects are minor, it's mostly for storytelling. In many respects, simply events do it better than missions. That's why I asked for this feature in the first place.
ufo just shot down a van. a fucking van.
not even a chance to redirect that slow thing.
**** covert missions, once and for all. there´s just nothing good coming from that.
Sorry to hear that. But a van is so cheap it doesn't matter, and your people should be fine. The only serious loss would be the gear, if you happened to have something good in it.
Isn't there already a mechanic, where most of the soldiers (~90%) in the "shot down" transport survive and return some time later?
Yes, in XCF the chance to survive is 97%.
There is also a mechanic where you can target your own "plane" to escort it and should it get attacked, the escort is also drawn into combat.
True, though this option probably isn't available at a time when you use vans.
It would, however make sense, if landbound transports were not able to be targetted by Hunter/Killers and if soldiers kept their pre-equipped gear. (Losing any gear just lying around in the transport.)
Maybe, but I can't do it anyway.
lol i was suggesting something like that a while ago.
ye imo it´d be better if destroying a transport would trigger a mission, either base defense style immediate, or just like ufo recovery, except its your craft burning and in pieces...
(i think the 2nd would be better)
there´s gonna be heavy damage (and some crew dead) guaranteed, but at least you get a chance to get some back.
then again, if there´s an ufo shooting a van, won't leave much to recover.
Based on Meridian's input, there is very little chance of having such as feature for a number of reasons.
but apart from game mechanics, this is seriously pissing me off...
like you gotta do a covert mission. but instead of going there as usual and doing the last km of travel undercover, no you stay about a week in some slow ass van around half the world, because someone might see you on arrival. but the aliens figure it out anyway and shoot your ******* van. the skyranger could fit at least 2 vans inside...
imo would be better if aliens dont intercept street vehicles. there´s like a billion around, how do they know anyway... >_>
As explained above, I can't make such a distinction (unless I missed something in the Ruleset Reference).
Solarius did. However, how could one enjoy practising English.. oh sorry! ranting! With absolutely poor situational awareness, would have understood of the situation?
I enjoy a little sparring myself, but this isn't the place for your personal vendettas. Stick to the subject
.
You have already been warned by, I think, all moderators on this forum, so I won't bother to do the same, as you seem to lack self-preservation instinct.
suggestion:
when you get certain armors you have not researched yet (e.g. from processing men exclusively wearing a certain color), you should either be able to research them, or not be able to put them on, since its weird wearing armor but not knowing its stats...
Easier said than done.
Well, it's the same with weapons - you don't have to research most of them to use them. But nobody forces you to.
on a different note, i´m getting picked apart. had 16 guys so tough they just needed to stare at a blaster missile for it to turn back where it came from and a bunch of rookies.
now there´s like 5 of them left and some guys who may or may not have seen combat. the training factory (or base...) just started.
so the idea was to get score by shooting down ufos mostly, so i can ignore a lot of other missions that may cost me some more veterans.
what kind of interceptor do i need to take on anything thats not a battleship (or maybe smaller than large)?
Sorry, I didn't understand this paragraph at all. Please reiterate.
EDIT: and wtf happened with mib? first base was a piece of cake, but since then they´ve seriously teched up... there´s pretty much nothing they do not have...
Yes, their technological means vary a bit.
I remember that I read somewhere that armor buffs and nerfs doesn't affect piloting skills. However I'm not 100% sure.
Right, aircraft pilots don't get bonuses and penalties from the armour. I assume they just wear flight gear, like Arcalane mentioned.
Instead of massing around with the code, I prefer to just make later fighters better overall (cybernetic interface etc.).
well on later tech level it´d be weird you actually need a pilot at all...
with all the alien tech computers and anti grav engines, but still human pilots fly that thing?
i´d imagine that more of an "autopilot, go there" or "fight that thing" level.
using AI units (and maybe plenty of flight control computer upgrades/extensions) could make a nice research tree as well...
AI units can pilot planes now. Because I agree, why wouldn't they?
Maybe I'll think of some special transformation for AI units to boost their stats, the same as humans and hybrids have (not yet released).
The newest release of Piratez hints about what will X-Com Files have as well, such as the already mentioned Freshness system (basically fatigue), random base name generators and... Grenades detonating on your hands if their timer reaches 0. 
I hope this is not used here, as it would make everyone have to rework how grenades have been used in XCOM since forever, which is a shame. Granted, it's more realistic yadda yadda, but it's a game with sci-fi elements too.
I never liked how grenades work in X-Com even as a kid, it's silly that you can just carry them around and they don't explode. I have never used them this way, it feels cheaty as hell. I haven't done anything about this yet, though.
The Freshness thing is already done though, it's a cool feature.
Most likely one is using vanilla fire damage model (5-10damage ignoring armor), while another does proper listed fire damage on top of that.
Precisely.
I don't think that damage model 0-200% is normal at all. 
In my opinion, basic damage model of each firearm weapon should be constant - 100%. No less no more. 'Weapon damage' - 'Armor of impacted part of the body' = 'Resulting damage'. I could agree if damage would be dependent from the distance, but this 0-200% looks very strange for me. That's why I'm using TFD damage model mod. 
...didja just diss randomness? I'm sure I misunderstood again, this would be way too absurd to even consider.
