Hi Termidor, thanks for another detailed analysis.
- The state of the economy early game it's really good, but as the game progress it becomes easier to manage until there is no real financial challenge. Part of the problem is how the council showers you with money, but gains from loot increases higher than expenses, specially with all the UFO's around. I assume that it is one of the hardest thing to balance in the mod, but maybe unusable loot could be sold for less and the cuantities gained be smaller. Alternatively more advanced stuff could be much more expensive, so for example a Thunderstorm (love the art of it) requires a bigger investment, specially considering that better weapons tend to increase gains.
This is something I have finally addressed in the (yet unreleased) 1.7. Namely I eliminated manufacturing for money, except from some limited materials. I don't know if it will be enough, we will see.
- I can't see the point right now of having more than 4 bases. Limits on research buildings do encourage to get more of them, but eventually you get to a point where you are researching everything really fast. On the other hand the manufacturing nerf makes building bases to get money useless (and you float in money anyways). While there is nothing inherently wrong with not filling all the bases slots, I think it is a great opportunity to try some alternative things. For example bring back manufacturing bases but instead of centered on producing alien tech for sale, make more advanced items require extra facilities. For example some planes should require a wind tunnel facility, or the HWP should require a foundry to make their armor. The idea being that while basic workshops can be useful to supply your forces with ammo and grenades and basic equi, you will need to specialize certain bases or make a factory base to get the better stuff. We already have something similar in game with the rat breeding facility, and I think it could be beneficial for the game to slow down the introduction of new equipment.
Well, vanilla X-Com allowed for 8 bases too, and I could never see why I'd ever need more than 3...
Your idea is interesting, but I am not sure people would be interested in that. X-Com is a combat simulator, not a city builder, so developing manufacturing infrastructure probably wouldn't be popular. I'm more used to hearing the opposite - eliminate manufacturing, buy stuff from external suppliers.
- I do believe that there should be an option to buy shards and that hybrid recruitment should be limited. On the first point I screw up in my game by selling the shards early on, but once I got some of then I do not think they warrant such a limited supply. HWP comes with their pros and cons, but I believe that taking into account transformations, biological beings make for a much better investment.
The entire reason why I went with alenium was because HWPs were phasing out organics in late game.
...and honestly, you sold the shards? You're joking, right? It's almost like selling the Tiny Drill in
Piratez.
As for hybrids, I find strange that you can get them from the black market so easily. Maybe a system similar to the one use by rats is preferable, where you can recruit imprisoned hybrid agents, or build a building (a contact network for example) that allow to purchase them for a big price on the market.
All I hear from players is that hybrids are weak, unattractive and available way too late.
Having said that, I agree that some sort of recruitment system would be better than a straight purchase, but when I was adding this, it was not possible yet (I think). Also, I honestly don't know how to do it - some ideas would be welcome.
- The use of sanity as a feature seems interesting, but I have some problems with his implementation. For example, while the excellent metamorph mission gives an opresive feeling (the one mission that actually unsettled me), assaulting a large ufo fill with familiar enemies is somehow more taxing. Or for example assaulting the underwater factory gives the unspeakable horror modifier yet all you face are things that seem normal in comparison to a standard terror mission. I would suggest that the mechanic should make more sense to the scenario the agents are facing: Large ufos should be hard to enter due to aliens camping inside then (side issue here, but I found it easier to attack then in the mod that in the final modpack because there seemed to be less aliens inside then. Maybe the alien turrets have something to do with it?) while other missions should be hard because they sap your agents morale ie: attacking a zombie hive.
I really don't think there is a difference between the FMP and the XCF concerning how many aliens are inside UFOs - I checked the some numbers and they seem aligned.
As for the general insanity issue, sorry but you haven't really proposed any improvement, or at least I don't understand what you want me to do. Can you specify maybe?
- Passive global detection shouldn't be a thing, as it makes radar craft redundant. Considering this type of craft leaves you without a hangar slot, their usability is really limited to justify their price.
Er... what craft? How is any craft related to global detection? Please elaborate.
- The initial cults make for a quite entertaining enemy, but i do have some suggestions. For starters Exalt and the Church could give better rewards, compare to the rewards of red dawn(bio and durathred) and black lotus (good psionic weapons and martial arts). From the church while the acid stuff is good, the other staff is less useful, and from Exalt the best thing you get is the Barret, and only because they use American weapons. For the church of dagon I would actually suggest using their hounds as an excuse to give bio enchantment but for dogs, that could actually use some transformations. Exalt meanwhile could be use as a gateway for the heavy ballistic suit, so that instead of getting it at promo III, it is an advance prototype of one of the masters. I do believe some reward symmetry is desire so that favoring one over the other isn't a suboptimal choice per se. Also Exalt could pack some extra punch. While their enforcers are tough, in general they are easier to fight than the Russians or the Black lotus. Maybe a mind control enemy could be nice, to spice things up.
The cults were never intended to be perfectly balanced, fgrankly I can't see the point.
Bio-enhancement for dogs would be good, but I don't think Gilldogs are relevant here, because they're not closely related to dogs. If anything, it should be the Bloodhounds.
And yeah, EXALT are kinda wussies, except for the enforcers. Early on their body armour poses some problems, but later they're meh. But considering that you don't need them for a normal armoured vest, I'm not sure if it would be appropriate to give them the improved version... I'd rather make it something else.
(...) but I do have some issues with the Syndicate. The first one is with their final mission, which I do believe could have been much better if it was an undercover mission. As of right now it feels like the black lotus HQ but with no armor.
Well yes, kinda. Both are unique missions, so I'm not too worried about them being
partially similar.
Thematically it also doesn't make much sense, as why use the impersonator if you are going to bring rocket launchers and psi weapons.
But why not? I honestly can't see how this doesn't make sense. It's not like Syyndicate people don't carry heavy weapons or use weird equipment (thought admittedly not often).
It would actually be a nice change of pace if you need to win a big battle without all the good stuff.
But would you really be able to win against their Walkers and Minotaurs with infiltration gear only?
Apart from changing the enemy composition, I think the big building map would be more fitting.
All the rest of big Syndicate missions are in ofdfice buildings. Honestly I made this terrain specifically to break up the boredom (it's not used anywhere else).
The second issue I have with the is the final message you get from then. I don't have a problem fighting the original bad guys as they fit perfectly for the mod and I do imagine that it is one of the next enemy, but the resolution of the events leave, imo, much to be improved. If the CEO are already established to be from the even worse group (I'm trying to avoid spoilers here and to not use a much more colorful vocabulary), why do you recieve a real life larping invitation that you can not use at all? Shouldn't this be the moment where you can make a choice as if you want to be an as***** that kills civilians by collateral fire or one bigger as***** that does it on purpose and actually undermines the Xcom project?
Admittedly I've been considering an option to align with these guys instead, but it would be so much work (as it would change a lot of things) that I shelved it. So the invitation now remains a teaser, or a piece of fluff.
Finally their big beefy troops(minotaur and the walker) would be nice if they give some extra tech. For the minotaur, and i don't know if it is possible, it could be use to introduce sub-dermal armor, that would be a transformation that increase the armor of the agents by a few points.
No, the armour values come only from worn outfit, unfortunately. If it was otherwise, I'd certainly do something like you suggest.
Alternatively their macro flamer (that they refuse to use) could be a an entry point for extra large weapon( I'm thinking here on some things from xpiratez). The ultimate fantasy would be trainable minotaurs with Greek names, but i think it is more fitting for a sub-mod. As for the walker a HWP base around it could be a cool bonus.
Both are possible, especially the walker. But should I make every robot in the game available as a HWP chassis? That's kinda excessive.
(No really, this is a serious design problem.)
- Overall i quite like the underwater missions, as they do offer a change compare to land battles. My main gripe with then is in fact that the Ai can't make an effective use of melee weapons and just stay away while being slaughter. If it could be made to be more aggressive, or alternatively being given sonic weapons as a standard, it would make for some interesting missions. The only one I didn't enjoy was the factory as it was a huge map with a heavy sanity penalty and it end up being a camper fest.
No, I'm not going to hand out spacer technology to any Deep One peasant. But I can try to bump their aggression further. I'll do that.
-Ciberweb and the X dimensions are mostly fine. Minor improvements i would make would be to give the misticks a different color to distinguish them from the technomads, that space tecnomads shouldn't get a second life (why them are they wearing a suit in the first place) and that there should be more cover in dimension X maps. This last point becomes very apparent in the fortress assault mission as it is either impossible because your door is facing the map or very easy if it is facing the border. More corver could be done with hills and terrains features, and I do think it makes for a more interesting combat.
More hills would indeed be nice, but that's an issue with the desert as such. More maps are needed.
Space technomads get a second life because they're cyborgs and can withstand the atmospheric conditions on that planet for a limited time, but they're not enjoying this at all.
Technomads and mysteks looking the same as by design, because it's really a very egalitarian organization, which makes things harder for you.
-Hybrids and Advent make for a fine opponent although some weapons (cough chem cough) could use a buff. Overall the hybrids missions make for a quite varied bunch, although some of them become trivial with good armor (cyber)
Good
- I already talked about zombies before in that their missions should be more rewarding
...working on it... sort of
but they do make for some interesting opponents. Can't talk about Shoog as I only cleared one mission. Also spiders are fine, although the stealh spider could get assassin levels of invisibility
And people say that
I am a sadist?!
and spiderweb definetly needs some uses
Ypou mean, some
more uses?
- I got some mixed feelings about the cult. While I absolutely enjoy their missions due to the sheer absurdity they reach (I can't imagine how it goes on superhuman with so many enemies ), they don't pose a threat with advance armour and they actually don't makes to much sense as a Xcom enemy, considering most if not all the situations they are involved the army could take care of it (I mean the outpost battle makes me imagine Waco but the SWAT having super soldiers)
What army? Certainly not a national army, because nobody would allow them there, or even acknowledge the existence of the cults. If you mean the Council forces, then well, the whole point of creating X-Com was to not involve them for politivcal reasons (cults have strong backers), and most of the Council expected X-Com to fail anyway.
Also the amount of stat gains you can get from them can actually be problematic, as i can't see a reason why I would like to end their storyline if they make for the perfect training target. I don't know what could be done to beef them up as with their numbers better weapons could quickly turn problematic from a balance sense. Equipment specialization for each sub culture could be nice, with some unique variants for them, but overall I can't say what would I do to make them harder.
That's why I added special negative missions and events for when you're purposefully stalling cult termination. I think that's all that is needed.
- I don't like the UAC storyline so far for two reasons. One their missions feel like less interesting versions of the Syndicate storyline with the exception of the cavemen one. That last mission is so BS. First and foremost, it doesn't make much sense to dress as cavemens if your plant is to kill the people guarding the cargo.
And why is that?
Second while in general I would say UAC weapons are trash, facing twelve or so of those dude without armor is a very steep difficulty, more so with concealed weapons and on a land rover. Also what you get from this storyline doesn't seem worth it, considering you can get their weapons from the cult.
You don't go trhere for weapons, you go there to advance the plot.
Overall i would change three things: For the cavemen mission, make it a concealed mission where you faced some weak opponents (one or two UAC and some other cavemens)but you can only bring primitive weapons or the light pistol/spypistol (as they need more use).
Boring!
Second , that the UAC engineers or staff should give access to some unique staff, be it craft systems, special ammo for their weapons and things alike.
They do. Well, not the engineers themselves, but the entire UAC plot which they are a part of.
Finally, they should have some more personality so that they don't end up filling like discount Syndicate.
Good point, I realize this and hope to develop this gradually further.
- Surprisingly, the enemies I have the most problem with are the aliens. The main beef i have with them is that fighting against them feels absolutely independent from the rest of the mod. While each enemy usually have a storyline that you follow, aliens follow more or less the same model of operations of the final modpack. Also their entry completely changes the balance of power for the worse as UFO's are flying cash cows. Thus while I'am figthing a Syndicate whose objectives i can't understand at all but at least have some progression, the aliens just go with their battleships as if nothing happens on the ground. Wouldn't make much more sense if they are integrated in the general storyline, and they appear once their other plots fail? Also the difficulty of facing them is a little disappointing (except etherals), although this has to do more with gun balance.
Noted. Honestly I should make some actual plot arc for the aliens, but I don't know how to tackle this yet. Or more accurately, I'm busy with other parts. But I see what you mean.
I'm going to leave it here for today as it is quite a wall of text. I don't know if you will find any of this useful, but considering the amount of effort this mod has, is the least I can do. Also I can give my thoughts on gun and armor balance on another post, although that is going to be much more practical.
Yes, this is very useful, and I really appreciate the time and effort you put into this!
