Hello and sorry for the absence, I had
to take a break from X-Com some stuff to do.
Although the small teams make me fear the arbitrary T20 cheat turn quite a lot. Fighting 2 vs 10 wandering enemies is manageable. Past T20, even 2 vs 2 can be really risky. Generally, maps and deployments are small enough that this is no problem though.
There's an old map bug with a blocked door that got me to turn 35 or something (blockage under the cursor), for which I attached a screenshot. Luckily, I could snipe the studs from the wall with my Luger and get to the guy on the other side 
Thanks, fixed.
Warning: Incoming comments dump!
(These come in the order I noticed things, so it gives a look at my progression too)
Good! ^_^
X-Com Origins:
1 - "since national governments were deemed untrustworthy"
By whom? National governments? I doubt they would consider themselves untrustworthy, but maybe each others. The UN staff? Sure, but how do they make the unit and then go to the governments and say: "Well, it's a UN thing, suck it we don't trust you"? A bit more explanation would be good, and if it is indeed the UN staff who don't trust the government and want to run their own thing, it creates the start of an explanation at the hilariously nerfed state of XCom equipment: The governments wouldn't allow something that they don't have a say in to have much beyond paper pushers.
You're right, this should be written more clearly. To-do list, here I come!
X-Com Global investigation bureau
2 - "seems unusually high and defying scientific explanation"
Being unusually high is quire proper for a spike, that's not really comment worthy. And you mean sociologists studied it and failed to come up with anything? That seems highly unlikely. Maybe say something like: "The first issue to tackle is finding an explanation for a concurrent spike in the number of criminal organizations and religious sects noticeable on every continent."
Sorry, I got too carried away with the cheesy inspirations.
I'll use your version, it's good.
Stims/Painkillers/Medical Bag/First Aid Kit
Please write down the numbers restored, charges and TU costs. XCom can be a dream for number lovers and not supplying them is akin to not giving damage or TU costs for weapons. It is quite crucial when deciding on what to put in the car.
Yeah, I definintely should. It's a WIP thing. Well, a barely playable alpha.
Personal protection/Uncommon weapons:
This is one of the things that annoy me the most in Piratez: Projects that do nothing but unlock other projects. Personal protection cost me 50 scientist-days, to discover that we didn't get kevlar vests (I kinda knew that!) and now my quartermaster is willing to look into it? 50 scientist-days for is a really long time to wait. Same with the guns: I thought "You can order them as normal" meant I could order them from the shop, but nope, gotta research them first.
Hmmm, how about moving the leather coat to personal protection? Would it make it useful enough?
"I'll do what I can to get us some vests, but it'll take time. For now, why don't you try on this fine leather? It's tougher than the suit!"
As for other similar cases, I'll think about it. The early game actually changes a lot.
Leather jacket:
Why wouldn't you wear it? Maybe there's an unlisted downside to it that would be worth saying? So far I've noticed nothing and everybody wears it. What's this constricting thing supposed to mean?
Well, it's a little heavy and has some small debuffs... Yeah, I'll definitely move it to Personal Protection.
Zombies:
These guys need to be more aggressive once they spot you. I've had plenty just mill around instead of charging me, giving me plenty of time to shotgun them instead of being swarmed and having to run away. I thought they were suffering from the "no melee weapon" bug that the megascorpions had before. I had one walk all the way to me, not attack and then walk away, but no, I eventually got a bite. If aggression would make them too dangerous, nerf their mobility. Zombies are typically slow but single minded. These are a bit faster but confused.
This may be related to the (now fixed) melee bug, although I agree they're not very sharp hunters. I've recently decided to make them rarer, because there were just too many missions with them and these missions are relatively long. The problem is, I don't have alternatives, especially for the temperate biome. I need more sprites to make more creatures!
Also, cool music for the alien life forms missions! Perfectly creepy!
Alien Shooter 2, best isometric shooter ever.
No, really, I recommend it.
Zombie article:
"completely immune to incapacitation" but.. I stunned a few of 'em!
Right, I think it was a leftover.
Also, facing the zombie hordes and completing the autopsy and interrogation could enable the "We need more manpower" project, which would be a shortcut to getting a minivan. Having material unlocks from accomplishing what your main task is (killing/capturing/studying/interrogating aliens and criminals) would be way more satisfying than the two progressions being separated. This way, you can either rush for the material unlocks, or try to do your job before the paperwork and, if you succeed, be rewarded for it.
I don't really understand. Are you saying there should be another path to the van? Or that both paths should be needed? Or that the zombie path should give you some other vehicle?
Black Lotus Follower:
"These low-ranking members of _the_ Black Lotus"
There seems to be a lot of articles missing before proper nouns of organizations in the text.
Well, let me link to
my post on Quora.
But I've corrected most cases thanks to Juku's mod.
Also, is that a Cult or a criminal mafia? The article talks like its a cult, but somehow I thought they'd be a Triad. NVM: Found the article about them. If possible, it'd be great if it popped up like some interrogation projects sometimes do.
Maybe I'll add something like this. If I have inspiration.
Reports:
Those are lol worthy and add flavor so I like them, but at the same time it leaves me wondering if there's something I should do about them (especially: "if you don't do something about this ruckus, I promise you I WILL, and YOU WILL NOT LIKE IT." but as far as I know, there's nothing I can do, so it ends up leaving a weird powerlessness/disconnection feeling instead of making me feel like part of the organization.
Hmmm, true. Another thing to fix. Or not, I need to think about it. A lot.
"Alien Containments"
The idea of separating is cool and sensible, although I was surprised that zombies are animals. I had a zombie mission with a civilian, which I sent a team from a base without prison/pen and I got a missing string (STR_ALIEN_DIES_NO_ALIEN_CONTAINMENT_FACILITY I think? It was so long parts of it were chopped.)
Well, Zombies
are more animals than humans. They're mindless, resilient and strong, so putting them in cages seems more logical. They are not humans; they are human corpses at best. I'll actually add it to the description.
Small shotgun and Luger:
Those have become my mainstay. At 70 firing accuracy (you get that fast with the gym, I'd slow training down if possible), Lugers have good damage (the best you've got?) and great accuracy. Combine with the small shotgun for close up work and you get a great setup for your operatives. I've had wonderful results pinging away at advancing zombie hordes and finishing them off with a shotgun when they get close. Even had one operative take out a few Black Lotus monks and ninja-wannabes alone when I forgot his partner was wounded and sent him alone. Given these, I haven't really felt the need for different weapons, except I'd love a proper rifle.
Well, shotguns got good with the new mechanic.
They've been balanced many times, so now at least they work. I still mostly perfer pistols though, but that's me.
Gym training may be slowed, but i'm torn on this; having badass agents is a nice experience too. To be decided.
Promotion I:
Cool! I've shown that there's a real threat. Now they take me more seriously so I can get some better stuff. Erhm.. I finally have permition to go to the local gun shop and get a hunting rifle? *Woot!* But I still can't rent a van or get body armor, or much or anything more useful than I already got.. It would feel a lot better to get promoted if promotion through official channels unlocked some legit stuff (police grade stuff?) or something, not the permission to improvise and buy civilian stuff. That kind of improvisation should be left for unofficial, shady work.
Would you prefer Logistics and such to be prerequisites for Promotion I?
No, seriously. I'm not sure what else I can do with this model. I'm open to suggestions, I think there's potential here.
Also, I assume it unlocks harder missions? Or something else did because shortly after I got missions against whole groups in houses in the middle of nowhere that were probably not quite meant to be tackled by two agents with Lugers. Maybe these missions could get a slightly different name (If "suspect apprehension" is the one vs 2 enemies, maybe "safehouse bust" or something could be these?) so we can distinguish them and send proper teams.
The "apprehension" mission was added at the last minute to make an easier start, so the houses are actually your "level 0" threat.
Sure, they can be hard to win against, but you can still try!
Hunting Rifle:
"its overall performance is significantly lower than analogous X-Com weapons" lol You mean it's less good than my completely intangible pipe dream rifle, where I hold nothing and make pew-pew sounds? As the sole rifle I have, I assure you its performance is significantly higher than no rifle
Lol, good point. A leftover from FMP.
But in my file it says "analogous
military weapons", so I must've changed it at some point recently.
First Aid Kit:
Given that it's so big, 3 uses for healing is rather limited. As it is, you often empty a whole one for a single landed hit (that inflicted 3 fatal wounds).
Well, what else can you do? It's the 90's, and you're piss poor!
So, works as required.
Van:
Finally finished logistics! Should've done that at the beginning, but I expected it to be a pre-report that would say: "Well, two seater cars suck, we should look into getting something bigger" and unlock the van project So I got the van and doubling the team size is quite impressive! Only nitpick: It'd be much better if the crew were facing towards the front of the van for the two at the front and towards the side for the two in the back.
Sure, why not. Thanks for the code.
Which brings us to: why no dog in the van?!
Because I haven't finished it yet, okay!?
No, seriously, I'm in the process of making a dog soldier type. They'll be able to do everything dogs do.
Kevlar vest:
Woot! Body armor that actually looks like it'll do something useful. That's awesome. The only thing missing is being able to wear a leather jacket on top of it for looks. Also, why does a kevlar vest make you more vulnerable to fire?
I... can't remember. Need to ask Dioxine, we've probably discussed it and found a Super Important Reason.
Megascorpion:
It'd be nice if the live study gave the autopsy as well (if there is one). I had to bug out of my one megascorpion encounter as I was getting swarmed. I only grabbed a live one. I wouldn't expect the scientists to release it, so.. Or at least get a corpse from the interrogation like the old option did. (I know it's an engine thing, but still, it would be good for all alien life forms)
OK, I'll look into it.
X-Com Paranormal Activity Unit:
Someone skilled in both biochemistry and exotic physics? That's a bit much to ask for. It'd be much more likely to find an accountant that's also the quartermaster, or a medical officer that also doubles as the xenobiologist or biochemist, or a xenobiologist that's also a biochemist. Although there's a huge stereotype for the scientist, cutting edge theoretical physics has little to do with biochemistry. Having two different people would be much more credible.
It's mostly a casting issue, the guy already has little to do (for now). And to be honest it was a bit of a parody of the omniscientist trope.
If you want to keep them in the same project, just make them a couple. It's not unlikely for scientists to hook up with other scientists while studying and usually, if one gets a job, the other will be looking for a job in the same location. At my university, it's pretty common for a physicist/biologist couple, since both discipline is dominated by one gender.
Hey, this actually is a cute idea!
Yetis/Wendigo:
WTF?! I had a van show up entirely surrounded by these guys. Decision was made immediately to get the hell outta there, but I played a "what if" just for fun and the whole team couldn't bring one down before getting slaughtered. I guess I was just unlucky with locations and spawn numbers (sometimes there's as few as 1 unit, which might have been manageable), but that was shocking. Cool unit though I'm looking forward to facing them again.
Yeah, very unlucky
Normally there's like, two.
Edit: Completed that monster attack tonight, after fighting the biggest zombie horde I've seen to date. Turned out to be gorilla likes (their movement animation blinks, or sparkles.)
Yeah, I've spent hours cleaning the sprites, still not how it should be. :/
in a row of apartment buildings (same terrain as screenshot). I managed to save a few civilians who had the wits to run outside. My best soldier (101 accuracy!) was a hero, ran towards a lady in distress with two gorillas in chase, killed one with an autofire, panicked the second with another burst and help from his partner who also spotted another gorilla rushing out of the building. Sadly, desperate luger sniper fire from the other two agents wounded but didn't kill the 3rd gorilla, who mauled my heroic commissar who died a hero's death. The third gorilla was put down shortly after.
After that, the cleanup crew found another gorilla hidden behind the kitchen sink (like screenshot) and shot at it through the window. Of course, my last shot blew out the window, allowing the gorilla to rush out and hurt (but not kill!) my 2nd best agent who then gave it a good wack with his electric club. Last gorilla was found in a fenced up area with boxes along the fence but no access. Luckily enough fire points to take it out. Too bad I didn't pack tazers for the Jurassic Park-like shooting through the fence
Was fun! Very entertaining (great music again) and I felt like the desperate hero a lot more than in Piratez.
Thanks for the input! You know, this REALLY helps. And I promise to work hard on this!
@Kazek, HelmetHair: Regarding the crashing map issue: can I have a save please? I haven't encountered this bug.
And SORRY.
Balance question: why tommy gun in all means better than a LMG? More damage, better accuracy, faster.
It's not so bad, but yeah, I'll nerf it a bit.
