Makes sense but seems kinda overtuned. Being able to share vision — reasonable. Knowing where I was on a unit who died without seeing me — much less reasonable. Staying spotted for more than one turn/even if you move — absolutely stupid.
Do they get full accuracy shots as if they can actually see to the tile? Or do they take the inaccurate shots that I take when I do sniper/spotter tactics?
It would be a lot cooler either 1) used the information to try and get actual vision rather than firing from across the map 2) they shoot/throw grenades squares in a 5x5 area where I took the shot from rather than the exact spot, and don’t get to follow me if I move.
That adds back counter play where, ideal is if a Gal has enough TU, you can take a shot on a turn and move away from that spot (which snipers/grenade throwers are going to have trouble with due to high TU costs, unless they are super size).
In that state I think it would be cool for all enemies to have the mechanic.
In either case, I don’t like that they know where I go when I move, and on subsequent turns. That sucks, right? Obviously coding this stuff is non-trivial or even impossible, in concept at least it could be improved.
As far as I understand, the spotter mechanic simply puts a flag on your unit in question that makes it targettable for all the Sniper enemies for a certain number of turns. They seem to be having an accuracy penalty if they can't see the unit, but it doesn't matter much when there are enough of them (of if they are throwing grenades or shooting RPGs). Worst case scenario, if the enemy who has spotted your unit was an Expert (or Master, I dont' quite remember) Spotter, the position of this unit is revealed to all enemy Snipers for the rest of the fight.
I get it that this mechanic is supposed to make the game more challenging, but I dunno. I don't mind when the difficulty is increased by pitting you against overpowered enemies from time to time, or limiting the number of soldiers you can take to a mission, or your equipment selection, or having you to fight an entire horde of enemies without warning, but Sniper/Spotter mechanic is just one things that... I wouldn't use as strong an expression as "ruins this game for me", but rather "greatly decreases my enjoyment". As soon as I start meeting Sniper/Spotter enemies, I stop thinking about tactics in general and start thinking in gamey terms. "Well, I have to make sure all my units end the turn under a roof so that they are not hit by grenades, and there should be solid walls between them and the direction in which I suppose the enemy can be". The moment any of my units remain in the (relative) open by the end of the turn, all the enemies from half a map away start shooting and throwing grenades at their exact position. Trying to prevent it makes battles exceedingly long and tedious.
It is the difference between giving the AI a reasonable (numerical, qualitative, positional) advantage on the one hand, and playing out the "Computer is a cheating bastard" trope. While I like (or can rationalize for myself) almost everything else in X-Piratez, the Sniper/Spotter mechanic is the one thing that makes me want to drop the game every time I start encountering it en masse.