Version 1.1 released and added to the mod portal.
https://openxcom.org/forum/index.php/topic,3287.msg113764.html#msg113764
Thank you for the info. So it's confirmed that -1 means no-sprite.
So it was a few days of hell on a genius level. But the soldiers did not want to learn to shoot straight, enemy tanks were armored, and units without armor withstand several sniper shots. Even dogs from the first shot often do not die. Keeping a balance between lost battles and won battles, it all comes down to a weak economy and long research.
My subjective opinion is that this mod is even harder to feel long war on a difficult level. My patience has run out after losing the third game in two days.
Thank you for trying the mod, and for the honest feedback.
I'm sorry that it didn't work out for you - the mod is indeed very hard even in lower difficulties, let alone genius/superhuman.
As for some specifics:
- Soldiers with bad accuracy were also a source of frustration for me when play-testing. But that only made me value more the soldiers that got good stats after living past 6-7 missions. At that moment you can use them as snipers, safely shooting from long range, while rookies scout for enemies.
- It helps a LOT to get early laser weapons - even the laser pistol makes quite a difference. They have the highest accuracy (good for rookie soldiers) and are excellent at killing enemy tanks. Both the Cyberdisk and the Sectopod are vulnerable to lasers.
- The "dogs" (Reaper right?) were made slightly stronger and faster - but they are very vulnerable to explosives. Rockets are very effective, but sometimes even a grenade is enough.
(These are the sort of things you can read in the ufopedia once you get some research done, but it's also in the manual)