Because no one uses the Other Games Forum: X-COM

[Hauldren Collider]

I think battle scanners should be unlimited and have a turn timer, say four turns or more (so you can't use them every turn).

[Guynemer]

The RNG finally caught up to me on my Classic Ironman.

Finally got the expanded squad upgrades, rolled all six of my officers (well, 5 officers, 1 squaddie) to investigate a landed UFO. Turned out to be my first cyberdisk encounter; that, actually, was not a problem.

The problem was when a muton got on high ground above my squaddie. My heavy hit him, got him down to 3 HP, and gave holo-targetting to boot. All four of my remaining officers (the squaddie was in full panic mode, can't blame him) missed 75%+ shots to finish him off--two supports and one assault with light plasma, and my sniper with standard sniper rifle. Needless to say, squaddie was toast. 4 of the five missed him AGAIN the next turn, before the sniper finally finished the stubborn ****er off.

Managed to get through the rest without losing anyone, though my main medic got wounded pretty good.

I don't have the enough weapon fragments to research heavy plasma, sniper plasma, or alloy cannon; I'm debating about whether to just go for it in the alien base with the plasma weapons I do have, plus one alloy SHIV; or waiting for one more mission to get the WF to at least upgrade my sniper.

[Tupac Shakur]

The aliens do have a set patrol pattern

****. I wish I'd known that sooner.

I don't have the enough weapon fragments to research heavy plasma, sniper plasma, or alloy cannon; I'm debating about whether to just go for it in the alien base with the plasma weapons I do have, plus one alloy SHIV; or waiting for one more mission to get the WF to at least upgrade my sniper.

I've also had difficulties getting enough weapons fragments for research. Never thought that would be such a key constraint.

[Hauldren Collider]

I guess you get more fragments on normal?

[Guynemer]

I think it's more a function of blowing up too many aliens with grenades and rockets, and spending what I do get on other things.

I like splosions too much.

[Tupac Shakur]

I'm still playing on normal. Weapons fragments just run out quick when you're researching Tier 3 weapons and doing Foundry projects.

[regexcellent]

Yes it would. Stunning is critical to a lot of things. Take the risk out of it, and you'll get tons of free research credits, guns, grenades, etc. A successful stun can get you plasma rifles 15 turns earlier.

Okay, fair enough, but how do you feel about it being able to simply take the pistol inventory slot instead of an item slot, freeing that up for a grenade?

[Kuciwalker]

2. Anyone above rookie rank can use any weapon. Only the Heavy can fire the machine gun after moving. Non-snipers get an aim penalty when using sniper rifles. Everyone but assaults take a damage penalty when using shotguns.
3. New weapon class: Carbine. Damage reduction, aim bonus over equivalent rifle. Light plasma rifle is in this class. New weapons, carbine and light laser rifle, are added. Anyone can use it, even rookies. Especially rookies. I think damage would be equivalent to the class' pistol.
4. New weapon class: submachine gun. Damage reduction over rifles but you can carry an extra item instead of a pistol. Add weapons: submachine gun, rapid laser, rapid plasma. They have the damage of carbine/light laser/light plasma but without the aim bonus. They have a close-range aim bonus akin to the shotgun.

2. Why
3. Why
4. Why

Changes to the the way fighter interceptions work:
1. Each fighter must be flown by a pilot, who has a name and nationality. You hire these pilots like soldiers, but they're somewhat more expensive.
2. Each pilot has experience that is gained with each intercept, and more experience is gained on successful intercepts
3. If your pilot is shot down you have a mission on one of the UFO shootdown maps where you have to rescue him from thin men, a la the council missions where you rescue VIPs. One minor difference is that the pilot is armed with a pistol.
4. There is a chance that you will detect UFOs on their way to alien abduction and terror missions before and and be able to shoot them down. If you don't successfully attack the crash site it delays the attack by 5-10 days (randomly chosen).

1-4. Why

[Wiglaf]

Okay, fair enough, but how do you feel about it being able to simply take the pistol inventory slot instead of an item slot, freeing that up for a grenade?

If run and gun is disabled, I guess this could work? I don't understand why you'd want this change though.

[regexcellent]

Why

2. Mainly I'd like Snipers and Heavies to be able to be equipped with assault rifles. The other classes being able to use the other weapons is less relevant, but I think having more flexibility in the classes makes sense.
3. The "carbine" thing is basically an extension of the light plasma rifle to exist for the other tech classes
4. The "submachine gun" thing is to allow medics to carry another item (another medikit, perhaps) and to allow another grenade in the early game when grenades are your most effective weapon available due to 100% accuracy.

The changes to the fighters I think would make the interception stuff a little more involved, and make it more significant to the gameplay besides "they will sometimes attempt to shoot down your satellites." Also the rescue mission adds to the mission diversity a bit.

[Wiglaf]

I'm fairly certain shooting down UFOs reduces panic, in addition to protecting satellites.

[MikeH]

Someone above said pistols suck - I love the pistol.

That probably means they haven't taken the squad sight upgrade for their sniper. That plus the +2 damage with pistol upgrade is a great combo. You can move and overwatch on a pistol that does 4 damage, and on turns you don't move headshot people who can't return fire on you (at the top level you can do that twice, but I haven't got that high yet.)

Even a rookie with a normal pistol can sometimes get out of jail if they find themselves with an unloaded main weapon.

Don't really see what Reg's changes would add.

[kentonio]

Pistol ammo would be a nice change, having unlimited ammo feels a bit gamey for my tastes. I also like the sound of the weapon tweaks giving each weapon type a bit more individuality. Currently there doesn't feel like there's that much different between types in terms of hitting the target which is a bit lame. If I haven't reloaded my sniper rifle, I shouldn't just be able to pull out a pistol and hit a target at distance for a slightly reduced damage. I'm a bit confused by why the mod guy felt the need to remove the close weapon penalty on the sniper though, it seems perfectly fair to me.

[MikeH]

It is a bit gamey.

It is a game.

Happy to help.

[snoopy369]

Any suggestions for how to survive the first Council mission? It's always an escort of some sort, I think, and typically I have maybe one sergeant, one corporal, and two squaddies at best on it, and no lasers yet - and often a poor mix as well. I haven't ever won one, this time I survived with _one_ member left to evacuate (but couldn't rescue a second who was CI'd)... this time it was a thin man who got high ground against me, but it's always something.