Idea: Coordinated Operations

[Sabin]

I always have had trouble with making my planes attack an UFO at once. I think you should add a "Coordinate Operations" button that can be used if you are sending a 2nd plane after a UFO with one plane already in pursuit. If you use the button, the two planes get into a group in order to attack at once.

 

By the way, could you do a ground operation with more than one transport vehicle? If so, maybe the coordinate stirke idea can be used for that too.

[Jerry]

I'm worried about how to properly play-balance mid-to-end game if you an send every soldier and vehicle you have to one crash site.

[Cpl. Facehugger]

It balances itself! I mean, who really wants to command 30 guys and 8 tanks? The turn would get so long.

 

Actually, that happened to me once, it was a base defense, I had 24 guys and 4 tanks, and let me tell you, I couldn't order them all, otherwise I would be there commanding them until xenocide is released!

[Jerry]

I would image you would want to avoid placing players in a similar scenerio. Perhaps one thing to be considered (for base-defense operaions) would be an "on your own" option to engage AI on friendlies?

 

If you are going to make it possible to launch combined assaults, I have some suggestions:

 

Make sure the aliens will exploit it, dropping decoy raids to lure out your ships and then plopping down o nthe other side of the globe.

 

Make sure aliens can and will do the same thing (putting multiple ships and crews to a single task).

 

Make sure it's manageable

[GreatGold]

I always have had trouble with making my planes attack an UFO at once. I think you should add a "Coordinate Operations" button that can be used if you are sending a 2nd plane after a UFO with one plane already in pursuit. If you use the button, the two planes get into a group in order to attack at once.

An interesting point. I have always thought of this as a bug in X-Com, and not a feature, so I also hope we can find a way to implement a better in-flight command system for multiple interceptors. It need not be complicated, just something to the effect of "Pick Interceptor to attack first" - "Pick Interceptor to Attack Second" - or just "Coordinate attack so that all craft launch munitions simultaniously". It would be a small feature, easy to include, that would make a lot more sense. Good catch. I dont really think an idea like this needs to be in the Laboratory Section, perhaps we could start up a thread on this in a Workshop?

 

As to mutliple ground assault intercepts, I agree that it would balance itself out. And even in the most basic sense, is a waaaay post v1.0 issue. But one worth looking into.

 

Gold

[sir_schwick]

This seemed like a good thread to post this idea, although its sideways rather than direclty related. It is related to how troops can be deployed with one or multipled ships.

 

One thing that bothered me was the fact you had no idea where you were landing, yet you were always within a few hundred meters of the UFO.

 

Also, your troops always landed so close, when the UFOs turrets still might be live and active. What if the aliens needed to stay on the ground and deployed AA weapons and fired on your transport? In the old game there was not the memory to think about this, but now we do.

 

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Here is how the Air Operations portion fo the GeoScape woudl work.

 

The AO screen could be accessed at any time during GeoScape.

The screen would contain a littel overhead relief map, showing terrain types and possible or known UFOs on the screen.

You select various aircraft avaliable to the mission(based on if they are coming or nearby, you can call others over, but they usually take way to long).

Transports can see what landing sites are avaliable. They can also see where repelling sites are(more to use).

You determine how you appraoch, some routes may sacrafice time for stealth.

 

Soldier classes can repell from the ship and use TUs to deploy the line and go down it.

You can order aircraft to move from place to place or land, if a Pilot is inside.

Soldiers can also be lifted out by hover landings or a tow line.

Some vehicles, espeically hover ones, can be dropped without much or any damage.

 

Ships armed with cannon weapons can fly to a position and fire at points or targets on the ground

Ships take turns to do all these operations, and you will get estimates on how many turns to do X.

 

Aliens do can all this and hopefully will take advantage of it.

Obviously some missions require air and ground support to succed.

Multiple craft are encourage, especially to keep scouts from jetting.

[Snakeman]

Coordinated Engagement for the intercept screen sounds good (a one-button thing if more than one ship is tailing the UFO, i.e. if both are on top of the enemy ship icon on the map). Likewise I like the alternative "ship 1 engages first, ship 2 engages second" approach.

 

I like many ideas about ship useage lately. I just find it interesting from a tactical point of view whether or not its smart to tie up more than one ship for a given task. Could be especially challenging on higher difficulties where there would be multiple UFO sightings and you had to pick and choose your engagements carefully.

[Qonfused]

acctuely in xcom1 you could minimise the interseptor veiw, so attacking a ufo with two interseprors where quite simple.