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[DaEezT]

There are two typos in the outro. The two "it's" in the last sentence should be "its". (my bad)

The out-of-view tiles in the medical tower are normal '#'. I dunno if this is intended but the bloody walls change to : when out-of-view. That's sorta confusing and inconstant.

The floors that mark the transition between two towers should be of the same color as the tower they are leading to. Currently, the transition tiles in the medical tower are of the same color as the regular tiles.

The MP5 needs some love. I'm unsure about what to do. Quickest fix would be to buff the clip size to 30. Right now, it's only good for 3 attacks, while the shotty can attack 5 times.
Another possibility would be to reduce the bursts to 3 rounds and make it a 15 or 30 round clip. But I'm not really sure what would be best.

The pulse rifle stands out quite a bit. 60 round clip means 12 attacks between reloads. In addition its ammo is H, which is a sharp contrast two the other L weapons you have for the primary slot. Maybe make it 50 round clip and M, but that would be a double nerf :/
Then again, it would make the heavy weapon slot all the more interesting. Not really sure tho.

IMO, the grenade info could be better. Currently it's like this:
+------- Civilian Tower, level 1 ----------------------------------------------\
|    :    :          :                 |                                       |
|    :    :          :                 | DaEezT, Private Marine                |
|    :    :          :                 |                                       |
|    |    :          :                 | Health : #################### 99 / 99 |
|:::::-::::::::-::::::                 | Ammo   : ##########----------200 /400 |
|   :     :          :                 |                                       |
|   :     :          :                 |                                       |
|   |     :          :                 |                                       |
|   :     :          :                 | Sidearm : M4A3 pistol (12/12)         |
|   :     :          :                 | Primary : MP5 submachine gun (18/18)  |
|::::::::#############                 | Heavy   :                             |
|        ...........@#                 | Grenades: 3Frg/1 0Inc/2 1Krak/3       |
|        ...........##                 |                                       |
|::::::::###########::                 |                                       |
|     :    :    :    :                 | Medpacks: 6                           |
|     :    :    :    :                 |---------------------------------------|
|     :    :    :    :                 |                                       |
|     :    :    :    :                 |                                       |
|     :    :    :    :                 |                                       |
|     :    :    :    :                 |                                       |
|     :    :    :    :                 | Nash is dead. Head to the top of the  |
|     :    :    :    :                 | Main Tower to kill the alien queen.   |
|     :    |    :    :                 | Good Luck.                            |
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Imo, it would look better like this:
+------- Civilian Tower, level 1 ----------------------------------------------\
|    :    :          :                 |                                       |
|    :    :          :                 | DaEezT, Private Marine                |
|    :    :          :                 |                                       |
|    |    :          :                 | Health : #################### 99 / 99 |
|:::::-::::::::-::::::                 | Ammo   : ##########----------200 /400 |
|   :     :          :                 |                                       |
|   :     :          :                 |                                       |
|   |     :          :                 |                                       |
|   :     :          :                 | Sidearm : M4A3 pistol (12/12)         |
|   :     :          :                 | Primary : MP5 submachine gun (18/18)  |
|::::::::#############                 | Heavy   :                             |
|        ...........@#                 | Grenades: 1.Frg(5) 2.Inc(5) 3.Krak(5) |
|        ...........##                 |                                       |
|::::::::###########::                 |                                       |
|     :    :    :    :                 | Medpacks: 6                           |
|     :    :    :    :                 |---------------------------------------|
|     :    :    :    :                 |                                       |
|     :    :    :    :                 |                                       |
|     :    :    :    :                 |                                       |
|     :    :    :    :                 |                                       |
|     :    :    :    :                 | Nash is dead. Head to the top of the  |
|     :    :    :    :                 | Main Tower to kill the alien queen.   |
|     :    |    :    :                 | Good Luck.                            |
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
My reason is consistency with the other weapon entries. They all go:
Shortcut - Name - Ammo in brackets


I know I already posted this in the internal topics, but I still think the wording in the class selection screen is not perfect.
+----------------------- Character Class -----------------------\
|                |                                              |
| Marine         |  The backbone of the Colonial Marines. You   |
| HW Specialist  |  are trained in the use of everything that   |
| Scout          |  can hurt other living things and don't      |
| Medic          |  mind doing just that. As a typical grunt,   |
| Technician     |  you don't really think much, instead        |
|                |  relying on your weapons to keep you alive.  |
|                |                                              |
|                |                                              |
|                |----------- Skill cost modification ----------|
|                |                                              |
|                |  Sidearms      : +10%  Medical       : -10%  |
|                |  Light weapons : +10%  Fitness       : -10%  |
|                |  Heavy weapons : +10%  Perception    : -10%  |
|                |  Technical     : -10%                        |
|                |                                              |
\---------------------------------------------------------------+
"Skill cost modification" +10% = more expensive?
It isn't, I know, but it sorta bugs me none the less :p

[Blade]

Haven't noone noticed that at the beginning of the game marine spawns in the wall? It is clearly visible on DaEezT's screenshots.

[Malek Deneith]

Another possibility would be to reduce the bursts to 3 rounds and make it a 15 or 30 round clip. But I'm not really sure what would be best.

NO, no, NO, no... this wouldn't be a fix but a player killer - currently it takes 2 to 3 bursts usually to kill alien, unless they get very close - 3 round burst would make waste more time on single alien.

The pulse rifle stands out quite a bit. 60 round clip means 12 attacks between reloads. In addition its ammo is H, which is a sharp contrast two the other L weapons you have for the primary slot. Maybe make it 50 round clip and M, but that would be a double nerf :/
Then again, it would make the heavy weapon slot all the more interesting. Not really sure tho.

I don't feel good about nerfing Pulse Rifle down to M type of damage. I didn't play too much for now since my computer power unit is slowly dying, so I get random resets often, but in those few games I found ONE heavy weapon (namely RPG in the first full release) despite extensive searching of military tower - pulse rifle was my only semi-relaiant way of dealing with elites.

Oh and one more thing - what happened to the idea of ammo beeing actually in "clips" as opposed of singular bullets... I recall it was planned to be clips, but in the final game we ended up with ammo counted singularily.

[TFoN]

9mm ammo's wasted if you pick it up while at max capacity. In other words, it doesn't stop 'g'etting when full, but it doesn't breach 400 either.

Also, there's a general case of ammo waste if you're near max capacity for an ammo type and then 'g'et more - it fills up to the maximum, and the excess is wasted.

NO, no, NO, no... this wouldn't be a fix but a player killer - currently it takes 2 to 3 bursts usually to kill alien, unless they get very close - 3 round burst would make waste more time on single alien.

Not if time cost is also lowered accordingly, in which case I think this is just the thing to do. It'll also take care of ammo waste. The only thing to watch out for here, then, is that it doesn't become obviously superior to the pistol. Since it doesn't seem to be as accurate, though, I'm not too worried.

Regarding clips, that'd be nice and it'll make sense, but would reloading before emptying the current magazine waste the leftover ammo?

[zaimoni]

Not just 9mm...all types are wasted (picked up, but will not breach maximum).

Yet another excuse to micromanage.

[torch]

Regarding clips, that'd be nice and it'll make sense, but would reloading before emptying the current magazine waste the leftover ammo?

You could drop the rest of the ammo on the floor and then the player has the option to pick it up when they next get a chance.  Seems realistic, but I'm not sure it would add much to the gameplay. 

How about the player can slap in a new clip - v.fast, but waste leftover rounds in old clip OR eject current clip and push in individual rounds then slap it back in - v.slow but no wastage. 

[Kornel Kisielewicz]

The problem here is that for development speed's sake the item system is very simplicized. If you'll get what I mean -- all the items on the floor are just numbers not objects. That is numbers from 1 to 255 where "x" is a Medpack, "y" is 9mm ammo, etc. It has no additional information, so there's either a full "clip" lying on the ground or nothing :>

[BDR]

So, enemies popping up uninvited through the airducts has been implemented, albeit not as nicely as it could have been.  This gives me a couple ideas on refining the idea, though.

1. A somewhat more limited number of airduct openings.  Just allowing the aliens to spawn anywhere they please doesn't seem right; sure there may be places for something crawling in the ducts to get out, (in fact, there could be a lot of places to get out) but is there ever an opening to the airducts in every single room of any building?  What I'm picturing boils basically down to this: Small rooms, like 4x4's or 5x5's (maybe 6x6's), only have one opening enemies can come out through, and the bigger rooms (like 20x7) will have maybe three or four airduct entrances for aliens, but there will never be a time when you take a single step and suddenly you're surrounded.  Instead, the worst you could have (which would still be undeniably game-ending) would be a neverending stream of aliens from the various ducts.  You should, of course, also be able to see these ducts, though whether you need to see an alien pop out of one first, need a bit of XP put into Perception first, or can notice the differences straight away is a bit of a toss-up.

2. The ability to seal airduct openings.  This is a bit more ambitious and maybe a little unbalancing, but I think that the restrictions make up for this without making the benefits useless.  First, it will take a while (maybe.. I dunno, 50 turns without some Technical skill for a normal wall duct, and 75 for the rarer but harder to reach and work with ceiling duct?) to seal up the exit so the aliens can't use the opening anymore, and that means you increase the danger level substantially.  Second, if it's a big room you'll have to seal ALL of the exits to keep aliens from coming in, and if you're looking at 5 or 6 entrances that means 250-300 turns just to keep yourself safe in that one room (during which time you could be interrupted halfway through by a stream of enemies coming in through the last couple of entrances).  A possible third is that in order to seal entrances in the first place, you'll have to hit the Engineering tower for some sealant.  The benefit (being able to seal up a room with nice goodies and/or an elevator room for later, simpler travel) would have to be weighed against the consequences (time used up on sealing a room that might be better used looking for ammo/getting to the Queen).

[DaEezT]

To 1: The idea of using air ducts/vents as alien spawn points has been there almost since the beginning of the planning stage. It should definitely become a part of the game (vents would be special wall tiles) as it a) removes the possibility of aliens spawning in the middle of a room or some weird place and b) adds to the atmosphere as the player has to be weary of every vent he encounters.

To 2: I'm sorry, but I can't think of any reason why I would want to seal some vents. The way I see it I'd not be keeping them out, I'd be caging myself in so I'd starve to death.

[BDR]

Starving to death? I'm sorry, not sure I'm getting you.  My thought was that #2 would be useful mainly for elevator rooms/rooms with items in them that you want to save for later.  This way, when you've killed the queen and are running for the exits, you know you've got some places to catch your breath or at least conserve ammo.

[Psion]

In any case the aliens in the movies just ripped or bashed or melted through all the sheet metal and welded doors in the movie.  It just slowed them down.

Maybe you could get a welder item that works sort of like doorspikes in traditional roguelikes.

[BDR]

Here's another idea: Muzzle flashes allow you to see farther than normal.  Shotguns would show you a large portion of the area around you, but wouldn't extend your sight much; whereas bullet-type weapons would extend your sight much farther but restrict the extension to pretty much the path of the bullet.  Explosions would also give you an extension of vision, but only on the edges of the blast area and not much further than that (nor within the blast zone, as that area is too bright to really let you see anything), while the flamethrower/incendiary grenade would give you the best extension of vision overall (the flamethrower would show about 2/3rds of what the shotgun would show you, but would extend your sight much farther [compared to maybe one or two more tiles of vision given by the shotgun, you get four or five more tiles of vision]; both of these weapons would leave a patch of burning ground after use that would allow you to see a 4x4 area around the burning spot [or alien if you're more inclined to slaughter at that moment]).

[Firstblood]

I think I found a bug but its difficult to tell due to the nature of the bug. It happens (or more accurately doesn't happen) on level 3 and it has something to do with the exploration bonus. I could be mistaken only it seems to have happened twice in a row on at least two different games (and I was only checking on those two). Possibly level 6 as well.

[Schluberlubs]

I noticed a slight problem with level generation. As you can see in the above image,  the door is inaccessible.

[Firstblood]

I think that might be a feature and not a bug, and its exclusive to the Medical Tower. I saw the same thing in a room, a door with no room. I assumed it was meant to represent a medical cabinet or closet. The door in your screenshot is actually accessible from the corridor, but theres no room and its on the edge of the tower.


I just scored a critical hit with a frag on a juvenile and dealt normal damage, shouldn't that be an instant kill? imagine lobbing a grenade and it exploding just as it enters the juve's outstretched mouth, and the ensuing mess.. ;)