Two general design suggestions - proactive strategy and pacing

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Ivan Rajic
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Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2016 6:56 am

Two general design suggestions - proactive strategy and pacing

Post by Ivan Rajic »

Hey!

So, I had two suggestions for Long War 2's strategy layer. Bear in mind that I haven't actually played XCOM 2 yet, though I've watched a number of gameplay videos. So, this is mainly based on my experiences with Long War 1. Still, it's two general design suggestions, not particularly specific, so hopefully they might be a bit useful.

Proactive strategy

There's already another thread suggesting that the player should be able to be proactive in the strategy part of the game, and JohnnyLump has hinted that there will be large changes to the strategy layer. I would totally second that suggestion. You guys did a great job in LW1 with spicing up the strategy part, but there was only so much you could do, and it still feels like I'm mainly reacting to events. From what I could see from the gameplay videos for XCOM 2, that is still generally the case in XCOM 2. So, having the player have the capability to both act (more than minor things like setting up relays and such) and react would be very interesting, I think.

Pacing

The second suggestion regards pacing. There is the fact that LW1 is, well, long, but I never found that to be a problem. What I do find a bit problematic is that it often feels like new toys to play with (new perks, new gear of all sorts, etc.) are always so far off after the early game. Let me explain briefly.

In the first couple of months, your soldiers are leveling fairly quickly and there's also a decent amount of gear, plus you're getting new alien types. So, there's always new stuff to keep things interesting. Particularly because moving from no perks, to one perk, or from one to two, or adding an extra alien type when there' are only two or three already, are actually huge leaps.

However, when your soldiers start levelling more slowly, and you get one new alien type when there'a already six or more you can encounter, you find yourself essentially playing quite a number of quite similar missions. What I then feel would spice things up is new gear. But then the research projects take 15 days, then there's another 7 or 10 to make the gear, then you're limited in resources and can only build a relatively small number of items at a time, and then when you finally get some, they can get broken, so there are repair times as well. (It's like a kid who gets a new toy taken from him or her! :cry: ) So, essentially, weeks can go by, with half a dozen or more fairly similar missions, with few exciting outcomes (e.g. leveling), and I find myself yearning for something new. I then realized that I was actually no longer excited about the next mission, but rather felt it was a chore, until I get something new to do in it, but the novelty wears out after a few missions, and then the process is repeated.

And that's where I think you could do it a bit differently for LW2, in terms of making the appearance of various new "things" (new gear, perks, tactical and strategic options, etc.) more steady throughout the game, so things stay fresh. And, just to make sure I'm not misunderstood: a) this isn't about swamping the player with new things all the time, but rather having enough interesting and new things come in a steady fashion, and b) it's not about making things easier, because these new options for the player can, of course, be counterbalanced by something else.

(I think a comparison with the Dynamic War pacing is screaming to be made, but since I haven't tried it - thinking I should, despite the info on Ufopaedia saying some things aren't balanced for it - I'll refrain from it.)

I'm sure you guys have loads of interesting things planned for LW2, but I hope this is at least a little bit useful. In any case, I can't wait to get XCOM 2 and LW2 once I've upgraded my computer. :) Thanks for the amazing work you're doing! (And thanks to Firaxis for supporting you!)
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Valaska
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Re: Two general design suggestions - proactive strategy and pacing

Post by Valaska »

I just hope aliens cap out somewhere above our soldiers instead of consistently getting better forever :x that was my main gripe with LW1, it wasn't long enough for me! D:
Ivan Rajic
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Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2016 6:56 am

Re: Two general design suggestions - proactive strategy and pacing

Post by Ivan Rajic »

Valaska wrote:I just hope aliens cap out somewhere above our soldiers instead of consistently getting better forever :x that was my main gripe with LW1, it wasn't long enough for me! D:
Huh? The aliens do cap out. As do the UFOs. I think in some previous versions, the UFOs kept getting better forever, but not anymore. The aliens, however, never did, at least as far as I know.
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Valaska
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Re: Two general design suggestions - proactive strategy and pacing

Post by Valaska »

Ivan Rajic wrote:
Valaska wrote:I just hope aliens cap out somewhere above our soldiers instead of consistently getting better forever :x that was my main gripe with LW1, it wasn't long enough for me! D:
Huh? The aliens do cap out. As do the UFOs. I think in some previous versions, the UFOs kept getting better forever, but not anymore. The aliens, however, never did, at least as far as I know.
Oh haha, yeah the first time I played LongWar on XCOM EW, the UFO's just got better and better infinitely and it got really crazy. I thought the aliens did too :x might be wrong though. Awesome that they cap out now htough.
Ivan Rajic
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2016 6:56 am

Re: Two general design suggestions - proactive strategy and pacing

Post by Ivan Rajic »

Yeah, at least according to Ufopaedia they do cap out. Haven't actually checked it in any way, nor did I pay so much attention myself, but I see no reason for that to not be true.
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