I don't like timers maybe idk

[fadeway]

There's something wrong with timers, but I'm not sure what.

I wanted to say that they make the missions too intense. Intense missions are fun, but when all missions you're doing are intense then it starts to exhaust you. So adding more non-timed missions between the timed ones should fix that. But that doesn't seem right, I don't think a 2man shinobi infiltration is that intense, so they kinda already fill that role. It's only the timed missions with full squad firefights that really bring pressure and I haven't been doing those back to back..

Maybe the timers are too low across the board? Eh, they don't really make the missions impossible to complete..

I don't know, there's something about LW2 that makes it not as fun as LW1, and my first thought is always about the timers. Yet I don't want to outright increase them in the .ini since they do add a lot to the resistance feeling.

[GavinRuneblade]

There is always a balance between simulation/realism and game-ism. For example bosses are a purely Gamist convention. In reality no general can kill a whole regiment, and neither Obama nor Trump can take down their own body guards. In a simulation or realistic game, "bosses" would be helpless cowering targets like the evil VIPs. But in video games, the guy in charge is ALWAYS the most dangerous fighter.

Timers are a compromise between the two sides. A full on simulation response to guerilla warfare attacks like hit man or similar games is more than XCom can really support. So timers give a nod to simulation in that it is "realistic " you don't have infinite time. But they are implemented in a gamist manner.

I personally like the implementation of the true concealment mod where timers only count down after you lose concealment. But given the balance of lw2 and the way overwatch creeping was so dominant in EW, I understand why the timers work like they do here.

EDIT: to be precise, that last means that I don't use the compatible true concealment mod in my lw2 games.

[DougS2K]

Hate the timers. Always have and always will. After the first timer mission I did, I bumped all timers up +10. lol

[code99]

Hate the timers. Always have and always will. After the first timer mission I did, I bumped all timers up +10. lol

PLEASE tell me how to do that !!

I was never a fan of timers in vanilla and i had downloaded a mod to increase them but that mod does not work well with lw2 and as far as im aware there is no other mod out there that simply increases timers by a bit.

I would love to be able to tweak timers myself but i dunno what file to edit!

[ShockmasterFred]

Hate the timers. Always have and always will. After the first timer mission I did, I bumped all timers up +10. lol

I get that you don't like timers, but by basically removing them you are making many of the missions in LW2 trivially easy. Since the rubber banding mechanic was removed by this mod, the alien/Advent pods don't know your location. All you need to do is camp til they move away from where you want to go and you can finish tons of the games missions without breaking a sweat. I would say give one whole play through of the mod the way the devs intended it to be played, and if you didn't enjoy it, them change it up. It's your game of course, so you aren't doing anything wrong, I'm just giving a suggestion. Either way good luck killing those ayys!

[Krzysztof z Bagien]

PLEASE tell me how to do that !!

XComLW_Overhaul.ini, search for MISSION TIMERS

You can specify how many turns will each type of mission last, or below that you can add fixed number of turns to all missions across-the-board.

[GavinRuneblade]

Without changing timers in the files, you still have ways to control mission length.

Destroy the transmitter and hack the computer only have a timer until that step is over, you can take as long as you want after. Assault missions, salvage missions and rooting out faceless have no timer at all. Given you can ignore missions you don't like, past the first few months while you are getting set up you can only run untimed missions if you want.

Plus leaders have a few tricks too.

[UraniumOverdose]

I play on veteran, and I found bumping the timers up by 5 gives enough breathing room to try strategies other than "double move and hope for the best" and still keeping you on the clock to prevent just overwatch creeping.

I love having the time to use suppression to lock down a group while I send two or three guys to flank them.

[Krzysztof z Bagien]

True concealment mode is now updated to work with LW2, so you may want to give it a try:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... =847481752

[fadeway]

I agree with shockmaster on true concealment, it lets you camp until the ayys move away. Maybe timers should tick down slower in concealment but definitely not that much slower.

[DougS2K]

Hate the timers. Always have and always will. After the first timer mission I did, I bumped all timers up +10. lol

PLEASE tell me how to do that !!

I was never a fan of timers in vanilla and i had downloaded a mod to increase them but that mod does not work well with lw2 and as far as im aware there is no other mod out there that simply increases timers by a bit.

I would love to be able to tweak timers myself but i dunno what file to edit!

Open XComLW_Overhaul.ini located in *Your install location*\XCOM 2\XComGame\Mods\LW_Overhaul\Config. At the bottom you will see all the timer settings. Change the numbers to what you want and save it.

[DougS2K]

Hate the timers. Always have and always will. After the first timer mission I did, I bumped all timers up +10. lol

I get that you don't like timers, but by basically removing them you are making many of the missions in LW2 trivially easy. Since the rubber banding mechanic was removed by this mod, the alien/Advent pods don't know your location. All you need to do is camp til they move away from where you want to go and you can finish tons of the games missions without breaking a sweat. I would say give one whole play through of the mod the way the devs intended it to be played, and if you didn't enjoy it, them change it up. It's your game of course, so you aren't doing anything wrong, I'm just giving a suggestion. Either way good luck killing those ayys!

Valid point. I have found some of the missions a little to easy. Going to bump it back a little to maybe + 4 or 5 and see if thats better.

[Galamoth]

I love the timers. Overwatch creeping was so crazy strong in Xcom1 that you almost had to do it in long war. Unfortunately it is supremely boring. So boring that in a longer gaming session, the combined boredom would be too much and i would just abandon the strategy and do flanking firefights. With the timer, the game can be balanced around a much more engaging and fun way to play than inching half your squad forward while the other half overwatches over and over.

[moroniccinamun]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the timers somehow affected by the quality of the intel (e.g. how many rebels you have gathering intel) that got you the mission? Or am I confusing it with the infiltration time?

[mattprice516]

I agree with shockmaster on true concealment, it lets you camp until the ayys move away. Maybe timers should tick down slower in concealment but definitely not that much slower.

That would be kinda fascinating - a True Concealment-lite that made timers tick down 1 per turn while concealed but 2 per turn while not concealed (with commensurate rebalancing of timers).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the timers somehow affected by the quality of the intel (e.g. how many rebels you have gathering intel) that got you the mission? Or am I confusing it with the infiltration time?

Infiltration % does not affect mission timers. It does, however, affect the quantity of enemies (effectively allowing you to move faster with the same timer) and the time the Skyranger takes to arrive for evac (allowing you to get out faster afterwards).