[Suggestion] Alternative Infiltration Model
Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 10:09 am
Infiltration mechanics forcing people into full stealth / suicide or into 0% OW crawls have been mentioned in a lot of discussions on the forum lately. Therefore I have developed an alternative mission mechanic that could either replace the current or be added for specific mission type they make sense for. The alternative model uses the same parameters as the current one but simply utilized them differently.
Here is how it would work:
1) Mission spawns with a mission duration.
The mission duration must be at least 14 days (which most missions are anyhow currently).
2) Haven must generate intel points in order to match the missions detection threshold.
Same as the current model.
3) Intel income generates a % chance.
In the current model, there is a low chance to detect the mission and allow you start the infiltration. In the alternative model, there is a higher chance (roughly 3x higher) but when you make the roll, the mission is not detected but instead the base infiltration time is lowered and XCOM can continue to roll for that mission to decrease infiltration time further.
4) 10 days before the mission expires, the mission is revealed, if the mission detection threshold has been matched until then
So instead of missions opening up with only a day to infiltrate, you always have 10 days to infiltrate.
5) There is an infiltration base time modifier starting out at +7 days which is reduced by 24-48h each time you succeed at the intel roll in step 3 to a minimum of -2 days. The final infiltration time can never be lower than 12h.
So if you have barely managed to detect a mission, you can stealth it with 2 man at around 120% of infiltration or you can bring a small strike team of four at around 90% or a large team of six at 70%.
6) Boosting infiltration can be done multiple times on the same mission, but is not applied retroactively.
Intended effect of the model:
1) Add strategic depth
Currently, missions spawning with a very short timer are (according to the initial documentation) not supposed to be tackled. However, due to stealth/suicide options, those missions are still done on a regular basis. With the proposed model, you have to weigh the time investment of your soldiers against the mission. The better the intelligence, the quicker the infiltration, the more missions the soldiers of a squad ca do. Crucial missions will always be available provided you can gather enough intel to match their threshold and the choice - if you haven't managed to gather much intel - isn't between stealth/suicide or nothing but rather a choice of "how many soldiers can I spare for 10 days to tackle this" which is a much more interesting question. You will likely have more missions that you can tackle - which ones do you take on?
2) Increase 5-6 man squad viability
In this alternative model, the incentives to bring a 2 man squad to stealth instead of a larger squad that is available are lower, because both squads suffer from a flat penalty. So where you can do 3 missions back to back with a duo in the same time you needed to infiltrate a 6 man team, now you probably cannot even do two missions as a flat penalty is proportionally larger for a duo than for a 6 man team. In addition, the number of missions where you can infiltrate a 5-6 man team to 90+% is much, much larger. You pay for this through longer infiltration blocking your squads for a longer time.
3) More flexibility in the haven management
Currently intel gathering is an all-or-nothing activity. Either the entire haven is on the job or it's not really worth it. With the alternative model it can be a smart idea to put 3 rebels on intel while the rest recruits or gathers supply as that would allow crucial missions to still be detected.
4) More options to differentiate missions
Through adjustment of duration, threshold & intel chance you can generate missions that are always detected but hard to do on the cheap (e.g. Troop columns / supply raids), missions that are hard to detect but doable if you put enough intel-effort into it (high threshold but also high chance to reduce infiltration modifier) or anything in between. That would be a more organic way to have lucrative mission spawn in developed havens.
Here is how it would work:
1) Mission spawns with a mission duration.
The mission duration must be at least 14 days (which most missions are anyhow currently).
2) Haven must generate intel points in order to match the missions detection threshold.
Same as the current model.
3) Intel income generates a % chance.
In the current model, there is a low chance to detect the mission and allow you start the infiltration. In the alternative model, there is a higher chance (roughly 3x higher) but when you make the roll, the mission is not detected but instead the base infiltration time is lowered and XCOM can continue to roll for that mission to decrease infiltration time further.
4) 10 days before the mission expires, the mission is revealed, if the mission detection threshold has been matched until then
So instead of missions opening up with only a day to infiltrate, you always have 10 days to infiltrate.
5) There is an infiltration base time modifier starting out at +7 days which is reduced by 24-48h each time you succeed at the intel roll in step 3 to a minimum of -2 days. The final infiltration time can never be lower than 12h.
So if you have barely managed to detect a mission, you can stealth it with 2 man at around 120% of infiltration or you can bring a small strike team of four at around 90% or a large team of six at 70%.
6) Boosting infiltration can be done multiple times on the same mission, but is not applied retroactively.
Intended effect of the model:
1) Add strategic depth
Currently, missions spawning with a very short timer are (according to the initial documentation) not supposed to be tackled. However, due to stealth/suicide options, those missions are still done on a regular basis. With the proposed model, you have to weigh the time investment of your soldiers against the mission. The better the intelligence, the quicker the infiltration, the more missions the soldiers of a squad ca do. Crucial missions will always be available provided you can gather enough intel to match their threshold and the choice - if you haven't managed to gather much intel - isn't between stealth/suicide or nothing but rather a choice of "how many soldiers can I spare for 10 days to tackle this" which is a much more interesting question. You will likely have more missions that you can tackle - which ones do you take on?
2) Increase 5-6 man squad viability
In this alternative model, the incentives to bring a 2 man squad to stealth instead of a larger squad that is available are lower, because both squads suffer from a flat penalty. So where you can do 3 missions back to back with a duo in the same time you needed to infiltrate a 6 man team, now you probably cannot even do two missions as a flat penalty is proportionally larger for a duo than for a 6 man team. In addition, the number of missions where you can infiltrate a 5-6 man team to 90+% is much, much larger. You pay for this through longer infiltration blocking your squads for a longer time.
3) More flexibility in the haven management
Currently intel gathering is an all-or-nothing activity. Either the entire haven is on the job or it's not really worth it. With the alternative model it can be a smart idea to put 3 rebels on intel while the rest recruits or gathers supply as that would allow crucial missions to still be detected.
4) More options to differentiate missions
Through adjustment of duration, threshold & intel chance you can generate missions that are always detected but hard to do on the cheap (e.g. Troop columns / supply raids), missions that are hard to detect but doable if you put enough intel-effort into it (high threshold but also high chance to reduce infiltration modifier) or anything in between. That would be a more organic way to have lucrative mission spawn in developed havens.