Classic Difficulty - modding and balancing

[grenademagnet]

* Summary: I had a few questions regarding adjusting the classic difficulty, so will appreciate any feedback to my text below. I'll also share the results of my mod-file with whoever wants it:

 

I've modded my first game to make the strategic layer of Classic a little bit easier, by reducing many of the panic penalties, as I wanted to have more time to learn the game as my underpowered soldiers struggled the first few months.

 

However, since I have read that people are getting through the game on Classic, my mod will probably make the game too easy once my troops are built up in power.

 

So I was considering the following mod to Classic Difficulty, to make the starting tactical missions more survivable:

 

1) Start the Classic game with the OTS like with Normal difficulty

2) Make the squad-size upgrades available immediately, so you can start the game with six underpowered rookies rather than just four.

 

Then I could leave the country's panic at the Classic defaults. I don't know if I can get the OTS to appear in the base immediately but I can lower the cost and rank requirements so it would cost just $1 to build. And I would reduce the minimum rank for the squad-size upgrades to rookie (and make the cost of those $1 each).

 

I figure this squad-size increase would help balance against the bonsuses the aliens get on Classic Difficulty, such as the +10 to-hit and critical bonuses.

 

For those who have gotten comfortable with the unmodded Classic, would this squad-size adjustment make the Classic beginning more manageable, rather than having bad luck from the RNG end the game early?

I know some would say "stick with the unmodded difficulty", but I don't have a lot of time to play the game each week, and don't feel like having to restart the game multiple times just hoping I'll get lucky to make progress into the mid-game timelines.

 

Any feedback would be great, thanks.

[Solver]

What I did in my first mini-mod was to create a new difficulty level, where everything is the same as on Classic, except that countries start at lower panic levels and decreasing panic is slightly easier. In my experience with Classic as it is in the game, the main difficulty arises from how quickly you lose nations. You have to launch a satellite in the first month usually to avoid losing a nation, and the money you spend on Satellites detracts from your ability to spend it on other improvements. So with that simple modification, it's a lot more manageable (though I am still playing unmodded classic).

 

Your proposal is actually aimed at making the tactical part easier. I'd say that starting with 6 soldiers would make most early missions a cakewalk. But it depends on what you find harder and what you want to make easier. If it's the strategy layer, decrease panic. If it's the combat layer, start with 6 rooks.

[monkeystador]

I finished the game on classic. In the beginning i though i wont win, but after while it was fine.

 

*Lost many soldiers in the game, kinda played ironman style. Guess i had to muster ~ 15 new soldiers.

*Wasted some money on nano vest and bought enough scarab amor for everyone.

*Had a normal SHIV and a Improved SHIV + LASER.

*Two phoenix cannons and a couple if targeting & defense matrix items. There was never a need to build more fighters than an additional firestorm, and this one i didnt even need. Could down the biggest UFO in the game with a combo of defense matrix and targeting. Later no problems with UFOs at all after giving each fighter a plasma cannon.

*Retreated from a mission once and worldwide panic had 5 countries remove their support. But i could stop it with some long term planing to get enough satellites up to cover the remaining countries except 1. In this i could manage panic after having that much satellites up. Never lost a satellite to an UFO.

*Mostly used medkits in the game as backpack item, since i never had any high level support solder live very long.

*Heavy soldiers and snipers, together with an assualt carried the game.

*After a while, even losing good soldiers ( lost 2 majors and couple others too, totalling 16 ) every other mission, the troops, even not fully equipped with plasma could do very well in the missions. Mostly because of 2 colonels, after having them, the game started to become very easy. One colonel got nearly downed once but i could stabilise and he survived. After i had a full complement of 6 colonels all wiht titan armor and plasma primary weapons the game was pretty much won.

*Never used a psi soldier in a mission except the last one. Thus i never really benefited from the psi powers in the game.

*Never used archangel armor or ghost armor.

 

The hardest part for me was to get enough engineers. I had a constant shortage of 1 or 2 to get enough to build more satellite controls or even the laser weapons. That delayed the game for me a lot. Big issue was always the credits, i had to sell most of my alien loot on the blackmarket. But since there was no real need for any UFO parts and most of the dead alien bodies it was ok.

 

Research on the other hand was a breeze and i had always been ahead far enough.

 

Nearly got all officer school upgrades and very few forge upgrades (shiv upgrades, improved medkit ). Only captured three aliens alive in the whole game. The sectoid, outlander and by incredible luck, the first etheral i meet ( in the second attempt of the mission as my whole team was slauthered in the first try)

 

Fi you like i can give you my savegame, from there its just 3 sniper shoots to game finish. Then you can see my game stats.

Edited October 14, 2012 by monkeystador

[grenademagnet]

Your proposal is actually aimed at making the tactical part easier. I'd say that starting with 6 soldiers would make most early missions a cakewalk. But it depends on what you find harder and what you want to make easier. If it's the strategy layer, decrease panic. If it's the combat layer, start with 6 rooks.

Right, I was thinking of making the tactical part easier in the first few months of the game, as in the default Classic mode the game is easier to lose initially than later on, since the four-man squad is very weak at the start. But I wanted to make tactical easier a first without making it easier for the rest of the game, as would come with reducing the alien troop bonuses on Classic.

 

I've already modded the panic levels down, but I'm concerned that will make the Classic game too easier later on. For example, I got through the first month and already got an A rating from the council and the highest panic level from the countries is 2.

Edited October 14, 2012 by grenademagnet

[grenademagnet]

I finished the game on classic. In the beginning i though i wont win, but after while it was fine.

(snip)

Fi you like i can give you my savegame, from there its just 3 sniper shoots to game finish. Then you can see my game stats.

 

Thanks for all that, but I just wanted to know if modding the game to start with six soldiers instead of four is an adequate balance for the first few months of Classic gameplay without making the game too easy.

Edited October 14, 2012 by grenademagnet

[KristmasKthulhu]

I personally really like larger squads. In the original XCOM you had tons of space on the Skyranger because there was no way to prevent your soldiers from dying constantly. I've stopped playing the new XCOM because there were tons of little things that bug me, and I've been trying to figure out how to fix them before finishing.

 

But to answer your question, no, having six soldiers off the bat does not make the game too easy (at least early on). I've still had complete unit wipes against Mutons on Classic. But an easier way of getting six squad members at the start of the game is to just increase Skyranger_Capacity to six instead of jumping through hoops with the OTS.

 

It's under Headquarters Values in the XComGame.exe.

[grenademagnet]

I personally really like larger squads. In the original XCOM you had tons of space on the Skyranger because there was no way to prevent your soldiers from dying constantly. I've stopped playing the new XCOM because there were tons of little things that bug me, and I've been trying to figure out how to fix them before finishing.

 

But to answer your question, no, having six soldiers off the bat does not make the game too easy (at least early on). I've still had complete unit wipes against Mutons on Classic. But an easier way of getting six squad members at the start of the game is to just increase Skyranger_Capacity to six instead of jumping through hoops with the OTS.

 

It's under Headquarters Values in the XComGame.exe.

Yeah, I also prefer having the option for larger squads, back when I played the original X-Com and the sequel, Terror from the Deep. I'm in the same boat you are, trying to adjust the game to make it feel more like the original. There are a number of limitations, but I think we can all collectively get some better gameplay from our efforts (I hope)...

 

On the skyranger_capacity, I knew of that parameter, and thought I had tried that first, but for some reason the game didn't give me four slots. Perhaps due to the fact I was playing the game on Classic? I know in Normal Difficulty you start with a OTS, so thought that was the reason it worked on earlier skill levels.

 

I'll try again with a fresh, game default INI file and only modify the skyranger_capacity parameter to 6, start a new game in Classic, then will see if it works.

 

I'll report back shortly...

[Daemonjax]

Off the top of my head, things you can do to make Classic easier in the beginning but notsomuch nearing the middle/end:

 

1) Increase starting cash.

2) Decrease the bonuses of enemies you are more likely to encounter at the beginning of the game, while increasing those of enemies in the endgame.

3) Increase the hitpoints of your starting units.

4) Decrease the engineer requirement on workshops and labs to 5.

5) Decrease research time of beginning techs, while increasing those of endgame techs

6) Decrease XP required for gaining ranks up to Lt., while increasing XP requirements for higher ranks

7) Increase the power of starting base, while decreasing the power grained from high end Power Plants

eight) Increase the starting Armor hitpoint bonus to 2

Edited October 15, 2012 by Daemonjax

[grenademagnet]

But to answer your question, no, having six soldiers off the bat does not make the game too easy (at least early on). I've still had complete unit wipes against Mutons on Classic. But an easier way of getting six squad members at the start of the game is to just increase Skyranger_Capacity to six instead of jumping through hoops with the OTS.

 

It's under Headquarters Values in the XComGame.exe.

 

Well, you are correct! In Classic mode, just setting the Skyranger_Capacity to 6 started off my game with 6 rookies, and I was able to equip 6 in the Skyranger in the next mission, so the parameter change still works.

 

In my first modded game I had set the parameter to 6, but I could only equip four. I believe the reason is that I had started the game with the capacity =4, then later modded it to 6 along with a few other changes. I assume the game just went the Skyranger_Capacity parameter I started the new game with.

 

That's fine, so now if I want to test starting with 6 in the Skyranger it's easy to do. Thanks for pointing this out.

[grenademagnet]

Off the top of my head, things you can do to make Classic easier in the beginning but notsomuch nearing the middle/end:

 

1) Increase starting cash.

2) Decrease the bonuses of enemies you are more likely to encounter at the beginning of the game, while increasing those of enemies in the endgame.

3) Increase the hitpoints of your starting units.

4) Decrease the engineer requirement on workshops and labs to 5.

5) Decrease research time of beginning techs, while increasing those of endgame techs

6) Decrease XP required for gaining ranks up to Lt., while increasing XP requirements for higher ranks

7) Increase the power of starting base, while decreasing the power grained from high end Power Plants

eight) Increase the starting Armor hitpoint bonus to 2

That's a pretty good list of items I had not thought of.

 

I'm thinking of taking KristmasKthulhu's advice of setting the skyranger count to 6, then also implementing the following:

 

* Your suggestion: increase starting health slighty (perhaps 1 point)

* Your suggestion: increase the starting money (perhaps by 50%, as I heard you can get a lot of money as the game progresses)

 

I like your ideas of the experience changes for soldier ranks and bonus increases for end-game opponents. But at this point I don't have a feel for the proper values to set.

I'll have to try a game to see what levels make sense, unless anyone has any suggestions.

 

Other changes I will make (just personal preference)

* Soldiers don't shoot when panicked.

* ShowUFOsOnMission=1 (to give aircraft more things to shoot at)

* Adjust country and/or continent panic levels slightly - since I will detect more UFOs I should probably reduce the ignore penalty by 1

i.e. PANIC_UFO_IGNORED=1 instead of 2.