Topics

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Suggestions / Enemies AI Suggestions

« on: January 11, 2023, 12:35:50 am »

I think a very nice improvement to Underrail, or perhaps as something to include in Infusion, is better enemy AI. I think this would really help the game be more difficult and fun for veteran players. Here's a few examples.

• One of the most abusable AI limitations is that enemies won't use AoE abilities, such as grenades, if the player breaks line of sight. This means a very successful strategy is to hole up behind a corner or wall, outside of which the player has clear LOS to the enemies, and behind which the enemies don't have LOS to the player. By ending turn behind the corner / wall, the player doesn't face any danger. At this point, it would make total sense for enemies to chuck grenades (frag, EMP, gas, etc.) to flush the player out. Or use AoE psi abilities, if that's an option.

• Enemies currently don't change their behavior much when they step on a trap. When this happens to an intelligent enemy, I think they should alert their allies and start patrolling. Human enemies can start throwing flares at random directions. The same could happen if a dead body is seen, although in this case, there should be a mechanic to hide corpses (e.g. corpses could be treated like items, and carried around in the player's inventory).

• In encounters where one expects the enemies to be coordinated, such as with Protectorate soldiers, I would like to see the enemies form groups and assault as one, rather than charge the player individually. Also, tougher enemies (e.g. the dreadnoughts in Fort Apogee) could lead the assault.

• Not exactly a matter of enemy AI, but it would be great if enemies used more abilities. I don't think I've ever seen an enemy use Quick Tinkering, Expose Weakness, Cryokinetic Orb, or Psycho-temporal Contraction.

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Suggestions / Biology Skill Check to Examine Faceless Corpses

« on: January 27, 2020, 06:20:02 am »

The first time I killed a Faceless, my natural thought was "can I now remove its mask?"

I think there should be a Biology skill check to examine Faceless corpses.

Moreover, maybe it could unlock a special feat if you examine enough corpses. Say, you can now craft infusions with Deep Caverns components. But, as a tradeoff, all Faceless are automatically hostile to you.

Here's why I think is a good idea.

1. It's balanced imo. The Deep Caverns become much deadlier, but you are also stronger. Moreover, you're only stronger for the Deep Caverns and afterwards, since before then you won't have the components to make infusions. So crucially it doesn't affect pre Deep Caverns difficulty.

2. It incentivizes playing differently. I think most players try to remain at least neutral with the Faceless for obvious reasons. This could change that.

3. It makes sense that a character with high Biology would do this. And it's a natural way to add some interesting lore.

Even if you disagree with there being a feat reward, I think there should absolutely be the option to examine Faceless corpses.

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Bugs / Flurry goes on cd when hit deals damage but electrical damage finishes the enemy

« on: December 30, 2019, 04:05:25 am »

This playthrough, I've had several instances of a killing blow putting Flurry on CD. I looked at the combat log, and this has happened even when all attacks hit and deal damage. My suspicion is this happens when the electrical damage (my machete has an electroshock generator attached) deals the killing damage as that's been the bug condition the last few times it has happened.

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Suggestions / Flurry Should Give a Stack on Kill; Here's a Good Reason Why

« on: September 10, 2019, 08:11:24 pm »

Like with other weapons that have high critical damage bonus, as your character gets stronger and you min-max critical damage bonus, you become able to kill many enemies in 1-2 critical hits. And this is primarily what keeps crossbows, pistols, and certain melee weapons as viable alternatives to psi or ARs, albeit still weaker.

The problem is, if you kill an enemy on your first Flurry hit, then you don't get stacks from the second or third Flurry hit. It's pretty awkward to be getting 1-2 less stacks per turn because you've built a strong character with very high critical hit chance. It incentivizes gimmicky gameplay like having a low quality off-hand sword to build up stacks with before switching to your primary sword.

I think there's a simple fix. Change Flurry to provide an additional stack if it kills the target, but also, make it so a single Flurry can't add more than 3 stacks (this way you'll still need at least two Flurrys to get max stacks). Alternatively, this could be implemented as a specialization.

I think this is a fair and relatively minor buff, that only starts to have some impact in the late game, and helps a build that is clearly far less strong than psi or AR. But I think it is needed because Flurry is the primary reason to use swords and there isn't another build in the game where feats like Critical Power and Cheap Shots come with a notable, objective downside.

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General / Stealing from Ray's Shop

« on: September 04, 2019, 01:53:56 am »

So, it seems impossible to steal a jet ski from Ray's shop. I'm talking about the good ones inside. The ones outside can be stolen.

I was actually able to drive the Devastator out of Ray's shop without any camera turning orange or red. No NPC saw me either. So, I was fully expecting to have succeeded, but there appears to be a fail safe. So far as I can tell, moving one tile past the gate always triggers hostilities, even if the cameras stay green and you don't drive the jet ski past any core city NPCs.

Has any one been able to steal one of the good jet skis? Or is it as impossible as it seems?

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General / Does intimidation affect the chance for enemies to resist brutality?

« on: August 17, 2019, 07:41:46 am »

I'm curious, some enemies resist the fear affect from brutality, will their chance to resist be lower if I have higher intimidation?

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Suggestions / Better Ambush Indicator (Please)

« on: August 08, 2019, 04:35:52 am »

Ambush is one of my favorite feats in the game. It's conditionally (on being active) one of the strongest and adds another variable to consider when positioning your character and managing your action points. So, it would be nice if there was a better indicator of which tiles are illuminated and which are in darkness, since taking a shot to see can be really bad if you don't get the ambush. Many times it is obvious what's dark and what's light but there's a few relatively frequent situations where it's less obvious:

- When you or the enemy is on a tile that is visually obscured by a door or wall. This can happen quite a bit. Especially if you are behind cover and out of LoS then wish to run around the corner and take a few shots.

- Enemies at the edge of a light source. Will you get an ambush bonus or should you attempt the aimed shot? Maybe this comes with experience but I'm almost done with my first DLC playthrough and don't always guess right.

- When you have night vision activated. Say, you have a spread out group of enemies, some in shadows and some in light. You want night vision active to deal with the enemies in poor lighting but now it's hard to tell which tiles are dark to proc ambush.

Very minor DLC spoiler below...

- There's a few DLC enemies that can be naturally illuminated but don't visually appear as illuminated as usually required to proc ambush. Namely, locusts, strongmen, and handmaiden.

Please, grant an ability or hotkey that highlights the tiles which are considered dark, and another that highlights those that are illuminated. Congrats on the DLC release!

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Suggestions / Caereus Residential Laptops Should Give More Dialogue with John Dyson [Spoilers]

« on: January 14, 2016, 12:35:55 am »

If you allocated power to Caereus Residential, and read the laptop entries, you would know that Dude, aka John Dyson, was actually an important Biocorp scientist working in the Deep Caverns. After returning to the surface, the first thing I did was visit Rail Crossing and speak to Dude, but there was no additional dialogue options. I really don't get it. You find this wacky guy called Dude in Rail Crossing, you then learn he's actually a genius in the field of Psionics and was working in the DC during Biocorp's final days, he's also managed to halt his aging process, and you can't say a thing? I think you should at least be able to ask:

How did he escape the fallout of Biocorp's collapse?
How has he lived so long? (Already implied, but could use more detail)
Are any other Biocorp engineers alive?
What we he researching? (Again, implied, but could be given some more detail)
What can he say about the Monoliths?
Can he teach you anything?

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Bugs / Exothermic Aura Unaffected by Skill

« on: January 12, 2016, 10:32:08 pm »

Exothermic Aura does 7-29 plus 6-15% of max health in damage, regardless of skill, which I assume is a bug since every other psi ability scales.

Just tested. It is not a display bug and the damage is in fact unaffected.

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Suggestions / Feat Suggestion for Energy Weapons

« on: January 02, 2016, 06:03:06 am »

Figured I'd share a feat I thought of some time ago. I think it would fit the game.

Overcharge (Guns ? / Electronics ?): Fire your energy weapon, consuming all its charge, and gaining X% bonus damage and Y% bonus critical hit chance per point of charge above the standard cost to fire the weapon.

Overcharge (Alternative): Fire your energy weapon, consuming all its charge, and dealing damage in a 3x3 AoE.