Version 1.11 question

[Uncle_Joe]

First, thanks for the patch/fixes. I'm guessing there are a lot more in the works from the reports and responses we've seen.

For 1.11, just to clarify the difficulties: 'Major' (ie, 5 Star AI) is the exact thing we were playing before if we had Ironman Mode on correct? There are no other bonuses associated for the AI etc? If so, then is Captain basically just the same as before but with Ironman off (ie including the dice roll 'help')?

Finally, if you picking one of the lower difficulties that add turns, does that also apply to 'survive' or 'protect' missions (or does it subtract that number of turns from the total to make it easier)?

Thanks in advance!

[visualrob]

Hi, uncle_joe!

Yes, Major is the real deal ironman-randomness-just-like-in-real-life mode. It's also the mode that's automatically activated in tutorials and multiplayer games. No advantages for the AI (If there's a big request for an "Impossible" difficulty level, we'll make one in which the AI can use veterans and ammos ).

The "Captain" mode is very similar to the Major, but with a slight adjustment to the dice rolls. It really IS slight (mostly to avoid bad runs of 1s for you and 6s for the AI). The old not-ironman-mode randomness was more similar to the Liutenant mode, which gives you a much softer randomness.

You're absolutely right about the protect/survive missions: adding turns can actually make things MORE difficult. We even thought about it, but somehow ended up with adding the turns in all missions anyway (ouch!). That's bad. I fixed it so that turns are NOT added in survive/protect missions (we still want you to be able to complete the secondary objectives / grab the loot, after all). We'll put this in the new patch.

Thanks for pointing this out.
Roberto

[Uncle_Joe]

Thanks for the info!

And for the record, I would be all for a mode that allows the AI to play by the same rules the player does (ie including Veteran and Ammo if it has it). It seems like a handicap to the AI if those options are purchased for it's forces but it can't use them. That said, I would not want it to get these items by default (the way the human player does at lower difficulties) but if it pays for them, it should get them.

Along those same line, I would even like to see the objectives put on the map for the AI to pick up and gain capabilities the way the player gets. Again, I'm just looking for it to be able to play exactly the same way as the player (which would add an element to the game where you need to not only pick up those 'bonus' tokens but deny the AI as well).

Thanks again for the info and your continued support of the game!