Who the heck would EVER site their base in N. America?

[katscan]

North America: It’s 50% cheaper to build aircraft and aircraft weapons.
Europe: Build cost and maintenance on labs and workshops is 50% less.
Asia: Foundry and Officer training is 50% cheaper.
South America: Autopsies and interrogations take no time.
Africa: Monthly funding is increased by 25%.

Considering you can only have one skyranger, and most of the meat of the game is research, building equipment, and tactical missions, what on earth would be the point of a N. American base other than to make the game harder for you ??

[tazong]

yes but what about all the interceptors you can buy and place all over the globe - for example if you have 14 interceptors and your only paying half the price(never mind the half price weapons) that is a lot of money saved to spend else where.
All will have there benifits and downfalls - will be up to you to decide whats best but on the guess for now - north america doesnt seem that bad?

[katscan]

Yea, but after you hit that interceptor 'cap', your benefits are done. Although I suppose any upgraded aircraft and weapons will also be cheaper. It just seems in the original interceptors did not take up a lot of my money and time. Just the occasional upgrade or expansion. Even when I lost both interceptors (early game) it was still easy to replace them.

Versus monthly funding increase by 25% (nice), improved research on aliens, lower maintenance costs on bases, training officers cheaper.. just seems interceptors are not that big a deal. Do it once and you have them for a bit.

[tazong]

well its a big deal if you havent got interceptors to shoot ufos down? and is there a cap on the ammount you can have? from what i have seen looks like you can have up to 3 at the main base and it seems to be 2 at sattalite bases.
For you to cover the whole globe most people will have a pair of interceptors working together especially for bigger ufos - how many interceptors will you need to cover the globe - i am guessing 20 - if they work in pairs - and at 50% thats a lot of money saved over a long term.
Also remember that you are trying to keep 16 nations happy to keep getting that funding - while there will be times you cant save everyone and do 2 things at once - good interceper coverage is good because while you are shooting down ufos over funding countrys - that is helping to keep your funding.
Also we havent seen anything about ufo interception yet - we dont know the sort of losses(plane wise) xcom will encounter so that inital number of 20 could be as high as 60+ interceptors accounting for losses?

Now 60 interceptors at half price plus half price weapons plus half price for any upgrades - you cant see the benifit in that?

[Inkidu]

We also don't know what you get for completely covering North America. I cold see putting my base in the US. It'd be a real late-game investment.

[ShanDaMan]

A recent article mentioned upgrading your craft. Perhaps this benefit will affect upgrade costs as well.

[TheFinn]

South America: Autopsies and interrogations take no time.

To me, this sounds like the OP bonus. But it might be offset due to the base being in South America.

Instant research? Yes please!

[Simon Drake]

Who is to say how frequently your craft die? What if you burn through them worse than soldiers now?
I think its a bit too early for assumptions as to what is really worth while... I do agree its a boring trait but it may actually be quite useful. We cant confirm this until we know more about the actual air combat though.

Edit
Oh BTW Hi. I have been stalking this forum since the game was announced however I was just too lazy to make an account until now. You should expect to see more of me though as I am as obsessed with this as the rest of you

[Nashk]

Katscan you are also ignoring the fact that you are encouraged to buy new aircraft as the game progresses, rather than upgrade old ships with new weapons.

Halving the price of Aircraft and materials would really save you money to spend elsewhere, or if you are low on money to begin with gives you some breathing room in keeping the globe covered with interceptors.

[carldivine]

trade-offs is the heart of this game mechanics imo.

i wonder if an ultimate craft(attack-transport e.g. avenger) will still be present later in the game...

[Laager]

katscan - i can think of plenty. i may repeat others' ideas

pros:

you can have more better coverage of the world with more aircraft earlier. it'll help the council pretty happy.

there may be more strategy to taking down ufos. have flexibility for the weapon upgrades and load outs might be useful against different ufo types.

you probably need a fleet of interceptors to combat the unknown threat. tazong said 20... i'm guessing more. cheaper planes would be sweet at that point.

aircraft could be expensive. so can upgrading. replacing them wouldn't hurt so bad.

there's an economy there. nations should be interested in your aircraft and may request them for other resources in exchange.

if i choose n america as my base of op... please believe that i will rules the skies.
but hey... it's up to you how you want to protect this world.

btw... south america's perk makes me "haha". guantanamo bay, among other things, ... for aliens.

[Gazz]

You're all assuming that these values are set in stone.

Such balancing issues are typically adjusted in the beta and if a 50% bonus ends up not being competitive with other boni, I expect it to rise.

[Inkidu]

You're all assuming that these values are set in stone.

Such balancing issues are typically adjusted in the beta and if a 50% bonus ends up not being competitive with other boni, I expect it to rise.

That's true, but I just have to say that the plural of bonus is not boni, it's bonuses.

Sorry, it's not a Latin word.

[Zaran]

I wouldn't care the benefit given. I will put my base in my home country.

[Luthorian]

Also, would make more sense if they switched Asia's bonus with Europe's to represent the Japanese scientific knowledge and Chinese manufacturing capabilities, with Europe's strong military tradition.

[Inkidu]

Also, would make more sense if they switched Asia's bonus with Europe's to represent the Japanese scientific knowledge and Chinese manufacturing capabilities, with Europe's strong military tradition.

Meh, I think it can go either way.

[katscan]

20-60 interceptors ?? This isn't space invaders ! (or maybe it is, hehe)

While we still don't have any idea on the difficulty/range or anything about air combat, I NEVER had more than 5-6 interceptors in the original game, with losses only occurring if I was really careless.

So I am talking about savings on maybe 6 interceptors .. at least if its like the old one and with my play style. The UFOs don't come frequently enough to make more than one interception per aircraft deployment wave and the weapons are good enough that you really only need one per UFO, unless its really big/bad.

[Laager]

Also, would make more sense if they switched Asia's bonus with Europe's to represent the Japanese scientific knowledge and Chinese manufacturing capabilities, with Europe's strong military tradition.

so you're okay with s america's bonus then.

[Laager]

20-60 interceptors ?? This isn't space invaders ! (or maybe it is, hehe)

While we still don't have any idea on the difficulty/range or anything about air combat, I NEVER had more than 5-6 interceptors in the original game, with losses only occurring if I was really careless.

So I am talking about savings on maybe 6 interceptors .. at least if its like the old one and with my play style. The UFOs don't come frequently enough to make more than one interception per aircraft deployment wave and the weapons are good enough that you really only need one per UFO, unless its really big/bad.

that bothered me in the old game. i mean... 5 -6 interceptors?! that's an unreasonably low number. that's where i had my counts too.

what i envisioned in a future xcom game (thank god they're reimagining it) was a fleet of bad ass top guns. on top of those top guns... were the ultimate top guns.

attacking a ufo would require a squadron of 4 - 5 pilots.
i hope pilots get experience too.

heck ... would there even be a chance of randomized / cinematic dog fights?!
ahhhh - my imagination is just running away with me.

[katscan]

that bothered me in the old game. i mean... 5 -6 interceptors?! that's an unreasonably low number. that's where i had my counts too.

what i envisioned in a future xcom game (thank god they're reimagining it) was a fleet of bad ass top guns. on top of those top guns... were the ultimate top guns.

attacking a ufo would require a squadron of 4 - 5 pilots.
i hope pilots get experience too.

heck ... would there even be a chance of randomized / cinematic dog fights?!
ahhhh - my imagination is just running away with me.

To keep the beginning game balance correct, you have to be able to intercept at the start of the game.. meaning 1-2 interceptors should be able to bring down an early UFO. So extrapolating that to 50-60 seems ludicrous (giving you the ability to down 50-60 UFOs at any given time????)

But maybe they scale up the difficulty of the larger UFOs such that you really do need 3-4 interceptors to take a large ship down. They can't push the number too high because there could come a point that you would not be able to intercept anything at all if you didn't keep up with expanding your interceptor fleet.

Again, its a difficult balancing game, but I *SERIOUSLY* doubt they would be balancing for a fleet larger than 10-12 interceptors. (no 50-60 craziness) And considering my record of being correct about.. oh .. everything so far, I believe that I am right

[tazong]

Katscan you have totally misinterperated what i said - i never said 60 intercertors all at once?
What i actually said was a pair of interceptors for each base and my thoughts were that the figure to cover the whole globe would be about 10 bases - thats a grand total of 20 interceptors which i think is about right.
when you are in full campaign mode and defending the earth i dont think that figure will be far off?
The point i was trying to make to you was you may have massive losses of planes so your total cost for planes could be as high as 60?
which was the whole point of the thread you started?

Who the heck would EVER site their base in N. America?

[katscan]

Yea, I will drink to that (20 interceptors, although I think thats the high end).

You have convinced me that a N.America base is good for more than surfing and watching california girls.

[SectoidSquisher]

South America: Autopsies and interrogations take no time.

To me, this sounds like the OP bonus. But it might be offset due to the base being in South America.

Instant research? Yes please!

Yep, that South America bonus sounds like it'll be really unbalanced - I won't be placing it there.

[alexey7891]

yup south america sounds like a real first playtrough on classic dif

[TheFinn]

You know, now that every (new) alien corpse and interrogation offers some actual bonus - not just story or a ufopaedia entry - South America's bonus offers an interesting playstyle option.

Arc Throwers for everyone! Bring 'em ALL back alive boys!

aka "Guns? We don't need no stinking guns."

[Laager]

Yea, I will drink to that (20 interceptors, although I think thats the high end).

You have convinced me that a N.America base is good for more than surfing and watching california girls.

ah hah! he is convinced! this thread can now be laid to rest...

[Gazz]

What's wrong with surfing and watching california girls?

[BCD917]

Hell yes I would. Alien Beer could be worse than American Beer. Gotta protect my Molson Canadian, or whats the point

[TheFinn]

Hell yes I would. Alien Beer could be worse than American Beer. Gotta protect my Molson Canadian, or whats the point

could be worse? Tell me there's a *not* missing from that sentence....

[BCD917]

could be worse? Tell me there's a *not* missing from that sentence....

Doesn't matter which is worse, I want neither.

[Inkidu]

I don't even want to know what they put in Canadian beer. I hear it has something to do with a moose. ;D

[Jeep-Eep]

There used to be mineral salts in Quebec beer, to make a bigger head of foam. They had to take them out because they were causing liver failure or something like that.

[Inkidu]

There used to be mineral salts in Quebec beer, to make a bigger head of foam. They had to take them out because they were causing liver failure or something like that.

I think liver failure due to beer is called alcoholism. :\

Mineral salts... I never heard of them doing anything really bad.

[Jeep-Eep]

As in a more quickly occuring form of liver failure. I think it was metal salts, now that I rack my memory. Bit before my time.

[Hortey]

Actually, the fact that it SEEMS underpowered intrigues me. Maybe the interceptors will play a much larger role in gameplay in the new one now that instead of multiple bases you have... what are they called? Interceptor installations or satellite installations?

[coyote_blue]

I'm with Hortey. If you don't have the Right Stuff to interdict aliens right away, you might want to be able to shoot down UFOs earlier, just to keep them pissed off while you build up.

[carldivine]

thats a grand total of 20 interceptors which i think is about right.

this is spot on. * applauds but the computation was off.

each continent (5) can be assigned 4 interceptors each so that makes 20 interceptors in charge of defending earth's entire air space.

NORTH AMERICA MIGHT BE A GOOD PLACE TO START ship list shot at 1:27

[BCD917]

this is spot on. * applauds but the computation was off.

each continent (5) can be assigned 4 interceptors each so that makes 20 interceptors in charge of defending earth's entire air space.

NORTH AMERICA MIGHT BE A GOOD PLACE TO START ship list shot at 1:27

Seems to me the Scroll bar could go down a ways, might meant there are more Groups than just the 5 shown. We also do not know (do we?) that research could not increase the number of fighters in each Group.

[carldivine]

Seems to me the Scroll bar could go down a ways, might meant there are more Groups than just the 5 shown. We also do not know (do we?) that research could not increase the number of fighters in each Group.

nah, i think that's it. they have partitioned the geoscape into 5 defensible zones represented by the continents.(north/south america, europe, africa, asia) just like the choices of location for a starting base and i deduce the extended radar coverage they have mentioned.

with regards to the number of interceptors, i also believe 20 to be the maximum. the equalizing factor(vs bigger ufos) will be the interceptor types and the weapons they will be armed with. like katscan said "This isn't space invaders !"

the AVENGER is starting to look more & more non-existent from this game....

[PeppermintShore]

to be honest i will be playing the game like i did when i played the original and base myself in Europe. Bonuses will not be a factor in my choice of location. I just hope that you can place you base with pin point accuracy as i always had mine place in the very north on england