Good evening guys. I hope you survived Momocon! It was nice meeting you. (I'm Thomas, the guy who brought his laptop to grab the game.)
Alpha Build 28.3: First 2 zones complete. First level of 3rd zone complete. Lost 1 character. 4 in group. 2 snipers, 1 soldier, 1 grenadier.
Edit: Excuse me if some of this stuff is already in, and I just haven't made it to that content yet. All of the features/improvements are just my suggestions. Game seems very stable and playable so far. A bit easy. I look forward to updates!
UI Improvements
Optional: Always show health and ammo on all units
Class selection is a bit ambiguous. you have to double confirm selection.
Indicate if an item is one time use (if any are)
Show from what direction cover is effective. You may need to change the icon.
Show line of sight for units especially before they discover you. Maybe make it a toggle key so it doesn't junk up the UI.
Gun art and character art clashes a bit in the turn order indicator.
Optional: Always show names in turn order indicator.
What determines turn order/initiative? Can we have indicators showing what these actual values are?
What do the exclamation point tiles actually mean? I can't figure it out.
Feature changes/additions:
Actions have "weight" which could give you more flexibility in how actions use up your turn.
Melee class: Stealth, daggers/clubs, increased dodge.
Strictly support class: Stim boosts, deployable cover, regen, very low damage output
Recon class: drones, radar, accuracy boost, very long distance, but low damage.
Damage over time effects: Fire, poison, suffocation. I see bleeding described on armor piercing rounds but not explained. Is that crippled?
Currency system: Buy/Sell equipment/consumables. Vendor could be a random guy you find in maps just to make it more rewarding for exploring.
Side arms: daggers, pistols, stun baton, etc
Stress: Take damage to extend run distance/actions in a turn.
"Rare spawns": Units with noticeably different color pallettes or sparkly. Drop loot items and give more xp.
Security cameras/pressure plates etc. Traps.
Abilities:
Assign action from yourself to another unit on your team. 1 action to give a teammate 3 total actions. Must be used at the beginning of turn.
Smoke grenade: Reduces accuracy for effected and for shooting into effected.
Tear Gas grenade: Forces movement or a damage over time effect while in it.
Stun grenade: No damage but has a chance to reduce actions of next turn
Flashbang: reduces accuracy of any unti looking at the point where grenade detonated.
Portable cover/Riot shield
Sneak attack: boosted damage and accuracy on unaware enemy
Balance:
Hostage you save in the first area is very strong. He can basically steamroll the maps by himself.
Possibly reducing sniper rifle damage if you have moved that turn. Maybe 20%. Maybe reduce accuracy.
Grenades at the beginning seem a bit strong. They may be one time use, but they consistently deal 4 damage. Maybe make them 2-4 damage?
Something in between a miss and a hit. So partial hits for 30% damage roll for example.
One of my characters is rocking 17 health going into the 3rd area. That seems a bit high considering most enemies tend to output only 3 damage. 2 with the bulletproof vest.
Weapons/gear/items could have randomly generated perks. Possible stats to add:
Chance to crit
Crit damage
Move Speed
Turn Initiative
Free/quick reload
Increased Clip size
Chance to reduce speed
chance to reduce initiative
chance to stun
chance to stun on overwatch
chance to reload on overwatch
chance to not use ammo
chance to not use item when used
increased dodge
Bugs:
Units sometimes dont take the shortest path. They occaisionally zig zag.
Enemy Units can sometimes see through walls.
Some walls don't seem to provide cover that I would expect.