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[Ihlosi]

... and I'm in love with it.

Then again, I can't resist the combination of strategic planning and tactical missions. LCS falls into this category along with classics like the XCOM series and the Jagged Alliance series.

A few observations/suggestions:

- I've had v 4.06.3 crash while assembling and immediately deleting a squad. I'm afraid I can't remember the exact sequence that lead to the crash.

- Justice system: A nice addition would be to get out of pre-trial jail on bail. Of course, if the justice system is sufficiently C+, excessive bail should be mandatory. Otherwise, spending a month in a cell waiting for the trial because of a loitering charge seems a bit much.
- It would be nice if the game kept track of all crimes of a Liberal even after sentencing, i.e. show how often a Liberal has been acquitted/found guilty of certain crimes in the past. Of course, these statistics could also influence future trials.    At C+, justicial abominations like three-strike-clauses could occur.

- The police seems a bit too eager to gun down fleeing, unarmed vandals^H^H^H^H^H^H^H graffiti artists. Couldn't they at least aim for the legs instead of blowing head off with shotguns?

- The code ...

I've looked at it.
Are there any plans for refactoring thing like the long-ish functions (activities.cpp, I'm looking at you)? I'm very much a friend of keeping functions short enough to fit on one screen unless there's a convincing reason not to, so that single aspects of the program can be modified/debugged without possibly influencing other unrelated parts.

[Ihlosi]

More minor things:

- Tailoring (as in making clothing, not selling T-shirts) appears to be too profitable while being completely free of danger. Coupled with the low costs of most activities, this makes money a non-issue during 99% of the game.

This could be addressed by increasing tailoring materials cost (which has the additional benefit of making stealing fine cloth more useful) and/or assigning costs to activities that are currently free (liberal disobedience - costs for props; hacking, costs for internet connection/computer maintenance; general upkeep costs per Liberal - food, etc.)

- It would be interesting if the court could also hand down fines instead of (or in addition to, hehe) prison terms.

- Training street sense by stealing cars (and then breaking off the attempt) is a recipe for RSI, but pretty much the only way of getting it to a level where the other activities that train it (selling brownies, mostly) can be done without getting arrested immediately. Also, graffiti evidently only trains street sense if the artist actually gets spotted. A Liberal doing anything in public while being wanted by the police should also get some street sense training if he isn't caught.

This could be addressed by having spraying graffiti generally train street sense, and maybe by liberal disobedience training both persuasion and street sense (since it benefits from both of these skills).

- Managing large numbers of recruiting sessions is also a recipe for RSI. Recruiting could be changed by having each Liberal hold only one session for all of his candidates per day. This eliminates the danger of missing an appointment, which could be replaced by having the recruiting session turn sour if there are too many candidates, or candidates with widely differing views (e.g. bank manager plus a bunch of hippies - session turns sour and some or all of the candidates leave).

[Ihlosi]

There should also be a use for the massive amounts of money you can earn later in the game, e.g. donating them to a Liberal institution, running ad campaigns or helping Liberal politicians with their campaigns, or just good old-fashioned bribery.

[KA101]

More minor things:

- Tailoring (as in making clothing, not selling T-shirts) appears to be too profitable while being completely free of danger. Coupled with the low costs of most activities, this makes money a non-issue during 99% of the game.

This could be addressed by increasing tailoring materials cost (which has the additional benefit of making stealing fine cloth more useful) and/or assigning costs to activities that are currently free (liberal disobedience - costs for props; hacking, costs for internet connection/computer maintenance; general upkeep costs per Liberal - food, etc.)

I thought Fox fixed the profit margins on tailoring.  If you're running 4.07.x and it's still a problem, I'd be interested to know what's quite so effective.  (Liberal upkeep costs were in at one point and also removed: that was the Cooking skill.)  Charging for activities may make sense, but then people who don't know how to generate such immense amounts of income get shafted when they can't accomplish as much.

- It would be interesting if the court could also hand down fines instead of (or in addition to, hehe) prison terms.

In a sense it already does.  Successful Government raids will take a chunk of the LCS' cash, as well as nailing any assets at the site.

- Training street sense by stealing cars (and then breaking off the attempt) is a recipe for RSI, but pretty much the only way of getting it to a level where the other activities that train it (selling brownies, mostly) can be done without getting arrested immediately. Also, graffiti evidently only trains street sense if the artist actually gets spotted. A Liberal doing anything in public while being wanted by the police should also get some street sense training if he isn't caught.

This could be addressed by having spraying graffiti generally train street sense, and maybe by liberal disobedience training both persuasion and street sense (since it benefits from both of these skills).

Huh. I've not had that much trouble with the Death Squads (let alone typical Police) when holding bake sales, but different styles, etc.  I think Liberal Disobedience uses Street Sense to avoid getting caught, but otherwise agree that perhaps it should be easier to level.

- Managing large numbers of recruiting sessions is also a recipe for RSI. Recruiting could be changed by having each Liberal hold only one session for all of his candidates per day. This eliminates the danger of missing an appointment, which could be replaced by having the recruiting session turn sour if there are too many candidates, or candidates with widely differing views (e.g. bank manager plus a bunch of hippies - session turns sour and some or all of the candidates leave).

With all respect, I don't think holding B for a second or two is that much of an RSI risk.  If it was, it's a wonder I don't have an RSI already.  I'm fond of the separate meetings for exactly the purpose you mention: a Liberal can recruit from different social strata and political leanings, and yet Liberally work with everyone.

That said, it might be worth counting Dates as part of the six meeting slots; so far as I know it's possible (albeit ill-advised) to have six Meetings and multiple Dates on the same night, which implies a very busy Liberal.

[Leafsnail]

A decent tailor can make a Cheap Suit every day for $50 and have them sold on for $100.  $50 per day per liberal isn't exactly game breaking but it's pretty good.

e: you could probably make something better with a better tailor but you'd probably need to spend time pumping up their juice for that.

[KA101]

A decent tailor can make a Cheap Suit every day for $50 and have them sold on for $100.  $50 per day per liberal isn't exactly game breaking but it's pretty good.

e: you could probably make something better with a better tailor but you'd probably need to spend time pumping up their juice for that.

OK, good to know.  C+ Drug Policy brownie sales typically bring in anywhere from $40-$100/Liberal depending on Persuasion & Business, for comparison, so suitmaking seems like a fairly powerful funding stream.  (Comparatively safe and reasonable income, if you don't mind a skill that's basically only good for making Disguises and funding.)

IIRC it's around 8 Tailoring with 10 IN to reliably make Cheap Suits?  That's not trivial to get, but not terribly difficult if one sets out to do so.

[Leafsnail]

If you recruit a fashion designer (not hard - if you wait around in the latte stand for long enough you'll find one) their stats will start around that point.  And yeah, you don't risk life in prison for it unlike with C+ brownies.

[Ihlosi]

OK, good to know.  C+ Drug Policy brownie sales typically bring in anywhere from $40-$100/Liberal depending on Persuasion & Business, for comparison, so suitmaking seems like a fairly powerful funding stream.  (Comparatively safe and reasonable income, if you don't mind a skill that's basically only good for making Disguises and funding.)

Selling T-shirts also has a small effect on politics, if the tailoring skill is high enough.

And you can repair clothing, too, and make armor as well.

[seth--]

A good sleeper will make $5000/mo, risk free and without the player having to do anything.
$1500 isn't a lot of money

[Ihlosi]

A good sleeper will make $5000/mo, risk free and without the player having to do anything.
$1500 isn't a lot of money

A good tailor (which you'll have after spending two or three months making cheap suits) will make about $7500 per month, also risk-free.

And acquiring that good sleeper either takes quite a bit of time (trying to convince scientists or managers to come to a meeting), or quite a bit of risk (kidnapping and converting them), while anyone with enough intelligence can be a good tailor.

[Leafsnail]

Also they will get arrested after a while.

[Ihlosi]

Also they will get arrested after a while.

This can easily be avoided by waiting until they're at 9x% infiltration (100% to be certain).

Infiltration percentage gives the chance for successful embezzlement.
Success grants 10 juice to the sleeper.
Failure subtracts 1 (one) juice from the sleeper.
The sleeper gets arrested if he has -2 juice and fails again.
Embezzlement generally raises infiltration (-2%...+5% per month, evenly distributed)

Hence, if you start embezzling when infiltration is at 100%, chances of your sleeper ever reaching -2 juice are pretty much nonexistent.

[tahujdt]

A good sleeper will make $5000/mo, risk free and without the player having to do anything.
$1500 isn't a lot of money

A good tailor (which you'll have after spending two or three months making cheap suits) will make about $7500 per month, also risk-free.

And acquiring that good sleeper either takes quite a bit of time (trying to convince scientists or managers to come to a meeting), or quite a bit of risk (kidnapping and converting them), while anyone with enough intelligence can be a good tailor.

If you use expensive suits, the margins are even better.