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[majikero]

Who say they're not the customers buying them lasers? It's all a ruse to supply their armies.

[mainiac]

Yes, if they all just play along with this "aliens" hoax, they can fool the public and keep these secret projects secret.

[GlyphGryph]

I'm not certain, but I believe Laser Cannons are still the most efficient product that doesn't use exotic materials in TTS, even with the selling price cut. Could be wrong, though.

My simple profit divided by engineer hours spreadsheet says that laser tanks are slightly more profitable then laser cannons.

I'm also amused by the thought of X-Com as the world's arms dealer in laser-based weaponry. How the funding nations must hate me as I liberally sell laser tanks and plasma rifles by the truckload to every arms dealer in the world to have a real working budget.

Serves them right, those penny-pinching idiots.

Tanks are super pricey to make though, and that cuts into profits big time.

[frostshotgg]

As I said above, MDs are your best bet.

[Orb]

Continued playing my 'switch roles' game with Burnt. Encountered a few bugs, which hopefully can be maneuvered around by backtracking.

I noticed my opponent never used the Small Launcher, which I honestly think is THE most important weapon you should research. Being able to take live aliens is always nice. So far I have an engineer, and (in the backtracking), I caught a medic and a navigator. I'll be losing those, unfortunately, but the downed UFO is still there for the taking, so hopefully I can repeat the results.

I also learned it takes about 8 plasma rifle hits to destroy a laser tank. Unfortunately, I did lose that laser tank to find that out. 

That's the first tank I've lost also, and its mid Feb. I think another mistake my opponent made was not using tanks for scouting. Being able to shake off a few plasma shots is certainly useful, albeit expensive(400k!). Also, losing the tank was entirely my fault, for I underestimated the # of floaters in the abductor I was assaulting.

"Edit" FYI, laser tanks use 2 alien alloys to be constructed.

[Flying Dice]

Yeah, hence the "doesn't use exotics" bit. Though alloys aren't exactly rare, it does add a step to the process if you need to manufacture them.



Incidentally, the ufopedia puts laser cannons as roughly $1,200 more profitable per unit than laser tanks with 1/4 the build time in vanilla, though I'm not sure how far TTS cuts laser cannon profits.

[Hanzoku]

Tanks are super pricey to make though, and that cuts into profits big time.

Motion Detectors are a fairly mediocre item to produce in TTS, actually.

Here's a short breakdown of things:

Laser Rifle
Cost - 20,000
Manhours - 400
Selling Price - 36,900
Profit - 16,900
Profit divided by manhours to produce: 42.25

Motion Scanner
Cost - 34,000
Manhours - 440
Selling Price - 45,600
Profit - 11,600
Profit divided by manhours to produce: 26.36

Laser Cannon
Cost - 182,000
Manhours - 800
Selling Price - 230,000
Profit - 48,000
Profit divided by manhours to produce: 60

HWP/TANK Laser
Cost - 500,000
Manhours - 1,200
Selling Price - 594,000
Profit - 94,000
Profit divided by manhours to produce: 78.33

So yes, tanks are pricy to make, but they have a larger profit margin compared to laser cannons, and thus are slightly more worthwhile per manhour.

*edit* Now, I might not have the latest version of TTS (v98b, I believe), so my numbers may be off if v99... and looking at the change log, this is so. The Laser Tank in v99 uses Alien Alloys, which most likely sticks it well below laser cannons again.

[DarkerDark]

Continued playing my 'switch roles' game with Burnt. Encountered a few bugs, which hopefully can be maneuvered around by backtracking.

I noticed my opponent never used the Small Launcher, which I honestly think is THE most important weapon you should research. Being able to take live aliens is always nice. So far I have an engineer, and (in the backtracking), I caught a medic and a navigator. I'll be losing those, unfortunately, but the downed UFO is still there for the taking, so hopefully I can repeat the results.

I also learned it takes about 8 plasma rifle hits to destroy a laser tank. Unfortunately, I did lose that laser tank to find that out. 

That's the first tank I've lost also, and its mid Feb. I think another mistake my opponent made was not using tanks for scouting. Being able to shake off a few plasma shots is certainly useful, albeit expensive(400k!). Also, losing the tank was entirely my fault, for I underestimated the # of floaters in the abductor I was assaulting.

"Edit" FYI, laser tanks use 2 alien alloys to be constructed.

Is it possible as the aliens to purposely destroy your small launchers by dropping them and then blowing them up with explosives to prevent the other player from researching them?

[Hanzoku]

I was thinking indeed to always keep a soldier with a handy grenade near your Sectoid Leader, just to make sure X-Com can't capture him alive...

no Psi for you!

[USEC_OFFICER]

Is it possible as the aliens to purposely destroy your small launchers by dropping them and then blowing them up with explosives to prevent the other player from researching them?

Well, people generally only do it with the blaster launcher, since the blaster launcher is one of the best weapons in the game. Still, nothing prevents you from destroying your small launchers (or your own grunts!), except that doing so is considered a really big dick move and will probably piss off the other player immensely.

[Orb]

I'm not sure alien grenades can destroy alien weapons. I think it requires a higher grade explosive. I should probably do a test some day on that. Along with using HE to blow up 'power plants' on UFOs(the name escapes me).

"Edit" Actually, I was curious. Can blaster launchers blow up UFO walls? I've never used one, but I'd imagine they're more explosive than HE.

[Flying Dice]

I'm not sure alien grenades can destroy alien weapons. I think it requires a higher grade explosive. I should probably do a test some day on that. Along with using HE to blow up 'power plants' on UFOs(the name escapes me).

"Edit" Actually, I was curious. Can blaster launchers blow up UFO walls? I've never used one, but I'd imagine they're more explosive than HE.

Yes. A direct hit will destroy a single tile of UFO wall; in vanilla, they're the only way to breach UFOs. In TTS, though, doing that is generally a bit of a waste, because Hi-Ex has been buffed to the point where it can do the same.

[EuchreJack]

I'm glad they buffed Hi-Ex, because it was almost useless in the first game.  I think its only use in the first game was to be placed next to Proxies for a larger boom.

[Flying Dice]

I never bothered with it either, mainly because of the high risk of destroying alium loot with it.

[GlyphGryph]

I have not been abel to get a hold of my brother in two weeks now. That bastard. Sorry, man. :/