Pod composition depending on difficulty?

[Icarus]

I have recently started my first game on Commander difficulty and am currently on April 26th.

The game is regularly dropping points with 3 Sectoids or 3 Sneks on me, something I don't remember seeing on any of my earlier runs on Veteran, at least not until much later.

According to Ufopaedia, the only influence of the difficulty level on pod composition is "Days Until First Force-Level-Up UFO", which shouldn't make that much of a difference in that short a time IMO.

Am I mistaken in my observations, or is there some other mechanic that eludes me?

[Tuhalu]

As far as I've been able to tell, there is no difference in the pod compositions by difficulty or how quickly Force Levels increase by difficulty.

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[LW_Overhaul.X2LWActivityCooldown_UFO]
; How many DAYS between UFOs that level-up aliens worldwide.
+FORCE_UFO_COOLDOWN_DAYS[0]=16
+FORCE_UFO_COOLDOWN_DAYS[1]=16
+FORCE_UFO_COOLDOWN_DAYS[2]=16
+FORCE_UFO_COOLDOWN_DAYS[3]=16

As you notes, there is a difference in how early the first force UFO turns up, but it's only a 4 day difference between Veteran and Commander.

Code: Select all

; Days until the first force-level-up UFO (scheduled reinfs) launches after start of a campaign, by difficulty
+FORCE_UFO_LAUNCH[0]=21
+FORCE_UFO_LAUNCH[1]=18
+FORCE_UFO_LAUNCH[2]=14
+FORCE_UFO_LAUNCH[3]=12

I can't see any difference in difficulty with how likely the different aliens are to appear at various force levels.

Here's an example for a MK1 Naja (which appears later than Vipers):

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+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=0, MaxForceLevel=1, SpawnWeight=0)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=2, MaxForceLevel=2, SpawnWeight=0)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=3, MaxForceLevel=3, SpawnWeight=0)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=4, MaxForceLevel=4, SpawnWeight=0)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=5, MaxForceLevel=5, SpawnWeight=1)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=6, MaxForceLevel=6, SpawnWeight=2)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=7, MaxForceLevel=7, SpawnWeight=2)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=8, MaxForceLevel=8, SpawnWeight=2)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=9, MaxForceLevel=9, SpawnWeight=2)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=10, MaxForceLevel=10, SpawnWeight=1)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=11, MaxForceLevel=11, SpawnWeight=0)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=12, MaxForceLevel=12, SpawnWeight=0)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=13, MaxForceLevel=13, SpawnWeight=0)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=14, MaxForceLevel=14, SpawnWeight=0)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=15, MaxForceLevel=15, SpawnWeight=0)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=16, MaxForceLevel=16, SpawnWeight=0)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=17, MaxForceLevel=17, SpawnWeight=0)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=18, MaxForceLevel=18, SpawnWeight=0)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=19, MaxForceLevel=19, SpawnWeight=0)
+LeaderLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=20, MaxForceLevel=99, SpawnWeight=0)

+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=0, MaxForceLevel=1, SpawnWeight=0)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=2, MaxForceLevel=2, SpawnWeight=0)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=3, MaxForceLevel=3, SpawnWeight=0)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=4, MaxForceLevel=4, SpawnWeight=0)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=5, MaxForceLevel=5, SpawnWeight=0)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=6, MaxForceLevel=6, SpawnWeight=0)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=7, MaxForceLevel=7, SpawnWeight=1)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=8, MaxForceLevel=8, SpawnWeight=2)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=9, MaxForceLevel=9, SpawnWeight=3)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=10, MaxForceLevel=10, SpawnWeight=4)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=11, MaxForceLevel=11, SpawnWeight=6)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=12, MaxForceLevel=12, SpawnWeight=5)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=13, MaxForceLevel=13, SpawnWeight=4)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=14, MaxForceLevel=14, SpawnWeight=3)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=15, MaxForceLevel=15, SpawnWeight=2)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=16, MaxForceLevel=16, SpawnWeight=2)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=17, MaxForceLevel=17, SpawnWeight=1)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=18, MaxForceLevel=18, SpawnWeight=0)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=19, MaxForceLevel=19, SpawnWeight=0)
+FollowerLevelSpawnWeights=(MinForceLevel=20, MaxForceLevel=99, SpawnWeight=0)

I suspect luck has a part to strong play in it, one way or the other.

[Icarus]

Thanks. I will be staying on Commander then.

[LordYanaek]

It might be linked to Alert Level (strength)

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; How many DAYS between UFOs that increase alert levels in a series of adjacent territories. Pretty big difficulty lever here.
+ALERT_UFO_COOLDOWN_DAYS[0]=14
+ALERT_UFO_COOLDOWN_DAYS[1]=12
+ALERT_UFO_COOLDOWN_DAYS[2]=10
+ALERT_UFO_COOLDOWN_DAYS[3]=8

ADVENT Strength will rise almost twice as fast on Legend compared to Rookie. Unless i'm mistaken Alert Level affects RNFs composition. I'm not sure whether it's regional alert level or mission alert level but if the enemies "dropping" one you are real "drop" (reinforcements) it might explain it.