Reaction Fire

Current Reaction Score = (Reactions Stat) * (% TU remaining)

Your reaction score at a given moment is thus your stat multiplied by the percentage of your TU's remaining (TU current / TU Max ) at that point in the turn. As you spend TU's (moving or firing) your reaction score goes down.

A rookie camping in one location and not spending TUs will usually have higher reactions than a trained officer who has just finished sprinting through the bush.

How is it used? There are two inherently identical uses. During your turn, and at the end of your turn.

During your turn, when your soldiers are given orders, each unit's current reaction score is directly compared with the current reaction score of any alien within visibile range (20 tiles or so, I think). The alien must actually be able to see the unit - i.e. is not looking the other way and has no obstructions.

Given these conditions, the game constantly checks the unit's reaction score against the alien's. The one with the largest reaction score can keep making moves uninterrupted. But the moment the other unit has the higher score, that unit will be able to get an 'opportunity' move. Hence we have reaction fire.

At the end of your turn, your positions are reversed. Now, the aliens get to move, and if their reaction scores are below yours, you get a reaction shot - if you are able to. (Note, during the alien's turn, they are allowed to use auto-shots, as it is their turn. Reaction shots are performed with snap-shots.)

Health and Critical Wounds will also affect reactions.

Hint - using the Mind Probe, you can determine if an alien is in fact out of TU's, and thus unable to react to your attempts to shoot, stun, or capture it - if you can complete the action this turn.

Now, a working example:

Werner Okamoto has a modest reaction level of 30. He has 60 time units in total. He is armed with a Laser Rifle, which can fire snapshots at 25% of his time units per shot (or 15 TUs a shot). He ends his turn without spending any of his time units.

Generic Nasty Alien Shaped Thing has a massive reaction score of 70, and 50 time units. For fun, it's carrying a Heavy Plasma! It fires snapshots at 20 TUs per shot. It is exhausted and only has 50% of its TUs left (25/50). He is staring right at Werner.

The human turn is ended. The aliens now get to choose what to do. Naturally, since the alien can see the soldier, it will attempt to attack.

Move 1:

Werner = 30 * 60/60 = 30 * 1 = 30

GNAST = 70 * 25/50 = 70 * 0.5 = 35

The alien has the higher score and takes a shot, spending 20TU, leaving 5.

Move 2:

Werner = 30

GNAST = 70 * 5/50 = 70 * 0.1 = 7

Not only does the alien not have any time units left for the shot, it fails its reaction score. Instead, Werner takes a shot, reducing his TU's to 45.

Move 3:

Werner = 30 * 45 / 60 = 30 * 0.75 = 22

GNAST = 7

(Werner shoots again, spending 15 more TU)

Move 4:

Werner = 30 * 30 / 60 = 30 * 0.5 = 15

GNAST = 7

(Werner shoots again, spending another 15 TU)

Move 5:

Werner = 30 * 15 / 60 = 30 * 0.25 = 7

GNAST = 7

Now, although equal, Werner can still make his 15TU shot, but the alien cannot make a 20TU shot. Werner takes the shot. As this exhausts Werner's TUs to 0 / 60, the exchange of shots ends right here.

Adopted from discussion by NKF, Jan 12 2004 --JellyfishGreen 16:33, 21 Apr 2005 (BST)