Hello everybody,

can somebody explain me how this interrupt system works? Is it some kind of overwatch, when an enemy moves into your line of sight? Is it explained somewhere? At the moment I really have no clue how it works...

Thanks for your help in advance :)

Best regards,

When you clic on Interrupt (or push "o"), your merc concentrates to interrupt who comes into his view angle (reduced from 75° to 55°). Each AP spent by an enemy in his view cone is counted towards the reaction time (dependant on your weapon). When it reached that value, your merc has an interrupt and can spend his remaining APs of the turn shooting with the equiped weapon or move as he wants.

You can check the remaining reaction APs needed for an interrupt by the number above his head near the interrupt icon.

Does anybody bother if I repeat myself ,

the interrupt system does not help people, they expect the old system which had its advantages.

i want it back. 

I agree and haven't seen anyone saying the new system is better/good.
It works but it's not enjoyable

YES. thx. I liked the tension of the old system. The new one is...omg why does he not move forward, I need the interrupt and puff, you are shot.

The old system would've required a very delicate merc/enemy balancing. Considering the state of the AIM, most medium to heavy patrols would've raped your squad using interrupts. Stat-wise, they're all at Mike level. And your mercs are not.

What FC did wrong is to claim this is an interrupt system. It's not. PLEASE RENAME IT TO "WEAPON READY" button. Cause that's what it is, a feature borrowed from v1.13, that allows you to ready your weapon before next turn. It should also carry an AP shot reduction to be complete.

I agree and disagree - while adding the old interruption system we would have the "raping",

But the proper interruption system (and Real-time to TBS - who gets to act first) should have been handled with ready weapon and not ready weapon stances (I actually explained this back in the interruption thread). If you have your gun up and looking in one direction and the enemy runs in your path, it does not matter how quick the runner is because you are aiming already and need to move the gun and pull the trigger. While moving gun aiming (should cost more AP) is the same thing, you see someone, he is not ready to shoot, you get to shoot first etc.

If the stances and the sighting and every parameter else is equal on both sides, it should come down to reaction skill or whatever of merc. "In battle it does not matter who you are when the enemy sees you first - they get the first shot" 

 

I also want the old interrupt system back - it was brilliant as it caused a lot of tension. It made the game more varied. The right balance with the enemy using interrupts and not completely "raping" you existed in the old JA games too, so why can't it here?

The new system in itself is not necessarily wrong, many TBS games use a similar system. But it 1. simply isn't JA and 2. forces me to make so many more clicks (or to press a key) that it sucks the life out of the game - it's tedious!

Let me explain it better. JA:F uses the EXACT system like JA2 did, adds a very cool "weapon ready" status, but lacks the final detail. Quoting Sandro from BP here on how JA2 interrupts work:

The "Interrupt Counter" is a variable that tracks down the amount of APs an enemy (within our LOS) used (counted for each enemy separetely). When the Interrupt Counter hits certain value, we are given an interrupt. As APs represent time in JA2, this means that we have to see the enemy for a while to react and get interrupt, while the length of that while is determined by our skills.

The above is pretty much what we have now in JAF, only JA:F the Interrupt Counter is a preset value based on your weapon. While in JA2 the Interrupt Counter is more of a dice roll.

 However, for each AP an enemy used, the code rolls for a chance whether this AP would be counted or not.  This chance is based on the merc's abilities. For example if the chance is calculated to be 70% and enemy just used 10 APs for something, following happens:
For each of the 10 points, 70% chance is rolled - 10x 70% chance roll. If the roll is successful (under 70%) the point is counted towards mentioned Interrupt Counter, if the roll is not successful, the point is ignored. So statistically 7 points are counted for Interrupt Counter in this case.

This basically reads: if you have a 70% chance to interrupt (or the enemy has), then you can get the interrupt anywhere between 1-10 APs spent. JAF has simply no dice rolls implemented. If it had, then most likely any Medium or Heavy patrol would have the upper hand versus player's team because of the better stats they have.

...

So now that we know how it worked, we can debate how it should work. I like Hyrax's idea of "view first, shoot first", but that encourages camping. And creates its own set of problems. Knowing that's how interrupts work, I would never send a scout to look for enemy, cause he'd probably die in 90% of the cases. Not unless I've got binoculars or other view range increase tool that would prevent me going right into an ambush.

...

In the end relying on weapon is a very straight forward system. No fuss, no dice rolls. Every John and his mum can understand how it works. Ofc for a JA2 veteran is simplistic, but for your average player obscure dice rolls will make him rage. Just look at people making IMP's with 35 MRK then absolutely RAGING and demolishing the game because they miss from "a few feet" with a .45 Colt. Put those people in a system where they pretty much lose all interrupt dice rolls and think how they would react.

So .. dunno... maybe a KISS system is for the best. 

Hey Shanga,
please calm down. I can work with critics as I asked, who is with me. I know if you have good arguments, I can live with the current system refined. Here are my questions:

1. If I camp behind a house and enemy comes around the corner. Who get's the interrupt in JA;F?
2. Same question but now we are in realtime mode, reloading weapons, heal and voila, the enemy comes around the corner.

1st difference: ALL TIME in ALERT
In JA2 I'm in interrupt mode all the time as it also serves the "who see first attacks" chance. I thought the first turn after realtime is also effected by Experience of the merc. Maybe it is and these are 2 different cases.
This is the most annoying micro-management I have seen. I alwas forget or I am too lazy as I have to click every merc to activate the modus.

2nd: Time to get interrupt
In JA2 walking/turning of an enemy in my LOS has been sufficient. Why? 1-10 APs as you explained. So turning is 2 APs and walking one step +2. Great I can counter him behind the wall.
Now in JA:F I can see how they slaughter my men without beeing able to react. Nice. If the enemy doesn't shoot without knowlege around the corner while walking, the camper normally wins. This is the difference between green and black enemys. The 2nd would wait or use detection/gas.

3nd: Weapon depended
It does not matter which weapon I have. 10 feet away a knife give me an advantage!? Until you run to the enemiy, you got shot already.
 

The "Interrupt Counter" is a variable that tracks down the amount of APs an enemy (within our LOS)

Whos LOS? Of all my mercs or just the one who will get an interrupt?
So if iin JA2 I have a spotter and the enemy comes around the corner. Now because my spotter watched him, the guy at the house can use the interrupt for himself and fire?
 

JAF has simply no dice rolls implemented. If it had, then most likely any Medium or Heavy patrol would have the upper hand versus player's team because of the better stats they have.Ok Shanga, then explain me please

Why did I win mostly interrupts in JA2? Luck? Perhaps it is balancing. In JA2 it happend rarely that a a guy comes around the corner and can easily burst into my mercs and then I get the interrupt after 2 mercs are dead. Great

I would trade the dice against the always on which is much more comfortable and plays like JA2. But that is obviously just me.

The main difference in JAF is that's a stance. You have to clic to set your merc on interrupt, and many players don't like that, as it can be tedious, and anyone not in the stance can't interrupt.

I don't feel that concerned as, for me, it's a design choice FC took, and has its logic. Going on interrupt is a choice, a tactical choice i may add to contradict some "no tactical depth" critics. In your turn, you can use your APs to move and shoot, use them to recover (catch your breath), or cover a zone with IM.

You shouldn't have all your team in IM if you play tactically (and not campy). It's rather "one moves, while one covers) and next turn vice versa.

In fact, JA2's interrupt could be very WTF, even with all cares possible, you could be interrupted by the enemy and shredded to pieces while he wasn't even in position to retaliate. What was so good about it for you?

This system isn't perfect, for example i dislike that you lose your interrupt on the first enemy triggering it, you should be able to pass and keep the oportunity to trigger it further. It could be nice that your mercs in IM stays in that stance at a new turn, so the camp-- player doesn't have to set it again (make it an option maybe). The interrupt reaction time could be linked to stats and not (only) the weapon. And so on and so forth. Others have better ideas about it than me. But in the end, i don't hate this system, let it be known.

I am calm, don't worry. I am just pondering all sides here.

Let's take a scenario. Ira and Lynx both waiting for the interrupt. Enemy comes around the corner in JA2 and turns towards you, ready to shoot.

The "Interrupt Counter" is a variable that tracks down the amount of APs an enemy (within our LOS) used (counted for each enemy separetely). When the Interrupt Counter hits certain value, we are given an interrupt. As APs represent time in JA2, this means that we have to see the enemy for a while to react and get interrupt, while the length of that while is determined by our skills.

 

Ira's Interrupt Counter pool would most likely be HUGE, due to her poor skills. Something close to maximum AP the enemy has, so he will most likely be able to turn, shoot her and run back. Without being interrupted. For each of those 20-30 APs the enemy spends, Ira would probably roll a very low dice to interrupt (1-5%). In JA:F, if you have an Ira-like merc equipped with a handgun, he/she has a 100% better chance to interrupt as soon as the enemy consumes 7 APs.

Lynx on the other hand has much better skills. So his Interrupt Counter pool is very small. Somewhere around 2-3 APs. His chance for high roll is also probably close to 80-90%. So when the enemy comes around the corner and turns towards Lynx, our guy has a 80-90% chance to get the interrupt before the redshirt even blinks.

_______

And no, Ira can't use Lynx's interrupt to fire. Same restriction in JA:F.

_______

As for why you got a lot of interrupts in JA2, the answer most likely lies in the mercs you played with. The AIM veterans have good to excellent skills, enough to interrupt most redshirts. If you really want to test the JA2 interrupts, go make rookie team and fight in Drassen counterattack versus black shirts. And see if you get a single interrupt on those with the likes or Ira, Biff, etc...

@Grim - I agree, they need to add at very least a keyboard shortcut to set ALL mercs to interrupt mode.

I agree that I wanna have a "set all to interrupt" hotkey.
It this were JA:F1.3 I could easily find a option to get my mercs into interrupt mode automatically all the time. Because when I know that, I correct the LOS so that all directions a watched. I would like that option at least but could be bad idea also. Not seeing enemies in front of you because LOS is to narrow. 

As in real combat, Ira and Biff stayed behind Scope, AE or Shadow so I get the interrupts and later on Ira. As I shot the enemy, he looses AP. Then Ira get the interrupt easier?

I played the Drassen counterattack. It was one of the best fights I ever had. I had to use every trick (doors, grenades, rooftops, back to realtime healing, collecting new ammo) to be able to win this. I was totally shocked as I had only 3 good mercs vs. all those good equipped hordes of enemies. OMG

Such a fight could never happen in JA:F. The AI is too different. Hope that will change.

EDIT: Another thing that bothers me. Does an interrupt makes sense in open field combat? 2 mercs vs 2 enemies both in plain sight without obstacles like wild wild west. Enemy AI goes in interrupt. That is annoying. Isn't it? What is the real life example for this? When I first see the enemy and have a faster weapon I can shoot first? Does that not contradict the turn-based approach. Is the interrupt not intended to be a exception for certain combat situations?

It makes sense in open combat too. It's about who has his weapon ready and who hasn't. And if both have weapons ready, the one with the fastest weapon gets to shoot first.

No idea if JA2 took into account the wounds when giving an interrupt. Most likely it did, because in JA2 wounds also led to losing stats. So that badly wounded enemy was actually weaker and maybe Ira, in the end, got a better dice roll when he tried to run away (next turn).

The current interrupt system could work, but needs tweaking. There should first of all be a button to put everyone in interrupt mode as it is quite tedious to keep setting it for each MERC. Furthermore, beyond weapon type, the interrupt system should also take into account MERC skill, MERC reaction time (this can be an additional skill), and luck. Then you will have all factors considered. 

Why do we need a interrupt system? All it does is prevent agressiv play. It forces you to play defensiv and wait for your interrupts to trigger, then you click on the opponent until hes dead. First player who moves will most likely get killed. I would like to remove the interrupt completely, or bring back the original system from JA2.

The interrupt mode in theory is ok/working for me. However, my biggest annoyance with the current interrupt system is that you have to set your merc into the interrupt mode with a button. I knew - and mentioned - this from the beginning when the mode was openly presented. The current system might work better for me if the interrupt mode is set automatically at the end of turn for each merc/enemy. Then being in the interrupt mode shouldn't prevent stamina recovery. We could have this coded as an in-game option if people prefers a system like this. I don't think adding an option would be difficult.

Grim's point regarding the triggering of interrupt mode is good! It shouldn't trigger for one time only. I think if the merc doesn't react for his first interrupt, the timer should reset and start from the beginning. If the timer limit is reached the second time, merc can choose whether to react or not. Hopefully, this feature is added.

Thanks for explaining some of the mechanics, Shanga!

I think this is what annoys people most in the new interrupt system is that you have to set it for every single merc, every single turn. I dunno about JAF as I haven't played much but in previous games I hardly ever had problems with stamina/energy. After grenade attacks maybe, but usually only in RT mode when I was running around too much, kicking doors in with Grizzly to loot. Then I would just fast forward time by 5 mins and the energy would be fully restored ;)

Therefore I suggest that from now on every merc is automatically set to interrupt at the end of the turn, provided he has enough AP left (just like in JA2). If you however, want to recover stamina by not having the merc do anything, you have to click a specific button to tell him to NOT go into interrupt mode. I would assume you need interrupts more often than stamina recovery, so I tihnk this makes sense.

As for Shanga's claim that medium/heavy squads would completely wipe you out if we had the old interrupt system as their skills are so high: Why are their skills so high then? Sounds to me like a balancing issue or bad AI issue than anything else?

Having a separate button for this wouldn't be a good solution in my opinion either. Actually mercs in JA:F can easily run out of stamina if they are always on interrupt mode. Thus I suggested an additional game option so that automatic interrupt mode wouldn't prevent stamina recovery. At least a mode like that could be tried and see if it worked better.

@Shanga - Was the interruption system tweaked in 1.13?
JA2 vanilla system was flawed as well. As far as I remember the JA2 vanilla interruption system didn't work well at times (was unfair) because of lack of view cones. Enemies that had their back to you calmly turned around and shot you (especially going from RT to TBS).
To me the combination of realism (logic) and smoothness of the combat is the most important. Right now I'm getting use to this interruption system but it is a pain in the ass. The AI is prone to rushing you and when every enemy gets a shot off first you end up dead pretty quick. This makes me play like this - rifles for battle and if AP spared switch to pistol and interruption. That is silly, why would anyone switch between pistol and rifle all the time. It just doesn't feel right.
And because there is a lot of armor in the game I usually unload most of my pistol rounds in an elite soldier and he just calmly uses his AP-s to fire his high damage rifle and basically kill or severely wound my merc. 

 

Well, the Heavy are just as good as the Deidranna's Black Shirts. What's worse is your rooster of mercs, which - according to the story, are at their least experienced stage. This is before Metavira, before Arulco, these guys are basically amateurs. Just starting a career as a gun for hire.

You can't justify a rooster of seasoned pros with the scenario we have. But don't worry, in a normal fight your squad will never face off against 20 Heavy. You will most likely fight 2 or 3 max. And because there's no dice roll based on skills you will have your chances to win. Why not 20 Heavy in a patrol? Read on...

_____________

How are enemy squads composed?

FC gave each zone a weight in "enemy points". High tier areas are like 2800 points if I remember well. And then they assigned a point value to each type of enemy. From 100 pts Lights to Heavy AI, which is about 400 points.

So when a patrol is spawned, it spawns as a mix of all groups, but not more than maximum point total allowed for that zone. So you will never fight 20 Heavy (2800/400 = 7 max), but X% Heavy, Y% Medium and Z% Lights. Those % are editable and set manually.

PS: That's why, in some fights, there's an idiot who rushes over open space at you and dies looking stupid, while his mates ROFL and snipe you from out of view range. He's that Z%-chance-to-spawn-village-idiot Light, the rest are either Medium or Heavy (in tier 3 zone, in lower tier the percentages are viceversa).

So there's already a lot to balance.

-------------

All considering, editing mercs to make them better equipped to face off against Heavy would be a bit "cheating" against the storyline. For the reasons I've already stated. On the other hand, fighting Lights all the time is only challenging for new players. For veterans is boring as hell. You WANT to fight Medium/Heavy, cause those guys give you the best fights.

And while the whole story progression can be balanced so they player gets better before Tio and Angetta (imho the first island is a bit too small - player should've had more time to "train up"), adding further complications with a dice+skills based interrupt will make balancing almost impossible. For me at least... I can't compute a balance than on one hand has % spawns of Heavy and on the other hand random dice roll interrupts that are most likely not to be in my favour.

________

So imho, with a bit of seasoning and some usability enhancements we can live with current interrupts. They fit well in the overal scheme. Just rename them "Ready Weapon" (to save explaining the above over and over again).

After playing again with looking at interrupts this is my observation:
I don't see that many of my mercs get an interrupt at the same time. This happend a lot to me in JA2. So I could choose to spare APs from one merc and shoot with the 2nd. Or try Ira first. That feature let's say, is missing.
There must be other triggers than what you have explained!?

2. In JA:F I see an enemy walking on my nose then another comes by and still no bloody interrupt. SMG. I don't feel that camping works anymore as I just got overun behind the wall.

3. What still bothers me: The bursts and the animation before a burst takes toooo long. In JA2 you clicked and boom 4 bullets fly. Here he adjusts viewing cone, then weapon, then 3 bullets like 3 seperate shoots come out. Still does not feel right compared to JA2. I loved burst mode and I used it a lot!

4. As Hyrax sais, the combination of smoothness and logic is the key. Now it is a bit slow and boresome to see how the interruption works. In JA2 I was just surprised and got interrupts faster.

5. Tweaking
So for me tweaking would be to reduce the interrupt counter of all weapons. If one can jump like a bunny 5 tiles in front of me, change clothes and reload, and his friend walks by, in a logic world I would have emptied my weapon no matter how slow it is. It is just milliseconds not minutes.
Also I want an exception that if I see an enemy first (camping behind a wall) he should be the one who gets shot. For that you need a campers exception that adds a bonus on you counter because you know what is coming and/or you see him first (his viewcone has never touched my merc). I can scribble that out for you. You theory works but here in the fight, I feel powerless.

This slowly shooting (delays) is this because in JA2 a merc was always ready to shoot or did ready his weapon immedialety? Click - BOOM. Now mercs have to ready the weapon and then ms later it will shoot. TOOO long. The crosshair needs immediate feedback by a shot. What do you think?

Interesting point - where does one tweak the interupt counter for a weapon? I don't see a factor for it (unless Mobility is the one). Let me do a short test with the IMP gun...Nope...

        "Id": "HK_USP",
        "Name": "Bolt M1822",
        "Description": "ITEMS_WEAPONS_HK_USP_DESCRIPTION",
        "Icon": "Icons/Weapons/M1911A1.png",
        "AnimationSet": "Handgun",
        "Type": "Weapon",
        "EquipmentClass": "Hands",
        "SlotsCount": 1,
        "Weight": 10,
        "AP": 1,
        "EffectiveRange": 2.5,
        "MuzzleVelocity": 1.0,
        "BaseAccuracy": 100.0,
        "Mobility": 100.0,
        "Damage": 24,
        "DamageFalloff": 25,
        "BurstFire": 0,
        "AutoFire": 0,
        "WeaponType": "Handgun",
        "CaliberName": ".45ACP",
        "ClipSize": 7,
        "Price": 200

I have set the AP cost of Colt to 1. Still doesn't seem to affect it much. It shows a Reaction Time of 6 on my IMP. So this must be a more complicated function, not just a straight up value. Will further test with the same, with same weapons but IMPs with differents skills. 

But then maybe Roman or one of the coders can shed a bit of light what is the exact formula.

TEST 2

Bingo - there's progress. Everything as above, just modifified Mobility from 100 (best) to 1 (worst).

Reaction Time = 15

So Mobility factors of the weapon is part of the equation (makes sense).

TEST 3

Kept everything as above, changed AP to shoot to 10 (from 1). No change, RT = 15 still. So AP factor of the weapon is irrelevant. Veeery interesting. My last test will be with a better MRK merc.

TEST 4

Tried with an IMP with 99 MRK and 99 Coordination. RT = 14 with the same gun. Vey tiny chance... Kinda suprising there's a change. And very suprised it's so small (default IMP had 60 MRK... 39 points difference should've counted for something if skills are really taken into calculation)... I am out of ideas what to test. Anyone else?

Well off the bat I'd guess maybe it's tied to the weight of the weapons (which makes sense in how hard it is to steady the weapon)

Nope, nothing changed when weight altered. It's definitely linked to some in some % with skills and maybe weapon class (knives have best interrupt). With a knife the 99 character had RT of 4, my retarded IMP a RT of 6 (pretty signifiant, so maybe Coordination is the skill that really affects it, not MRK... or a combo of both).

Interesting tests Shanga. I did not alter yet the weapons, and i was convinced a "reaction time" setting existed for each weapon...

Mobility makes much sense in the end, i'm a bit concerned by its influence on close range CTH too. We'll have to be carefull modding this parameter as it does several things.

The stats : I would have pointed at coordination, by instinct. Some more tests on this stats may be interesting. Maybe the merc's level does something too. It has a small effect on CTH already if the formula hasn't changed.

Can't edit the "level" in Units.json sadly. As I said, maybe Roman/Filip can shed some light on Monday.

You can change the XP needed to level, though. Setting to very low values allows you to level very quickly to test.

Another reason why I want to tweak it: The idea of the dice rolling makes the fights more interesting why: now you get interrupts too often. It's simple math. 

When you have two mercs in the open field wild  West style,you shoot turn after turn where AP = time. How often I can shoot in my time slot is determined by coordination and weapon and therefore - more AP for my turn. An interrupt makes no sense here as with a sniper I'm limited to one Shot due  to High Ap needed for 1 Shot.
Why is it then that I need an additional counter here again that evaluates weapon mobility which is already part of the AP balance.

If I get interrupted I had 0 shots.

not shooting and going in interrupt makes no sence as you could be dead by now. So enemy AI does that only when eg 2 mercs vs 5 enemies. So they risk 1 to get an interrupt. Which is cheating. Isnt't it?

interupts should be limited to who sees who first. The surprising effect. And with the surprise there comesluck. I'm not always ready to fire first in real world even if I could because I'm surprised by seeing an enemy. So a roll dice would be just fine if you add it to the formula. And interrupts should only be the exception for camping or running into a horde of mercs. High experience of the Merc shoot effect the dice roll positivity because more often you are used to the mini seconds chance to fire first

as hyrax said: you need a mix of reality and fast. At the moment there are too many interrupts where I don't expect one because it is not the question of who sees who first

Shanga, thanks for explaining some of the game mechanics, it's very insightful!

I agree with Archo, if you see someone first and the enemy doesn't, you should get an interrupt. Just like I thought it always was in previous JA games. It makes tactical sense too. You hide in a bush, enemy walks down the road - you get an interrupt. Likewise, you wander through an open field, enemy sits behind the window of a house - he get's an interrupt. Sounds simple and logical to me?

I just stood behind an excavator, turned interrupt on and hit next turn. Then an enemy runs into my line of sight and shoots me, after he shot me I got my interrupt ! 

I'm totally confused now and need a break from the game...

: (

Look closely under the Reaction Time button, Val. It shows the APs the enemy is allowed to spend in your visual cone before you get the interrupt. 

Most likely you were waiting for him with a high caliber weapon selected. That's like 10-14 AP points he's allowed to spend! Of course he turned and shot you easy. Best weapon to use for interrupt is always your backup weapon, like a SMG or a pistol. That has like 5-7 AP limit and most likely by the time the enemy turns towards you he had already spent those points.

It's nothing wrong with the game, it's just a learning curve of the new system and a lack of information. But those kind of information will be availble soon everywhere.

PS: Melee weapons (or fists) have the lowest AP pool requirement. It's smart to use that when anything else fails and you have spare APs yet you don't know where the enemy is going to come next from. Because on an interrupt you DONT HAVE to attack. Sometimes it's just useful to get an interrupt and get outside his line of shooting. You're safe, he wasted a turn...

We got the formula for interrupts today, live on Twitch.

There's a maxium Reaction Time for each weapon, from which the game substracts (Merc Level + Coordination / 10). And then it ads (?) a modifier made up from your stance (0 stand, 1 for crouch, 2 for prone) + weapon mobility / 10.

I suck at math, I can't put this down as a proper formula and I not even sure I heard it right, but I'll try:

So for a level 1 merc with 50 coord using a 100 Wep Mob pistol shooting from standing position:

Sounds about right... Will test...

Conclusion:

- Mercs with higher level and coordination get points deducted from max RT (and they react quicker)

- Beyond that, it's affected by your stance and your weapon mobility factor. (so a faster weapon and a proper chance gives you faster reaction).

So Merc Level, Coordination, Stance and Weapon Mobility. Gotcha. Makes sense to me.

That is definitely an information that is totally missing and makes it hard to play the game. FC should send you a cheque for PR and communication services, Shanga ;)

But as somebody else pointed out before, it doesn't make much sense in terms or realism. A soldier with an assault rifle will not switch to his handgun and back in combat.

And if I sit there with my AR, unlocked and loaded, finger on the trigger, looking through my sights I don't think it is logical that I need so many more APs than if I sat there with my Desert Eagle in my hand...

I am not an army guy so I won't argue too much, but as a rule in games, pistols have higher reaction time than assault rifles. Otherwise they would be useless. 

I've just updated my previous post with what I think is roughly the exact formula of the Reaction Time the game uses. Check your merc on those factors (Level, Coordination, Stance, Weapon Mobility). Most likely you will find your score is pretty bad.

And I full agree, this system is so intricate and different from JA2, we need to plaster the info everywhere, so each player knows how to play the game with it. Otherwise people assume wrong things and get frustrated when their team gets shot.

Woa, this is much more elaborate than what i thought. Very interesting, and though, i'm surprised they didn't advertise the role of each stat on that (i.e. in coordination, exp, stance tooltips). Currently, reading the tooltips ingame, you'd think that stat&skill system is very simplistic and reaction times for weapons are huge, while it's not!

If your formula is right, a high level merc makes a huge difference.

A merc of level 9 with 90 coord and a pistol  would have 0 reaction time...

I'm not sure about the stance effect, it seems strange that crouching or prone gives you a bonus. Needs testing.

Yea, well, probably we can assume that crouch and prone give you more stability and you can react faster. Remember, this RT doesn't involve turning, you're just looking down your weapon sights. You don't get to notice and you don't react to what happens outside that cone (that also becomes 50 deg insted of 75).

I was quite suprised too how much thought they put into these...Thomas said eventually they're going to put everything in the JSON so we get to tweak these.

PS: I can only hope i got all the above right, I've listen to the audio twice. Thomas or Roman can correct me tomorrow if I am wrong. But now we can also test ourselves how much lower can we get this in ideal conditions. I think there's a limit preset in GameSettings.json just to prevent high level mercs reaching 0 counter:

    "MinAPForInterrupt" : 2,
    "MaxInterruptTime" : 25,

So while max. interrupt is 25, the minimum threshold seems to be 2 AP. It never drops to 0, unless you change that in the JSON.

can somebody please start uploading guides on youtube for that stuff. I've seen that sort of guide videos very often on youtube already like for europa universalis or total war, for example. Such a channel would also be a nice sticky on the steam forums if you catch my drift...

On it, VaLo, on it.

Yep that's right.

I checked ingame, the stance works like in the formula (RT-1 for crouch and RT-2 for prone).

I'd like to change some parenthesis for mathematical reasons :
Reaction Time = Max RT - (MercL+Coord/10 + Stance + WepMob/10))

Cool, I've edited my formula too. Glad to hear it works. :)

I've tested the formula with some weapons and mercs, and it seems to work well.

In the weapon stats, "reaction time modifier" is "WepMob/10", thus some float values like 0.2 on snipers.