36 replies to this topic

[NickJones]

Just a quick thought, ive already given my 2 cents a buch of times lets make it an even dollar.

Should there be citizens in almost every mission? Even with farms somebody has to live there. Perhaps these citizens shouldnt matter as much as those in terrior sites, but isnt it weird that there are none?

Ranking: I go both ways on this one. ( yeah i should go see a shrink).

I hate having to sack or kill off a decent soldier because i want my agent to have the rank of commander. It would be nice if the player could set who gains rank and who doesnt.

THE OTHER SIDE:
When playing with my friends, we always have a competition to see who can move highest up the ladder . If it was solly player chosen, it would eliminate this fun and would create some a dilema.

MY SUGGESTION:
I suggest that the player choses one or more agents who are "prefered" to get the promotion. The computer decides from there, selecting one of the prefered agents.

questions? comments? problems?

[DendromutantX]

I agree that there should be civilians on missions but only if UFO was caught while or after their harvesting or abducting missions. Yet I think there should be some wild animals on crash sites (attracted by burning alien flesh). Also maybe this idea does not belong in this thread, but downed UFOs should be able to float on water for some time, and you will have to go on mission, where you'll only have couple of turns to kidnap or kill aliens and take all you can from sinking saucer. For these kinds of missions you might need special aircraft.

[Cpl. Facehugger]

I like that last one DMX! Heck, when we add tftd elements it will get even easier! Not to mention that you could snatch elerium and stuff! Really great idea!

[Whitewashed]

Yes, yes, this is what I've been saying: more civs in the missions!

Just how the heck would a crashing UFO float on the water? It would sink like rock!

[Whitewashed]

Never in my time in the military we had a rifle that broke down so how likely is this really?

[Cpl. Facehugger]

Sooo, shouldn't that post be somewhere else?

Anyway, I also want more civilians, especially Farmer Joe in the shead with his sheep and shotgun!

[NickJones]

yeah wrong post with the gun. One thing tho, the ships that crash in the water; if you dont go to the mission would you be penalized? cause when there is a large invasion of 3 or more ufos i usally try to down a few in the water to save time.

[fux0r666]

I think that most wildlife would scatter if a ufo flying at 1000 miles per hour crashed into the forest.

[DendromutantX]

Just how the heck would a crashing UFO float on the water? It would sink like rock!

If its hit from the bottom AND top it would sure sink if only on one side it would float like a cardboard box (if you know what I mean)

One thing tho, the ships that crash in the water; if you dont go to the mission would you be penalized? cause when there is a large invasion of 3 or more ufos i usally try to down a few in the water to save time.

Well I think it should be depending on how far from the shore it fell

[Puasonen]

I think you shouldn't get any penalty from it. I use that "dropping ufos to ocean" tactic a lot too and it would suck if I have to stop using it! :crying:

[Whitewashed]

How did that last post get here??? I posted it in the "weapon ideas" thread!

[Puasonen]

How did that last post get here??? I posted it in the "weapon ideas" thread!

Yeah right!

[Whitewashed]

I promise, I did!

Edited by Whitewashed, 12 January 2004 - 11:34 AM.

[fux0r666]

I posted this a while back when we were still talking about animals but I don't think it went through....


I think that a ufo crashing into the forest at 1000 miles per hour would probably scare most wildlife out of the area.

[Puasonen]

I posted this a while back when we were still talking about animals but I don't think it went through....


I think that a ufo crashing into the forest at 1000 miles per hour would probably scare most wildlife out of the area.

I agree. And if you fire some weapons, those animals rarely are coming to see what's happening. It's not like people who hunts for hobby attracts wild animals by firing the gun in the air a few times

[RustedSoul]

i've only been able to get the mentally challenged ones that way, as a hunter i feel i've helped the wildlife in my area develope into smarter species. Although greenpeace may suggest otherwise <_<

but i think you should have birds pecking at the alien corpses that were thrown from the crashed ufo just for some cinematic effect

kinda like jagged alliance 2

[Whitewashed]

Alien corpses thrown from the crashed UFO? Who threw them out?

[Puasonen]

Alien corpses thrown from the crashed UFO? Who threw them out? 

The explosion of course. And people fly out of cars sometimes when they crash too!

Birds picking an eye from a dead sectoid would be hilarious! Or maybe Alfred Hitchcocks "birds" attacking a live alien! :: Or maybe it's just excessive animating and programming but for v1+ it would be fun!

[ShadowHawk00]

To get to the orignal post of humans on a crash site. Would u stay if an ufo crashed at your doorstep ?? And it is not a surprise since u will hear the noise from the earth fighters and explosions.
If they just land then well maby some humans because what is there to harvest for the aliens if there is nothing to be fould but sand ?

[RustedSoul]

well to be serious i think alot of people would hang around, right after they have reported it (obviously the police will have a hard time believing it). Some of those people will grab a gun or whatever and sit ontop of the barn and observe from a distance. Others might try and investigate from a closer distance. I could'nt imagine people in general going too far away, unless a ufo crashing on their doorstep is an everyday occurance.

So i think there should be atleast one person in the sector unless the map has no place of residence. If the Aliens have had time to repair the ship to a degree, you could put those people in some kind of holding cell within the ufo.

[Whitewashed]

Naturally there won't likely be any people in the middle of the desert but if a UFO lands in a populated area I think there would be people that would hide rather than run as it would likely expose themselves to the aliens. Still, I can't see people running from their homes if they hear some weird sound of a battle with the a UFO, I don't think anyone would even have time to react before it comes crashing down. But granted, there shouldn't be a lot of people on a crash site unless it's in the middle of a big city. It's also depending on the alien mission. I doubt they choose a populated area when they're building a base.

[NickJones]

The fact that high altitude ships would be moving towards the earth at extream speeds when they are shot down raises the question of how they survive. This is off topic but, like shooting a UFO down in water, should high altitude crashes end in total destruction of the UFO ship and its crew?

About the animals, they would definitly panic and run from the area when they hear the crash. The time it takes for them to return is the question. If a UFO has been sitting, its crew just trying to make repairs, small animals would probably come back to the area. I dont think the aliens would leave their dead laying around long enough for birds to start eating the corps.

Humans in holding cells would be cool. It would add another objective to the battle.

[Whitewashed]

We have to remember that the UFOs are made of thick alien alloys that are extremely resistant to damage, I don't think the ships take any damage from the crash itself.

[DendromutantX]

Some animals are very territotial and they wouldn't go away even if Michael Jackson switched to animals and went to that forest. An example--grizzly bears, who when waken at winter would attack ANYONE and eat everything digestable. Other animals are very curious like monkeys. And if UFO crashed in the swamp alligators and anacondas would surely come out. Not to mention animals with nests and lairs in that territory, who have to protect their offsprings.

[Cpl. Facehugger]

I imagine that those animals would speedily be fried with high energy plasma...

[Whitewashed]

I imagine that those animals would speedily be fried with high energy plasma...

Why, it's not like they're any threat to the aliens?

[Cpl. Facehugger]

Well, forgive me, but if a big, nasty bear was munching on one of my buddies, and I had a heavy plasma, I would kill it! The bigger animals are a threat to the aliens. Can you imagine how easily a bear would kill a ship full of sectoids if they didn't have any guns? heck, they probably don't even know to stay perfectly still!

[Whitewashed]

They could mind-control the bear and make it attack x-com instead when they get there? Maybe they could give it a heavy plasma and make it walk on 2 legs? That would be freaky!

Seriously though, most animals are harmless and bears are quite rare so it's not that likely that they'll end up at a crash site.

Edited by Whitewashed, 14 January 2004 - 02:59 PM.

[j'ordos]

How about sectoids being allergic to mosquito stings?
well, maybe not

I don't think it's such a good idea to have animals roam the map attacking anything inside, it's just not the way animals behave IRL, plus most are about extinct by now

edit: UFO did have snakes though, in the desert tileset, and I feared they might bite your soldier at first, took me a while to figure out they were just harmless background piccies ::

Edited by j'ordos, 14 January 2004 - 02:59 PM.

[NickJones]

the snakes. They looked more like a long piece of poo then a snake.

I think having animals that are native to certain areas of the world would be too much work for the benifits.


My buddy got , and it made me . I :crying: and :crying: and . Then I . OOO ! I got a stick and began the alien. Then i went and had a . with my new friend lyudmila. .

[fux0r666]

Even territorial animals for miles around would run and hide from a crash site where something hit the ground at mach 3.

Edited by fux0r666, 14 January 2004 - 03:47 PM.

[deanfrz]

If the UFO hit the ground at 1800 knots, even if it magically didnt disintegrate on impact, the aliens would be little more than puddles of goo after a deceleration of 94 Gs(google+a caculator). The average human can survive about 30 Gs when properly restrained(Sled testing study; J. P. Stapp, Col. USAF). Of course that figure is higher the shorter the "crash pulse" is. But then, how many seat belts do you find on UFOs? I'd think the crashing UFO would either turn up as "destroyed" or having a bumpy landing at much slower speeds with the reactor blowing on landing. If the reactor blew in the air, you'd prolly have to scrape up a mile long streak of metal to recover anything.
Of course, my views could be because I just had to watch one of those traffic safety films (You know the ones; Red Asphault, Speed Kills and the like. ).

[Whitewashed]

I think alien powersources rarely blow up in the air but rather when hitting the ground. The larger ships have several power sources and if one stops working it doesn't mean that the ufo crashes but rather is forced to land, they still have some control of the ship and can dampen the impact. The UFOs are not like standard aircraft with jet engines blowing them forward, they float in the air. They don't crash the way human aircraft do.

[NickJones]

Good point whitewashed. We are confined to thinking that once the engin blows, back to earth we goes.
I used to imagin Destroyed UFOs, those that are "destroyed" by the Interceptor, as UFOs who could not maintain a controled decent to the ground because their power source was destroyed in the air.

UFOS whos power sources appeared to be destroyed when agents get into the craft were destroyed during the final landing.

That is why you almost never Destroy anything larger then small, and the power sources can be destroyed on the ground.

[Puasonen]

I always thought like that too.
Destroyed ufos were destroyed because the power source blew up in the air. Others had power source but otherwise heavy damage and that's why they could land (and maybe then blew up)

[kander]

Doesn't the entire alien propulsion system work around principles of manipulating gravity? Think Star Trek -> Dampening Field. Even when the Enterprise/Voyager is pummeled with torpedos, all we see is the bridge crew shaking a little bit because the dampening field can't compensate rapidly enough... Without that, they'd probably be gooified.

If we assume that the engine failing results in a crashlanding, and engine blowing up results in destruction, we can safely assume that the G-forces are compensated. It'd be stupid to think that aliens can make a large craft levitate by bending gravity, but can not keep themselves safe from sudden deceleration by inverting that technology.

Just my €0,02

--K

[GARAK]

I assumed they would need a dampening field to survive too.