Newbie Question - What Are These Spinning Pyramids

[michaelseymour]

Just started playing and I am wondering what the spinning pyramid things are on the cityscape?

 

I think they might be shown as light blue triangle icons on the map.

 

The pyramids seems to have a bit of turbulence or something around them.

 

Thanks

[[NKF]]

Those are the dimension gates that UFOs use to go from the alien dimension to Mega Primus. You'll see soon enough when the UFOs pop into the city. They move around every so often.

 

You can enter them later once you've got interdimensional aicraft.

 

- NKF

[michaelseymour]

Those are the dimension gates that UFOs use to go from the alien dimension to Mega Primus. You'll see soon enough when the UFOs pop into the city. They move around every so often.

 

You can enter them later once you've got interdimensional aicraft.

 

- NKF

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Duh!

Just completed my first research project on Dimension Gates!

 

Is there any guide to what the different UFO Types look like? I heard there are purple ones which are Type 3 (?) which are important to nab for research.

 

Thanks

[[NKF]]

Hmm. You'll have to pardon me, as I'm probably going to get some of the names wrong..

 

The general description for all UFOs is that they look like large mushroom tops. That's what they are, actually. Giant hollowed out floating mushrooms with anti grav units and guns shoved inside.

 

Type 1: Alien probe - Unmanned, but can carry troops. Small brown lump, not hard to miss as it's the first troop transporter you'll ever encounter.

 

Type 2: Alien scout - Another unmanned ship. Plays the role of escort for other ships, and generally looks like a croissant when it's been shot down. No troops.

 

Type 3: Alien Transporter - Purple medium sized ship. This'll be a bit larger than the first two UFOs and it'll be the first purple UFO you'll see. Plays a gigantic role in research, and you must nab one as soon as you can as they tend to become very rare very quickly. If you completely miss one once the type-6's start to appear, consider restarting.

 

Type 4: Fast attack ships - a major upgrade and a major pain over the type-2 as an escort ship. Very Deadly and takes a lot of firepower to shoot down at the start of the game. It's a medium sized dark brown UFO. Often comes in 3's when escorting transporters (one is tough enough, but get all three together and unless you have a ludicrous amount of firepower, you'd best back off). They don't drop troops.

 

Type 5: Alien Destroyer - Light brown medium sized UFO, armed with the very high capacity 'disrupter inversion missile' launcher, not too hard to shoot down. Plays an escort role, no troops. Rather a nuisance actually.

 

Type 6: Assault ship - one of the best ships in the game, as it introduces the much loved and all important medium disrupter beam (a critical item when put together with small disrupter shields - you'll see). Best description would be a squashed carrot. It's a brown-orange colour. Carries troops. I find it's one of the easiest to attack on the ground too.

 

Type 7: Alien Bomber - Green medium sized UFO. The only UFO you'll ever see with a mostly green motif, and one of the nastiest against swarms of hoverbikes due to its multibomb (a weapon designed to eliminate hoverbike swarms). In later stages, often takes role of secondary escort for the capital ships and other transporters. Also the only ship in the game that carries 'micronoid aggregates' - which makes them the primary source for these aliens as they only show up again in the first alien dimension building.

 

Type 8: Alien Escort - it's a semi-transparent purple UFO. Not to be confused with the Type-3, which is always opaque. This mainly plays tertiary escort for capital ships and is relatively harmless as it only carries a stasis launcher and the generally lousy (according to general consensus) cloaking device. Harmless? Well, compared with every other ship, this is harmless. Really! Doesn't carry troops.

 

Type 9: Battleship: Huge orange ship. Carries the biggest baddest weapons in the alien arsenal - a heavy disrupter beam and a disrupter inversion launcher. Also acts as a troop carrier and has been known to drop overspawn if it ever appears on its own. But mainly acts as primary escort for Mothership in visits to the city. The first ship you'll be able to get large disrupter shields once they start using shields.

 

Type 10: Mothership: Huge, dark brown ship with some dark green bits. Basically a giant troop transporter armed to the teeth like the battleship, but instead uses a stasis bomb launcher instead of an disrupter inversion bomb launcher. When I say 'giant troop transport', I've seen (in Superhuman) alien drop sites that had to take up two full regular sized maps (a regular sized map can hold a the giant slum complex that looks like a castle with the programmer graveyard or the large office building with the yellow steps) Can occasionally drop Overspawn in city instead of the usual infiltration of buildings with troops. Also carries large disrupter shields when they are available.

 

I think the cityscape music goes yucky once the capital ships appear - or maybe that depends on your score level. Oh well, that's inconsequential.

 

- NKF

 

Overspawn = think a marriage between Godzilla and a potato, with the potato providing the dominant genes. Just walks about at random in city and kills itself by running into falling buildings. Does wonders to your relations if you let them go loose, as it'll make any affected organisations like you better - even the cult of sirius if they receive enough damage that they start to send out fighters to intercept it.

Edited May 30, 2005 by NKF

[Peck]

Actually, I think the destroyer does deposit troops because I swear I saw it deposit some in a slum the other day...