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XCOMUFO & Xenocide

Psi Pic


Deathskull

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Well, maybe each psi-trained soldier recieves a few connectors in the back of their necks? Like the cyborgs from 'Ghost in the Shell', so they can plug those pins in with ease (and in the original UFO, psi-trained soldiers recieved a chip in their skull already, not much more trouble to create a few extra holes eh? ;)
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Did anybody see the movie Strange Days? They had a neural receptor that was a flexible rubber deal, sort of like an EEG receiver. You could say the brain waves extend up to a few inches from the brain, and the receiver on the head picks them up and amplifies it all. Spikes in the skull wouldn't be needed, particularly since your soldier would then have an open brain wound when not wearing the device. Death by infection.
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I've always wondered why psi amp had to be a handheld weapon. Makes more sense to have it as head gear. In any case, the design kinda reminds me of Cerebro. And those spikes can give the wearer a real headache.

 

In V.1++, if we do decide to make psi amp head gear, there should be a trade of. A good one would be the visual contact thing. Second, maybe the Psi Amp will have no or very little protective value. Not that a helm would be much help from a direct hit to the head with a plasma rifle.

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i love some of the ideas coming out of you ppl!

but, as someone who is trying to write some flavour text for this thing, i gotat say that it doesn't make it eazy. i think there needs to be some definate... well something decided about thin thing.

 

my head's gona explode, i'll sez ya all later. :explode:

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Sigurd made a good point about head gear vs. a second free hand. The helmet on the soldier can make all the difference if the random location picks the head. Say the amp can't have interference, and as mentioned in the past you make it line of sight or a max range of some sort. You might carry a better weapon, but you're real vulnerable to potential head shots... a decent trade-off.
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I like Breunor's idea about psi-amps taking up a lot of concentration.

 

I was also thinking, and this might belong to a different thread, a balance to psi, specifically mind control, is that a psi guy can only control one guy at a time. It kinda gets ridiculous that you get to control a whole base.

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Yes, if you don't require direct line of sight, then you could limit control to 1 alien per psi guy.
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Maybe, maybe not... they do have thousands of years of practice on the humans, and are a bit more skilled at it perhaps. But I agree that each side should be affected the same way, since eventually you play either side or have 2 player...
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Did you by any chance look at an adult catalog when you were making that model?

 

LOL i was thinking along similar lines.

 

 

well you could have the character pass out for 2-3 turns if his limit is exceeded. I like the headgear maybe that could be fitted to the pilot of the bipedal HWP(if you decide to use it)

> http://www.xcomufo.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2297&st=70

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  • 8 months later...
Hmmm. Thinking about the PsiAmp, wouldn't it make more sense if it were a kind of glove? I always thought that the psi amp would be rather awkward to hold, especially if your psi corps weren't really the athletic type. See attached image- I'm thinking the lower-arm equivilent of a mitten, with a grip for the hand to hold on to.

post-3226-1090247067_thumb.jpg

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the glove idea somehow sounds cool, but now i think of it: a glove would be a lot harder to equip/unequip during combat than something you can just drop. and some people do take their psi guys into combat instead of letting them stand at the back of the transport...

 

with regards to the proposed design: i don't think the psi amp needs a battery to operate (there's no ammo for it!). iirc it uses the strange property of [elerium] as a kind of psi "catalyst" in a purely passive way.

 

basically, i would keep the design dumbbell-like with a handle in the middle. i like that. maybe the two lateral parts could be filled with some kind of liquid xenium-alloy? perhaps we could even pick up the tftd idea of a biomaterial-metal-alloy, this time saying it's xenium alloyed with alien biomatter, amplifying the mental powers with a resonance especially effective on aliens...? sounds to me like the right kind of semi-alchimistic/magical-science stuff that psi powers come from.

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Hmmm. Thinking about the PsiAmp, wouldn't it make more sense if it were a kind of glove? I always thought that the psi amp would be rather awkward to hold, especially if your psi corps weren't really the athletic type. See attached image- I'm thinking the lower-arm equivilent of a mitten, with a grip for the hand to hold on to.

 

I always liked the original Psi-Amp, a sleek, uber cool-looking thing that strangely enough was the only alien equipment that REALLY looked alien... and it was invented by earthlings... :blink: )

Plasma gun clips always broke the mood for some reason...

 

I do remember something mentionned about an implanted chip in the head, but otherwise the Psis had to turn to face them to MC aliens.

Headwear is all cool, but I still think that a mind amplifier is not automatically "mind driven", you'd still need control screens and buttons to activate/monitor it... No psis are powerfull enough to be telekinetic yet (except the Ethereals).

 

I think the alien look and feel of the original Psi-Amp also came from it's assymetric shape, and it looked like it had some pink organic material in it...

:idea: Hey, why not requiring the use of a sectoid/ethereal corpse to build one!!! :naughty:

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A dumbell-design is very awkward to hold. The thought behind the "glove" idea was that you put it on your spare hand, and hold a 1-handed weapon with the other, and the glove ought to be very little inconvenience to you at all. Plus, there would be enough space inside for body armour- it's not designed to be an actual glove, so much as something you put over your the top of your arm and hold on to/strap on. Edited by 54x
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I think the alien look and feel of the original Psi-Amp also came from it's assymetric shape, and it looked like it had some pink organic material in it...

Hey, why not requiring the use of a sectoid/ethereal corpse to build one!!!

 

 

I guess we're thinking along the same lines here, paladin...

 

@54x: I know that a dumbbell design is awkward to hold, but I believe that is a point in favor of that design :D after all, it's not something designers had years to work on, but a thing some engineers and scientists patched together after a tough night of researching psi powers and xenium. the glove/forearm-strapped design is cool, but it is terribly hard to fit all that somplicated tech stuff into something that is in effect a hollow tube.

 

 

my design proposal:

psiamp.JPG

left side: cool-looking tank with glowing gooish liquid of some color (xenium-like)

middle: handle

right side: complicated-looking tech part: blinking lights, control panels, displays

far right: if you like, some kind of antenna dish array (if you want to make it necessary to point the device)

 

and yeah, paladin, I think the idea that it's necessary to use an alien corpse (=brain) to build a psi amp is great! adds to the creepy feeling of psi... the one i had when i first played ufo and fought my first battle against ethereals. in a night mission. and suddenly there were these strange noises and my men started shooting each other :blink:

Edited by Moriarty
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  • 7 months later...

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