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XCOMUFO & Xenocide

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Anglachel mentioned in the my xcom thread about the possiblity of cars in battlescape. I think this is a good idea becasue it's going to present a similar tactical quandry as the gas/petrol stations in some of the terror missions.

 

To a xenocide operative a car is a semi mobile piece of cover, useful to hide from aliens. To an alien its a semi mobile bomb. One plasma hit to it and it goes bang as the fuel tank explodes. Result one or more dead xeno operatives. Of course the same goes for any aliens that use cars as cover, one grenade later and you have freshly toasted alien.

 

An aside point to this is explosions and the damages they cause. Apart from the obvious destructive capability which is discussed elsewhere we should think about the air pressure shockwave that accompanies an explosion. Of course grenages and proxymines aren't going to have enough power in them to casue a pressure wave but I'd say High explosives, Alien grenades blaster bombs and terrain assisted explosions should cause some effect.

 

What I was thinking in game terms is the knockdown of operatives within a certain area. The closer to the source of the bang the higher the possiblity of being knocked off their feet. This goes double when personal armour and higher comes into play as the operative might not get killed by the blast.

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Sounds like a good idea. Have you ever played any of the Fallout games? Those had a similar combat system to UFO, plus the characters could be thrown around by explosions. And I definatly think that a normal grenade has the power of knocking someone of their feet, besides for killing them.
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Hey -

 

I like the idea of people geting knocked down. Perhaps also if they get hit by a heavy plasma or whatnot. Seems like a natural reaction. Perhaps throwing oneself to the ground could also be a "reflex" responce like firing at random aliens when they become visable between turns?

 

Gold

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Once there's some idea of the types of damage that could be done, knockback could be an effect. Concussive (is that a word?) force of a certain amount knocks the unit back a variable distance. Cars could require more force of course. A car explosion could be similar to an incediary(sp?) grenade, knockback force and fire damage. Just imagine a battlescape in a full parking lot like Deimos' idea of a mall setting. Chain reactions could occur, very dangerous! :devillaugh: But you'd also get full cover when crouching too, and sectoids are short enough you wouldn't see them until you're right on them.
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  • 1 month later...

That would be funny, have a death animation for being killed by laser weapons. THe head falls away in this direction, an arm falls the other way, etc. Or when an almost dead alien is shot with the heavy laser, the beam comes out the back side and does its remaining damage to what ever's behind the target...

 

As to explosions, yeah, we could have the camera jump to like 5 different locations during the gas pump explosions to show off all the pyrotechnics put into our production... :devillaugh: Jerry would be proud!

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Shooting a car would normally result in very little happening. I mean, the fuel tanks are small compared to the car itself, and does a car actually explode even when the fuel tank gets hit?

 

Dont get me wrong, I like the idea (and we can go for the Hollywood idea that all cars explode) but perhaps the cars would only explode 25% of the time?

 

Grenades are different, because they are wide area, but again would they actually cause a car to explode? (again, the Hollywood mentality can be applied if needed)

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I've talked to EMTs and police about exploding cars, and it's extremely rare for one to blow up. Only something doing lots of physical damage as well as incindiary damage would have a chance really. Like you say, movies are really fake in that respect. Similar to gas pumps exploding, I think there are shutoff valves underground to protect from a car running into them and blowing up the block. But it sure is fun to do it in the game (so long as your giving, not receiving!)
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Ok I was thinking about the subject of Cars in BattleScape and one thing that is bugging me is the following :

 

If I rigth the story of the game is something about 10 years ahead of us, so here is a few thing :

by the time some new tech would be on marke, BMW will launch his Hidrogen Explosion Engine (it use water molecule divided into H2 and O2 by electricity as combustible, from what I have heard with 8 cm2 of H2 u can go as fast as with 1.8 liter of Gaz ... plus the combustion only product H2O ... water ... 2.H2 + O2 -> 2.H2O), but let's imagine a car that use 15cm2 at a time of H2 (the most powerfull combustible ever) will make a 5m radius explosion and not that much of damage.

 

Plus Electric car will probably (I hope, because I'm fed up of buying Terrorist training Camp with my SUV <- I actually dont have one ... i've a 1 liter Volkswagen Polo that suck a lot less gaz ) be out on the market ... so exploding car should be a lot more difficult ... at least in rich country (exept USA that love using car that drink a lot of Gaz) ... lets thk about countries like Cuba that are still using car like old 50's Trucks or Motocycles ... pretty stylish.

 

Well what do u think?

 

bye

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That's a very good point, as the general storyline talks about countries moving away from petroleum products due to the eventual lack of oil, etc. Perhaps "gas stations" of the future will store fuel in a very space efficient manner, that allows us to still blow it up? :devillaugh:
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Or perhaps the reagent elerium needs to form the plasma is the same stuff used as car fuel. One shot from a plasma weapon and the entire staions suffers the chain reaction-the plasma nuke!
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Why don't they just colonize Mars anyways? Haven't they watched Total Recall? If Arnold can do it, so can they...

 

I think that for the fun aspect, we have to say that fuel stations store the stuff in something other than water form. If we're using H2, all those Os take a lot of space. Perhaps there's a processor on site, that converts the H2O into a more efficient(if dangerous) form. Then it's pumped into the fuel cells the car uses? Some reason so that fuel stations can still explode, people will not like it much if they don't.

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Guest Jim69

Does ne1 think in 10-15 years we will be using water as fuel? Nope. At best we will have hybrid cars of petrol and electric, so Petrol Stations will contain Petrol 4 a while yet.

 

Ur right in sayin a car wouldn't set alight by shooting at it. I see an article sayin that if u shoot at the petrol tank all day with a hand gun without going thru.

 

A petrol station is very different tho. Why do u think they don't let u smoke in a petrol station? ( I have had an experience in finding this is :P) It's coz peeps aren't perfect when they fill up their cars. They quite often spill some ( especially newcomers ) and if there is a spark on the floor...

 

Lasers and plasma are a different matter, however. If they can pass thru alien alloys then I'm sure they can go thru a petty tank. Which wouldn't cause an explosion as petty all over the floor. Home made napalm :D Launch a nade into the pool and watch that damn Sectoid burn

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A petrol station is very different tho. Why do u think they don't let u smoke in a petrol station? ( I have had an experience in finding this is :P) It's coz peeps aren't perfect when they fill up their cars. They quite often spill some ( especially newcomers ) and if there is a spark on the floor...

Right, they dont let you smoke because the stuff spills. The worst you would get is a fire on the surface (quite a big one, but only a fire). As someone said, the storage tanks underground are specifically designed not to explode.

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Why not let them bring a jeep in the skyranger? Special, light-weight, takes up four spaces, and room for 2. Fast as h€ll, but destroyed with a single plasma bolt...

Would require bigger maps before it's of any use though :(

Edited by j'ordos
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Guest Jim69
A petrol station is very different tho. Why do u think they don't let u smoke in a petrol station? ( I have had an experience in finding this is :P) It's coz peeps aren't perfect when they fill up their cars. They quite often spill some ( especially newcomers ) and if there is a spark on the floor...

Right, they dont let you smoke because the stuff spills. The worst you would get is a fire on the surface (quite a big one, but only a fire). As someone said, the storage tanks underground are specifically designed not to explode.

Exactly. Now, using the petrol as a free Incidernary would be realistic and fun IMO. All u wound need is a spark, either from gun fire, nade or a flare. Could perform some napalm tactics just like naaaaam maaaaaaan.

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Why not let them bring a jeep in the skyranger? Special, light-weight, takes up four spaces, and room for 2.

The military actually has something like that, it is like a cut down hummer that can be airdropped. Maby this jeep could be strapped on the bottom of the skyranger?

 

Anyway what I would really like to do is to hijack some civie cars and drive them into some hapless alien. This is advantageous because if one car gets blown up, there are probably more around to borrow.

 

Also, as I understood it the maps were going to be bigger and take place in cities? Can anyone confirm this for me?

Edited by Cpl. Facehugger
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Ok, as my research on hydrogen goes, hydrogen is very uhm... how do we say this... undense. it releases into the atmosphere really fast and burns in an upward direction. It has three times the power of petrol, but does not have as high a heat radiation, and burns out really really fast. In truth, hydrogen is much safer than petrol. in fact in the hindenberg thingie, out of 92 passengers and crew, 67 actually survived.

 

As for petrol pumps, their reservoirs are entrenched deep into the ground and is usually surrounded by reinforced concrete, and several protective systems prevent direct access to the pump, so that the chances of causing the reservoir to ignite are next to nil. And the pumps virtually have no chance for an explosion, since petrol only passes through when somebody actually pumps gas.

 

Simply put, exploding stations are not realistic.

 

But I say, what the heck?! Let's put it in anyways! :explode:

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What about the areas where the tanker pumps the fuel into the ground? Other than the heavy plates, it looks like it's not much more than a hole/tube going down. And while a car running into a pump doesn't cause an explosion, a large plasma that blasts through most anything might reach the underground tanks (for the fun effect they can). The hybrid fuel idea is right, cars might still be using something like natural gas and electricity, and there's still going to be ones on standard gas then as well IMO.

 

As for the size of terror sites, it will always increase, based on the minimum system requirements adopted for the game. Fortunately it should be easy enough to just increase the overall size as we go. Right now we're looking at a 2x2 grid, 4 square blocks that might have 16-24 buildings present. As video cards improve, we just add another block here and there, or increase the number of stories used.

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How about we just say that the engineers of the future screwed up when desinging all of the fuel pumps? :D

 

Perhaps we can make it so that if the bugs attack a military base, there would be tanks to hijack?

 

And lastly, arent the battlescape maps going to be much bigger, so we could actually have enough space to drive some suvs into a sectoid squad?

Edited by Cpl. Facehugger
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Oh well, I can hope can't I?

 

How about we have the gas pumps explode and just leave it at that? Most people would assume that the pumps explode when you hit them, and will be dissappointed it they don't go boom. Do we really need to explain why they explode?

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"Hey, captain, i think there is an sectoid behind that car over there!"

"Oh yes! i can see its feet beloiw it! Shoot it!"

"Roger that sir"

 

BANG!

 

http://www.radshelters4u.com/nuke-bomb1.jpg

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something fun about fuel and cinema effect : do u know how create an explosion that look like an Atomic mushrom cloud ?

 

take 1 kg of Canon Powder (I hope everybody know how to mix some) and 2 liter of Gaz (Fuel) take at least 50 meter of security (more a lot more if u can) CONTACT and that's all.

 

the powder have to be in one block floating in the middle of the fuel (if it dont float it's ok too) but dont mix it in the fuel ... and dont smoke near it

 

good show ...

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LMFAO - [EDIT] - specifically at mikker's mushroom cloud, although Simaldeff's is pretty funny too. Canon powder?!?!

 

in fact in the hindenberg thingie, out of 92 passengers and crew, 67 actually survived.

 

wow, that's actually really interesting. I guess because all the H2 was in the balloon, which was above the crew compartment? Bizarre.

 

I love this discussion. I gotta agree with the explosions. All kinds. I'd say H2 cars haven't caught on universally yet, since this is near-future, everything's still gas. As for pumps, I agree with facehugger. People will expect big fiery gas bombs, even if they're not realistic. As for cars, it's true that shooting a car doesn't make it explode. But lets look at why... [begin learning channel music]

 

Gasoline is not explosive. That is, not in liquid form. It's the vapor itself that explodes. Wood can explode if it's in the form of a dense cloud of minute wood particles. That's why you don't smoke in old mills. So gas is sitting in a car's tank, on a cool day. You shoot the tank. Gas comes out. You shoot it again. A nice big spark flies through the air. Nothing happens. You spread gas under the car, and light it. The car goes boom. (someone actually did this near my home - they wanted to stop the unfettered abuse of the planet, apparently, so they made a political statement by blowing up a gas can under an SUV at a dealership at night. The effectiveness of this political act is debatable. What is not debatable is the result - hollow, thundering BOOOMs, one after another, got me out of my house a few blocks away) Why? Because you've heated the gasoline, causing it to let off vapor, and simultaneously igniting that vapor. Result? BOOOM.

 

My vote is that you have to do a lot of damage to make a car 'splode, or alternately you can do any amount of damage, but it must be incendiary, explosive, plasma, or possibly laser (Deimos? Would a laser heat a gas tank, or just slice throught it?)

Edited by Fred the Goat
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(Deimos?  Would a laser heat a gas tank, or just slice throught it?)

That is a good question. From what I understand lasers at the wavelengths and power needed to cut through plate steel would generate a lot of heat and I mean a lot, but it would be a microsecond burst so most likely there'd be a small glowing hole in either side of the tank with the fuel leaking out of it. As for the heat well the fuel would go though a rapid heat exchange as it passed through the laser hole and would gradually cool it.

This would evaporate the fuel into a gas and you've got your explosive mix.

 

As for an immediate explosion I'd say no if it were a full tank of fuel as there'd not be room in the tank for it to evaporate but who keeps their fuel tank full all the time so I'd say for a partially filled tank there would be enough vapour around to cause a bang after all if a lit match or cigarette can light it I think the remenants of the laser blast would too.

 

For in game how about normal ballistics just put holes in cars and stuff, but when we get to the HC and AC with HE ammo its time to duck :devillaugh:

What would be fun is to see lasers not explode tanks on the first hit but the second or third. Maybe even randomise it between the second and third hit :)

 

For plasma, explosives and above we should definitely see the sparks fly.

 

For the fun of it we should include a flour mill too. Very potentially explosive places.

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Regarding the laser/fuel combo, if the laser super heats the fuel tank, it vaporizes and causes the tank to explode from the gas pressure. This shoots fuel and fuel vapor everywhere, and the red-hot tank would be enough to ignite the vapor. So you get your explosion. As to ballistic ammo, if it can blow up stuff on TV (entertainment), why not in a computer game (entertainment)? After all, if it's on TV it's true, right? :D
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After all, if it's on TV it's true, right? 

 

I think my favorite TV/movie ridiculous explosion is in the movie, "The Chase" with Charlie Sheen(not really a great movie)...anyway, at the end, the girl shoots a helicopter(at the front of it) with a pistol from way downtown and it blows up(completely, like if C4 was planted inside or something). Just classic pyrotechnics gone wild. :stupid:

 

I'd like to see the alien AI try and use explosives against you(us?). Sometimes when I play I think about moving my guy near gas pumps or those little red things inside alien bases and I say, "This is probably a bad idea..." but then I remember that the aliens almost never shoot at them so I go ahead. :hammer:

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THE worst explosion on screen according to me would have to be in the movie, I think it was called, Trog. Absolutely hilarious!. It's about "the missing link", one of them survived in a cave until now, and of course he's being studied as soon as he's discovered. Like in every bad (so bad it's laughable :D ) B-movie there's a frustrated competitor, who frees the beast (gets killed immediately, again of course :D ). The caveman than goes on a rampage in the nearest village, and he encounters a car, I think it was a beetle. He proceeds to tipping it over, and as soon as the car's on his side, flames are bursting out of it! :LOL:
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Guest Jim69
I'd like to see the alien AI try and use explosives against you(us?). Sometimes when I play I think about moving my guy near gas pumps or those little red things inside alien bases and I say, "This is probably a bad idea..." but then I remember that the aliens almost never shoot at them so I go ahead.  :hammer:

And u never will intentionally. They just follow set paths based on the object ( such as house or barn ) and try to shoot all enemies. It would definatly be cool 2 c the aliens making use of the enviroment and tryin 2 blow u up as well :D

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I wonder if we can get John Woo to direct the game? Then we'd have stuff blowing up, soldiers diving in the air while shooting dual goal DEs, exciting UFO chases, etc. :LOL:
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Another idea that was suggested a while back would be very John Woo-ish. It involved recording all the unit action for a battlescape replay. You then could watch it in real time, or spliced together tight enough to look good. All the unit deaths and explosions could have added effects of course. :D
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Matrix style slow-mo-mode-and-fly-around moves would be good. :D

 

And operatives that have spare TUs in the aliens turn, and get shot at, can do the matrix style bullet dodging.

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How about that slow motion entrance bit form The Right Stuff?

Or that slow motion walking scene from Reservoir Dogs? Sounds good.

 

Explosions from laser and plasma should be randomized, because these are fairly damage-contained heat weapons, as opposed to explosions of various sorts. With laser and plasma, you have to actually hit the fuel tank. If we're going to make it take two laser shots, though, then we're going to have to start keeping track of whether the fuel tank is leaking, in general, which is a possibility. That's why I'm not a programmer. :D

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Realitically, if you guys wanted to include some fancy cut-scenes, you could have Woo like effects. Granted, nothing to do with game play, but i wouldlook cool. I guess it depends on if yuo want to put the time into it.

 

Also, I just posted this in the Ragdoll physics thread but I'll dop it here for convienance as well, aren't explosions sort of pointless if they dont effect the surrounding objects? And without a physics engine and rogdoll physics, wouldnt the same three or four animations for each object get repetitive (not to mention being a huge resource drain in terms of man hours)? Would the time and energy spent on the implementation of a ragdoll physics component to the physics engine we use perhaps actually save us effort later on?

 

Anyhow, just thinking out loud. Because, yes it would be neat if a gas pump blew up with great FX, but it would be silly if the ity bitty sectoid next to it just dropped to the ground after getting hit by who knows how many joules of energy...

 

Gold

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