Ninothree

Hey, I have no idea what I'm talking about (even when I speak up in my day job) but I still like hearing about this kinda stuff. Things are usually more complex beneath the surface, it is great to get given some of the details even if they aren't from the source. I especially like the idea of trying to code the tension-o-meter. The last time this came up, I think I was chatting about the music in Zelda changing depending on what enemy you're fighting. That really sets the mood. As soon as that first note sounds you know to pull out your sword/bow, or sometimes just to shit your pants.

yeah I recall someone, probably a dev, saying that things like adaptive music need to come in well early in the development cycle, so I'm not expecting that to get dropped into this game.

oooh, I say, you tease

That is a really unique suggestion. Not to be mean, but a lot of suggestions are along the lines of copying ideas from other games (I for one must bring up xcom apoc in at least every third post I make). This though, it feels new, it is an idea that would add depth to the game without really infringing on any of the other mechanics. You can't cheese the air war by using the archive. Usually it is just the research reports that give the player the story. There is no script or cutscenes otherwise, so I think that adding more to the story through the archive is interesting. Particularly because it can flesh out other characters and bit of lore that can't conveniently be presented otherwise. The thing I like about this is that delving into the extra story would be optional. So you wouldn't need to sit through it on your second playthrough but it could provide a distraction if needed. In the above sense, there is no reason not to include it, but it seems like just the thing for a mod. Some community sourced content rather than precious time for what I understand to be a small company. In terms of making the archive an actual space in the base ... maybe this could be linked to strategic operations? or to some form of training/R&D?

Personally, my inclination would be for the game to have parity in the importance of the strategic and tactical layers of the game. That said, the point you raise is interesting. When the player is losing interest in the tactical missions, that is a pretty bad sign. I think part of the problem is in the interaction between the two. In the strategy layer you spawn the missions and gear up your soldiers. In the tactical layer you complete the mission and bring back artefacts for research. But that is about it. Most of the consequential actions stay in their respective layers e.g. soldier survival, aircraft weapons tech. If there were more scope to play a ground mission in such a way that it would positively impact the strategic game, I think that would solve both problems. e.g. if you hit a certain secondary objective on the ground, then it would affect the spawning of the next wave of UFOs. That way, you have some flexibility as to which layer of the game you want to put more effort into.

MORE TESTING. I like the above. They are not really explanations in the traditional sense, in that they seemingly leave you with more unknowns. Which is better than [science jargon] + [hand waving] = [simple outcome]

Yeah that is definitely true. Scifi authors spend their days imagining what lies next in technological advancement, so they are almost always going to beat the scientists and engineers who strive to bring those ideas into reality. I think my complaint is that there are weak applications of future technologies. Like the way that the first Xenonauts game uses fusion in grenades. Maybe I'm wrong, but to me that sounds like that is not only impractical in terms of technology, but also implausible in terms of the science. So, whilst I am happy to have imaginary fusion technology, it doesn't feel right when that fusion technology is applied to handheld grenades. The problem is that you are asked to believe in miniaturised fusion technology ... ok, not too hard ... but all you get out of it is a slightly bigger boom ... not very satisfying, especially given that grenades tend to work using chemical explosives. On the other hand, I'm not a physicist, so I don't even know for sure if fusion grenades are silly. And I don't think all scifi has to obey some rules of realism. It can just be for fun. As @ApolloZani said, the original xcom had pink mutons in green suits, thumping thrones in a pretty cheesy 80's fashion. A lot of the best scifi (think Ursula K Le Guin) doesn't even try and dig in to the rules of what is possible and plausible. But I think that when these games include research reports that give a science explainer, well, is it too much to ask for that explainer not to revolve around mumbo jumbo?

Well you dealt with that more diplomatically that I did. Although you misspelled maths - for some reason you left the s off the end ;) Honestly, I'm not such a fan of the science fantasy side of things, or at least, I prefer the fantasy to be used sparingly. In my opinion, making up something like elerium is all well and good, but when elerium can be used to do everything and anything, well, I just start to lose interest. The problem with the sci fi/fantasy in games is that the lore is often made to do gymnastics to justify the rules of gameplay. One the one hand, sure, gameplay comes first. But on the other hand, is it really so hard to write more consistent lore that doesn't sound spurious? A little bit of hand waving is fine, so long as it supports something that compensates. Like the bioelectronics idea. It may seem a bit far fetched at first, but it brings in to question the nature of computers and how they differ from a brain. That is really interesting and it has been a staple of sci-fi for decades. Conveniently, it can also be used to justify some of the aircombat mechanics without much of a stretch.

Trashman, I'm sorry for acting inappropriately. I'm just pointing out that you jump to the words 'hate' and 'stupid' quite often. You've got a lot of clever things to say, but you can be quite aggressive when you're being dismissive.

In fairness, I think I've also heard @TrashMan say they hate the some lines from Arthur C Clarke and called him stupid too. Trashman, you might want to be more specific, because you're currently coming across like someone who needs a timeout.

Forum Moderator, Art Lover and Heart of Stone

Yeah I can imagine a caste system being a solid structure for a multi-species alien collective. The fierceness with which each new species resists assimilation would give it its place in the hierarchy. And the stability of the hierarchy would be maintained by rules that prevented different species from mixing. Easier to squash a rebellion if it only consists on one caste - even if that caste is soldier, they can't survive independently. Brings that issue of genetics to the fore. If you control the gene bank, you control the species diversity, and you can make them into a specialised caste - you wouldn't want them multi-tasking because then they'd be breaking caste boundaries. Looking forward to hearing the report of the officer interrogation. This is one of the things I liked about XCOM: the fairly subtle hints that Vahlen was absolutely ruthless when it came to tearing apart alien captures.

Nice update. I think the 'xenoethnology' term is a little off - ethno relating to a nation. Might make more sense if the aliens had a set of communities, rather than just the one monolithic force. Looking around, xenology already seems to be an established term. For the purposes above, that could probably be modified as 'cultural xenology', to distinguish it from the other aspects of studying alien biology or their technology. In fact, thinking about it, studying the alien technology would fall into two further categories: the reverse engineering of their tech, and probably some translating/tracing of their path through the natural sciences. It might be interesting to take a poll of the community, see if anyone is actually involved in the sciences around genetics. I know this is beating an old drum, but I'd like to have science reports that are edited by writers who can vouch for the science. There is a place for the [insert mumbo jumbo science terms] style of writing, but I think that xenonauts takes itself a little more seriously than that. Similarly for the other sciences. Unfortunately, I suspect my speciality in social sciences probably won't find much application. Doesn't help me with computer games, nor in finding a job

It is like Monopoly, but the board is different, and so are the pieces, and most of the rules are different too. I mean okay the similarities are actually few and far between, but you get the gist of it.

Yeah Afterlight had a a proper bio for each of the characters and all those bios tied in together. It didn't just feel like a little touch the devs put in there for fun, rather, it was a full part of the game that you were steering a community of survivors.