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reversible mind control


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In my opinion mind control is the most frustrating aspect of tactical combat in xenonauts because when a soldier become mind controlled it is impossible to save him, even if you win the mission.

I think a good improvement could be making the mind control reversible: if you stun the controlled soldier and win the mission, the soldier will be "cured" and saved.

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Maybe I'm mis-remembering things, but I think mind control only lasts for one of your turns and if you stun the soldier or run away from them then you get them back at the start of your next turn.

It might not have worked like that when the game was first released though ... we definitely patched mind control within a few months of release because players really disliked the way it worked when the game first came out.

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I'll check this as soon as possibile, I've played the first released GOG version that had this problem, now I'm play the game again with my son but I've disabled the mind control editing the corresponding xml file.

I'll re-enable mind control and try (I'm a developer and a software engineer teacher and I don't read release notes from other developers...)

Thanks for the quick reply!

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You were (obviously) right: I tried in GOG version 1.65 and mind control lasts only for one turn :)

What about a defensive technology versus mental attacs that can only be researched and built using an exotic component extracted from a live alien with psionic powers? This way the mental attack will reduce their (frustrating) effects during the game and the player will have to capture lot of aliens if he want to build mental defense for every soldier.

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  • 1 year later...

I kinda wished Psi combat could be used by the human forces and it was one of the things that lacked significantly (for me) with the first Xenonauts game. One of the things I seriously loved about the X-Com games (The proper ones) was getting mind control and finally being able to engage the aliens on an even footing.

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I usually found as soon as I had access to mind control the game became quite trivial. See alien, control alien, drop own grenade at feet of alien etc etc. 

I actually prefer not to have it and for the aliens to have a watered down version as it was just too powerful with too little risk to the user in the OG.

I am not however completely against having access to psi powers, or even mind control, if it can be made an interesting tactical option instead of either insanely frustrating or boringly overpowered. For example maybe mind controlling an alien doesn't give you full control but does make it see other aliens as enemies and your troops as allies for a turn or two. It could then act accordingly. 

 

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Psi powers that grant full control are essentially one-hit kills, especially if other enemies attack the control victim. More interesting options for psi control might be more fun; what if a psi power caused a unit to fail to see a particular enemy (that isn't attacking it?) forget about the presence of a hazard, or to hallucinate a target where there was none? Or to be convinced that their magazine/charge cell was empty/depleted, and replace it? If the aliens have goals in a mission, could making one of them think that their goals had changed be effective? What about gaining the situational awareness of the target, such as where their allies are and what enemies of theirs they are aware of?

Psi abilities that don't do direct damage can even be balanced with the attacker being safe from the defender, since the actual attacker needs to be there. 

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Mind control made xcom and tftd a cake walk.  It's a fun mechanic but if every soldier or alien has access to it then it ruins the game because it becomes neither fun to wield nor to play against.  Only 10% of aliens and soldiers should have full mind control abilities if it's included in X2.

Edit: And to address the OP, yes, any soldiers that happen to be under mind control when the last alien is killed should be returned to your command.

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