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A look at the influences and sources of one of the most inspired computer games.

UFO.jpg

“I remember going out and buying a video tape of the old Gerry Anderson UFO TV series, and the thing that inspired me from that was the idea of having a worldwide organisation that was set up to stop this alien menace.”- Julian Gollop

When Rebelstar Raiders creator, Julian Gollop, approached Microprose with ideas for a sequel to his Laser Squad title, it was suggested that the tactical, turn based game should take on a much larger scope, in keeping with games like Civilisation. From that meeting it was decided that the theme of protecting Earth from the threat of UFOs would supply the general strategic background to the title.

Gollop combined elements of Gerry Anderson’s Supermarionation TV shows, particularly UFO, with themes from UFOlogy, especially books by Timothy Good such as Above Top Secret and Alien Liaison.

There are many themes relating to UFOlogy within X-Com. They combine in subtle ways, to provide an intriguing and unsettling backdrop against which to combat the alien forces, attempting to dominate the planet. This series of posts looks at the game and highlights its sources. The many elements used by Gollop often provide a more coherent background than a subject that is rife with hoaxes and disinformation.

Organisations

“Many elements of this UFOlogy went into the game, and the concept of X-Com as a secretly funded organisation is based on the alleged existence of MJ12, a government sponsored group of leading scientists and military personnel.”- Julian Gollop

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[tr] [td] 209q908.jpg [/td] [td] Formation

Both X-Com, (Extraterrestrial Combat Unit), and SHADO, (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation), have very similar backgrounds. Both are clandestine organisations formed to combat the growing threat that unidentified flying objects and related events pose to humanity.

It is a threat that is considered to be beyond the capabilities of a single nation to combat. In both backgrounds we have attempts by individual countries to find out more about the aliens. The X-Com background has Kiryu-Kai fail to successfully intercept a single craft. In UFO it is a British cabinet minister who is killed upon receiving firm evidence of the aliens’ existence. They both realise a larger organisation is required.

In UFOlogy, Majestic -12 was formed from the US military elite following the key event of the Roswell incident of 1947, where an alien craft crash landed into the New Mexico desert.

Majestic -12 operates within the largest military budget on the planet, from a country with a strong global military and industrial links.

The inherent irony of X-Com is that you are controlling an organisation that in UFOlogy circles are considered to be the bad guys. The secretive, manipulative conspiracy based group are just who are needed in the world’s hour of need.

Both SHADO & X-COM operate on a global scale with impressive funding and the ability to recruit the best personnel and the most advanced weaponry and facilities.

A month after its inception, X-COM makes its first successful alien interception. UFO also begins at a key moment, the first capture of a live alien. This event justifies the ten years that Commander Straker has spent building up the organisation. Majestic -12 would operate within the world of the escalating Cold War, where any potential threat to security was investigated.

The feeling of escalation, and overwhelming dread, is a common theme throughout all three organisations. [/td] [td]

oiukg3.gif [/td] [/tr]

[tr] [td] o9o1tx.png [/td] [td] Base of Operations

X-Com allows for the creation of underground bases across the world, with the option to construct and manage a number of facilities. Likewise, in UFO, SHADO operated from an underground base, 80ft beneath the cover of a film studio outside London. The head of SHADO HQ, Commander Straker, accesses the base via an access lift which doubles as his office. In X-Com the key access point to the base is the Access Lift.

In UFOlogy, there are endless debates over what the facilities are at secret US government installations, and not so secret installations such as Area-51, in the Nevada Test & Training Range. Area 51 has long links with test flying the latest of US military aircraft; craft so unusual as to be considered beyond the capabilities of man. As with the other two organisations, the bulk of the facilities are considered to be underground. The Cold War resulted in numerous nations building secret underground facilities to be used in case of nuclear attack or for other clandestine purposes. Alien bases, constructed with the assistance of the USS government are also invariably placed well underground. Following the UFO crashes of the late 1940s there have also been rumours of facilities in which the aliens survived in captivity, the equivalent of X-Com’s Alien Containment.[/td] [td] 2dt15q9.jpg [/td] [/tr]

[tr] [td] 2d7c0o0.jpg [/td] [td] Starting Troops

Both X-Com and UFO feature coverall clad personnel disembarking from cramped vehicles into the sights and range of aliens and their craft. Their goals are invariably to capture or kill all aliens present and secure their equipment and craft for the retrieval teams.

In Majestic -12 the retrieval teams are also the ground troops of their organisation, with Red and Blue teams assigned to secure evidence and knowledge. They follow the procedures contained within the Special Operations Manual. A copy of the manual dated 1954 has been leaked.

UFO frequently showed a blend of all colours and genders, which had an influence in the personnel available for X-Com missions. They are led by Commander Straker, and Commander is also the top rank in X-Com.

One of the main inherent strengths of X-Com is that is not only captures one state of it’s world and organisation, but can develop them over time adding the fruits of it’s research to better arm and equip its soldiers. Claims by retired Colonel Phillip Corso state that a number of technological advancements, such as fibre optics, have been made from retrieved alien technology. [/td] [td] 15x5jd.jpg [/td] [/tr]

[td] mk842d.png [/td] [td] Funding

“X-Com, however, is a truly international force funded by many countries.“- Julian Gollop

Despite the Earth being under attack, X-Com does not operate with infinite resources. It’s funding is carefully controlled by a group of funding nations. X-Com is provided with a strict budget. The funding nations alter the funding levels based on the success of X-Com or the level of alien influence within their own boundaries. This mirrors the UFO series where SHADO’s purse strings were controlled by the International Astro-physical Commission. Its chairman General Henderson regularly reminded Straker about the possibility of funding being withdrawn without progress being made against the alien threat. [/td] [td] 111nvh3.jpg [/td]

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Aliens

“They were like spies. But we were told to take them out because Microprose was doing their own game based on men in black. I don’t know what that was, but it didn’t see the light of day.”- Julian Gollop

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[tr] [td] 10z1b7p.jpg [/td] [td] Sectoid

With origins in the works of HG Wells in the 1890s, The Greys came to prominence following the abduction experience of Betty & Barney Hill in 1961, with many subsequent abduction claims citing Grey –like creatures. Their appearance in the 1977 film Close Encounters brought the Greys into the media spotlight. The breaking of the Roswell story, said to have occurred in 1947, in 1980 further cemented the Greys in the popular consciousness. They would appear in X-Files, Dark Skies and X-Com.

The Greys are linked to Majestic-12, abductions, mutilations, alien implants, hybrid programmes and mind control. Both the greys and the aliens from UFO have detachable eye-lenses. These may provide environmental protection or enhanced visual range.[/td] [td] 1zd9aq1.gif [/td]

[/tr] [tr] [td] 20aritw.png [/td] [td] Snakemen

A number of abduction experiences in 1950s and 1960s involved creatures with reptilian traits. In popular fiction, shape shifting Serpent People were popular parts of RE Howard’s writings from the late 1920s and later part of what became HP Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. These Serpent people looked to control society. They have similarities with David Icke’s late 1990s claims of Reptilians from the Alpha Draconis system holding many prominent positions in our society.

The Snakemen, also known in bipedal form as Reptilians or Reptoids, are linked with underground bases, lost civilisations, abductions, government pacts, Shadow Kingdoms, and secret ruling elites. There are rumours that the Reptoids have a taste for human flesh, perhaps inspiring the Alien Food UFO component in X-Com.[/td] [td] 2qdorj6.jpg [/td][/tr]

[tr] [td] epg9ip.png [/td] [td] Ethereals

There is a reference in the Timothy Good UFO books regarding Etherians, which could well be the source of the name.. In a wider UFOlogical context, the Etherians solve the issue of galactic UFO travel. It is proposed that they instead come from a parallel dimension. They have benevolent intentions in the way of ancient astronauts and space brothers. They are more technologically and spiritually advanced, but can become trapped on Earth when their craft malfunction. [/td] [td]2a6qmb4.jpg [/td] [/tr]

[tr] [td] fn6y3o.gif [/td] [td] Cyberdisc

Secondary miniature UFOs deploying from larger craft have been reported by witnesses. However, the Cyberdisc more closely resembles man’s own attempts to build circular craft. The Avro Canada VZ-9 looked to provide a VTOl craft for both the US airforce and army, before the project’s cancellation. The design can also be seen in Terror from the Deep’s Biodrone and Laser Squad Nemesis.[/td] [td] 2quhjyc.jpg [/td] [/tr]

[tr] [td] 2yw5m5z.gif [/td] [td] Chryssalid

Fast, terrifying creatures that kill at close range. Creatures that gestate inside a host and whose young have an exceptionally quick growth cycle. The Chryssalids are especially feared due to their ability to deposit fast-growing eggs within their victims. The unfortunate target becomes an incubator for the Chryssalid’s eggs. Should the zombie host be destroyed then a new Chryssalid will emerge from the corpse.

This is X-Coms adaptation of the Xenomorphs from the Aliens films. A number of pictures on the X-Com concept art featured eggs and Xenomorphs from Aliens. The Chrysallid has a different appearance but has a similar life cycle.

The Xenomorphs were found near Zeta II Reticuli in Alien, which in UFOlogy is also the home of the Greys.[/td] [td] zpa1h.jpg [/td] [/tr]

[tr] [td] f38h7a.png [/td] [td] Sectopod

The robotic terror unit of choice for the Ethereals, this deadly enemy has design similarities with the ED-209. This robot was a failed attempt to replace Robocop in the 1990 film Robocop 2. It was itself replaced by the heavily armed and armoured unit that housed the brain and spinal column of a notorious criminal.[/td] [td]32zs4k2.jpg[/td] [/tr]

[tr] [td] fdgbrs.png [/td] [td] Muton

In Invaders from Mars, the Mutants are silent guardians of the Martian Mastermind. The Mutants are controlled telepathically by the Mastermind. Other parallels with X-Com are obviously their Martian origins, but also the concepts of alien infiltration by impersonation; an idea more popularly known from Invasion of the Body Snatchers and alien bases.[/td] [td] oichmu.jpg [/td][/tr]

[tr] [td] 34hi3wm.jpg [/td] [td] Martian Brain

Inspired by the controlling Martian Mastermind from 1953s Invaders from Mars. While intellectually superior, the Mastermind was physically weak. The imagery for X-Com’s final enemy could have been taken from any number of alien brains from science fiction movies from Fiend without a Face to The Brain from Planet Arous. The brain’s bulk combined with its immobility also closely parallels the Brain Bugs from Heinlein’s 1959 Starship Troopers. It should also be noted that the Martians were partial to underground hidden bases. Be careful around any large sandpits.[/td] [td] 2ekku0w.jpg [/td][/tr]

[tr][td] w9tzme.png [/td] [td] Men in Black

Numerous witnesses of UFO phenomena have also reported subsequent visits by men dressed in black suits. The visits alternate between veiled threats to ignore the sightings and a release of related information. Explanations of both range from Air Force related attempts to cover up classified aircraft tests to disinformation following the rise of UFOlogy.

Encounters frequently suggest that the Men in Black are possibly alien themselves. This manifests in strange body language, speech patterns and a lack of understanding regarding human culture. This also may be linked with disinformation activities. Men in Black are linked to UFOS, demonology, government cover ups and new world orders. Popularised in the film trilogy of the same name, based on the comic of the same name. The Men in Black did not appear in person in the original game, appropriately keeping to the shadows to discover alien bases. Their alien counterparts presumably played a part in promoting alien infiltration. Shadowy human looking aliens are a mainstay of TV and film, if only for budgetary reasons. [/td][td] 2q3t6at.jpg [/td][/tr]

[tr] [td] 2vhvgn7.jpg [/td] [td] Zombie

A stalwart of film since White Zombie, the shambling undead of X-Com roam the battlescape looking for new victims to infect. The original game provides a crossover between Aliens and those many Zombie films, the combination reminiscent of Cronenberg’s Shivers, as a new Chryssalid emerges from their rotting carcasses.[/td] [td] oje8f5.jpg [/td] [/tr]

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UFOs & Missions

“After reading that I knew I was on to something good. The whole alien conspiracy angle was quite exciting, and the mind control powers of the aliens he described were chilling.” – Julian Gollop

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[tr] [td] vz5hd.jpg [/td][td] Research & Scouts

The numerous sightings of Foo Fighters in World War II, and subsequent encounters around military installations, led many to believe that the UFOs were assessing the developmental and military capabilities of Earth. This was developed further in the contactee and abductee scenarios. There, research was conducted on the victim or a message was given to be passed on to mankind. This is taken directly into X-Com while in UFO, many of the missions seemed to be either research or infiltration based. Of particular note in X-Com are the Small Scouts. These resemble the tripod/ lander, arrangement witnessed in many UFO contactee encounters. Such scouts have also been linked with crop circles. It’s no accident that so many X-Com missions occur in wheat fields.[/td][td] 15q40av.jpg [/td][/tr]

[tr][td] 33ax9h5.png [/td] [td] Harvester & Alien Surgery

Livestock mutilations have occurred for almost as long as UFOs have been reported. Initial waves of mutilation coincide with unexplained airships from the late 19th century. An increase has also occurred from the late 1960s, particularly across the southern states of the US. X-Com picks up on the fact that there are very few traces left at the scene, indicating that the animals are abducted from above. Additionally, samples are removed surgically. This is why the Harvester has a central surgical bay. The aliens in the UFO TV series have harvested organs, linking both them and humans to a common genetic source.[/td] [td] 2zo95ea.jpg [/td] [/tr]

[tr] [td] jj8d9v.png [/td] [td] Alien Abductors & Experimentation Rooms

As Contactee claims changed into Abductee encounters in the late 1950s, victims began to provide information on lost time, being under mental control and having surgical and invasive procedures carried out on them. The Abductor UFO in X-Com carries out this function, through the use of its unsettling Examination Room. Victims would report a variety of procedures, including impregnation, genetic sampling and the implantation of small devices. These devices are thought to be involved in mind control or monitoring. Implants are also associated with sinister government thought control experiments, going back to WWII and the Korean War. The theme of mind control plays a large part in the Ethereal control of their alien allies. It is also evident in the array of alien psionic abilities and X-Com’s attempts to replicate it.[/td] [td] 33y2o9y.gif [/td] [/tr]

[tr] [td] 2e3bzwi.png [/td] [td] Alien Infiltration

It is only indicated in the X-Com text that the aliens have agents that can appear as human in the game. These agents do not appear in any of the missions. Their origins are varied. The UFO series had human looking aliens, so their ability to pass as humans was made simpler. Infiltration and impersonation was a common theme in both the UFO series and the Invaders TV series. Other examples include Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Who Goes There? and The Whisperer in Darkness. In broader UFOlogy, there is a striking parallel between the alien infiltrators and the dark suited people who claim to be working for the government. In the morally grey areas of espionage, it is hard to tell which side is acting for humanity’s best interests.

The goal of the infiltrators, as with all other alien missions, is to help convince the governments to allow them to achieve their goals. Be it through impersonation, implants, mind control, terror or the promise of superiority this would certainly mean the ceasing of any financial assistance to X-Com. The source of alien pacts, comes for the allegations that the USA made such an agreement with an alien race in 1953. Although not the only race who contacted the government, the pact was signed with the species willing to give the US technology. Work relating to this pact was conducted under Project PLATO, and the agreement was known as the PLATO pact. The pact allowed the aliens to build bases, and continue abductions, although it should be noted that these activities may have been going on for some time anyway. [/td] [td] 14cxisp.jpg [/td] [/tr]

[tr] [td] ou0ewg.png [/td] [td] Terror Missions

Should the aliens decide to reveal their presence to humanity, or if they have been uncovered, then they are quite willing to massacre civilians in order to achieve their aims. Having flown research missions, the aliens are well aware of humanity’s core resources, institutions and stress points. Terror missions are a direct method to dominate a nation into signing a non aggression pact. The terror missions are reminiscent of numerous alien invasion movies from the 1950s onward, such as Earth v the Flying Saucers. The aliens look to cause as much destruction and loss of life as possible, as a method of subjugating the planet.[/td] [td] 29nc9li.jpg [/td] [/tr]

[tr][td]w9tzme.png[/td][td] Alien Bases & Supply ships

Secret alien bases have taken over in the imagination from lost civilisations and hidden cities. In UFOlogy, once the PLATO pact was signed, the aliens were free to establish bases of operations in the US, from which to continue their various programmes. Of course, even freedom of action has limitations. Alien pacts assume that the host nation is assisting with those activities. Technical and logistical expertise would be made available. In X-Com, the aliens have a main base in the solar system, and so choose to provide a number of certain supplies directly. Both approaches results in a sharp increase in UFO related activity around the base, and in the host area. In addition to Cydonia, alien bases are popularly on the Dark Side of the Moon and various US military bases, in particular Dulce.[/td] [td] 2i7n8d4.jpg [/td] [/tr]

[tr] [td] 2nsqkac.png [/td] [td] Alien Hybrids

Victims of alien abductions would claim to have been impregnated by the aliens. Subsequently, foetuses would be removed through further kidnapping. The suggestion is that the aliens are creating either a hybrid race under their control, or to propagate their own species. There are suggestions that the aliens cannot reproduce. This is shown in X-Com background information with the extent of genetic modification and lack of reproductive organs in many of the species autopsied. The production of hybrid foetuses and children is often linked with alien pacts signed with the US military from the early 1950s. There are parallels with the unusual aspects of Men in Black and hints of biological enhancements to military and intelligence personnel. If alien pacts have been signed, this work can continue of a vast scale, with the knowing collusion of the host nation. Grey/ Human Hybrids would make an appearance in X-Com Apocalypse.[/td] [td] 11kz42u.jpg [/td] [/tr]

[tr] [td] 14jnpfd.gif [/td] [td] Cydonia

The source, at least in this solar system, of the alien menace in X-Com is Mars. Specifically, it is located in a complex known as Cydonia. Both X-Com and UFOlogy speculate that the complex is part of a large city complex that predates human civilisation. If the complex has been inhabited previously by the aliens or their ancestors, it suggests that both species may have a common origin. The Cydonian face and attached pyramids were interpreted from Voyager pictures in 1977. Also of interest are the Martian channels first described by Schiaparelli in 1877. [/td] [td] 25r1q1e.jpg [/td] [/tr]

[tr] [td] 2zywt3d.png [/td] [td] Alien Autopsy

While not in initial reports of early UFO crashes, it wasn't long before other crashes started to outdo each other, and corpses and even live aliens were captured. Numbers of bodies recovered varied and the survival of aliens also changed depending on the source, before a consensus settled in. Rumours of advances in biotechnology paralleled those based on reverse engineered alien technology, if to a lesser degree. Ray Santili's Roswell footage surfaced in the mid 1990s, claiming to be authentic footage of the recovered alien corpses from the crash. [/td] [td] 2ykgmmo.jpg [/td] [/tr]

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UFO Components

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“The book explained some of the alleged attempts by the US government to capture and replicate the alien technology, and even make some kind of secret deals with the aliens. All this would find its way into the game in some way.” – Julian Gollop

[tr] [td] 29utveg.png [/td] [td] Elerium

Much of the background of UFO components in X-Com comes from the claims of Bob Lazar. Lazar alleges that he worked on the reverse engineering of UFOs. This work was carried out in S-4 near the infamous Area-51. The propulsion systems of the UFOs were powered by Element-115, acting as a gravity wave generator. The element, also known as Ununpentium, when excited would become Livermorium which released gravitons as it decayed.[/td] [td] 2a8hqgi.jpg [/td][/tr]

[tr] [td] jai2ae.png [/td] [td] Alien Alloys

Alien craft in science fiction movies are often impenetrable to earth based equipment and science, with examples including the Day the Earth Stood Still and the Quatermass Experiment. However, before either of these films, were the materials found in the Roswell crash. The son of rancher, William Brazel said it was "very thin and extremely lightweight. The odd thing about this foil was that you could wrinkle it and lay it back down and it immediately resumed its original shape." The material has also been described as very tough and possessing certain properties conducive to applying it in operation with electromagnetic fields.[/td] [td] 2nulkx4.jpg [/td][/tr]

[tr] [td] 2ik9zpd.png [/td] [td] UFO Construction

The image used in X-Com Enemy Unknown for UFO construction is a homage to the UFO picture taken by one of the world’s first, and most prominent, alien contactees, George Adamski. Adamski claimed to have been contacted on numerous occasions and visited other planets with his Nordic alien benefactors. [/td] [td] 2prd0zs.jpg [/td][/tr]

[tr] [td] 15xre37.gif [/td] [td] Alien Power Source

At the heart of the UFO is a matter/ antimatter reactor. Bob Lazar, who claims to have worked on UFOs in Area S4, claims that the power sources had similarities to our own reactors, but were the size of soccer balls. Lazar’s also claims that the technology he worked on in 1988/1989 came from aliens originating in the Zeta Reticuli system, linking his work with the stories surrounding the Greys, or Sectoids as they are known in Enemy Unknown. [/td] [td] oppxty.gif [/td][/tr]

[tr] [td] 2vcx5xi.png [/td] [td] Alien Habitat

An unusual item in X-Com in that it cannot be recovered. In the UFO TV series the alien craft struggled in our atmosphere and it’s occupants wore helmets containing the chemical mixture of their own atmosphere. It can be speculated that the Alien Habitat performed a similar function in Enemy Unknown. The aliens struggle in maneuvering their craft in our atmosphere is also in the background of Xenonauts, resulting in an escalation of the invasion. [/td] [td] es2d7d.jpg [/td][/tr]

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X-Com Craft

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[tr] [td] 2rmxzb5.gif [/td] [td] Dropships

In UFO the Skydiver is a submarine that can launch a combat fighter into the skies. It presumably allows for the sub to be located anywhere in the world with a launch capability that would not be readily available through other means. The detachable combat fighter is called Sky One. This fighter is very similar in design to the Skyranger of XCom, and is similarly titled. [/td] [td] no5v6u.jpg [/td][/tr]

[tr] [td] 2pynor6.jpg [/td] [td] Interceptors

The X-Com interceptor has functional similarities with the interceptor of UFO, in that they are Earth’s first line of defence. Both use extremely powerful missiles when engaging alien craft. In UFO, limitations of the effects prevented seeing the missile split into a burst of smaller projectiles.

Still, the projections of 1970 were more optimistic than those of 1994. UFO launched it’s interceptors from a well equipped Moonbase and detected UFOs from a specialised system known as SID (Space Intruder Detector). X-Com are reliant on a radar system that covers patches of the Earth. In UFOlogy, Majestic -12 retrieval teams remain in the shadows, picking up pieces of craft the military shoots down. [/td] [td] 126bsaq.jpg [/td] [/tr]

[tr] [td]ta0w9z.png [/td] [td] Firestorm

When seen from above, in the Hanger facility, the Firestorm closely resembles UFO reports received of perfectly spherical metallic craft. Such sightings have been made across the globe over a number of decades. Since reverse engineering plays a significant part in both UFOlogy and X-Com, this design is no coincidence.[/td] [td] 14eclch.jpg [/td][/tr]

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Equipment

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[tr] [td] 1zwohaf.png [/td]

[td] Motion Scanner

As if flashes of alien movement in the fog of war didn’t provide enough suspense, the motion scanner enabled commanders to detect recent movement across the battlescape. Were they friendlies, or your own troops or were they aliens? Both Alien and Aliens used motion scanners for similar purposes and to build similar dramatic tension.[/td] [td] v6pxde.jpg [/td][/tr]

[tr][td] 10xg95y.gif [/td][td] Stun Rod

When the crew of the Nostromo needed to be able to hunt down their Alien intruder, they jury rigged a flamethrower to flush the creature out. They had also tried using a stun rod to capture it, without realising just how quickly the Xenomorph would grow. The rod resembled a cattle prod, and it’s design and purpose were replicated in the original X-Com. [/td] [td] t63qip.jpg [/td][/tr]

[tr] [td] 11ta6j7.png [/td][td] Proximity Mine

The proximity mine used sensors to detect enemies and then it would activate. This is much the same as the Sentry Guns in Aliens. There, they would lay down continuous fire, while their sensors detected units, until their ammunition was depleted. In both cases, the weapons denied passage to the enemy although both would just as readily target friendly units.[/td]

[td] oa2icw.jpg [/td][/tr]

[tr] [td] 15fipsy.gif [/td][td] Power Armour/Flying Suit

The mobile infantry of Heinlein’s Starship Troopers used Powered armour to smash through obstacles and leap great distances. This progression from the armour used today provided inspiration for the Power Armour and Flying Suit used by X-Com. [/td][td] 261yu8g.jpg [/td][/tr]

[tr] [td] 2dv8sw2.png [/td][td] Blaster Launcher

The last word in weapons. The mobile infantry of Heinlein’s Starship Troopers took mini nuclear devices taken into combat. They were a deadly combination when combined with the infantry’s powered armour, making the soldiers almost superhuman. In X-Com the launcher is equally lethal. It is useful not only in destroying enemies in any floor of a UFO or base, but can be used to breach UFO hulls to provide a tactical advantage.[/td][td] 263wjzo.jpg [/td][/tr]

[tr] [td] 28rcsxi.gif [/td][td] Rocket Launcher

One of the preferred weapons in the UFO TV series, the rocket launcher would at least give SHADO a chance against the better armaments of their alien opponents. The versatile Rocket Launcher was also in the starting equipment of X-Com, and would be replaced by the devastating Blaster Launcher. It also has a distinct niche in Xenonauts.[/td][td] 2zyhm61.png [/td][/tr]

[tr] [td] t7nxpe.png [/td][td] Psi Amp

Following it’s own MK Ultra programmes, and based on dubious intelligence, the US became involved with, and kept funding, research in this area. Project Sun Streak, later Star Gate reportedly received some $20 million, until the mid 1990s.

On the other side of the iron curtain the release of Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain in 1970, detailing apparent research into this area by the Soviet Union led towards an arms race of sorts.

The first international psychotronics meeting in Prague in 1973, also sparked concerns that the Soviet union were developing methods of using technology to induce a variety of psychic effects. X-Com Psi-Amps are derived from these devices. Some aliens in the UFO TV series also had hypnotic and telepathic abilities. Additionally, one episode had controlled targets able to detonate. Many abductee and contactee stories also include details of mental domination and control.

[/td] [td]234sqp.jpg [/td][/tr]

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Edited by thothkins
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I watched Alien again yesterday. Perhaps it's because of the above posts, but as soon as the navigator said they had come out of their hibernation near Zeta II Reticuli, I was suddenly paying more attention.

It's in Dan O'Bannon's early script and provides a nice line in connecting the Xenomorphs with the cultures that gave us the Greys/Sectoids :)

It's quite a contrast to the other movies of the late '70s that gave us creatures from around there, Close Encounters. The Xenomorphs weren;t quite as friendly :)

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