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[Suggestion] Alien Base Blackouts


Larchus

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Now this might be met with disapproval because it would make base assault missions a bit harder, but it would also make more sense from an immersion standpoint.

When attacking an Alien Base, if the Power Core(s) is/are destroyed, it would make sense for the lights in the base to go out. Basically, this would be like switching to Night visibility, as the power fails and the corridors are filled with darkness.

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Honestly, I'd just make it night-visibility by default. The aliens can see in the dark so they don't need the lights on, at least when their base is under attack.

I think I'd really like that, actually. It would have a nice feel of the OG which had dark bases, and you could balance it somewhat by having ambient lighting in some areas of the map.

So, perhaps a toggle somewhere. Or being able to set a random chance of it being dark instead of light?

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Both sound really cool :)

If light is turned off by environment change it ads more to the tactical layer and a lot to immersion

If they are turned off by default, it ads to difficulty (which is always fine unless the AI cheats to transparently)

Mood lights would add much to the visual quality making bases more menacing and showing off some light affects. Most of us probably avoid night missions per default so this would be a nice way to show off this mechanic even if one is playing very carefully.

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If this were the case, I'd like the ability to use flares even during light sections. This way a cautious player could leave a 'trail' of flares along their route. If you planned ahead, and used the TUs for flare-laying, you get rewarded by having areas you covered in flares lit up already :)

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So the aliens don't have a backup generator capable of powering the lights in a few rooms for 20 minutes? :P

Hey, they are aliens, they are supposed to have a different culture than us, like camping on their UFOs for sight-seeing activities, inviting newly discovered guests over dinner at their UFO torture lounge. Saying hi to their new neighbours with a sear of plasma bolts, giving them telepathic tips about friendly fire, and sending their Reaper buddies down for a Purple Zombie Party!

On-topic, I think the corridors should lack the lighting while certain rooms have their emergency lights turned on. That way, it provides a more dynamic moment of tension when you are navigating through corridors in danger while well lit rooms are considered a safe haven... to get blasted by aliens.

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I disagree with bases being dark by default, as I feel that would be too dificult. I only suggested the destruction of the power core triggering a blackout because of how it would affect decision making within the base, as well as make sense. It isn't just difficulty for difficulty's sake.

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Are night missions not the default for alien bases anyway? Or do the troops carry flares on each one for some other purpose?

Devs probably forgot to remove them when default visibility was switched. I still don't see why aliens need lighting at all from a lore perspective, but from a balance perspective I can see it. In that case, I'm not sure destroying the core should have any effect either. If your aim is to destroy the base, you won't be travelling very far anyway, so it would be a pointless change imo.

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I disagree with bases being dark by default, as I feel that would be too dificult. I only suggested the destruction of the power core triggering a blackout because of how it would affect decision making within the base, as well as make sense. It isn't just difficulty for difficulty's sake.

If only your own troops are negatively affected by the darkness then there isn't much of a choice to make there. Don't destroy the power core until there is absolutely no other option or you have to fight blind against aliens who know the layout of the base and can see you before you can see them.

It might make more sense if the aliens could choose to turn off or self destruct the power source and you actually had to try to keep the lights on. The missions could play out very differently if sometimes you managed to get to the core so had a nice bright map while other times the aliens got there first and you had to creep through the darkness.

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I cannot agree on the making sense part. If all aliens can see well in the dark, which is apparently true in the lore, why would they have human-visible light at all? The bases are underground so from that perspective it would make more sense for them not to have reduced night visibility but rather zero visibility, which would not be fun at all.

Alien bases used to count as night mission with short visibility, which I personally found not very fun.

On the other hand, this is not difficult to do. Making an optional flag to dim the lights on power core explosions is fine. Mind you, it would help a lot if somebody sets me up with such a save.

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Alien bases used to count as night mission with short visibility, which I personally found not very fun.

I think the key thing would be to do some submap revisions to add in lights in some places. Having a base map that is a mixture of brightly lit rooms (command room, research stations, etc.) and dark rooms (hanger, corridors etc.) I think would work very well.

Obviously, that's outside of the scope of XCE itself but having the option to set lights off by default would make it possible to do something like that.

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So Kabill will correct me if I am wrong, but from last night's testing, it actually appears that alien bases are always considered to be night missions and therefore have night visibility - it's just that the existing maps in the game have abundant light sources and therefore you never notice the visibility being reduced.

Therefore it doesn't make sense to turn on "night mode" when blowing the core.

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So Kabill will correct me if I am wrong, but from last night's testing, it actually appears that alien bases are always considered to be night missions and therefore have night visibility - it's just that the existing maps in the game have abundant light sources and therefore you never notice the visibility being reduced.

Therefore it doesn't make sense to turn on "night mode" when blowing the core.

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Yes, alien bases are night missions. There are few submaps without light sources that are completely dark. I think slightly decreasing the light radius of all alien base props could do wonders for general ambience.

If it's possible, blowing the core could set all props' light radius to 0.

Edited by Skitso
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