Larchus Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kabill Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zolobolo Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelpoint Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 Having the Alien Base's lights go out when the Power Generator is destroyed does make sense, and by that point your going to be attempting to evacuate the base and not pressing the fight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills6693 Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solver Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 So the aliens don't have a backup generator capable of powering the lights in a few rooms for 20 minutes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordJulian Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 So the aliens don't have a backup generator capable of powering the lights in a few rooms for 20 minutes? 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViewThePhenom Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 Agree that alien base missions should have night visibility by default, with enough ambient lighting to make up for it. Aliens shouldn't really need lighting in their bases, based on how well they can snipe your dudes in the dark... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max_Caine Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 Night vision as default appeared in the early versions of alien bases. I'm pretty certain there were a lot of complaints about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larchus Posted August 24, 2014 Author Share Posted August 24, 2014 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikhail Ragulin Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 Are night missions not the default for alien bases anyway? Or do the troops carry flares on each one for some other purpose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViewThePhenom Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gauddlike Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solver Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kabill Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solver Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Cannot test right now... I wonder if you don't actually get a "night mission" if you assault an alien base at night? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StellarRat Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 This is a cool idea. Even if the aliens have emergency lighting it won't be as bright as normal lighting, so I can see/justify switching to night mode on the destruction of the second power core. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solver Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solver Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skitso Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 (edited) 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 August 28, 2014 by Skitso Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solver Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 It's possible to set all light sources to radius 0, but I am not sure if it's easy to check that they are props (if this check is not made, it will also turn off lights from flares, fire, etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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