Faction System and Other Ideas

[RustyNayle]

@Chris, I hear you repeatedly mention X2 is going to be set in an alternate timeline where the Cold War never stopped, but I think you could just say it is a new Cold War which has developed between modern superpowers (depending on which conspiracy theory you believe, some argue that this is actually developing in reality today). The enemy could be made up of some of the same thrall races being brought along again by a another overlord (doesn't even have to be the same species as the first) to achieve a different objective this time.

If the Xenonauts are recruited from secret intelligence agencies, the only ones that had the highest clearance to know about what was going on, then this could explain why they start out with poor combat skills that grow greatly during the game. I really liked this element of The Bureau: XCOM Declassified (which also had a Cold War feel) – that across many different organisations potential agents were flagged and called in when needed, only receiving training once they're in the know and about to head out to do field work.

I definitely like the idea of allied factions loaning specialists to the Xenonauts, so you end up with an alien hybrid psychic rather than a human soldier being transformed into a psychic. Classes / professions reflect years or even decades of training, and I always thought it was such a cop out that a few days in a special chamber in game would produce such fantastic abilities, no matter what sort of tech you use to enhance the soldier. Imagine a reprogrammed Andron on team? Or a hybrid Sebillian medic that knows how to loan his healing ability to wounded allies. That sort of thing.

[RustyNayle]

I love all these ideas contributing to the tension in the overall story, but I think the mechanics of DEFCON, military, and alert counters starts to get very complicated. It definitely makes the game able to be replayed in different ways each time, but I much prefer a more set story with a fewer choices that allows greater depth of in-game plot developments (rather than just text descriptions), and I reckon these counters shouldn't actually be being visible.

Edited May 1, 2018 by RustyNayle

[RustyNayle]

I really like the idea of most of the Xenonauts activities being at night, as the paranoia adds to the tension of the Cold War setting. Maybe the Aliens also do not like our solar system's bright sun so tend to avoid going out in broad daylight themselves, and this is why their activities are limited to twilight / night time (it also gives them a tactical advantage over humans if they're not using night vision goggles).