Exploring Destructibility

[Kreny]

3) Crushable Grass: Aaron suggested this, and I quite like it. It's tall grass (maybe knee height), but once a unit enters the tile, the grass is destroyed. This just leaves visible trails in the fields on Farmland maps...

also snow trails should be visible then. And if we will have penalty cost for moving in snow then if this penalty will be lower when walking on snow tile with trail then it should make pursuing a bit better. But on the other hand - we do not have so large maps so this advantage for pursuers would not have much sense. So let's end on just trails on snow

[alcari]

Fire build-up inside rooms.

Whenever there is a downed scout crash site with severe damage in the description, the circular room at the back is always on fire (for me at least).

It's random, though possibly influenced by the level of damage dealt in the interception.

But I'm not sure I like the idea of having fire "build up". That only encourages you to slow down. Standing still and waiting for an engineroom fire to die out, instead of being smart about it. Also, I would think this is pretty much impossible to implement in the game.

[VJim]

But I'm not sure I like the idea of having fire "build up". That only encourages you to slow down. Standing still and waiting for an engineroom fire to die out, instead of being smart about it.

The only thing that would encourage you to stand still is if you wait for the alien to get out (which can be forever unless the AI is changed to make them not camp a room).

At least with a damage over time situation, they have a reason to get out.

Like I said earlier, there are other tactical options :

- Enter the room with shield-wielding or heavy suits soldiers first.

- Blow the door.

- Use smoke grenades (give them the property to extinguish fires)

Also, I would think this is pretty much impossible to implement in the game.

I would think the contrary but I'm not the one doing the coding.

[Gauddlike]

I would think the contrary but I'm not the one doing the coding.

Would the contrary opinion be that it is already in the game?

[StellarRat]

Use smoke grenades (give them the property to extinguish fires).

So, it would be a CO2 grenade or something like that? BTW, fires already go out by themselves in alien ships. Of course, in buildings that should be a different story depending on what they're made of and whether or not they have fire suppression systems or hazardous contents, etc...

[raziel1981]

This might sound to Fall-Outish but bear with me - how about a map that is a nuclear weapon test site like bikini island. You could have small fires or even some tiles defined as radioactive. A lot of charred and ruined tiles as well. The reasoning behind this is that the time IS the 70s-80s and the cold war is in the background. If I was an alien race studying mankind for whatever sinister reason, nuclear test sites would be on the top of my list of research goals.

[TrashMan]

Ice "walls" (looking like ice that wind has pushed upwards) for arctic that can be shot and become half-high ice heaps. High wheat/corn tiles for farm that offer cover (with the logic that it's hard to try and hit someone who's hiding in high grass) but gets destroyed with first hit. Big trees that block line of sight but can be shot through (with maybe 50% chance to hit the tree). Bus/train that can be entered in town missions, they would be three tiles wide from the inside with one tile for walkway and pairs of seats on the sidetiles for cover. Windows on sides to shoot through and the first/last tile of the bus would explode when shot (I don't remember where they have gas tanks).

What? Wheat destroyed by getting hit?

Yeah, somehow I don't think you'll accomplish that no matter how many bullets you spew at it.

Alien plasma MIGHT set it on fire tough.

I think you missed my point. I figure that just running across open, but NON-PAVED ground is the standard. However, I guess you could look at it from you perspective. In that case, there should be a penalty for ANY terrain other than pavement. Even moving across a meadow is slower than pavement.

Really?

If it is, it is by a such a small margin that it's pointless to simulate it.

[Dix]

Alien plasma MIGHT set it on fire tough.

Which would be pure awesomesauce, to use the American vernacular. After seing that idea, I now cannot stop picturing fields of golden corn, criscrossed by blazing trails from a particulary nasty firefight.. yes, please, Chris!

(Might fill that void for flammable levels that was left by the original X-Com jungle areas. )

[Raakku]

What? Wheat destroyed by getting hit?

I don't know does the game make any distinction between different types of attack. If it doesn't I think I'd rather have destroyable than immortal wheat, even with bullets. If there is difference, incendiary ammunition/laser/plasma/explosion would be the way to destroy wheat.

[TrashMan]

Popcorn!!!!

[Dix]

It's happened before - start watching at 0:50:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvRcYgmALi8

[Sunblinder]

Not sure if the game engine can cater for bodies of water (yet?), but if it can then you could have ice over lakes - if it's hit then the ice melts dropping you in. Hitting an area of ice with explosives could be a way of dunking (maybe drowning?) aliens standing there.

[Sunblinder]

As the explosive / fire / smoke angle has been thoroughly explored I'm thinking of the leaving tracks options some more. So - we could have footprints in...

Mud

Oil (or would it be footprints after walking in oil)

Snow (already covered I think)

Also - some things could be pushed through but would then leave a gap...

thin hedges

thin fences -- pretty sure a burly xcom squaddie could batter through a picket fence

glass windows -- maybe at the cost of some health

[Belmakor]

Could you have certain types of heavy explosive leave a crater?

Not in the traditional sense of two levels, but perhaps throw up earth mounds on all six sides around a single tile. This crater then becomes cover. I would imagine it should only be for things like rockets and C4 but could be used to make half-tile cover in open fields, earth ground tiles etc.

The AP rocket could make a single directional facing half-tile cover in concrete (urban) something akin to a ripped up slab of concrete.

So you aim an AP rocket at an alien standing in the parking lot, but you miss. On the alien turn he moves behind this mound of broken concrete and starts firing back! =)

At the moment, rockets etc while powerful in the sense of enemy damage don't effect the ground tiles in a satisfying way.

[StellarRat]

I doubt that any of the explosives in Xenonauts would leave a big enough crater to make it worth worrying about. Only heavy artillery and aircraft bombs leave real craters that would impede movement or be usable as cover. The Xenonauts could probably intentionally create a crater by burying C4 or putting many charge together for one big blast, but that's beyond the scope of the game.

[Belmakor]

I doubt that any of the explosives in Xenonauts would leave a big enough crater to make it worth worrying about. Only heavy artillery and aircraft bombs leave real craters that would impede movement or be usable as cover. The Xenonauts could probably intentionally create a crater by burying C4 or putting many charge together for one big blast, but that's beyond the scope of the game.

But your also forgetting that in real life, even a small undulation in the ground can act as cover.

[a333]

What can be altered by the tile status? Let's think about it.

The cover quality - best when the tiles intact. Can be compromised and nullified through damaging the tile. Basic reason for the destruction, side by side with the moving shortcuts.

Visual change is the simplest, but can be surprisingly effective, like the stomped grass.

Then we have visibility, which works the common way (Destroy the wall - see the space behind it), but can be inverted. Like the ballistic glass bank windows, which may lower or block visibility when damaged.

Last, but not least - special effects like explosions, poison/smoke clouds. Not sure if some script sequences like the destroy generator - get building blackout are possible, though.

Did i miss some properties?

Also, if buildings can collapse, then they could be used to set up traps. May be bombs in the key points, or something like sensor grenades. I'm even think that it's more logical to be done by aliens, say sebillian soldiers. Because what else can you do being in a crash site waiting for the enemies to arrive?

[Xcom Veteran]

When grenade explode in building or close to building, windows should go out. Even when damages to building will be minimal - explosion should destroy many windows. In 17.1 I didn't saw it working this way. People throwing many grenades in one place, and windows are ok. Strange.

BTW Medi-Kit use looks like grenade throwing :].

[smoitessier]

What if each piece of terrain,from grass to house/town pieces were assigned a value, at the end of the mission you would be deducted points for what was destroyed by the aliens and your own troops' Ramboness?

Then what about on terror mission, the shock troops start setting fire to buildings and causing general mayhem while hunting civilians too?

[Chollirem]

Snow in the arctic, you should leave churned snow in your wake as you move in the arctic

if its knee high it should slow everyone down too

[thothkins]

if its knee high it should slow everyone down too

A bit more on terrain here.

[Goroth Obarskyr]

Snow in the arctic, you should leave churned snow in your wake as you move in the arctic

if its knee high it should slow everyone down too

I like this. It could be like the arctic implementation of the trails in the wheat fields. Also whoever mentioned the destructible patches of thin ice turning into water--great idea. This could be tactically exploited to block off certain paths to prevent the aliens from flanking you. Perhaps we could contrive similar things for other tilesets as well. Maybe something along the lines of the Starcraft 2 collapsible rock tower?

[thothkins]

there was a stretch goal for long grass, but it was either too far down the selection order or didn't get reached or both. That's about as close as something like that has got.

[Mytheos]

@ Chris

3) Crushable Grass: Aaron suggested this, and I quite like it. It's tall grass (maybe knee height), but once a unit enters the tile, the grass is destroyed. This just leaves visible trails in the fields on Farmland maps, allowing you to track enemy movement (or is it a civilian or a farmer? YOU DON'T KNOW! TERRIFYING!)

That is brilliant

[Mytheos]

ok, pitty so another weird idea:

can tiles have some penalty for moving over them?

example - we have mud or snow tiles which should cost more ap for movement

edit: my idea is not about destructibility very much, sorry

This might have already been said but. (Just now found this thread and am reading through it...but I'm feeling impatient today)

If you had tall grass tiles that reduced movement you could light them on fire and burn down a field of them to get rid of the movement penalty...like in the original XCOM...so that does count.