mrbill1980 Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 How about rail guns? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quartermaster Posted December 16, 2011 Author Share Posted December 16, 2011 Unfortunately railguns are a bit to modern at this point. The energy required to fire a railgun with the materials they had is too large for the 1970s. Now once we start getting some alien technology then we could probably roll one out for the battlefield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrbill1980 Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Actually the nazi's were working on railguns. So I do not think that they are that modern. Actually the Idea behind railguns is rather old. I would rather see railgun as a earth-based research than laser guns. Then again thats just my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 There are railguns in the game, they're just more advanced technology. Mostly because projectiles that go through walls and then keep going are fun, but not something you put in the early game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sathra Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 They're planned to go through walls? Awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Yeah the idea is that they keep going until they expend all their damage. Not implemented yet but it's on the to-do list before the beta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anotherdevil Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 double awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenholme Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 (edited) Well, actually, I think a lot of the Pre-UFO capture research stuff on alien origins/new interception doctrines etc are completely viable, because the Xenonauts organisation is the first time that you'd be breaking down the international cold war barriers and bringing together a multi-disciplinarian team of experts in their fields, who may have a fresh take on the Iceland incident of 20 years ago. The fact that it's all purely theoretical at this point, doesn't mean that they are any less likely to come up with something workable from "what we know" - Even if that isn't much, we can still draw inferences from it. It's the reason that Scientists have seminars and symposiums, often at the international level. (I'm a biologist) Edited December 16, 2011 by Ravenholme Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anotherdevil Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 but both the commies and the americans had access to what's left of the crash site since the 1950s. While I agree that new technology allows for new analysis, analysing a sample of 0 isn't really good science. The whole ship blew up, and any people close enough to it... well they went bye bye. Lets think about this from another point of view, what possibly did survive? - Perhaps some of the pilots sent to chase it down had a look, before the majority of them died. So maybe something there. - Perhaps some of the soldiers in the field saw something and told others by raido, before they died, so maybe something there. - Maybe a soldier who was injured was evacuated from the crash site before it went up and he saw something. Maybe... - the radar techs who tracked the UFO initially, and what readings they got off it, something there. - what was left (if anything) of the area where the ship went boom So it seems that to continue to fit with the story so far, the best information would come from the radar techs and their equipment. then maybe scans of the area (radiation, small bits of wreckage, etc), then the worst bits of info would come from second hand information and soldiers and pilots who may or may not have PTSD. Ideas from there? what about something that isn't directly related to the aliens, but rather the Xenonauts? For instance with the inclusion of new nationalities all of a sudden (not just USSR and US) perhaps something along the lines of translation/uniform coding for identification of threats? - This could then in turn give a 5% boost to the funding for the first month etc. Not doing it could have your men talking in other languages (only the Brits and US would say aliens, for example, everyone else would see a hostile target and say 'alien' but in their native language) -Also could work for identifying UFOs properly... - if the allied NPCs get implemented, could make them 10% better at intercepting UFOs etc. due to their ability to co-ordinate strategies with you etc. all numbers purely examples and fictional Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Well I think the idea about UFO analysis might still be the strongest candidate. It makes sense from a lore point of view because there's lots of UFOs popping up everywhere instead of just one that appeared 20 years ago. That means there'll be a lot more tracking data to play and experiment with. This would quite easily lead into a way to refine the radar signals in order to get an idea of the size of the UFOs (and whether they have escorts or not). This would also be a good scene-setting project from the lore point of view - the basic premise is that the UFOs are vastly superior to human interceptors but are poorly suited to aerodynamic flight, which makes them vulnerable. If we explain that early then it plugs a bit plot hole right from the opening. So that's one possible research project. Ideally we'd want another two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radister Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 There are railguns in the game, they're just more advanced technology. Mostly because projectiles that go through walls and then keep going are fun, but not something you put in the early game. Yays! I think that's the best news I'll hear all day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anotherdevil Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 well what are the other big plot holes? here is a few, lets see if we can add to this list and find something to maybe answer them: - why do the aliens only come in waves, not overwhelming force - why start with the smallest ships, why not battleships - why are all these alien races fighting on the same side now the second one I can think of a research that explains that it would be easier to adapt their smaller ships for aerodynamic flight than their larger ones, but what research topic would unlock that (other than the one chris has already given us) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radister Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Hmm they seem abit hard to research after all these questions we might not know the answers to. there alien so we can't expect them to act the same way we do. We might as well start questioning why they can breath in our air, why they resemble human form (at least some will) Isn't it best to go with just the basics for starting research Details on the ships Details on possible Aliens found (So xenonauts know what to expect) (whether second or first hand reports) And.....Mind blank.... i'll get back to you on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quartermaster Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 (edited) Is there any sort of astrological event that co-occurs with the recent invasion? If so maybe it would give an indication of some much larger ship (like a mothership) that you can get some basic information on? Or possibly it could give you a heads up for when an alien invasion wave is about to arive. Edited December 17, 2011 by Quartermaster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamkyon Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Is there any sort of astrological event that co-occurs with the recent invasion? Astrological, eh? To divulge that information, I require the date, time and place of the organisation's foundation and the company credit card number. Too much to ask, you say? Any valid credit card details will suffice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Well I think the idea about UFO analysis might still be the strongest candidate. It makes sense from a lore point of view because there's lots of UFOs popping up everywhere instead of just one that appeared 20 years ago. That means there'll be a lot more tracking data to play and experiment with.This would quite easily lead into a way to refine the radar signals in order to get an idea of the size of the UFOs (and whether they have escorts or not). This would also be a good scene-setting project from the lore point of view - the basic premise is that the UFOs are vastly superior to human interceptors but are poorly suited to aerodynamic flight, which makes them vulnerable. If we explain that early then it plugs a bit plot hole right from the opening. So that's one possible research project. Ideally we'd want another two. Sounds good. Just for discussion's sake let's call it "Refined Detection". So here's a short starting tech-line (each project is a prerequisite for the next one): 1. Improved Tracking - Since the UFO in the Iceland Incident was the only alien craft present and ended up blown up there was no chance to experiment and determine how best to track active UFOs. So the human-tech radar could start with lower-than-intended efficiency (or not) with this first research project bringing it up to speed. - It could also allow for some lore build up by speculating on the return of the aliens and the vagueness of their missions and movements. 2. Refined Detection - As mentioned, provides info on the size and number of UFOs - Lore continues with speculation and analyses of different UFOs (sizes, roles...) and their intentions. Things are a bit clearer now but still fairly vague until crashed craft and dead aliens are researched and dissected. 3. Tactical Warheads - Unlocks the ability to "click away" undesirable crash sites by developing cruise missiles that can pin point and reliably hit crashed/landed UFOs. - Lore mentions a "Global Defense Pact" that allows militaries across the world to deploy these missiles. - This could also unlock the presence of NPC army units during ground missions and even conventional air forces on the geoscape (if implemented). These project should finish fairly quickly since they're more of an introduction rather than "improvements". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sathra Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Ooh, I like the cruise-missile tech. Its not something you'd need at the start of the game, and having it as a tech with its own Xenopedia report helps to introduce it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Yeah cruise missile tech could be an idea. I don't think we want two radar tech though. Maybe a battlefield effectiveness one might also be worthwhile? Not sure if I can think of anything useful though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radister Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 Here is an idea. because we have radar to detect the aliens couldn't we upgrade our basic air missiles? With a new tracking system that zones in on enemy ship signals to give slightly faster lock on times? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anotherdevil Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 That's a good point actually. It would have to be after the radar tech one, as increased chance to detect and track = probably more accurate missiles. Does add the whole upgrading weapons thing though... if you do missiles why can't I get better bullets... don't want to open that up. Perhaps it could be done differently, in that you could research predicting the movement of alien aircraft, as during the icelandic incident it was coming straight for the US, then wildly veered off towards iceland. This would allow your fighters to both intercept the alien aircraft faster, and therefore have a bit more fuel when they arrive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radister Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 I do agree, that sounds alot more realistic. I guess the best starting research does seem to come down to Lore and what could have been taught to soldiers and pilots about the enemy about the enemy. But hey, after the first combat most people probably won't care about starting research so after thinking about this for a while do you know i realised "Medi-kits Were Genius!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamkyon Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 (edited) Perhaps it could be done differently, in that you could research predicting the movement of alien aircraft, as during the icelandic incident it was coming straight for the US, then wildly veered off towards iceland. This would allow your fighters to both intercept the alien aircraft faster, and therefore have a bit more fuel when they arrive This is more or less what I had in my when I mentioned "a doctrine of some sort" on page two. Thanks for taking the time to type it out for me. How about the project increasing the likelihood of successfully outmanoeuvring UFOs when your planes are in pursuit "until over land", as well? More crash sites through science! Edited December 17, 2011 by iamkyon A couple of typos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anotherdevil Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 hmmm true! could just be represented by a decreased fuel cost to tail them, I like it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quartermaster Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 Astrological, eh? To divulge that information, I require the date, time and place of the organisation's foundation and the company credit card number.Too much to ask, you say? Any valid credit card details will suffice. Heh good catch. Maybe all of the fortune tellers are predicting our doom? Maybe Venus will align with Mars and then the death ray will fire that will spell the end of humanity. But yeah I definitely meant astronomical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 (edited) Yeah cruise missile tech could be an idea. I don't think we want two radar tech though. Maybe a battlefield effectiveness one might also be worthwhile? Not sure if I can think of anything useful though... Well, "improved tracking" (or whatever the name) could slightly improve the basic missiles' lock-on time and turn rate (for air combat). It's actually what I originally had in mind but felt that radar based tech tied-in better. However the "refined detection" could be a stand alone project while "improve missile tracking -> tactical warheads" could work as a separate line. Or they could all just be individual projects available from the start. The main point of having a research line was the ability to deliver the lore in a logical order but this doesn't necessarily require a specific order of research I suppose. As for ground combat, like you said, the stun baton could work because one could claim that what works on humans doesn't necessarily work on aliens. It could be a special high-voltage stun baton or one whose electric current is somehow fine tuned to "interact" with alien physiology (maybe based on some experience from the Iceland Incident, could there have been an alien body recovered after the blast? Badly mangled but sufficient for a basic examination.). Lore-wise it could work as an intro into alien anatomy and the stun baton, of course, is the first step on the way to finding out more about the invaders. Edit: Sorry, just noticed the missile lock-on get suggested in the mean time. Imo, better missile tracking doesn't beg the question about why others weapons don't get improved. Better lock-on time/turn rate is very different from having "better bullets" or more explodey grenades or whatever and it ties in fairly well with radar tech and even the hypothetical cruise missiles. Edited December 18, 2011 by Jean-Luc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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