Idea for when/if Human Psionics are introduced.

[RBrim08]

I'm not sure how Psionics worked in X-COM: UFO Defense, so forgive me if this is pretty much how it was done back then, but I figured I'd just say my idea.

Make it so that there are three invisible stats that are only revealed after a unit is tested for Psionic abilities.

Psionic Strength: A set rating that doesn't go up or down. Determines what level of Psionic abilities are available to the unit.

Psionic Skill: How effective the unit is at using their Psionic abilities. Goes up the more Psionic abilities are used.

Psionic Resistance: How effective the unit is at resisting alien Psionic abilities. Goes up the more alien Psionic abilities are resisted by the unit.

Psionic Strength can be done with numbers or with a simple word rating. A low-ranking guy would probably only be able to reduce an alien's bravery with a Psionic attack, whereas a "Savant' would be able to perform a mind control. How successful these attacks are, however, are determined by their Psionic Skill, which will probably start out low regardless of their Psionic Strength, requiring them to practice with weaker skills in the beginning.

Psionic "Savants" would probably be very rare, too, so the chances of you getting a full team of Psionic Savants who can mind control every enemy would be extremely unlikely. Maybe every 1-in-50 recruits are Savants. While the rests are towards the lower-to-middle end of the Psionic scale, to show the difference between Human Psionics and Alien Psionics.

[cody522]

Chris said they won't bring in psionics due to how powerful it is.

But of course I secretly hope for it

[RBrim08]

Chris said they won't bring in psionics due to how powerful it is.

But of course I secretly hope for it

I've read the discussion regarding it... said they might include it if they could balance it so it's not as powerful for humans.

The most powerful part of Psionics was all of your guys being able to Mind Control, from what I've gathered. With my proposed system, only Savants can Mind Control and there's only a 1-in-50 chance of getting a soldier that is a Savant.

[thothkins]

Welcome to pimp my thread. Here's thothkins with a related Human Psionics thread.

I think i went with just trying to get it in without having to add any new stats. The reasoning being that new stats = time consuming work on the UI.

[Jorboc]

OP took an interesting approach; psionic augmentation that works like a drug/narcotic. Berserk your own soldiers so that they are impervious to panic and gain a TU bonus (maybe ACC penalty) to go charging off. If they live, they can have some time off in the med-bay.

Buffing/penalizing existing stats might be easier than introducing/coding new ones. There could be your HUMAN inherent PSI ability right there. Maybe our brains can't do anything more than that. (at this point. We can save lobotomy PSI augmentation for Xeno2!)

[Xitax]

I agree with Chris on this one. I've seen a couple of let's plays of the original where psionics was spammed over and over to complete every map. It didn't seem like any fun to me.

I think alien psionics is a cool feature, but not for the Xenonauts.

[thothkins]

In the original the part where you researched psionics, built facilities, got yourself psi amps all the way up to the first occasional successes in the field were great.

Every mission beyond that was overpowered. So, the trick is to keep all the first part but limit them so they don't become the second.

[Dasneko]

I think Psionics should be more then just mind control. One thing they should emphasis in my opinion is mind tricks both as a buff for your own (imagine seeing a charging soldier who thinks he is the king of the world ) or debuff the enemy. Having it as a utility skill with gimmicks is more useful for humans who relies in versatility against the vastly superior specialized aliens. Let the aliens keep their mind control and give us something more fun. Perhaps personal levitation or the ability to throw grenades with your mind (basically not have the throw limited by your line of sight)