Ufo Mission Analysis

[Max_Caine]

Okay, I actually had this one ready to go for quite a while. The builds up to v20 stable were just too wobbly to do it properly, and then I got into doing an air combat mod, but anyway, here you go!

You can now have this in v20 Stable version and v21 Ex 1. I've packaged the Alien Class Analysis mod with the UMA. There's a re-write coming soon, as the UFO patterns have changed.

[Belmakor]

Might I inquire Max as to how many more you are planning to commission?

The three obvious omissions for me would be "Nuclear Strike" for failed Terror Missions.

"Airstrike" for the first time you destroy a landing site this way.

and "Crash Landing", for the first time you lose an aircraft in combat

[Belmakor]

Oh and why not, the final one would be the first time a landing site times out.

For example; a Harridan standing in the midst of half a dozen fallen local soldiers but under intense withering fire from off-screen.

That way its clear that the landing site is eventually cleared but only at great cost and resultant negative relations.

[Max_Caine]

This series are UFO missions only - so only things that UFOs do directly on the Geoscape i.e. Interception, Base building (which is next!) etc. etc. What I am currently thinking of doing when this wraps is to make a more general "Lore+" mod in which I invite the community to suggest things that might go into a fanon expanded Xenonaut Lore. But I dunno. See, the minute I say "tell me what you want!" I may get drowned in requests and people might get upset if their suggestion doesn't get envisioned, or overly critical if the suggestion isn't envisioned as they imagine it.

[Belmakor]

This series are UFO missions only - so only things that UFOs do directly on the Geoscape i.e. Interception, Base building (which is next!) etc. etc. What I am currently thinking of doing when this wraps is to make a more general "Lore+" mod in which I invite the community to suggest things that might go into a fanon expanded Xenonaut Lore. But I dunno. See, the minute I say "tell me what you want!" I may get drowned in requests and people might get upset if their suggestion doesn't get envisioned, or overly critical if the suggestion isn't envisioned as they imagine it.

Yes that is fair enough! I didn't realise that it was just the events that led to these having not yet installed the mod.

In fact, the four suggestions I made would be more relevant in Vanilla as currently there is no real explanation to the player the first time a site times-out (and you might be forgiven for thinking there is no penalty). The same goes with the tactical nuclear strikes, which while it pops up with a message at present, a horrifying graphic would hit the message home that little bit harder.

Airstrikes and crash landings are more perfunctory.

[Max_Caine]

It's not quite ready yet, but it almost is. I need to test it a little bit more, and I need to go over the existing ones and review the writing - I don't think it's up to snuff. However, I thought you may enjoy this.

For those people who may find it offensive that Uluru is referred to as Ayers Rock, I checked carefully what it would have been called in the 1970s and Ayers Rock was, for all practical purposes, its name then.

[Gorlom]

So they always start building their base in Australia?

[raziel1981]

Awesome work a333 and Max, can't wait to see the base attack art

I think that is the last one that is left right ?

In anycase, awesome mod!

Edited January 14, 2014 by raziel1981

[Frakel]

Really great work with the last two additions to the mod. I like the "tone" of the mission analyst, but you should probably go over all the entries again once the mod is complete. Your feel for the character and thus your way of writing him might have progressed during the work with this. I particularly like the fact that this character is patronizing the science team somewhat - since they in turn patronize the technicians. At the same time, you want the character to stand apart from the chief scientist. One thing that helps in this is your referrals to the participation and (limited) help of other nations. I get the sense that this information officer is a team player, where the chief scientist has got an ego the size of Uluru… . But you might want to emphasize this even more. It could be a special tag, or a special introduction or a certain way of presenting things - but as soon as the player starts reading one of these entries, it should be clear that this is another character speaking.

Great writing - keep it up.

And the artwork is really sweet once again.

Edited January 14, 2014 by Frakel

[Gauddlike]

So they always start building their base in Australia?

No but their first test drilling site was in Australia.

The text doesn't say it actually became a base just that they bored some holes in it.

Once again I love the artwork, this mod is going to be on the essential list I reckon.

[Max_Caine]

Okay, I've started rewriting them, and I'd like to ask for some feedback on the rewrites, as I think I'm getting there, but I'm not quite certain if I've nailed it.

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Scouting Mission

Hello Commander, I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm from Strategic Planning, just down the hall. I'll be keeping you updated on whatever we can discover about extraterrestrial UFO activity. Meaning no disrespect to R&D, but interpreting ET strategy is best suited to the men who do it for a living.

Earlier today there was a confirmed sighting of a UFO, light scout class, circling low over Groom Lake. It didn’t take any visible action but local radio operators detected unusual bursts of energy in the VHF band, and researchers based near Groom Lake detected simultaneous bursts in the SHF band. I've cross-linked this with similar reports in the industrialised belt of the Ruhr, the port at Sydney and over Hong Kong. Considering the strategic importance of these areas and the analysis of light scouts from R&D, I'm certain these scouts were gathering and transmitting intelligence on potential future targets.

UFOs on scouting missions remain in the air for an extended period of time, gathering intel on potential targets. There doesn't seem to be any particular plan to what they cover, so it should be fairly easy to intercept one. As the ETs have dedicated ships for scouting, you can expect scouting missions to be carried out by small signals. The more intel a scout can gather, the more damaging later attacks will be so try and get as many scouts taken down as you can. Even if we can’t recover the crash site, we can at least make sure the ETs are fighting in the dark.

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Research Mission

Before I left the air force and came here, my last job was working the crank file and if I didn't know better, I'd say some joker had shipped everything from Langley and left it on my desk. That stack of reports in front of you is a sizeable chunk of recent UFO sightings, and they're like something out of a comic book. They’re mostly scenes of unusual, almost paranormal activity – such as storms suddenly appearing out of nowhere, eerie glowing lights, and signs of unexplained cattle mutilation. I even have a report from a man who claims to have been abducted then rejected by his abductors. The ETs seem to be carrying out some kind of research, but for what reason and why we don’t know.

Research missions seem to be restricted to their scout ships who will scan a pre-defined area, looking for suitable subjects and locations to carry out their experiments. Scouts doing research will also land fairly frequently to obtain samples and carry out field work. Research missions can result in casualties, but nothing major. Whatever they're up to Commander, I think it's better we don't get a chance to find out. Don't you?

[Gauddlike]

The only bit that stands out to me on first read is:

The ETs seem to be carrying out some kind of research, but for what reason and why we don’t know.

I would use 'for what reason' or 'why' but not both, the former sounds better.

[Dead Dread]

Love the artwork... of course in the post top of this page it looks nothing like Uluru/Ayers Rock or is that meant to be a generic pic for all the varient base construction missions?(new to thread, skipped to end.)

[Max_Caine]

Yes, it is. I will have to change the wording slightly to prevent any confusion.

[llunak]

I think the introduction from the first report still doesn't quite work, as I find it hard to believe that an introduction there is really needed (for the commander, not for the player), for two reasons:

- It's rather unlikely that any commander would not bother to know a leading officer of any department. That kind of seems a prerequisite for getting to know the place, and they should also meet during meetings.

- Although the game places the player to start leading the Xenonauts at the game beginning, it seems reasonable that the commander has been in fact leading Xenonauts for quite some time already. If you think about it, it doesn't make much sense to change leadership of the project just because the aliens have finally showed up.

So I'd suggest changing the tone of the first paragraph to something more along the lines of:

Hello Commander, as you requested, we at Strategic Planning have started analysing the alien activity from a military point of view. Meaning no disrespect to R&D, but interpreting ET strategy is best suited to the men who do it for a living. I'll be keeping you updated on whatever we can discover about extraterrestrial UFO activity.

Also, I'd like to point out that not all Xenopedia articles are written by the Chief Scientist, at least the Alien Base Intelligence Analysis explicitly starts by saying that whoever has written it intercepted the prattle from "our esteemed Chief Scientist" and replaced it with something useful. I'm not sure who that person is meant to be (the soldier from the barracks screen?), but with this mod it's quite likely to seem like it comes from this Strategic Planning. It might make sense to check Xenopedia for this, so that there is no obvious discrepancy.

Finally, the texts would look slightly less confusing/incorrect(?) to me if they weren't so specific about places where all the events take place (i.e. e.g. the Ayers Rock "confusion"). If I were to write it, I'd be intentionally more vague about details that are unlikely to match exactly what the player encounters in the game.

[Max_Caine]

Okay, I'll take a look at that. In the meanwhile, here's a signficantly re-written Ground Attack. I spent ages toying with the Bombing Run text, and I've decided that it doesn't need any more changes.

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I was talking to one of the junior researchers at R&D (the seniors don’t have time for the little guy), and she told me they had identified over three and a half thousand separate alien craft orbiting our world. If they all landed tomorrow we’d be dead. As it is, the ETs have merely committed to the largest air war since Hitler was in power.

Pattern analysis of ET airstrikes suggests they’re currently focussing on “soft” targets - highways, small towns, even isolated warships on patrol. These targets are difficult for emergency services to respond to and the ETs ability to strike and retreat anywhere makes it hard for local forces concentrated nearer the larger population centers to intercept.

Ground attack missions can be carried out by any grade of signal, from the smallest to the largest. Rather than being given a specific target, UFOs will patrol a patch of the planet looking for targets of opportunity. UFOs tasked with a ground attack mission will strike several times before retreating to rearm and refuel and can cause serious havoc.

They’re damned clever, Commander. They strike at locations that make no immediate military or economic impact, but they whittle away at our confidence and cut lines of commerce and communication. If we become isolated, the planet will shut down as effectively as if they bombed every capital into rubble. Our experience and detection tech gives us a fighting chance against ET strikes, but the fact is there are too many of them and too few of us to handle them all at once. My advice is to get as many bases built as you can. Never mind R&D’s bleating for more funds. Those nerds have no idea of how the real world works and we need feet on the ground, not heads in the sky.

[mrsako]

More appropriate military lingo would be "boots on ground" rather than "feet on the ground" but otherwise a good few paragraphs.

[Frakel]

I like your new drafts very much. Especially the text for the bombing run.

I´ve only got a few comments regarding the first couple of lines:

I was talking to one of the junior researchers at R&D (the seniors don’t have time for the little guy), and she told me they had identified over three and a half thousand separate alien craft orbiting our world. If they all landed tomorrow we’d be dead. As it is, the ETs have merely committed to the largest air war since Hitler was in power.

Perhabs it is just me, but when I first read this I got confused that the "little guy" were a girl... On second reading I got the meaning of it...

The second thing is the irony in the "merely committed" sentence. Should 'merely' be in italics or something else to indicate the ironic tone?

[ventuswings]

Is it ironic? While massive air campaign is indeed impressive, it's far better alternative than outright death.

[Max_Caine]

I was trying for a little sarcasm there, so Frakel's right, I'll add comments around "merely".

Where it says "little guy", I originally was going to write "mere mortals", but I don't think that fits with the character of the Analyst (the Chief Scientist would say something like that), and I'll be honest, I think that "little guy" is lame, but I can't think of something better.

[Gorlom]

I think that "little guy" is lame, but I can't think of something better.

Uninitiated, outsider, pencil pusher, lowly number cruncher, errand boy, "dullard", insignificant insect, annoyance, annoying chatterbox, spanish inquisition, all too curious George. mouthbreather.

[Max_Caine]

This Terror Attack underwent several re-writes, and I'm still not satisfied with it. But once it's done, I'll put the Base Construction up and call it good for now.

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I was talking with the heads of Communication and Detection over the latest UFO movements and between us we’ve spotted a new and dangerous direction the ETs are heading in. A short while ago – we can’t be sure exactly when - a UFO slipped through the net and targeted, get this, a music festival! The organisers had held it in an open field, in the mistaken belief that UFOs only attacked towns. Reports suggest the ETs took less than a quarter of an hour to turn most of the festival goers into ash. The reason I’m bringing this to you because this wasn’t an airstrike – the ETs used ground teams to carry out this massacre.

We don‘t have a lot to go on – our sponsors got to the few witnesses who survived first, and while we have now have transcripts of the interviews, there are maddening gaps in the information. What we can be certain of was there were a significant number of ETs involved in this attack, and they had deployed some sort of man-sized Frankenstein which got fried by an unshielded power cable.

My team thinks this was a test run and we can expect further attacks by cadres of alien shock troops, tasked with terrorising funding nations by slaughtering the civilian population. One of my juniors who’s a history buff drew a parallel between this and a method used by Genghis Khan. He’d obliterate a city and threaten other cities with the very real threat of vanishing as well if they resisted.

Successful terror attacks are the most damaging of any alien mission to our organisation. Our sponsors have strongly hinted that nuclear protocols will be deployed to prevent what they call “biological contamination”. The politicians will blame us to keep Joe Citizen off their backs and our funding and reputation takes a hit that’s hard to come back from. If we do save a city from the ETs that will look particularly good for us and we can expect a big boost in funding for every terror site we clean up. UFOs on a terror missions are medium-grade signals at a minimum, and they are almost always escorted. They will try to throw us off the scent, so look for slow moving signals which move randomly but seem to be circling a specific patch of cities - they are likely on a terror mission.

[Max_Caine]

Okay, I've updated the downloads with the new files and the links can be found in the OP.

[Nameless1]

Wow good work, this adds a lot to the game and the art seems really good.

Just some questions (I haven't tried the game yet):

- If I've understood correctly this is linked to the type of ufo and it's triggered after you ended the mission. And it doesn't require any research. Right?

- If so, is there a chance(<100%) it will appear?

- How many UMA are planned?

thx

[Max_Caine]

1) Yes, sort-of (it is triggered 12 hours after you successfully capture the ufo) and yes.

2) It will always appear once when the appropriate trigger unlocks it. It comes under a special classification of research topic that (in the standard game) include autopsies and ufo analysis.

3) One for every mission type. There is one more to go.