Article View: alt.games.x-com
Article #522Re: An idea for a new X-com
From: plj... Paul Jan
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 00:00
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 00:00
61 lines
3960 bytes
3960 bytes
I think Turn-based still has a chance. Currently, popular RTS hasn't gotten past "attrition-based" strategy, where the AI is dumb, and the winner, more often than not, is the one who simply has the bigger mob, and can move the mouse at light-speed. Star-COM is not something I want to see. More options. I've never seen a game fail because your character had too many things to choose from. This is different than too many things to get. (ie micromanagement) I've never heard anyone complain that there where too many things you could put on a ship in MOO II. a) Ship Equipment: being able to alter your aircraft was an improvement in APOC. However, more equipment options should have been availible. For instance, the uselessness of much equipment (land vehicles, Retribution missiles) cut into the options. If a ship is on the ground, it should get some ground support weapons as an option. (Remember your guys getting potted in the back by some sectoid standing right in front of the plane?) If game balance these should be weaker/less armored than realism would dictate, and the ship can take damage from ground fire. b) Soldier Equipment: In a new classic type X-Com, night vision equipment would be nice. I heard that such equipment becomes useless where there are bright flashes (weapons fire). Alternatively, you could get a spotlight - at risk of making the poor sap holding it a target. Options of adding secondary weapons onto rifles. (Heavy Plasma or Plasma Rifle w/ grenade launcher?) High Accuracy/Low RTF(high MP cost) variants for snipers. A HTH weapon that you could use to cut through walls (Laser Tech?). Breaching charges to enter UFOs (hack into UFO and boost Hi-Ex damage a little). Claymores, shotguns, flamethrowers, grenade launchers, and alien versions of the same. "Hey scientist-guy! Build me a proximity fuse for that alien grenade will you?" c) Tanks. We all love 'em. Customize tanks as in Mechwarrior. Extra armor cuts down on MPs, and it's bulk cuts down on weapons space. Special-tanks only weapons: Sub-muntions rockets: like a normal rocket, but goes on a ballistic tragectory, and everything caught in the blast takes the full damge. Build tanks with nothing but front armor. Hide your troops behind it as you move your mobile wall. Run over Crysalids with your wall, too. d) Things to shoot. Try to get an engine that can handle more aliens. Then put in cannon-fodder aliens: guys that don't lower morale if they die. (Oh, boo hoo. our attack dog-bug died. Send in the other 30.) These mooks should-swarm attack, making area-effect weapons nesscessary. Get a better AI, with aliens who don't stand around blithely while you make a racket killing his buddies in the next room. Of course, you could be making a racket to get them to walk into your gunsight.... e) Options in shooting them: in TB, set a squad to concentrate fire on a target, depriving it of reaction fire (which should be more dangerous). Heck, syncronize weapons in each hand for 2-fisted John Woo action. :) ------------------------------------------------------------- It can't be! How... How is this possible? No one can defeat me! I'm invincible! That's right honey, keep telling yourself that. - Jazelle, Gold Digger # 36 -Paul Jan-<plj...@hotmail.com, @ignmail.com>--ICQ 18014273---
Technical Details
Message-ID:
<36121424.4305888@news.sprint.ca>Path:
mbox-mo1.pugleaf.net!unknown!not-for-mailReferences:
<1998092917155769019@zetnet.co.uk> <G48Q1.31$EH1.1207427@dummy>Show Full Headers
Complete Article Headers
From: plj...@hotmail.com (Paul Jan) Subject: Re: An idea for a new X-com Date: 1998/09/29 Message-ID: <36121424.4305888@news.sprint.ca> X-Deja-AN: 396088516 References: <1998092917155769019@zetnet.co.uk> <G48Q1.31$EH1.1207427@dummy> X-Complaints-To: ab...@sprint.ca X-Trace: HME2.newscontent-01.sprint.ca 907099922 209.148.183.222 (Tue, 29 Sep 1998 16:12:02 EDT) Organization: Sprint Canada Inc. MIME-Version: 1.0 NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 16:12:02 EDT Newsgroups: alt.games.x-com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit