Storyline Questions

[Sean_E]

I have been playing the game for a while now and have been reading the back history to the game and have some questions regarding the storyline and the thoughts that were put into it.
I don't want to ruffle feathers with these questions, but I feel they are good questions to ask:

1) What is the crew compliment of a small UFO?

2) 20,000 civilians and 3 Battalions is a LOT of casualties in a 12 hour period.  ( A Battalion can range from 300 - 9,000 troops, not including armour and aircraft)

3) Storyline indicats that the UFO slipped past radar detection, but no one noticed 6 large fireballs descending from the sky and heading right for Mumbai?

4) Storyline indicates that the UN finally allowed the nations of the world to go to war.  However, any nation would have the right to defend itself from attack without permission from the council.  This is standard in todays NATO and Warsaw Pact guidelines, and would never change as each nation is considered an individual of the whole and would most likely be granted emergency support provisions from the UN without requesting it.

5) It is assumed that the weaponry of 2084 is inefficient to kill an alien in ranged combat (considering the amount of military casualties versus alien casualties).  So, how can the weaponry be as (minimally) effective in the gameplay?

If this feels like nit-picking, I do apologize in advance. Other Q&A will follow as I continue to read.

-Peace Through Pacifism-

[BTAxis]

Without responding to your questions in detail, I just want to say that if you look closely enough, there are some parts in the storyline that just can't be explained adequately. The very existence of PHALANX is hardly logical. But that's just how this game works. The concept of a small organization fighting an invading alien army that underlies the UFO type of game simply demands for certain circumstances to be in place. We've tried to provide for those circumstances as convincingly as possible, but it's never going to be a completely realistic scenario.

[Sean_E]

I fully understand fact versus fiction in any storyline based gameplay.
I am not sure, but it would appear that the backstory was written after the design of the game itself.
For myself, I guess having a good text base will make the gameplay that more immersive.

[BTAxis]

That's right, by the time the story was written the game was well under way. That has to do with the way this project is organized, and also with the history of the project.

[Sean_E]

I see.
Well then, it would appear then that the game dictates the story instead of the other way around.
That changes the perspective of the story development in a big way.
I'll have to rethink my ideas.
Thanks.

[eleazar]

...if you look closely enough, there are some parts in the storyline that just can't be explained adequately. The very existence of PHALANX is hardly logical. But that's just how this game works. The concept of a small organization fighting an invading alien army that underlies the UFO type of game simply demands for certain circumstances to be in place. We've tried to provide for those circumstances as convincingly as possible, but it's never going to be a completely realistic scenario.

You really don't have to look very carefully to see that the storyline and the game don't mesh.

I agree that fun game-play isn't always logically explicable in the game-world... Gameplay should always come first.  But IMHO the storyline should support and enhance gameplay, not go off by itself and try to be a good story in a vacuum.

I agree with Sean's points 2 and 5.
 Why introduce a squad-based tactical game by introducing the enemy as an unstoppable force in full scale war?  How is the "6 people died in Wellington today" news where the enemy just killed 20,000 at once?

The arrival of ETs would be plenty shocking to the world without the slaughter of thousands. Play up the creepiness of aliens.  For instance: Just before the game begins the various powers
were almost at each other's throats due to an unexplainable series of covert attacks around the world.  Eyewitness accounts (when there are any) are wild and contradictory.  But it's obvious that something unusual is happening... the weapon fire marks don't match any publicly known weapons.  Then as WW VI is about to break out, by chance an alien attack is captured on film.
The nations of the world realize this is a truly global problem blah-blah that no-one can face alone, so PHALANX is born.

It's mission: to understand and counter the alien threat.  to protect human life, and prevent wide-spread panic... etc.

With such an explanation, small-squad tactics don't seem out of place.


Also the presence of the aliens tends to have an unexplained effect of producing terror.  Only the most disciplined troops with the strongest will can come within firing range of a groups of UFOs without tending to experience irrational panic.  Maybe there aren't enough people who can face a UFO in battle in the whole world for it to be practical for each nation-group to try to fight the UFO with the insufficient handful of capable soldiers who can.


Thus the small recruit pool and the absence of national militaries fighting the UFO can be explained.

3) Storyline indicats that the UFO slipped past radar detection...

This point and gameplay would be decently explained if the UFOs are undetectable via normal radar, due to some sort of sightly better than current stealth technology.  But a key ingredient to the birth of PHALAX is the development of a more accurate radar system which can detect the UFOs.  This would explain why PHALAX has a monopoly on shooting down UFOs.

[BTAxis]

The arrival of ETs would be plenty shocking to the world without the slaughter of thousands. Play up the creepiness of aliens.  For instance: Just before the game begins the various powers
were almost at each other's throats due to an unexplainable series of covert attacks around the world.  Eyewitness accounts (when there are any) are wild and contradictory.  But it's obvious that something unusual is happening... the weapon fire marks don't match any publicly known weapons.  Then as WW VI is about to break out, by chance an alien attack is captured on film.
The nations of the world realize this is a truly global problem blah-blah that no-one can face alone, so PHALANX is born.

Unfortunately, that wouldn't make for a very good story. For one thing it's not very plausible that the situation would be such. An "unexplainable series of covert attacks" isn't even trying to pretend to be anything other than handwaving for the sake of the purpose. Plus nobody would believe that warring nations would join forces out of the blue like that. For another thing, having the nations of Earth at war is detrimental to the ovedrall gameplay background. We have decided to make Earth peaceful for exactly that reason. You don't want to have to deal with Earth's internal struggles. This is UFO: Alien Invasion, not UFO: Fight Amongst Ourselves. It has to be about the aliens, but what you're suggesting makes the aliens kind of a side story. Next, you say you dislike the idea of tha aliens waging a full-scale war, but your little scenario does not offer an alternative. You haven't said anything about the aliens WANT, why they want it and why thay go about it in a progressively more aggressive manner. This is a very, very important plot element, and it isn't easy to come up with a good one. I think we have succeeded fairly well with what we have now.

In all, I think the current storyline supports the game quite well, though of course I acknowledge that there is ground for discussion, as I have pointed out in my earlier post.

[eleazar]

Unfortunately, that wouldn't make for a very good story. For one thing it's not very plausible that the situation would be such. An "unexplainable series of covert attacks" isn't even trying to pretend to be anything other than handwaving for the sake of the purpose.

Huh?  As i play the game (starting out), the alien's main approach tends to be covert.  They come and go from who knows where.  They run away from my planes, avoiding confrontation when possible.   It's quite reasonable that the aliens would be first noticed as "unexplainable series of covert attacks," as the humans try in vain to find a terrestrial explanation for terror sites-- after the aliens are gone.

Plus nobody would believe that warring nations would join forces out of the blue like that.

Sure that's my belief too, warring or not.  But we are already asked to believe that all the nations of the world have already consolidated themselves into 8 super-nations.  If i accept that, it's not much harder to believe that these 8 super-nations would join together to form PHALANX in the face of an extraterrestrial threat.

I don't really see that 20,000 casualties makes a great difference in the plausibility of international cooperation.

For another thing, having the nations of Earth at war is detrimental to the ovedrall gameplay background.

You misunderstand, I didn't say they were at way, but at the brink of war-- under the reasonable assumption that the terror sites were the result of secret weapons testing by some other terrestrial nation.  Naturally the humans have to be more or less unified at the beginning for the game mechanics.

Next, you say you dislike the idea of tha aliens waging a full-scale war, but your little scenario does not offer an alternative. You haven't said anything about the aliens WANT, why they want it and why thay go about it in a progressively more aggressive manner. This is a very, very important plot element, and it isn't easy to come up with a good one. I think we have succeeded fairly well with what we have now.

I presume that conflict with the aliens (as the game progresses) becomes less covert and more aggressive, in part due to PHALAX's ability to seriously hinder the aliens.  I don't see how (assuming the current backstory) that the aliens can do anything in a "a progressively more aggressive manner."  You've already staged bigger battles that the player will be part of.

As for the Aliens' purpose, i read somewhere that they are studying humans in order to bring our species into their collective mind. If that's the official story, i like that part.  Its decently original, and meshes with gameplay.  I don't see how it could motivate them to slaughter 20,000 civvies.  They mostly need random samples.  And of course to protect themselves while taking samples, and to try to make sure they leave no witnesses.  They might be running other tests and experiments.

But in general they want (most of) humanity alive when they take over our minds.  At first they relied on their stealth ships and superior technology, and presumed we were too inferior and disorganized to offer real resistance.  But as PHALAX begin to interfere with their plans they need to increase the fire-power and the body-count in order to continue their study of humanity.



> I'm not claiming that this is a perfect and fully formed alternative.  I'm just trying to point out that there are story options that mesh much better with gameplay, by providing some examples and ideas.

[BTAxis]

Huh?  As i play the game (starting out), the alien's main approach tends to be covert.  They come and go from who knows where.  They run away from my planes, avoiding confrontation when possible.   It's quite reasonable that the aliens would be first noticed as "unexplainable series of covert attacks," as the humans try in vain to find a terrestrial explanation for terror sites-- after the aliens are gone.

Oh, I misunderstood that part to mean the covert operations were by the human nations against each other, thereby establishing the hostile relations a priori, disregarding the aliens altogether. It's slightly different when the nations only THINK that, of course.

> I'm not claiming that this is a perfect and fully formed alternative.  I'm just trying to point out that there are story options that mesh much better with gameplay, by providing some examples and ideas.

Alright, I'll take them as such.

[Winter]

You make some valid points, eleazar. Whenever it's convenient, I'd like to schedule a discussion with yourself and BTAxis on IRC so we can talk about possible changes.

Regards,
Winter

[eleazar]

You make some valid points, eleazar. Whenever it's convenient, I'd like to schedule a discussion with yourself and BTAxis on IRC so we can talk about possible changes.

Thanks.
 i'm frequently and irregularly available.  I've put the UFO IRC channel on my automatic list, so feel free to summon me whenever.

[Zorlen]

I am newly registered here, so I'd like to use an opportunity to say hello and thank developers for such an interesting project!

I played the game and read the forums a bit. UFO:AI tends to have the most realistic storyline of all UFO-series game I played. On the other hand, some gameplay assumptions could be left unexplained, otherwise we'll end up with an alien forcefield wall as an explanation for tactical map limits (this one was really used in some UFO fan-fiction!). Anyway, I appreciate the amount of work put into thinking out every twist - nice job!

On the storyline itself: I've seen some concerns about involvement of other militaries into battle with ET and share them to some extent. After attack on Mumbai alien existence becomes obvious and UFOs are no longer considered weather baloons or swamp gas, so why should goverments patiently wait for PHALANX superheroes and not use heavy tanks, artillery and attack helicopters at all? We may consider it one of the abovementioned gameplay assumptions, but it annoyed me when I played UFO games. I am not suggesting to change the game concept drastically, but maybe only to display some signs of non-PHALANX military activity. E.g. in background for some occasional (not following PHALANX interception) crashed UFO mission say that it was shot down upon visual contact with a military jet. Or in another mission say, that army managed to lock the aliens inside an area and is going to carpet bomb it, unless PHALANX operatives perform a cleanout. In tactical missions taking place in military or police installations the traces of the gunfight could be visible along with pre-generated dead bodies of both humans and aliens. In later stages, as the conflict escalates, the maps could include burned tank columns and shell-holes. I think that would show that conventional armies are not sitting on their hands, while still keeping them to the role of the crowd and retaining PHALANX as a spearhead of anti-alien fight.

[Winter]

On the storyline itself: I've seen some concerns about involvement of other militaries into battle with ET and share them to some extent. After attack on Mumbai alien existence becomes obvious and UFOs are no longer considered weather baloons or swamp gas, so why should goverments patiently wait for PHALANX superheroes and not use heavy tanks, artillery and attack helicopters at all? We may consider it one of the abovementioned gameplay assumptions, but it annoyed me when I played UFO games. I am not suggesting to change the game concept drastically, but maybe only to display some signs of non-PHALANX military activity.

We've discussed the subject of non-PHALANX military intervention, but we've not decided on anything final. I personally think it would be interesting if the nations occasionally took action on their own, through unhappiness and/or slow PHALANX response times, and take care of the mission (sometimes with disastrous results, but almost always resulting in more nation unhappiness).

E.g. in background for some occasional (not following PHALANX interception) crashed UFO mission say that it was shot down upon visual contact with a military jet. Or in another mission say, that army managed to lock the aliens inside an area and is going to carpet bomb it, unless PHALANX operatives perform a cleanout. In tactical missions taking place in military or police installations the traces of the gunfight could be visible along with pre-generated dead bodies of both humans and aliens. In later stages, as the conflict escalates, the maps could include burned tank columns and shell-holes. I think that would show that conventional armies are not sitting on their hands, while still keeping them to the role of the crowd and retaining PHALANX as a spearhead of anti-alien fight.

In the backstory (we've got plans to incorporate more extensive written mission briefings) the 'map borders' are always assumed to be the edges of a police/military cordon.

Evidence of police and military action on some random maps would add to the flavour of the game, in my opinion, but I don't think others on the team will like the idea. Regardless, I'm all for planting some randomly-generated bodies on terror maps.

Regards,
Winter

[eleazar]

the 'map borders' are always assumed to be the edges of a police/military cordon.

i think it would be best to leave that at *most* implied.  Some game conventions are best left unexplained.  If associate the map-edge with a cordon in more than an oblique manner the player would be left with more questions than answers.  What power or tech creates and alien proof cordon?  Why can't those maintaining the cordon help?

Regardless, I'm all for planting some randomly-generated bodies on terror maps.

That doesn't really mesh with the 1-turn persistence of alien and human casualties.  But i think it would be good to change that anyway.

[Zorlen]

i think it would be best to leave that at *most* implied.  Some game conventions are best left unexplained.  If associate the map-edge with a cordon in more than an oblique manner the player would be left with more questions than answers.  What power or tech creates and alien proof cordon?  Why can't those maintaining the cordon help?

Well, this is the way massive anti-terrorist operations are to be conducted, at least here in Russia. Massed conventional troops maintain cordons, both internal and external, while specnaz guys do the job inside the perimeter. The map edge may not necessary denote the place where cordon lies, it is just an area of operation. There could be a large strip of no-man's land between the map and cordon.

That doesn't really mesh with the 1-turn persistence of alien and human casualties.  But i think it would be good to change that anyway.

The corpses may not actually be dead actors, but rather dummy dead body models. Not sure, however, if pre-generated alien copses would be suitable for autopsy in this way.