Hm, a lot of great ideas floating around in here, hard to add anything of my own since the civilians have been my only source of grief while playing the 2.2.1 build. Most mentions, I think, could really wait right up until the final build seeing as how there are vastly more critical elements to concentrate on before civilian behavior.
In the short term, aside from giving civilians more TU's to act on, the only fix I see necessary to make the universe wonderful again would occur in two prioritized parts:
1. Civilians will try their best to remove themselves from alien Line of Sight.
2. Each generated map should contain at least one structure coded to be recognized as a "safehouse" by civilians, who would in turn flock to it regardless of the contents* provided it does not conflict with #1.
*I only say "regardless of the contents" because naturally aliens could be skulking around inside without being seen.
In this sense, #2 could provide more of a challenge in protecting civilians at first; Civs may have already run too short of TU's to react if/when suddenly spotting an alien in a window, and even if nothing is spotted from outside, an alien lurking further in the interior could have it as easy as waltzing into the next room and say "boo!" But through the player's deduction (spotting civilians rushing toward/inside said building(s)), it could also help the player if they can secure the building(s) early and set up a defensive while other agents hunt down the aliens outside.
Sure it could be a little more refined. If a civilian starts in an enclosed room, regardless if within the "safehouse," they ought to stay put. Perhaps this idea is best suited for those out in the open. It's a thought, though.
In the long term, I'd be happy to see many of the ideas here incorporated, including:
- Civ "Mood"/Morale affects.
- Phalanx commands and sedation/retrieval methods.
- Self-defense abilities, albeit primitive. For instance, in the time it takes Phalanx to respond, any armed officials should already have given it a shot and died (e.g. police), leaving unarmored civilians with kitchen knives or the occasional handgun wetting themselves in their homes.
- The option to escape maps with survivors for Terror Attacks only. Otherwise, let's say for Military Bunker or Excavation Site attacks, it should remain mandatory to kill all aliens to preserve these tactical locations and not just the civilians.
These rascals could in many ways be a great device to enhance gameplay... When this project is pronounced "done." But immediately? I'd just be happy if they weren't blatantly suicidal.
Brimmy V.
