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Psi, poison, bacter, and gameplay going further

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krilain:
Edit : finally making of all of that a digest affair...


--- Quote from: krilain on November 22, 2012, 02:57:30 pm ---I would collect and sort all the ideas collected in this discussion as soon as I will get some  time. There is a coherent and well argumented set of ideas, and models /
...interesting to think about how to show an idea in the game by any thin touch that recalls of the good old job.

--- End quote ---

CriticalFumble:
There actually is a reason already in the game for their. . . questionable tactics.  You could look it up, or just keep playing until you get there (tip: catch some alive((tip:tip:if you don't know how to do that, kill an organic, research the corpse, and then research what that unlocks)). 

There's also a reason that psy-powers are in the game besides the game's heratige. 

Its also reasonable to assume that psy-powers would have some limits (such as proximity, specific targeting, and a relationship between the effectiveness of the power based on the number and strength of the users versus the number and strength of the victims) that would prevent the aliens from using it as an insta-win button. 

Triaxx2:
As much as I enjoy realism, as soon as aliens invade, I assume realism has been thrown out the window and shot on the way down.

Psionics have a heritage within the game mechanics, which is one thing, and within the idealism of the games themselves. However, I'd like to see poison as well. Bacterial or biological agents are already taken care of by the breathing devices, at least within the Tamans.

Anarch Cassius:
So I'm not the only one who sees the similairities to Fallout. :) A big part of what drew me is that Fallout Tactics was so buggy and the multiplayer was unstable and I've been looking for something to do good tactical multiplayer since.

Actually psi is way more realistic than some of what happened in Fallout 2 (though it's arguable Fallout's basic laws of physics are slightly different from the ground up and that's why plasma liquifies people and such). Fallout 2 was mostly serious but would introduce oddball elements for humor, nothing that was totally out of place but stuff that made you blink. For that matter Fallout 2 had psi and "luck". Psi was very subtle, not at all understood and never represented with it's own specific mechanic but there's a lot of weird stuff that basically comes down to psi or magic or at least improbable coincidence.

Actually aside from the lack of a specific mechanic I think that should be true in this game as well. Making a specific mechanic is an homage to Xcom but I think subtle and creepy rather than Star Wars style force powers is what is called for.

I'm a believer in Niven's Law of Magic: if psionics/magic exist, they are so weak as to be nearly useless. (At least in humans) Even looking exclusively at research that does find evidence of psi you see minimal change in chance, measureable but not really useful.

So if it's a matter of finding an alien manual and taking a 4-week course in head-exploding. I would find that absurd. If it's a matter of finding alien items or implants that augment what minimal abilities are in humans and the other races. That's rather different. And of course limitations on what can be achieved with psi are good for balance and story, just make sure they stay consistent.

Also I'm pretty sure those breathing devices are in all the aliens, at least all the mostly organic ones. That only rules out respiratory vectors though. Darts and contact gas are still options.

Anarch Cassius:
I'm not gonna spoil you... but play until you've captured a Corrupter and done the research that proceeds from that. Some of what you want appears done and/or in the works.

Also remember there's the Psi system from X-com to use a a template, as well as the work of other X-com clones. I think it will be a fully fleshed out system and very interesting. I can think of several interesting powers off the top of my head. Really I think the more kinds of stuff that can fit interesting together the better and Psi will have good interaction with morale, detection, TUs, control and so on. It can handle interesting mechanics that might be hard to explain with more mundane tech.

More linking to the geoscape would be great. Try to think of things Psi can do for the Geoscape since I'm pretty sure it's going to be included. Maybe you need to place amplifiers on the map like Radar dishes if you want to have reasonable psi power for battlescape in that area. Just a thought of the top of my head.

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