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jffdougan:
Auxiliary Equipment

The aliens deploy powerful weaponry to deadly effect on the battlefield. Engaging them in a shootout on open terrain is a sure way to get killed quickly, so PHALANX soldiers must be adept at using auxiliary equipment to overcome the extraterrestrial forces on the battlefield.

PHALANX soldiers should equip themselves with smoke grenades to hide their positions when in the line of sight of alien forces. Incendiary grenades and rockets can produce fields of fire that damage alien forces before they come within range of our soldiers. And flashbangs can be used to temporarily disable an alien unit.

If a soldier comes face to face with an alien and is not capable of taking it down without suffering deadly reaction fire, indirect weaponry such as grenades -- launched by hand or through a grenade launcher -- should be used to take out the enemy from a safe position.

We'll always need conventional firearms on the battlefield, but auxiliary weaponry deployed defensively will be key if we're to overcome the aliens' technological dominance on the battlefield.


Addenda

Smoke clouds will block line of sight on the battlefield.

Flashbangs will remove Time Units when deployed effectively. A unit that has been effected by a flashbang will lose any Time Units it had when the flashbang exploded and will not receive more Time Units during its next turn. Flashbangs are only effective when they explode close to the target and within its field of view.

Incendiary fields cause a small amount of damage to units which pass through them.

DarkRain:

--- Quote from: jffdougan on February 25, 2013, 05:35:02 pm ---Research:

In order to make any progress in defeating the alien invasion, you will need to conduct an active research program. Research will allow your soldiers to use some recovered alien artifacts, your engineers to create new arms, armor, and aircraft, and you to understand what will need to happen in order to defeat the alien invasion.
<...>

--- End quote ---
I think "weapons" would be better here,
Also, if you need more info on the flashbang, just ask, and we'll be glad to help.

H-Hour:
Thanks for starting the work on this jffdougan. As I mentioned in a PM, I think we should avoid giving specific instructions relating to the UI (click this button, etc), because this changes frequently and the texts will quickly become outdated.

It's a hard line to walk between being technically useful but not too specific. Here I've drafted up a sample edit on the Research item. Notice a couple things:

1. I try to keep the tone formal and operational, as though it might be a military directive, without being an actual formal document, which would in reality be too specific for our needs.

2. I try to disguise the this-is-how-you-do-it bits in simple and broad text, because the player is a commander after all and shouldn't have to be told too much. For instance, look at this line: "To develop the research program, build new laboratory facilities, hire more scientists and set them to work on a specific research project." By using the phrase "to develop the research program" I make it sound like its an advisory statement on expanding and improving research. But actually I'm telling the player the most basic information on how to use the research mechanic. This form of disguising our purpose is important for giving the player information without patronizing them too much.

3. I think if there is useful clarifying information like the unavailable research items, we should try and put them into an Addenda or something like that, in order to keep it out of the main text, which should be like a summary.


--- Quote ---PHALANX will need to conduct a broad research program to combat the superiority of alien technology. Your scientific advisor will examine any artifacts recovered from a successful combat mission and deliver new research proposals to your mail client.

To develop the research program, build new laboratory facilities, hire more scientists and set them to work on a specific research project. With luck, we will be able to leverage what we learn to deploy more effectively on the battlefield and maybe one day take the fight to the enemy.

Addenda

Artifacts must be stored in the same base where they are researched. If a research project is listed as unable to be researched at a particular base, it may be stored at a different base or you may require another project be researched before it can be adequately studied.

--- End quote ---

jffdougan:
I've tried updating most of these that H-Hour didn't already touch, aside from needing somebody else to write the entry on flashbangs and fields of view. Let me know what y'all think.

H-Hour:
Thanks again to jffdougan for getting these going. I've gone through and filled some of them out and adjusted things here and there for all of the texts. If people could please read these and imagine themselves in the position of a new player who doesn't understand the game. Suggest what parts of the text might be misleading or prone to confusion.

I'll commit these texts soon, but any adjustments should be made first so that we don't make extra work for the poor translators.

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