Topics

1

Design / Police and military

« on: May 13, 2010, 02:28:32 pm »

I don't think, a state should only sit ducks while it is terrorized by an alien attack. I think it would be quite normal, if each state itself would send military units to a terror site mission. For city site maps (like the map with the store) there could be a police officer, as well. He'd be a civilian, who is armed and able to shoot back.

Rules for military appearing:

• Military appears only, if PHALANX takes too long to reach a site. The time PHALANX is given to solve the attack depends on how friendly a state is to PHALANX.
• Military can units can contain, clear, sweep or oppose. What to to depends on the states relations to PHALANX, too. If the state is friendly to PHALANX, the military will contain the alien, meaning they will guard the borders of a map and shoot on aliens who come near the borders (prohibiting the aliens to flee the battlefield). If the state is neutral to PHALANX, military will clear the area. Military will go over the map, just like a player would do, and shoot every alien on sight. Every alien shot by the military counts as negative points against PHALANX, since the state could come to the idea it doesn't need PHALANX to defend against the alien attack. If the state is disappointed of PHALANX and XVI Census is already researched, military will sweep the area, go over the map and kill aliens as well as civilians, since the nation comes to the opinion, it could be too dangerous to leave anybody alive, since this one could be a sleeper. The military will oppose PHALANX, if the state already switched to the aliens. If an ufo is shooten down over the terretory of a switched nation and PHALANX doesn't recover it immediately, military will show up and help the aliens to defend their ufo.
• Military killed by PHALANX of course is negative score to PHALANX. Military stunned, however, is not.
• Unless military opposes PHALANX the mission still is over, if the last alien is killed.

2

Design / Mobile Gun emplacement and new mission goal

« on: April 08, 2010, 06:21:49 pm »

Hi,

there is something in my mind i would love to see integrated into games: Mobile gun emplacements. The description how i think this could work are done for bulltet guns and should be adaptable for laser, plasma and particle without problems. The mobile gun emplacement is to be the biggest possible heavy gun but the vehicle guns.

This is, how this should work:

installation
The gun has to be transported by two men. Whoever transports the gun itself needs to use up his whole backpack. He will need to have tools in his hands in order to be able to assemble the gun, too (like a stunrod, tools disable both hands but only take 6 spaces in the backpack, once unequiped. The second man transports the guns ammunition using up 4 squares of his backpack. To make the gun operable you have to construct it first unsing the tools.
If there is space in front of the soilder's facing direction, he is able to spent 30 points of movement (the same way how a weapon would be shot or a medikit would be used) and has the mobile gun emplacement in his backpack, he will be able to install the emplacement in the first square in the soildiers facing direction. The gun emplacement will face in the same direction. The sprite of a gun on a tripod will be visible on the map.

To load the gun emplacement and make it operational a soldier has to take the guns ammunition into his hands and to stand next to the gun (any square but the square in front of the gun will do). The Ammunition will be usable and load the gun for 400 shells, if used.

Any soldier behind a gun with both of his hands unequipped will be able to use the gun (instead of only kick or punch, he will have the operate gun options).

Fire modes
The gun has up to 3 fire modes: Burst, full burst and coverfire. The burst-mode works just like a normal autogun burst, shooting 3 times using up 9 shells. The full burst will use up 15 shells and works like the normal autogun full burst, firing one time and spreading a little bit.

The cover fire works a little different. A soldier can't be moved after starting cover fire. The soldier will aim on one square. Every adjectent aimable square will be in the zone of cover fire, too. (so squares below the ground will not be aimed).
The soldier will fire up two shots immediately after starting cover fire. The rest of his shots will be fired as reaction fire. If there is any movement in the zone of cover the reaction fire will be triggered with a high reaction bonus. The soldier will always shoot twice at once. Cover fire can be triggered three times in the enemy phase. Every untriggered reaction fire shot will be done at the end of the enemy movement. However the cover fire is very inaccurate. It will use up 40 shells.

mission goal
The gun emplacement can help to save civilians, because it will be a save point for them. This is, how it works: As long as there is a operational and loaded gun emplacement near the edge of the battlescape and a soldier is standing next to it, every edge square in a 3 square radius to the gun emplacement will turn into a civilian exit point. Civilians will try to reach exit points, if they see them and will disappear from battlescape, once reached the exits. Those civilians will count as saved (perhaps civilians saved this way will even give a bonus).

3

Design / Storyline - Research/XVI Census: No sense at all

« on: March 21, 2010, 11:57:29 pm »

Hi everyone. Perhaps it is an uncommon way to start in a forum with a big complain (well, that part is not uncommon at all ) and a hint how to improve the topic, I'm complaining about (this is the uncommon part), but since I recently accidently found this project and tried out the release version (2.2.1), I really got into this game and want to add my two cent to some things. So lets get started with the one text, that totally blow my mind: XVI Census.

What I propose to do is to create a long-term rolling census that checks all registered individuals on the entire planet for XVI infection by way of a small blood test....under the supervision of a small police or military guard. If a test turns out positive, this guard will perform the arrest and turn the infected prisoners over to the UN for containment...99.9% of the planet's population is registered with one national authority or another...They are handling all the equipment and manpower locally, with strenuous checks as to the reliability of personnel and the validity of the results.

Lets see, what these quotes say: Military forces in all countries all over the world are seizing the whole medical infrastructure, human population is forced to frequent this places once a week and do some tests under the gun of military force, being aware if this test turns out badly (and the testants do not have any way to doublecheck the testresults) this could end in getting arrested and locked up. I really believe, resistance against this military bulliing would instantaniously lead to civil war in all countries.

But even if not, the manpower needed to do this tests, even if theese tests would be as simple as checking your bloodsugar (and since this is a virus infection it is to be guessed getting the results would be somewhat more complicated), would be enormous. There has to be infection cells in every hospital, guards, medical personal doing nothing more than testing on person after another, logistics getting the test indicators in every region, a propper way to demolish used test indicators (like syringes or indicator bands). By the way these hospitals have to stay operational.

I know this fiction takes place 70 years from now, but in comparison to todays situation, even if humanity was threatened by a deadly pandemie the best to hope would be to seed a fraction of mankind mainly in the industrial nations. Since the X-Vi-H virus is not airborne, but has to be injected manually the threadpotential would be far less, so the chance mankind reacting like it would, if this was a pandemic, is not existent.

It is not believable by me, testing 99,9% of world population could be done in reasonable time at all, but this text indicates theese tests to take place once a week. This wouldn't be possible even in industrial nations. And this would be even more impossible in regions like the african deserts, the australian outback or south american jungles.

I really doubt 99,9% of world population to be registered. If you look on the actual situation you don't even have to register your place of living in USA today. There are quite some industrial nations with no or no sufficient resident registrations. Even if you look to China, that has a kind of register (the hukou system), it is not sufficient because it only contains the place of your birth but your momentary living place.

It is believable registration will be required in all major states in about 70 years. It is not believable, this register would run with a 99,9% efficency.

So this whole Ufopedia entry for XVI-Census is not satisfiing at all and should be rewritten. I want to make a proposal for a better entry within the next days (perhaps I will leave the part of the Col Falkland untouched, i really like the idea of a colonell demanding to make the impossible. But the answer the UN will give will certainly change.

My proposal will look like this:

• The UN is not willing or not able to do the requested tests.
• There will be a check on all high security targets on weekly basis. This contains main politicans, military in high ranks, medical sector (everyone allowed to do injections), medical fabric labors (so injections can't be switched with needles containing the virus) and high ranking police officers.
• There will be a monthly check on medium security targets. This is the rest of the military (down to the normal soldier) everyone with regular access to weapons (weapon dealer, cops, private security center,...), nurses, food industry-, logistic- infrastructur workers (no one wants the    sewage  treatment  plant to be sabotaged :-) ).
• There will be a random sampling throughout all social  stratum. Statistics will be updated weekly. Since the incubation time of XVI-H is between 8 to 48 hours, while the infected is not aware of the alien control, this sampling can be used to predict the infection rate in the countries.
• Those individuals within the incubation time normally were not aware to be given an injection at all. However some do remember a blackout. So theese injections don't only contain the virus, but also potent drugs.

I think I will try to upload a nice research report to XVI Census (alt.) within some days. Since I am native german speaking, I can also do the german "translation", of course. But someone should read over my english entry, when its done, since I really doubt, the verbalism will be quite right and sound native english.

Greetings Prinegon.