As many know, I'm obsessed with the idea of an X-COM shooter, and part of that obsession is that I'm constantly thinking of ways to convert the good ol' original into a format that would work in the 3D first-person realm. One thing that has occured to me is that the aliens in UFO would be far too easy (and possibly boring) for today's shooter crowd and was wondering what you, the fans, would change/upgrade about them to make them more exciting and more chalenging?

Here are just a few of my ideas:

• I'd give the Celatid two different attacks: One that is a fast, regular acid spit for close quarters; and second, more damaging one, that is fired in a large arc trajectory like a mortar.
• Seeing as the Silacoid is probably the easiest of all aliens, I'd probably give it a few new tricks, such as chameleon-like camoflage, and the ability to scale walls and ceilings.
• One of the Sectoids' and Ethereals' mind powers could possibly be to make you see enemies as friends and visa versa.

I'd like to hear any other suggestions? Or even comments on my own?

Re the damage thing, unlike in many shooters an X-Com soldier will often be taken out with a single shot (even if he's wearing full armor). While the same is true for (some) aliens, it means you can easily scale difficulty just by upping the AI's reaction speed.

On this note, I'd actually like to see some aliens crippled just a little. For example, Cyberdiscs and Sectopods should have a slow turning speed to compensate for the large amount of damage they can take in.

I like the idea of a cloaked Silacoid, would be cool if they could directly ignite your units as well.

As for the engine, we can't mod any commercial game without getting shut down. On the other hand, I've been thinking the Cube engine Slaughter mentioned some years ago might be perfect. We could probably even link it up so it works with the original UFO GeoScape.

In the Rainbow Six games, you're men could be dropped by a single hit. I liked it. It prevented the run-and-gun mentality.


Why would it get shut down? There are many Mods that use copyrighted properties, eg. Stargate, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, etc.

Just a thought, but mind control is the most dangerous thing about ethereals, and I don't see how mind control works into a shooter. BUT, ethereals are also telekinetic, so why not have them able to use this to throw objects at the player, or have them able to throw the player himself? That would be uniquely disorienting.

In the Rainbow Six games, you have a squad of 4 and you can switch control between them, so if one was mind-controlled, you'd simply lose control of them until it was over.


I've thought of that before and think it would be quite fun. It has been done before in other games, but I still think it would make a good addition to an X-COM one

Hmmm, I like the Ethereal's telekinesis. Also it would be great to see player's faces when their active grenade form an underslung (assault rifle) grenade launcher is suddenly flying back at them

"He he he, take that."

*Pulls the trigger* BOOF
*Ethereal Telekinesis*

"Oh SHI-" or "What the FU-" BOOOOM

---

I would especially like the Chryssalids be the scary silent killers and able to scale certain surfaces or jump over gaps and such (like fast zombies from HL2).

*Brain Dump*
Assuming Rainbow Six style squad action, wether you can control the other guys or not...

Psi Attacks - Sectoids & Ethereals

Mind Control:
Short-Mid range, very slow fire rate, long buildup time, does not require LOS but target needs to have been 'seen' recently (within a few seconds).

Results in the targetted guy turning on his own team for a few seconds. His movement could be all jerky and slow as if he's fighting for control of his own mind but ultimately losing.
Bonus points if you can make him say something amusing like "Guys, you better move!" or "I can't stop it!" or some such

Panic:
Mid range, slowish fire rate, short buildup, no LOS (same as above)
Pretty much the same as UFO - the guys either freezes, drops his stuff and bolts, or goes nuts with respectively decreasing chances for each effect.
"We're all gonna die!"
"Get me out of here!"
"They're not gonna get me!" *BLAM*BLAM*BLAM*


This way the psi aliens would hardly ever be out in the open exchanging fire, they'd lurk in shadowy corners near but not in the action poking thier heads out occasionally to get a position on your guys before messing with thier minds.

Heheheh, have you played System Shock II by any chance?

I have, but I'm not sure if that ever happened in the game.

Unless you're refering to one of the logs where there are actual crewmembers fighting against the mind control... But I think that only happens with one.

Personally I feel that a sci-fi shooter in the style of Rainbow Six would be pretty cool. I'm not sure what the chances are of it ever being made. I think the last time someone tried something similar was Republic Commando, and that wasn't exactly the most popular.

I would definitely buy an X-COM game like this though.

I thought Bomb Bloke was referring to the annelid infested crew members bashing you with a pipe shouting "Run, run!" or something like "Kill me!".

Until you get used to it I found it a bit creepy.

- NKF

Indeed, even when I could see them coming those freaks put me on edge.