X-Com Features Wish List

[Rugster]

Reply with quote...= instant ban hehehe..
Not going to read ever reply and then figure out if the ment what i want...

In the original.. you could intercept a ufo, target it's engines to bring it down and explore the crash site.. usually in a wilderness scenario, i'd want to keep all of that. In the re-licenced versions they did away with interception completely.

I would honestly like to see a squad base of 8-10, possibly with a split landing party, say 4 remain in landing pod to cover retreat, monitor radar, track aliens etc. Whilst the 6 you have, try to deal with them. Possibly some limited carry an injured guy to landing vehicle to be healed.. instead of him just bleeding to death.. I'd like to include a weapons platform, even if it's going to be 6 members, having a +1 tank for scouting out instead of just hoping your 6 guys dont get slaughtered looking around a corner.. given the ai in all games invariably knows your exact location from the begining of the game, we need something to offbalance this. A tank does exactly that. I'd like to be able to decide the squad layout exactly, ie if i don't want a sniper i can have 2 light riflemen or 2 snipers and no heavy weapons, instead of being forced to have 1 medic, 1 sniper, 1 demolitions etc.. Squad has to be rookies who gain experience not instant heroes. A Team types.

I'd like to see looting of individual enemies, collecting alien grenades, taking magazines for spare ammo etc. (so long as your research allows it)

I'd definately like to see all the levels of maps, land, city, underwater, ships, maybe oil rigs, alien ships, crashed ships, alien bases and your base attacked, as well as minor maps, defend oil pipe.. attack sewers, defend populace for 20mins, rescue scientists.. etc.

If they are removing time units then I presume that they are keeping pause/setup moves/unpause realtime combat.. I'd like to see kneel, prone positions, climbing ladders to rooftops, throwing grenades into windows etc.

I'd like to see them keeping scientists and mechanics as well as soldiers, and in base assaults having the "civilians" capable of arming themselves from stores. I'd like to see design in base developement to allow for anti incursion designs, including actual defences that work, miniguns in enter lifts, hangers etc. (these would be breakable positions)

AI to practice healing it's own team, to work in different classical stategies, ie greys sneak and guerria warface, mutons tend to rush, snakemen prefer to ambush etc.. Command units keep to well defended locations instead of just randomly wandering.

Ability to build the advanced landing craft, go to mars to kill the end boss.. etc that'd be a must.

Research and reengineering, collection of resources as well as credits.

Armour, body, suits, flying suits. Submersive suits, gas/radioactive protection gear. Hasmat etc.

Basic weapons upgradable, so they dont go obsolete so quickly. Melee and stealth weapons, including swords, possibly limited to chainsaw swords or vibroswords or similar tazers for stunning capturing aliens. Ability to kill a stunned alien, besides using a grenade.. Obviously like to see inclusion of stun grenades, gas and smoke as well as frag, plasma, maybe sticky as well. Mines, too, remote explosives, ai mines (spider mines that home in)

Terrain has upstairs as well as downstairs, possibly underwater areas.

Civilians in cities, rushing around screaming...

Maybe animals in wilderness as well. Birds etc. Adds to immersion.

Night missions with infrared scopes, vision, invisible aliens, requiring ultraviolet vision etc.. like the preditor series..

[simoco]

As i have ever told about it :
- to capture aliens alive
- to enter into crashed ships
- a mini-game for interceptions (but I've read they're working on it)
- to use proximity grenades
- no info health visible, nor accurate impacts, just 3 states of global injuries by the way of textures.
- scripted missions for the main story but others randomized too.

[Gazz]

Artillery

Yes, it has been mentioned before but hardly in any detail beyond the mention of the word itself.

Heavy artillery (along the lines of MRLS or 155mm) is pointless.
Under realistic conditions, the area of effect of one such fire mission can turn a mid-sized tactical battle map into one continuous crater.
Firing with a safety margin of only 500m would be brave. Very brave.

Besides, with the sheer magnitude of damage involved, you might just as well use death ray satellites.


So... that leaves mortars, the poor man's artillery.
Their whole point is (relatively) close support of infantry.
- managable area of effect
- decent response time and accuracy due to short ranges
- because of the above, much, much lower required safety margins


I would balance the added firepower by
- tieing the request for fire missions to high level soldiers or an officer / leader class
- limited fire missions per tactical mission
- lead time.

The lead time is probably the most important one.
Unlike a rifle, you (as a frontline grunt or even FAO) don't aim and shoot a mortar at something.
You request a fire mission from the mortar team, they probably plop down a ranging shot, then you tell them how much they were off (like 150 over) and eventually, to fire for effect.
That's the basic theory anyway.

With the necessary streamlining for a game, you'd put down a target marker (like for a grenade).
That's more or less where the shells will land during your next turn, or maybe even the one after if the mortar team isn't just waiting for your request.
No instant hammer of god.

In fact, a random lead time of 1-2 turns could be a nice balancing factor all by itself.

[Gazz]

Mission Types

Missions where the opponents are not just aliens.

• Intercept a human traitor before he can deliver the Important Data Disk to the alien scout party.
  (dumbass shoulda used email)
  
  
• Protect an installation from alien sympathisers or just run-of-the-mill criminals.
  (Cult of Sirius, the human stormtroopers in "V", the TV series)
  
  
• SWAT-style assault on human criminals, training camps, whatever

[simoco]

hi gazz you have good idees according to the missions. Can i just suggest you to post them here

[Gazz]

From a purely technical point of view we'd have to be lucky if even one centralised wishlist thread is ever read by anyone important.
With lots of individusl threads scattered among all the chatter threads, there is no chance at all because more narrowly defined subjects scroll into oblivion quite fast.

[Inkidu]

Artillery

Yes, it has been mentioned before but hardly in any detail beyond the mention of the word itself.

Heavy artillery (along the lines of MRLS or 155mm) is pointless.
Under realistic conditions, the area of effect of one such fire mission can turn a mid-sized tactical battle map into one continuous crater.
Firing with a safety margin of only 500m would be brave. Very brave.

Besides, with the sheer magnitude of damage involved, you might just as well use death ray satellites.


So... that leaves mortars, the poor man's artillery.
Their whole point is (relatively) close support of infantry.
- managable area of effect
- decent response time and accuracy due to short ranges
- because of the above, much, much lower required safety margins


I would balance the added firepower by
- tieing the request for fire missions to high level soldiers or an officer / leader class
- limited fire missions per tactical mission
- lead time.

The lead time is probably the most important one.
Unlike a rifle, you (as a frontline grunt or even FAO) don't aim and shoot a mortar at something.
You request a fire mission from the mortar team, they probably plop down a ranging shot, then you tell them how much they were off (like 150 over) and eventually, to fire for effect.
That's the basic theory anyway.

With the necessary streamlining for a game, you'd put down a target marker (like for a grenade).
That's more or less where the shells will land during your next turn, or maybe even the one after if the mortar team isn't just waiting for your request.
No instant hammer of god.

In fact, a random lead time of 1-2 turns could be a nice balancing factor all by itself.

Mortars are just rockets now. That and invent of the laser painter and a gillion other smart-tech systems have rendered it heavy, and basically obsolete for the infantryman to carry around. The days when shells go up, shells go down are pretty much out. :\

Seriously, a Javelin or even a TOW are more effective.

[Gazz]

Seriously, a Javelin or even a TOW are more effective.

I don't disagree. I'm just saying that this is completely beside the point when morters offer more interesting gameplay than laser-guided smart bombs dropped from a stratospheric stealth bomber or even just a barrage of Hellfires fired from a nearby Apache and homing in on your laser dot.

It's a stretch anyway because mortars are not really a squad level weapon but they are much closer in scale than billion dollar weapon systems which basically dwarf the achievements of the squad on the ground.
The squad should not be reduced to "the guys carrying the laser pointers".


It's a bit like Ringo's Posleen series. Human artillery is so antique that the aliens don't have a high-tech defense ready for it whereas the B-52 would die the instant it came over the horizon.
That allows him to create battles where the aliens don't automatically win.
Call it story balance. =)

[Gazz]

Graveyard / Headstones

Fallout (and I think Wasteland) had those with funny inscriptions that let the developers vent back at their fans a little. =)

They could be part of one or a few tactical maps.

With the zoom function of the engine, that would be quite workable without requiring a specially coded popup text.


Something like:

Time Units.
R.I.P.

Here lies an old-school X-Com fan:
"Four to six people? They've ruined it forever!" was inscribed upon his headstone.
The one next to him was engraved with a trollface and the words, "U mad, bro?"

I'm thinking more like:

"6 MEN SQUADS?"
...were his last words.

[BlueBeat]

Short reply just to chime in. Oh, and since I've been only loosely following the game, feel free to correct me if any feature has already been confirmed as being implemented or avoided.

Anyway, I really hope they find ways to integrate research and development with your actual combat prowess and tactical planning. I know full well it was the case in previous installments, but I kind of wish they took it a bit further. Let me explain...

As an example, I remember I lost more than one trooper to those f'ing Poppers in XC:Apoc before I managed to figure out they had to be shot with laser guns to prevent them from exploding. It took quite a few more casualties and an unhealthy amount of quick saves/quick loads to ensure I got my hands on a live specimen! My only reward from the whole ordeal? A thoroughly complete UFOpaedia.

That's it.

So why bother catching it at all, then? Well, aside from my geeky completionnist satisfaction... no reason, really!

Now, if research on superior frag grenades and explosives resulted from such a tactical feat as catching a living Popper specimen, you can bet a whole lot of people would have to make the tough call of sending veteran troops to their possible demise on the field...

All they'd have to do is let your scientists hint at this possibility in the autopsy report from a previous specimen.

This way, you end up with a risk/reward mechanic that has players taking risks and stretching their tactical expertise while trying to go above and beyond the call of duty. You basically get gameplay rewards for upping the ante for yourself voluntarily.

Yeah, and also: sorry, that wasn't such a short reply, in retrospect...

[pianohand]

I think there's a real opportunity to be had with the alien research section to the game in the base science labs.

How about being able to see the live aliens in the enclosure whilst they're being researched? Could you see Scientists interacting with them somehow?

Also the alien autopsies were one of my favourite parts of the original xcom. How good would it be if you could see a realtime video of scientists conducting an autopsy and being able to hear them talking about it during the autopsy?

I'm sure this sort of realism would really add to the suspense of the game and make it even more exciting and fulfilling. This was one of my favourite games on the Amiga when it was first released and to this day I can still remember how excited I would be whenever I caught a live alien to research- even though the research screens were simply an image and text!

[Inkidu]

I think there's a real opportunity to be had with the alien research section to the game in the base science labs.

How about being able to see the live aliens in the enclosure whilst they're being researched? Could you see Scientists interacting with them somehow?

Also the alien autopsies were one of my favourite parts of the original xcom. How good would it be if you could see a realtime video of scientists conducting an autopsy and being able to hear them talking about it during the autopsy?

I'm sure this sort of realism would really add to the suspense of the game and make it even more exciting and fulfilling. This was one of my favourite games on the Amiga when it was first released and to this day I can still remember how excited I would be whenever I caught a live alien to research- even though the research screens were simply an image and text!

I just hope alien autopsies are actually useful in this new game, like they provide a health display or an improved accuracy or damage. Nothing ticked me off more than realizing that the bulk of autopsies were flavor text. The only useful info I gleaned was that Reapers were vulnerable to incendiary, but I found they were really "vulnerable" to HE as well.

[BlueBeat]

I just hope alien autopsies are actually useful in this new game, like they provide a health display or an improved accuracy or damage. Nothing ticked me off more than realizing that the bulk of autopsies were flavor text.

This. My point precisely.

If they manage to tie together the combat & the scientific research with actual weapon/armor/perk development it would be oh, so awesome!!!

Brought a Popper corpse? Autopsy hints at Explosive ammo upgrade if we can catch a living specimen!
Caught a live Popper specimen? Explosive ammo research unlocked!
Caught 5 live Popper specimens? Research rate increased!
Caught 10 live Poppers? New squad/trooper perk available: resistance to explosions and/or explosive ammo proficiency!!!

[simoco]

I just hope alien autopsies are actually useful in this new game, like they provide a health display or an improved accuracy or damage. Nothing ticked me off more than realizing that the bulk of autopsies were flavor text. The only useful info I gleaned was that Reapers were vulnerable to incendiary, but I found they were really "vulnerable" to HE as well.

(...)If they manage to tie together the combat & the scientifric research with actual weapon/armor/perk development it would be oh, so awesome!!!(...)

+1000
Absolutely agree 100% with you guys on this point. Autopsy must provide information on their weakness, and indeed, increased damage to these creatures because the soldier will know more precisely where to shoot.

[Inkidu]

+1000
Absolutely agree 100% with you guys on this point. Autopsy must provide information on their weakness, and indeed, increased damage to these creatures because the soldier will know more precisely where to shoot.

It's not like it's making it unfair either. You take autopsies for immediate alien-fighting power, but maybe you're never able to devote research to the SHIV or the officer's school so you lose out on some long-term investments.

[dkw]

What I want to see:
More important research: as mentioned already, Autopsy, Terrorist, Soldier, Engineer research was pointless, aside from increasing your month's score for "successful research"; same with Food and Entertainment.
What you learned from it didn't help in the least, Weaknesses weren't worth exploiting because standard weapons were just as good, Resistances weren't worth mentioning because they were already obsolete or just not good enough.
Reapers being weak to Fire meant nothing when it took multiple turns to slowly burn to death while it kept eating people.
Mutons being resistant to Armor Piercing was worthless because by the time they arrived the player already had Laser, if not Plasma weapons.
Sectopods being resistant to Plasma may sound intimidating, but it just didn't do enough to offset the excessive death that was the Heavy Plasma. And, being weak to Laser wasn't strong enough because not even the Heavy Laser could kill a Sectopod in the same number of shots on average as the Heavy Plasma usually killed the Sectopod in about 2 shots less then the Heavy Laser.

Slower Alien Escalation:
The Aliens had stopped using Pistols by the end of the 2nd month, and Rifles by the end of the 3rd month most of the time. By then, Heavy Plasma is in such abundence that there is no point even bothering with other Alien Weapon Research. In one game I even had the Blaster Launcher and 2 Blaster Bombs by the end of the 2nd month, really?
Terror Mission in the very first month when the in game lore says the Aliens are attempting to quietly infiltrate Earth? Terror Missions shouldn't start before the Aliens realize that there is an organized force opposing their infiltration and information gathering operations.

Tactical Combat:
I would like to see something on par with Silent Storm's tactical combat, one of the best squad based combat systems I have ever seen, if not the best one I have seen, game's story not withstanding. One of my favorite moments in Silent Storm was when one of my guy's got shot, accidentally fired his rifle and shot an enemy, who accidentally fired his rifle and shot someone else, who then accidentally shot their rifle and shot another person.
There was a Stat called Familiarity, which increased the longer a soldier used 1 specific weapon making the soldier better with that weapon, and it decreased when they used a different weapon while that weapon's Familiarity went up.
Critical Hits had a huge number of possibilities, from being knocked prone, to going deaf or blind, to dropping your weapon, to losing use of a hand/arm/leg, lose the ability to run, accidentally fire your weapon in the direction it was last pointing, slowly bleed to death, or just generally being disabled and unconscious.
Climbing over walls up to 1 story tall, climbing through holes in the ceiling to reach the floor above, safely jumping down 1 story without injuring anyone, crawling, being able to move while Crouching, and in general a greater degree of freedom when moving in, over, under, and around obstacles.

Improved Ariel Combat:
There was no variation in the ariel combat. Standard Attack was pointless because Aggressive was always better in the long run. Cautious and Plasma Beams allowed an Interceptor to take down anything except a Battleship without being hit in return.

Larger Selection of Gear:
The amount of equipment at the player's disposal was very limited even after getting alien technology. There needed to be some more variety in the gear available for your soldiers.

Limit Wanton Destruction:
Aside from keeping Civilians alive, it was more beneficial to just level everything, and there was no penalty. You could go in and flaten a city block, and if enough Civilians survived you got rewarded. If that was truly the case, I would have just carpet bombed the city block since no one really cared anyways. There should be some kind of penalty for destroying a section of a city while hunting down the Aliens.


While the developers are focusing a lot on the original X-COM when designing this new one, a number of the original's limitations were attempted to be fixed in Apocalypse.
Research was slightly improved, with both Live Capture and Autopsy contributing to when you could develop the Toxin Gun and its special ammo. The Aliens slowly deployed new technology into the battle instead of rushing in their best gear. A broader selection of weapons and equipment was available, 4 grenades (AP, Incendiary, Stun Gas, Smoke), a variety of missiles for your craft, Janitors had lots of ammo while Retribution did the most damage but you only got one shot. There was even a political, score, and funding penalty for destroying whole buildings while searching them for Aliens.

[Being]

A bit late (and offtopic) on my reply I guess, but..

They already have guided ammo for mortars (and obviously artillery too). That's better than direct fire for the obvious reason that you can stay out of line of fire :P.

Although a guided mortar isn't that much different from a guided missile that's shot up in the air before it gains (or is assigned) a target.
--
I don't think mortars have a place in X-Com though. It wouldn't be fun if enemy had them and it wouldn't be fair if we did.

[Inkidu]

You know what I wish for? An actual thematic trailer. As, cool as the developer diary one was, I'd really like to see how the guys in Faraxis are going to sell this to the unenlightened masses (I mean that in the best possible way ). Let's see some snazzy scary editing skill, guys!

[pianohand]

You know what I wish for? An actual thematic trailer. As, cool as the developer diary one was, I'd really like to see how the guys in Faraxis are going to sell this to the unenlightened masses (I mean that in the best possible way ). Let's see some snazzy scary editing skill, guys!

Yeah, I think it should somehow lead directly into the start of the game like the intro's to most modern games seem to these days.

I'm also quite intrigued about how the game will handle tutorials/learning the mechanics and new features. Possibly with some soldiers starting off in a training mission? Or maybe through a flashback to the first reported sighting. Not exactly sure but I'm sure there'll need to be some 'hook' to appeal to the modern gamers.

[simoco]

Yes, take my hand, modern gamer

[Inkidu]

Yes, take my hand, modern gamer

I was actually just talking about another trailer for the game,.

Well, do you really think it's going to come with a big thick manual? Even Gallop has said in-game tutorials are important because no one writes the manual anymore.

[simoco]

I know Inkidu, it was a joke.

I'm of that generation who read the games' manuals, because before there was any phase of tutorial in game (although I've never read the UFO EU's one).
And now it's clear that I appreciate a quick tutorial phase even if it's boring.

[Being]

Yeah, tutorials in games are nice. Especially if you can skip them on your second playthrough.. Same goes with cinematics btw (I'm looking at you Mass Effect!).

But so are manuals. Apparently you can't have both though :I

Falcon 3.0 manual was what, 250 pages? And small print. That thing was heavy!
Civ 1? 100+ pages.
Master of Magic? 150 pages of manual and a 50 page spellbook.

Nowadays you get one dvd-case sized leaflet that tells you to read the pdf...
...but you can't read a pdf on your way back from the store on the backseat of a car or on a bus. *snif*

[Inkidu]

Yeah, tutorials in games are nice. Especially if you can skip them on your second playthrough.. Same goes with cinematics btw (I'm looking at you Mass Effect!).

But so are manuals. Apparently you can't have both though :I

Falcon 3.0 manual was what, 250 pages? And small print. That thing was heavy!
Civ 1? 100+ pages.
Master of Magic? 150 pages of manual and a 50 page spellbook.

Nowadays you get one dvd-case sized leaflet that tells you to read the pdf...
...but you can't read a pdf on your way back from the store on the backseat of a car or on a bus. *snif*

You too huh? Well, to be fair... I drive now, so it would kind of be inconsiderate of me and those pesky other drivers.

[Jon85]

are pysonics in the game?
one thing that got on my nerves about UD was that on terror missions the civies would get alien controled for almost no reason. would love to see civilians use pistols agienst xcom when under control.

better pysonics.
by the time you get pysonics in xcom they were almost useless. heavy plasma and blaster bombs were way better.
maybe speaking telepathicly with your squad increases reaction on aliens turn.

better human weapons.
human weapons were horrible in xcom. need to be better. (a .50cal sniper with AP ammo could kill a muton)
underbarel grenade launchers.
upgrade to higher calaber.
better ammo. (depleated urainam rounds maybe)
more human tech paths. (rail guns, ect)

alien research unlocks human equivlent. ie unlocking plasma tech opens diffrent equipment than the aliens.

more horizontal progression. ie it got on my nerves that in xcom every squaddie had flight armor and heavy plasma. need less OP weapons.

upgrading existing weapons.
lighter parts, red-dot sights, extended barrels, underbarrel grenade launcher/shotgun nightvision scopes,thermal scopes,

progressive human weapons.
ie sniper moving from a 7.62x39mm to .50 cal, single shot versus semi-auto, ect.
soldiers could train for better weapons.

the ablity to laydown traps. ie claymores with infared lazer trip wires.

REMOVAL OF NO LINE OF FIRE
if i want to shoot at an alien through a wall i should be able to shoot the wall till it punches through

no cheating alien AI. ie take first step in mission and have a alien grenade tossed into the middle of your grp.

more ability to effect globle politics. apoc attempted this but it fell short.

night vision goggles for night missions.

perk tree for soldiers

ranks have more use than just morale boost.

maybe expirenced soldiers have an instinct roll that will sometime help find hidden aliens that are close by or notice traps. Ie an experenced soldier would listen for noises before opening a door or notice footsteps that come from behind him, a rookie would not

a throwing shadow arc so you can see aproximatly where a grenade will land before you throw it, the ability to throw things through windows and such

[Gazz]

Auto-Reloading

If I were to guess, I'd say they are already doing it that way but just so I can say "I told you so" when they aren't...

If a soldier only moves but doesn't use any particular action, he should reload automatically.
Would only make sense if the number of magazines is unlimited anyway.

[simoco]

Save configurations of squads

I would like to be able to save configurations of soldiers and equipment to have squads equipped specifically for different types of missions.

It would prevent having to rechange each time the arsenal and the soldiers, and not be driven to always use the same configurations.

[IIAceofSpadesII]

Underhanded warfare
Every army/country that is outgunned, wil resort to sneaky techniques (Vietnam, Irak, Afghanistan etc). Now we(the entire human race) are outgunned and outclassed. So i would like to see things like.

- Snipers being the human terror weapons/units, knowing that there is someone there watching you, able to put you down at any given time would even freak out an alien.
- Placing IEDs in cars, behind doors etc, Body bombs(sectoids gotta love those). That last one might seem sick, but you do not want to know what people are capable of when they are threatened.
- Landmines
- Local population building booby traps in forests. So when you enter that area, aliens might get caught in these nasty traps.
- Ability for XCOM to hand out manuals to the local population to make boobytraps from simple things (Vietnam has one Secret book ready to hand out to the population in case of an attack). This would improve a countries defense, and your relationship with them.
- More suggestions needed

[XCOMmander]

Greetings to the Xcom Developer (Firaxis) and Fans of this franchise!
I would just like to share this idea and get this out of my chest so I will never regret not telling the developers how to make this re-imagining of the Xcom Enemy Unknown become a classic of its own.
1. I hope they (Firaxis) will hire a biographer to develop hundreds of fictional biography of generated soldiers to create its own imaginary inner story on every generated soldier to use by the player commander on the game. This will in it self expand the inner story of each character and the player will be creating its own unique story in his own game.
2. I hope they animate and show the character reloading clips and show animation when they are trying to heal or use medic to a friendly soldier (Battle Details situational) etc.
3. I hope there will be multiplayer online or skirmish mode against human or ai.
4. I hope they will have more animation on interceptions of ufo’s different is shown depends on the region of interceptions.
5. I hope Firaxis will continue the series to Terror from the deep and bypass all the others yet create a true 3rd Sequel Xcom – New Treat, hint.

Thanks for this chance guys. I hope they will be able to read this and take our ideas somehow.

More Power to Firaxis and Xcom for creating this franchise and putting it to a new level.

[gotcha1999]

1. a huge tech tree that doesnt lead u down just a basic path of lazers to plasma of outdated technology. 2. more attack alien base to vary the missions so were not always doing crashed ufo/ terror site, for example if aliens turn a country to there side they might have a base there. 3. as the develpoers have gone down the path of classes/perks/abilities i would like to see them working so that some weapons etc can only be used by certain classes more than just only heavy infantry has rocket launcher. 4. some thing like or next best thing to like a stealth suit that has limitations on how long u can be invisible for or holographic ability to use as a decoy.

[simoco]

I think a huge tech tree is not appropriate in Xcom. Because we never had a chain of research as long as in Civ. Furthermore it displease me strongly to have an overview of technologies to discover. It kills the surprise ...

[alexey7891]

I think a huge tech tree is not appropriate in Xcom. Because we never had a chain of research as long as in Civ. Furthermore it displease me strongly to have an overview of technologies to discover. It kills the surprise ...

but in the original you didn t know what you could research untill you whould get some alien weapons or alien commander or engineer medic or sapce ship ,thats the magic ,research appears from equipment retrieved from missions ,and if you could have a huge tech tree they could make it as if you go one direction the other direction is locked for good so you whould still like to play the game more times to see what research you couldn t do in the previous play of the game

[Gazz]

I think a huge tech tree is not appropriate in Xcom. Because we never had a chain of research as long as in Civ. Furthermore it displease me strongly to have an overview of technologies to discover. It kills the surprise ...

Well, MOO2 style then. =P
It wasn't much of a tree structure but the availability of technologies per tier was random.
In XCOMEU the core techs could always be available for research but there could be several optional techs per tier.

[Being]

MoO2 tech tree didn't lock anything out for certain, you could still gain every tech via espionage, trade or by capturing enemy ships (iirc).

'Creative' races got every tech per tier (there were 2-4 per tier of research in each category, with a few exceptions)
the normal races got to pick one out of the options
and UnCreative races got one at random.

From what I've been reading I believe the new XCOM is going with a 'pick one' approach but no possibility to get that tech from other sources afterwards.

---
One way to expand a tech tree is to have several grades to a tech.. or upgrades. Researching laser rifle would unlock heavy laser but also laser rifle mk2. Maybe mk2 unlocks mk3. Cost of the upgrades would rise while benefits diminish.

You might be able to research Plasma Rifle and Heavy Plasma or you could just research Plasma Rifle mk2. If you also need something beyond the tech fragments (I don't want to see a scenario where you can research heavy plasma just because you collected 50 plasma pistol fragments) you may end up in a situation where you'd have enough resources for heavy plasma but the research isn't enabled yet.. your next mission might end up enabling it but you'd also like a better weapon right away but if you improve the plasma rifle you won't have enough for the heavy plasma anymore.

Bad explanation I know.

[Gen_Pho]

I think a huge tech tree is not appropriate in Xcom. Because we never had a chain of research as long as in Civ. Furthermore it displease me strongly to have an overview of technologies to discover. It kills the surprise ...

You can have a huge tech tree without having it be obvious what the tree looks like in civ. There needs to be a more things to research than you can afford, otherwise what is the point of upgrading your labs? You would feel like that was a waste if you ever ran out of things to research before the game finished.

[ReapOne]

Besides Terror from the Deep dlc and cross platform support, I would like to have some type of cemony/rememberance room/cemetery for fallen soldiers. But what i would really like to see is a better dog fight game. How hard is it to implement something like they have in xenonauts, raiden, rogue squadron...something but the current version! I'd rather have the original ufo defense version back.

[TheMediator]

I would like to have some type of cemony/rememberance room/cemetery for fallen soldiers

This has been confirmed to be in the game, I think Jake Solomon said it.

[Wrathboner]

apologies in advance as I know this has already been brought up but just to add my two pence worth they should incorporate some kind of feature when UFO's are destroyed over water. I know that bringing in a TFTD type underwater mission would be a massive feat (new guns etc) but at the very least you should have the option of buying a salvage ship that can then recover items from UFO's that have been downed over water. You could also research better craft to speed up the salvaging process/get you more resources.

Also I like the idea of DLC where the aliens have put up an FOB on the moon and you have to take missions to the moon to clear them off.

[TheMediator]

Also I like the idea of DLC where the aliens have put up an FOB on the moon and you have to take missions to the moon to clear them off.

Yeah I saw your post in another thread. I do like the idea of going to the moon.

[ReapOne]

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