Ideas for XCOM

[Xonan]

probably a million threads like this, but as an avid fan, heree are some of my ideas. hope someone developing the game reads em

starting off with something fun

- 1: Historical characters in bases/huge ufos
Since the aliens have been abducting us for centuries, they have abducted historical characters, with special abilities.
-Blackbeard (pirate/leader)
-Thor (a viking warrior)
- an american ex-president?(good for raising funding)
- einstein/da vinci (special research abilities)
you can find and rescure these guys in stasis pods found in bases. they "add" stats to others in your team, (more info coming in the following point.)
why? because, what most developers still dont get, its about gamer involvement. I used to quit and load when my character named after my dog died. i could handle my mother and brother dying, but not Timo! , so add involvement by adding characters people want to play with. and cool abilities .


-2: Leadership and other abilities
a common concept in gaming, having a leader closeby enhances certain abilities, or prevents "panic" for instance. so a leader develops his leadership abilities as he progresses from rank to rank, other squad members become specialist in gunning down aliens, or whatever. this makes people make choices how to spend some improvement points. you get leaders, medics and the rest normal grunts. Nothing to crazy, but enough to diversify squad tactics just a bit more.

-3: appendage editing . what was the coolest part about Syndicate? Not the shooting, but the rpg element of slowly improving your soldier to be a bad-ass half android. So further in the game, you start to add for example, an robotic leg to captain blackbeard. you improve his sighting with a camera to replace his eye. When somebodys arm gets shot off, you add a robotic arm with a weapon slot on it. so in this way, you add to the game, while improving on the gameplay, it makes it kool to finish a level where 3 of your squad members get appendages blown off. instead of the endless reloading, bcause you dont want your teamcaptain to spend 6 weeks out of action. knowing you get to upgrade them with kool ☺☺☺☺ makes it bearable to lose them a few weeks.. Off course this should NOT become a major part, but at the end of the game, there should be a few replaced appendages/organs in every squad member.

-4 research:
Tons, Tons more. IMO this was the most fun part, but also the part with the biggest weaknesses. (easy, linear) especially add choices. too much to research everything, having to make strategic choices on harder difficulty levels. (do i research laser, or plasma)adding enormously to replayability in my view.

lemme know what people think about this, I AM **** EXCITED my favorite developer (CIV!!!!!! is my nr1) is redoing my second favorite game. I am still playing both Xcoms (yes BOTH, damned) and now going for all steam accomplishments with CIV5

[Gen_Pho]

probably a million threads like this, but as an avid fan, heree are some of my ideas. hope someone developing the game reads em

starting off with something fun

- 1: Historical characters in bases/huge ufos
Since the aliens have been abducting us for centuries, they have abducted historical characters, with special abilities.
-Blackbeard (pirate/leader)
-Thor (a viking warrior)
- an american ex-president?(good for raising funding)
- einstein/da vinci (special research abilities)
you can find and rescure these guys in stasis pods found in bases. they "add" stats to others in your team, (more info coming in the following point.)
why? because, what most developers still dont get, its about gamer involvement. I used to quit and load when my character named after my dog died. i could handle my mother and brother dying, but not Timo! , so add involvement by adding characters people want to play with. and cool abilities .


-2: Leadership and other abilities
a common concept in gaming, having a leader closeby enhances certain abilities, or prevents "panic" for instance. so a leader develops his leadership abilities as he progresses from rank to rank, other squad members become specialist in gunning down aliens, or whatever. this makes people make choices how to spend some improvement points. you get leaders, medics and the rest normal grunts. Nothing to crazy, but enough to diversify squad tactics just a bit more.

-3: appendage editing . what was the coolest part about Syndicate? Not the shooting, but the rpg element of slowly improving your soldier to be a bad-ass half android. So further in the game, you start to add for example, an robotic leg to captain blackbeard. you improve his sighting with a camera to replace his eye. When somebodys arm gets shot off, you add a robotic arm with a weapon slot on it. so in this way, you add to the game, while improving on the gameplay, it makes it kool to finish a level where 3 of your squad members get appendages blown off. instead of the endless reloading, bcause you dont want your teamcaptain to spend 6 weeks out of action. knowing you get to upgrade them with kool ☺☺☺☺ makes it bearable to lose them a few weeks.. Off course this should NOT become a major part, but at the end of the game, there should be a few replaced appendages/organs in every squad member.

-4 research:
Tons, Tons more. IMO this was the most fun part, but also the part with the biggest weaknesses. (easy, linear) especially add choices. too much to research everything, having to make strategic choices on harder difficulty levels. (do i research laser, or plasma)adding enormously to replayability in my view.

lemme know what people think about this, I AM **** EXCITED my favorite developer (CIV!!!!!! is my nr1) is redoing my second favorite game. I am still playing both Xcoms (yes BOTH, damned) and now going for all steam accomplishments with CIV5

Can't say I really like the rescuing famous people idea, seems too silly. If Blackbeard was in a statis pod for hundreds of years I don't think he would come out as a very effective xcom soldier.
I like the other ideas though. High leadership perks could become available to people with high ranks (not a given) and they could increase the will of those around him/her.

[ShanDaMan]

I like the idea of famous people found in stasis on an alien base, but not for future soldiers but for greater morale of the world and its Funding Council. Just think how the world would react if Amelia Airhart, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Elvis, Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, etc were to reappear, safe and sound and not a day older than last seen!

[b15h09]

I like the idea of famous people found in stasis on an alien base, but not for future soldiers but for greater morale of the world and its Funding Council. Just think how the world would react if Amelia Airhart, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Elvis, Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, etc were to reappear, safe and sound and not a day older than last seen!

A bunch of tards would form a cult around the aliens, trying to get in on that stasis immortality, and push people away from X-COM

[JundtDH]

A bunch of tards would form a cult around the aliens, trying to get in on that stasis immortality, and push people away from X-COM

X-com apocalypse had people like that. And their locations were very good for looting. Still, I wouldn't mind if that could be a side effect of finding people. Part of the randomness of the game could be that some person you find on your current playthrough actually believes it was a good experience as opposed to the previous game where they helped sway people and governments to your cause.

I still wouldn't totally behind the idea, but some additional finds might be really interesting. Or at least great easter eggs.

[podtech115]

Geez, when I read that Historical characters thing, it was like something from a bad fan fic, or something. Didn't star trek do this all the time, with the historical characters?

And besides, IF you wanted that, there's that awful FPS xcom.

[nigliazzo]

I'm actually re-playing ufo:aftershock. Like ufo: afterlight that game had some very good ideas:
1) like Xonan said, the ability to improve certain stats and to select some particular perks. For example:
- leader: improve psi-resistance, attack capabilities, defense stats
- medic: cure injuries, stun dumage, diseases, psichic alterations*, revive
- heavy equipment specialist: can use rocket launchers, granade launchers, heavy plasma, heavy laser or whatever. Further levels can increase the ability to use that type of weapon or unlock firing mode*
- scout: improved observation, can find enemy weak spot*, can use scout equipment (visors, scanners)
- incursor: stealth, bonus to close combat, use of swords, knives, fist fighting* etc... disarm enemy*, stun enemy*
- sniper: improved aim, can shot body part (leg--> slow down; arm--> disarm), improved stealth and speed
- sabotator/technician: can use mines and deployable equipment, can launch and repair drones and flying scouts*, can use explosives
- soldier: better use of rifles, pistols (single shot in weak points*), granades (i.e: can make granade bouncing to walls*)

*new ideas (maybe)

2) night mission: use of flares, detector, reduced visibility. A real BLACK night.

3) rural mission: eheheh corn field... slaughtered beasts... ruined countryhouses...

4) different weather condition: snow, ice, rain, lightning, forest on fire, city on fire

5) 2 interfaces: 1 for casual, consolle gamers, 1 for hardcore pc gamers!

p.s. i don't like the historical character idea. This should be a serious game, like x-com: enemy unknown.

[54x]

I expect perks will play a very similar role to the training types in Aftershock. Night missions have always been a big issue in XCOM, I hope that won't change for this game. And a PC interface is already confirmed.

I'm with you guys on not liking the historical characters- that's just a bit whimsical for this game, which has always shot for a more realistic feel, at least at the start of the game.

[Gen_Pho]

I expect perks will play a very similar role to the training types in Aftershock. Night missions have always been a big issue in XCOM, I hope that won't change for this game. And a PC interface is already confirmed.

I'm with you guys on not liking the historical characters- that's just a bit whimsical for this game, which has always shot for a more realistic feel, at least at the start of the game.

I hope they make the weather a factor. I think there is rain in some screenshots, but hopefully it affects visibility and accuracy. I think it would be really neat if they added some aspect of stealth. It would be pretty great to sneak up on aliens, or have to fight aliens with personal cloaking/super stealthy abilities. I would research that in a heartbeat.

[ShanDaMan]

I've expressed some fanciful ideas on this and other threads, I know, but there is room in this game for some humor - but only if it is done sparingly. It would fit with UFO conspiracy theories that these people's accidental deaths were actually alien abductions. If finding the living, breathing person is too silly then how about after the mission briefing including a discovery of personal effects (a pair of blue suede shoes, etc).
I wouldn't mind finding some living human prisoners in a base instead of only jars of body parts. Could be cool if rarely one of the survivors was famous.

[Bjursan]

I would like dynamic relations between the soldiers similar to the static ones in UFO Afterlight. But their relations would give the soldiers a small positive bonus to the soldiers stats representing that they work well together. So therfore a new recruit will at the start not work so well as the others because he dont know the other members.

But it could also give a negative effect, that two soldiers dont like each other and give each other a negative buff when they are near their object of hate(the other soldier).

And there should be many diffrent kinds of relations the soldiers may have all from lovers to rivals. From bloodrelatives to best friends. I do feel like this would be an easy thing to put into the game. And also do i need to say that it may panic a soldier to see his best friend allmost die during combat?

[Usul]

I would like dynamic relations between the soldiers similar to the static ones in UFO Afterlight. But their relations would give the soldiers a small positive bonus to the soldiers stats representing that they work well together. So therfore a new recruit will at the start not work so well as the others because he dont know the other members.

But it could also give a negative effect, that two soldiers dont like each other and give each other a negative buff when they are near their object of hate(the other soldier).

And there should be many diffrent kinds of relations the soldiers may have all from lovers to rivals. From bloodrelatives to best friends. I do feel like this would be an easy thing to put into the game. And also do i need to say that it may panic a soldier to see his best friend allmost die during combat?

Ideas like that will never happen in the "streamlining the game" approach Firaxis is taken.

[b15h09]

Ideas like that will never happen in the "streamlining the game" approach Firaxis is taken.

Too true.

Wouldn't be surprised if kill streaks made it in, though.

[54x]

I hope they make the weather a factor. I think there is rain in some screenshots, but hopefully it affects visibility and accuracy. I think it would be really neat if they added some aspect of stealth. It would be pretty great to sneak up on aliens, or have to fight aliens with personal cloaking/super stealthy abilities. I would research that in a heartbeat.

The only thing I dislike about that is with night missions, you could usually tell in advance whether you'd be pushing it to arrive during the day. With weather there's no reasonable way you could get warning in advance, so I'd hope any impact would be much less significant than night missions are.

I've expressed some fanciful ideas on this and other threads, I know, but there is room in this game for some humor - but only if it is done sparingly. It would fit with UFO conspiracy theories that these people's accidental deaths were actually alien abductions. If finding the living, breathing person is too silly then how about after the mission briefing including a discovery of personal effects (a pair of blue suede shoes, etc).
I wouldn't mind finding some living human prisoners in a base instead of only jars of body parts. Could be cool if rarely one of the survivors was famous.

Yeah, there could be some room for that, but if it's not done subtly enough it could still pull you out of the game.

I would like dynamic relations between the soldiers similar to the static ones in UFO Afterlight. But their relations would give the soldiers a small positive bonus to the soldiers stats representing that they work well together. So therfore a new recruit will at the start not work so well as the others because he dont know the other members.

But it could also give a negative effect, that two soldiers dont like each other and give each other a negative buff when they are near their object of hate(the other soldier).

And there should be many diffrent kinds of relations the soldiers may have all from lovers to rivals. From bloodrelatives to best friends. I do feel like this would be an easy thing to put into the game. And also do i need to say that it may panic a soldier to see his best friend allmost die during combat?

=/ I don't know, that just doesn't feel like it mechanically fits into this type of game. It's realistic, sure, but it's just not an element that fits with the tactical gameplay, I think.

[Shu2525]

Having a ton of research so that you wont be able to research everything in one playthrough would be great. Also, I have seen people mention that you will only have one base in the game... Maybe they will allow you to build facilites to train soliders in improving certain attributes like better weapon accuracy or strength training or reaction time improvement. You can decide which soliders to send to which facility for a length of time you specify. During the training you cant send the solider on a mission and it costs money to train him/her. Hopefully he/she will improve his/her skills and wont die on the first mission he/she goes on after training.....

I guess this would expand on the psi lab from the original game....

[Xonan]

Can't say I really like the rescuing famous people idea, seems too silly. If Blackbeard was in a statis pod for hundreds of years I don't think he would come out as a very effective xcom soldier.
I like the other ideas though. High leadership perks could become available to people with high ranks (not a given) and they could increase the will of those around him/her.

yea, maybe true , still i think it would be fun to go on rwescue missions, maybe add that the aliens can abduct your squad members sometimes, so you can rescue em.