Covert or Overt Operations?

[nu_clear_day]

This is something that's always kind of nagged at me a little bit. There's probably always been an answer to this out there, and I just haven't come across it yet.

I remember when I first started playing X-Com when it came out, I had it in my head that the public at large wasn't really aware of any looming alien invasion; and that the governments of the world were doing their best to cover up the existence of an alien menace.

I saw my squad as kind of a secret covert operation, trying to deal with alien assaults and UFOs quickly and quietly before the world spun down in panic. I probably didn't get any of this from the actual game. Probably had more to do with me watching a lot of X-Files at the time, and all of the alien conspiracy stuff that was out in the later 90's.

So anyway, that's the question: is the XCom team a covert secret operation denied by the world's governments and part of a greater cover-up, or are they a publicly-known team battling a known alien threat?

In short - when my team goes in to mop up an alien terror campaign, how does the nightly news cover the story?

[DP1982SK]

Well, it's kind of your story to tell...

I'd say, that my story would have difficulty with covering actions of X-COM and aliens... especially once on terror missions you demolish half of the sector you are in

[Nosmirc]

According to the manual of the original, it was a 'covert independant body'.

Now if EU sticks to that, who knows save for Firaxis.

[Usul]

http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?t...emy_Unknown%29 :

On December 11, 1998, representatives from the worlds most economically powerful countries
gathered secretly in Geneva. After much debate, the decision was made to establish a covert
independent body to combat, investigate and defeat the alien threat. This organization would be
equipped with the world's finest pilots, soldiers, scientists and engineers, working together as
one multi-national force. This organization was named the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit.

X-COM's first secret base is established.

After a period of six months, information about the X-COM operation is released to the general
public, the news comes a no suprise to most of the world, since the presence of X-COM craft and
personnel in the world's major metropolitan areas had become commonplace over the previous year
and a half.

[DazzD]

Well that explains it all! I was about to say they can only cover up destroyed suburbs for so long It will be interesting to see the story line Fraxis goes with.

[nu_clear_day]

Ahh, that does explain it, thanks.

I will be curious to see where Firaxis goes with this. Hopefully, I can see some room for improvement here, at least with regards to setting up a firm sense of the situation overall.

"News reports," for example, could be a good way to show what's going on in the rest of the world, how everyone's reacting to thing, etc.

[Inkidu]

Ahh, that does explain it, thanks.

I will be curious to see where Firaxis goes with this. Hopefully, I can see some room for improvement here, at least with regards to setting up a firm sense of the situation overall.

"News reports," for example, could be a good way to show what's going on in the rest of the world, how everyone's reacting to thing, etc.

I think that's what they're doing. In the Game Informer article they mention something about Earth newscasts as some of the cutscenes.

[ShanDaMan]

The world has changed since 1994. Now the civilians in a terror mission can use their cell-phone to take pictures of the Chrysallid and post it on Facebook before XCOM gets there.

[Nosmirc]

The world has changed since 1994. Now the civilians in a terror mission can use their cell-phone to take pictures of the Chrysallid and post it on Facebook before XCOM gets there.

Now that could be an interesting direction to go in. But even just have the 'cover story' newscasts would be fine enough for me

[Inkidu]

The world has changed since 1994. Now the civilians in a terror mission can use their cell-phone to take pictures of the Chrysallid and post it on Facebook before XCOM gets there.

No they can't. If you're close enough to take a photo of a Chrysallid you're already dead. :3

[ShanDaMan]

No they can't. If you're close enough to take a photo of a Chrysallid you're already dead. :3

Status: Scared
(seconds later)
Status: Infected
(seconds later)
Status: Zombie
(seconds later)
Status: Chrysallid

[DazzD]

The world has changed since 1994. Now the civilians in a terror mission can use their cell-phone to take pictures of the Chrysallid and post it on Facebook before XCOM gets there.

It must be photo shopped!

I think it would be good to have the back story running about the publics beliefs.

It could start off as crazy talk...
then more and more people concerned about all these hoaxes...
then members of governments publicly getting worried....
then a massive terror mission that leaves no question about it all...

But would we get an influx of cash because everyone around the world knows and wants to help, or would we loose a stack of cash because we let a terror mission get so bad that the world knows about us?

[Clayton Cross]

It must be photo shopped!

I think it would be good to have the back story running about the publics beliefs.

It could start off as crazy talk...
then more and more people concerned about all these hoaxes...
then members of governments publicly getting worried....
then a massive terror mission that leaves no question about it all...

But would we get an influx of cash because everyone around the world knows and wants to help, or would we loose a stack of cash because we let a terror mission get so bad that the world knows about us?

It would be interesting to see this evolve. To see crazed police and guards shooting at YOUR "unknown" soldiers at first, then helping you, and then to see the military's of the world join the fight later in the game with your fire-team at the lead. Even if conceptually or scripted instead of organized "script-free" NPC support. As well as the possibility of local militia. But I doubt it will be more than a cut scene story board approach. Like the News reals in Starcraft 2. (The first mission in starcraft 2 the civilians to help you at the end, but that is the only one I believe, lol)