SquireJames
Senior Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- 16 Feb 2008
- Messages
- 371
Well, as you may have read in my request thread, I'm doing a small project on the side, to tide me over mod wise as KA2 winds down.
Its based on the X-COM series, namely X-Com Interceptor. Its a space based combat flight sim much along the lines of X-Wing, with a twist that you build bases, hire pilots, research weapons and technology and order new weapons, ships and upgrades on a tactical map (looks a bit like a sonar graph).
For those that aren't familiar with X-Com, its kind of a blend of all your usual Alien Conspiracy type sci-fi, (X-Files, the old BBC series UFO, the Roswell incident, little green men and so on) and started off as a tactical turn based isometric game, with a complex strategy layer on top.
The first was X-Com UFO Defence (known in Britain as UFo Enemy Unknown) and the protagonists were your Roswell type alien, known as the Sectoids, their overseers the Ethereals (the caped, anemic style alien with big heads, kind of Mars Attacks style) and their muscle, the Mutons (big ugly ape like creatures) as well as a host of other aliens, usually taken from UFo lore. Facing them were the men and women of the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit, or X-Com: a kind of Men in Black meets the US Military style organisation. The game starts in 1999, and according to the now-official timeline, the First Alien War (AW-I) was fought clandestinely frm 1999 to 2002.
The second game "Terror from the Deep" is set in 2039 and is based around the Cthulhu Mythos of H.P Lovecraft (Underwater Aquatic monsters and ancient aliens being revived by an evil overmind). Since the technologies developed in the first war don't work underwater, your men start with harpoons, gas cannons and such. Very creepy game, even more so than the first I reckon.
Now, the third game was set in kind of a futuristic metropolis in 2084, and was called "X-Com Apocalypse". Kind of went off the main set of bad guys, although some had a cameo appearance at the end.
However the third game chronologically is X-Com Interceptor. Set in 2067, when the megacorporations of earth were still trying to get enough resources to build the metropolis of "Apocalypse" (known as Mega Primus) by mining resources in deep space. The main aliens from the first game are back, and they brought a few new friends.
So this doesn't get too long winded, the basic layout is this. There are two sides, X-Com and the Aliens. Both start with a main base structure that cannot be rebuilt, and conducts all research. They also start with a single freighter, used to construct new stations. The main human resources are Metal, Elerium (a kind of radioactive element) and Funds. All three are harvested from planets and asteroid fields by Orbital Processing Facilities. Metal mines the fastest, then Funds (to simulate the cash from surplus and militarily unnessesary ores being sold off) with Elerium being the slowest.
All ships are built at the Outpost, a kind of Corporate HQ in space that is a pretty typical civilian station (cantinas, storage rooms, factory floors etc). Also found at Outposts are Pilots, available in small numbers only (you must build more Outposts to get more Pilots). Civilian Freighters will also visit human outposts from time to time, generating more funds. Their are three basic human fighters, the Transtellar X-1A Lightning II Interceptor, the Superdynamics S-2 Firestar Space Superiority Fighter, and the Marsec M-3 Fighter-Bomber. The second two hulls are available only after significant research. Each fighter is built in a few basic variants, with better guns being on better variants but naturally dependant on research. The human super weapon is the Nova Bomb, a weapon that can only be mounted on the Super Avenger, and when fired at a target area, causes a fuel-air type effect with various spacial gases, resulting in a massive explosion and a black hole forming.
The Aliens work much the same way, except they have no funds to worry about, and no freighters visit their outposts. The Aliens instead have another resource, Spore Pods, which are used in research(as Alien technology is organic in nature and grown rather than built) Most aliens are clones, and as such their "pilots" work similar to humans except more are provided per outpost. The Alien super weapon is the Doomsday Device, a weapon much like the Death Star. It is constructed slowly over a matter of time using various parts built by a the Harbinger Tug. Alien fighters are more manuverable than their X-Com counterparts, and are available sooner (more on the research tree later). They also have a 4th fighter, based on human designs (in an ironic twist of Human-Alien reverse engineering).
The research tree will be pretty huge, and I won't got into too much detail but, heres a taster.
X-Com starts with four technologies available: Advanced Lasers, Solar Fusion , Synthetic Elerium and Tractor Beams. X-Com can build just the X-1A Lightning II at first, which has 2 Beam Mounts and 2 Missile Mounts, and the only weapons it can mount are the Laser Cannon and the X-Winder Missile. Advanced Lasers leads to two new research items, Gatling Lasers and Heavy Lasers, which when researched lead to new variants for X-Com fighters. Solar Fusion leads to Cold Fusion, which with another tech later on leads to Fusion Missiles. Synthetic Elerium allows the construction of all sorts of later missiles. Tractor Beams, naturally, allows X-Com to capture Alien Saucers for research.
The Aliens also start with four research items, Tri-Titanium Construction, Emissions Targetting, Gravity Induction Drives and Psionic Weaponry. They start with a single basic saucer, the Type I "Wraith and two basic weapons for it the Plasma Pulse Cannon and the Elerium Torpedo. Once they can be researched, Psionic Weaponry leads to Parralax Torpedoes, Electroplasmic Shields gives all ships a shielding boost, Gravity Induction Drives gives all ships a speed boost and Emissions Targetting gives all ships a sensor boost. Once Tri-Titanium, Electroplasmic Shields and Emissions Targetting have been researched, the Type II "Spectre" Saucer can be built.
Once X-Com can capture a Type I "Wraith" they can research it which is a nessessary step to advance to more detailed research, and Elerium Torpedoes. Once they capture a Type II "Spectre" they can research it, which leads to four new technologies, Tri-Titanium Construction, the Gravity Induction Drive, Alien Defense Systems, the Emissions Targetting System. Tri-Titanium Construction leads to the Superdynamics S-2 Firestar (along with other techs), whereas the Gravity Induction Drive, Emissions Targetting System and Alien Defense Systems (which is a combination of Electroplasmic Shields and Tri-Titanium) have the same boosting effect as their alien progenitors.
Phew, well, theres more to it than that but it gives an example of the tit-for-tat method of research. The Aliens can tech quickly, if they have resources, but X-Com must capture Alien tech to use it. However, Alien research is costly, so that slows the Aliens from teching too quickly. Basically, this gameplay rewards those who wait. If an X-Com player tries to rush, their ships early on are inferior to Alien Saucers and they will probably lose their fighters. If an Alien player tries to rush, they won't have the resources to tech up, and against X-Com defenses (Outposts have guns...) they'll lose. However, if an Alien player waits and techs, he can try and build up a force before attacking, but to counter it the X-Com player must raid the Aliens to capture tech. Keeps everyone moving, but no knockout blows in 5 seconds.
If theres time for a ship and station list...
X-Com Base (Starting base, main tech centre)
Outpost (Builds all craft, gives player Pilots)
Orbital Processing Plant (Orbits and mines all resources from planets)
Galactic Science Corp Station (Researches advanced tech inc Nova Bomb)
Cybermove Systems Star Ranger (Constructs all stations)
Transtellar X-1A Lightning II Interceptor
Superdynamics S-2 Firestar Space Superiority Fighter
Marsec M-3 Super Avenger Fighter Bomber
Alien Base (Starting base, main tech centre)
Alien Outpost (Builds all fighters, gives player pilots)
Alien OPP (Orbits and mines all resources from planets)
Alien 'Spirit' Type Freighter (Constructs all stations)
Alien Type 1 'Wraith' Saucer
Alien Type 2 'Spectre' Saucer
Alien Type 3 'Phantasm' Saucer
Alien Shade Fighter (can cloak for short periods, requires human tech)
Alien 'Harbinger' Type Tug (Builds Doomsday Device parts)
Oh, and to show i've made some small progress, heres the Alien Type 1 'Wraith'. I tried to follow the original from X-Com Interceptor, but I did add some touches myself, particularly the kind of, organicy lightmap.
Its based on the X-COM series, namely X-Com Interceptor. Its a space based combat flight sim much along the lines of X-Wing, with a twist that you build bases, hire pilots, research weapons and technology and order new weapons, ships and upgrades on a tactical map (looks a bit like a sonar graph).
For those that aren't familiar with X-Com, its kind of a blend of all your usual Alien Conspiracy type sci-fi, (X-Files, the old BBC series UFO, the Roswell incident, little green men and so on) and started off as a tactical turn based isometric game, with a complex strategy layer on top.
The first was X-Com UFO Defence (known in Britain as UFo Enemy Unknown) and the protagonists were your Roswell type alien, known as the Sectoids, their overseers the Ethereals (the caped, anemic style alien with big heads, kind of Mars Attacks style) and their muscle, the Mutons (big ugly ape like creatures) as well as a host of other aliens, usually taken from UFo lore. Facing them were the men and women of the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit, or X-Com: a kind of Men in Black meets the US Military style organisation. The game starts in 1999, and according to the now-official timeline, the First Alien War (AW-I) was fought clandestinely frm 1999 to 2002.
The second game "Terror from the Deep" is set in 2039 and is based around the Cthulhu Mythos of H.P Lovecraft (Underwater Aquatic monsters and ancient aliens being revived by an evil overmind). Since the technologies developed in the first war don't work underwater, your men start with harpoons, gas cannons and such. Very creepy game, even more so than the first I reckon.
Now, the third game was set in kind of a futuristic metropolis in 2084, and was called "X-Com Apocalypse". Kind of went off the main set of bad guys, although some had a cameo appearance at the end.
However the third game chronologically is X-Com Interceptor. Set in 2067, when the megacorporations of earth were still trying to get enough resources to build the metropolis of "Apocalypse" (known as Mega Primus) by mining resources in deep space. The main aliens from the first game are back, and they brought a few new friends.
So this doesn't get too long winded, the basic layout is this. There are two sides, X-Com and the Aliens. Both start with a main base structure that cannot be rebuilt, and conducts all research. They also start with a single freighter, used to construct new stations. The main human resources are Metal, Elerium (a kind of radioactive element) and Funds. All three are harvested from planets and asteroid fields by Orbital Processing Facilities. Metal mines the fastest, then Funds (to simulate the cash from surplus and militarily unnessesary ores being sold off) with Elerium being the slowest.
All ships are built at the Outpost, a kind of Corporate HQ in space that is a pretty typical civilian station (cantinas, storage rooms, factory floors etc). Also found at Outposts are Pilots, available in small numbers only (you must build more Outposts to get more Pilots). Civilian Freighters will also visit human outposts from time to time, generating more funds. Their are three basic human fighters, the Transtellar X-1A Lightning II Interceptor, the Superdynamics S-2 Firestar Space Superiority Fighter, and the Marsec M-3 Fighter-Bomber. The second two hulls are available only after significant research. Each fighter is built in a few basic variants, with better guns being on better variants but naturally dependant on research. The human super weapon is the Nova Bomb, a weapon that can only be mounted on the Super Avenger, and when fired at a target area, causes a fuel-air type effect with various spacial gases, resulting in a massive explosion and a black hole forming.
The Aliens work much the same way, except they have no funds to worry about, and no freighters visit their outposts. The Aliens instead have another resource, Spore Pods, which are used in research(as Alien technology is organic in nature and grown rather than built) Most aliens are clones, and as such their "pilots" work similar to humans except more are provided per outpost. The Alien super weapon is the Doomsday Device, a weapon much like the Death Star. It is constructed slowly over a matter of time using various parts built by a the Harbinger Tug. Alien fighters are more manuverable than their X-Com counterparts, and are available sooner (more on the research tree later). They also have a 4th fighter, based on human designs (in an ironic twist of Human-Alien reverse engineering).
The research tree will be pretty huge, and I won't got into too much detail but, heres a taster.
X-Com starts with four technologies available: Advanced Lasers, Solar Fusion , Synthetic Elerium and Tractor Beams. X-Com can build just the X-1A Lightning II at first, which has 2 Beam Mounts and 2 Missile Mounts, and the only weapons it can mount are the Laser Cannon and the X-Winder Missile. Advanced Lasers leads to two new research items, Gatling Lasers and Heavy Lasers, which when researched lead to new variants for X-Com fighters. Solar Fusion leads to Cold Fusion, which with another tech later on leads to Fusion Missiles. Synthetic Elerium allows the construction of all sorts of later missiles. Tractor Beams, naturally, allows X-Com to capture Alien Saucers for research.
The Aliens also start with four research items, Tri-Titanium Construction, Emissions Targetting, Gravity Induction Drives and Psionic Weaponry. They start with a single basic saucer, the Type I "Wraith and two basic weapons for it the Plasma Pulse Cannon and the Elerium Torpedo. Once they can be researched, Psionic Weaponry leads to Parralax Torpedoes, Electroplasmic Shields gives all ships a shielding boost, Gravity Induction Drives gives all ships a speed boost and Emissions Targetting gives all ships a sensor boost. Once Tri-Titanium, Electroplasmic Shields and Emissions Targetting have been researched, the Type II "Spectre" Saucer can be built.
Once X-Com can capture a Type I "Wraith" they can research it which is a nessessary step to advance to more detailed research, and Elerium Torpedoes. Once they capture a Type II "Spectre" they can research it, which leads to four new technologies, Tri-Titanium Construction, the Gravity Induction Drive, Alien Defense Systems, the Emissions Targetting System. Tri-Titanium Construction leads to the Superdynamics S-2 Firestar (along with other techs), whereas the Gravity Induction Drive, Emissions Targetting System and Alien Defense Systems (which is a combination of Electroplasmic Shields and Tri-Titanium) have the same boosting effect as their alien progenitors.
Phew, well, theres more to it than that but it gives an example of the tit-for-tat method of research. The Aliens can tech quickly, if they have resources, but X-Com must capture Alien tech to use it. However, Alien research is costly, so that slows the Aliens from teching too quickly. Basically, this gameplay rewards those who wait. If an X-Com player tries to rush, their ships early on are inferior to Alien Saucers and they will probably lose their fighters. If an Alien player tries to rush, they won't have the resources to tech up, and against X-Com defenses (Outposts have guns...) they'll lose. However, if an Alien player waits and techs, he can try and build up a force before attacking, but to counter it the X-Com player must raid the Aliens to capture tech. Keeps everyone moving, but no knockout blows in 5 seconds.
If theres time for a ship and station list...
X-Com Base (Starting base, main tech centre)
Outpost (Builds all craft, gives player Pilots)
Orbital Processing Plant (Orbits and mines all resources from planets)
Galactic Science Corp Station (Researches advanced tech inc Nova Bomb)
Cybermove Systems Star Ranger (Constructs all stations)
Transtellar X-1A Lightning II Interceptor
Superdynamics S-2 Firestar Space Superiority Fighter
Marsec M-3 Super Avenger Fighter Bomber
Alien Base (Starting base, main tech centre)
Alien Outpost (Builds all fighters, gives player pilots)
Alien OPP (Orbits and mines all resources from planets)
Alien 'Spirit' Type Freighter (Constructs all stations)
Alien Type 1 'Wraith' Saucer
Alien Type 2 'Spectre' Saucer
Alien Type 3 'Phantasm' Saucer
Alien Shade Fighter (can cloak for short periods, requires human tech)
Alien 'Harbinger' Type Tug (Builds Doomsday Device parts)
Oh, and to show i've made some small progress, heres the Alien Type 1 'Wraith'. I tried to follow the original from X-Com Interceptor, but I did add some touches myself, particularly the kind of, organicy lightmap.
