Psi Stats

[Bomb Bloke]

Last night, I finished the final tweak on the unit status display screens of my map viewer. The final touch was working out whether or not the psi stats should be displayed for a unit (when fog of war mode was enabled).

 

That one actually took me a while. The first thing that came to mind was to load up an advanced save file, And make two save files where only one of my units was present in the field. The first save would have that unit without psi, the second, she'd have gone through psi training.

 

Well, as it happened, I found I couldn't quite do that as it took about two months to get the trooper through training, by which time they shut X-Com down...

[Ki-tat Chung]

i always thought that psi strength was the base psi stat, and that it was hidden without any psi skill, as mentioned by you and scott...

[Zombie]

After a quick comparision of the same unit before and after, I found what made psi be displayed - it was quite simply, whether or not they had any psi skill. If they did, you could see it, and they could use a psi amp. If not, psi was entirely hidden. That is, it may be the case that unscreened units have NO PSI SKILL at all.

Didn't we hash this all out before? Now where in the heck is my post on this? Hmmm. Ahhh yes, here it is:

 

To find out the answer to this question, we have to look to the Psionic Training screen at the end of a month. Make sure that there is a Psi-Lab built at your base as well as one soldier who hasn't undergone any psi-training yet. When the Psionic Training screen comes up at the end of the month it should look something like this:

                 Psionic          Psionic Skill          In
Name            Strength         /Improvement           Training?

Samuel Bryant      75               24 / +24              Yes
Helen Martin    Unknown              0 / +0                No

 

This is just an example. Samuel Bryant just completed one month of training (hence the 'Yes' for In Training). He had 75 for Psionic Strength and starts with 24 for Psionic Skill. Ok. Helen Martin is the soldier we are going to look at. She is not in training yet so it says 'No' for In Training. Look under the Psionic Skill/Improvement for Helen. It says 0 / +0. That means that she starts with 0 for psionic skill.

 

Actually, any soldier that hasn't been through 1 month of psionic training has 0 for psionic skill. It's the Psionic Strength that is unknown! It pays to read those screens carefully. You can sometimes squeeze out information which you though was impossible. I never knew this until I actually looked at the screen a little more carefully today!

So like I mentioned way back in November, if a soldier is initially put into psi training, he/she has 0 for skill. It's just the strength stat which is unknown. Once the strength stat is determined, then the soldier can use his/her skill. This is because both Psi Strength and Psi Skill are found after one month of training. The reason why all the Psi stats are revealed (actually displayed) when you set the skill to 1 is because the game checks to see if the skill is >0. If it is, it displayes the psionic info.

 

Now for your questions:

 

Question 1: Yes, Psi Skill is used when calculating psi defense.

 

Question 2: Ok, we went through this too, but I'll try to summarize as best as I can.

 

The OSG by David Ellis lists the psionic equations on pg 227, but they are wrong. I think I successfully "deciphered" the correct equations to what they are meant to be.

 

If you (or an alien) wants to use a psionic attack, the game calculates a number called "psionic combat strength" or PCS. It is found by multiplying Psi Strength by Psi Skill. PCS = (Psi Strength) * (Psi Skill). This number is then compared to the psi defense score of the "attackee" depending on the type of attack utilized. The first is a panic attack, and the second a mind control attack.

 

For a panic attack, a units "panic attack defense" or PAD is calculated. It is found by the following equation:

PAD = [ (Psi Strength) + (Psi Skill/5) ] * 10

For mind control, a units "mind control defense" or MCD is calculated. It is found by the following equation:

MCD = [ (Psi Strength) + (Psi Skill/5) ] * 30

 

The chance of the attackers psi warfare being successful is found by subtracting the PAD or MCD from PCS. For panic, the "base chance of success" (or BCS) = PCS - PAD. For mind control, the chance of success is PCS - MCD. Those numbers are percentages. If BCS 0 and = 100, the attack is always successful.

 

Here's the kicker though: The OSG claims that "Psionic attacks decrease in effectiveness over distance". I have yet to verify how much of a factor distance plays in success. All I know is that a panic attack is 3 times more successful than a mind control attack waged at the same distance. Eventually, the distance factor will be worked out. When I get some time after the Sectopod damage modifier tests have been run, I'll try this out.

 

Is that good enough? If you have any other questions, or my description is unclear, let me know. I'll be glad to help!

 

- Zombie

[Bomb Bloke]

I know we've been over this stuff before, I just want it all in one clearly marked place where I can get at it and work all this out. Of course, you did repeat what I just said...

 

Ok, so psi skill is used for defense. Now, what I'm thinking here is that units may have a 'base' psi skill stat that is used before they go through a month of training.

 

If this is NOT the case, then a unit who has not undergone training is a greater risk in the field then one who has! Also, it would mean that any alien with not psi skill is an easier target.

 

What I'm getting at here is that some units, for example mutons, tanks, etc... anything which can't use a psi attack, has a psi skill stat which you cannot access by playing the game in the normal way.

 

When (if) I get time, I'll test my theory out. If it's correct, I'll even be able to display a list of the hidden stat for each and every unit type...

 

Here's another question. What's the rule for when an alien takes over a unit carrying a psi amp? Can the alien controlled unit use the amp without psi training, or not? If you arm a non-psychic alien with an amp, can it use it?

[Aralez]

Another PSI-related question here:

What are the requirements for Psi-Attacks from aliens vs. your soldiers?

Yesterday i started a mission at a terror site and had a tank exploring the area , the rest of the squad was back in the dropship in (so i thought) safety. But after my tank spotted some units and i ended the turn, the enemy psi-attacked my crew and several of them panicked! I thought that a Line-of-sight between the Psi-Attacker and the victim was needed, but this seems to be wrong....

[Zombie]

Of course, you did repeat what I just said...

Well, you made it sound like you made some earth-shattering new discovery about how psi stats are displayed. That fact that the game only displays psi stats when the soldier's psi skill is above 0 is hardly something new. It has been around way before I made my post in November or your recent "tweaking" with your map viewer. I just found a natural way without hacking a game file.

 

Also you said: "That is, it may be the case that unscreened units have NO PSI SKILL at all". I was trying to make the point that it IS "the case that unscreened units have NO PSI SKILL at all". If the only thing you were trying to do was describe how you arrived at that conclusion, you could have stated that in one or two sentences, not a half of a page.

 

Continuing on... Instead of picking through the rest of your post with me stating "duh" or "no, that is wrong", let me try to expain something which might clear things up a bit.

 

A unit only gets psi skill after one month of training. Once that happens, the unit is able to wage offesive psi attacks against the enemy. However, just because a unit doesn't have any Psi Skill yet, it doesn't mean that the unit is incapable of protecting itself defensively from psi attacks. A unit's inherent protection is provided by the yet unknown Psionic Strength.

 

As an example, a tank cannot go through psionic training, yet it is still able to brush off offensive psi attacks rather easily. Why? A tank has 0 for Psionic Skill and 100 for Psionic Strength. Let's plug these numbers into my equation for mind control to see what is going on:

MCD = [(Psi Strength) + (Psi Skill/5)] * 30

MCD = [(100) + (0/5)] * 30

MCD = [ 100 + 0 ] * 30

MCD = 100 * 30

MCD = 3000

 

See, even though the tank doesn't have any psi skill, it is still able to protect itself with it's Psi Strength. Actually, psi skill plays very little role in defense early on because it is divided by 5. Assuming a unit had 100 for Psi Strength and 255 (the max) for Psi Skill, Psi Skill would only add 51 points extra to the 100. But because it's multiplied by 30, you end up with a MCD of 4530.

 

The "base psi skill" you are mentioning is actually a unit's latent Psi Strength stat. Even though Psi Strength is "Unknown" before 1 month of training it still is used for psi defense calculations.

 

Yes, units that haven't undergone training are at higher risk for psi attacks than those that went through 1 month. However, we are only talking about 3-5 extra points added to the soldiers psi Strength. That's not going to protect them much more than their Psi Strength stat already does (unless Psi Strength is very low - like 0).

 

Now this brings me to another point: All units that don't have Psi Skill, from aliens to humans, have a Psi Strength rating which is not visible when playing the game. Aliens that have a number >0 for Psi Skill, will have a visible Psi Strength when Probed or Mind Controlled. The only way to know these Psi Strength numbers is through the OSG. I'm thinking that the unitref[56] has those Psi Strengths listed too.

 

Ok, now for your question about psi amps and MC'd units. If your unit carrying the Psi Amp hasn't gone through any psi training yet, the aliens can't use the soldiers Psi Amp against the rest of your troops. That's because the Skill stat is still 0. If you equip an alien with a Psi-Amp who has 0 for Psi Skill, the alien can't use it. Pretty soon I'm gonna sound like a broken record, but any unit with 0 for Psi Skill can't use psi powers! That's the basic underlying principal governing psi attacks.

 

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Aralez:

 

Aliens do not need a "line of sight" to psionically attack your troops.

In your case though, once an alien spots a unit (or tank) of yours, it knows the location of the rest. The aliens also will then know the Psi abilities of your troops too. Usually, they pick your soldiers with the weakest (or lowest) Psi Strength, and go after them cause they are easy targets. To add insult to injury, the aliens intelligence rating allows them to "remember" the locations of your troops for a few rounds after the initial "spotting". I know, it's unfair because your soldiers cant do the same thing, but what can we do?

[Bomb Bloke]

Once the aliens start targeting a unit, I find that if the unit moves a fair distance from the place of initial attack, they'll back off (at least for a little while). If a unit get's continuosly mind controlled, if you ever regain control, get it to move as far as possible!

 

Sorry Zombie, I've had a tendancy lately of rambling about this that and the other thing as opposed to what I mean. What I'm trying to say is although units start with 0 psi skill, as far as it is possible to tell through the game... I think the game is *lying*.

 

unitref[037] is psi skill as the game displays it. It is set to 0 until the unit gains psi.

unitref[056] seems to be the same as psi skill for an initially psi enabled unit, BUT never changes. When a unit gains psi, the skill is set to this. This value is never 0, even for units which can never use psi.

unitref[057] is psi strength.

 

For example... a tank has unitref[056] set to a value of 70, but a tank can never gain psi skill, right? So what I'm thinking, is that maybe unitref[056] gets used in place of psi skill until the unit has psi skill enabled, at which point the game uses unitref[037] like it should. Unitref[056] would be used purely for defense.

 

I'm still thinking out loud, however. It could well be the case that unitref[056] does nothing of the sort. I'll do some test type things, and see if the theory is correct.

[NKF]

I'd actually like to know which stat tells the game to avoid using psionics on a particular unit.

 

Now that I've re-read then notes on psi, apparently psi skill only adds 0 - 20 (well 100/5 = 20, right?) points to your over all psi defense rating while you get to use all of your psi strength. The effect of skill doesn't seem much, but it is reasonable enough and wouldn't be immediately noticeable for a soldier with lots of psi strength.

 

But here's my questions. How can a soldier with 0 psi strength but a fair amount of psi skill use psionics just as well as one with 100 psi strength and similar skill? I know no one would dream of sending this unit out against psionic enemies, but how is it they can combat these strong psionic enemies just as well? (Okay, perhaps only for the first few turns...)

 

Either my recollection is really fuzzy, or could the game be doing a random number roll anywhere in the attack equation?

 

- NKF

[Zombie]

Everything in my bones tells me that there shouldn't an additional psi stat beyond unitref[037] & unitref[057]. However, I can't discount the fact that a separate psi skill is stored in unitref[056] for improvement. And why would it be set to 70 for a tank? Like you said tanks can't improve their skills. Answer me this though: does unitref[037] ever have a value other than 0? That's an important question that has been running through my head while writing this.

 

----------

 

NKF:

 

The max Psi Skill a soldier can hope to achieve without being in training is 100. (Well, there seems to be an additional "improvement" point based on usage, like Stamina does for a "cap" of 101). The max Psi Skill a soldier can ever hope to get is definately greater than 120 while in continuous training. I have yet to verify the max through emperical testing, but I'm thinking it's 255. Therefore, Psi Skill could possibly add 51 points to the Psi Strength (255/5=51).

 

Theoretically speaking, if a unit has a 0 for either Psi Strength or Skill, it's PCS (Psionic Combat Strength) should also be 0. PCS = (Psi Strength) * (Psi Skill). I have never tried using psionic attacks with soldiers having 0 for Psi Strength, but those attacks should always fail. Let me test this one out, as I have a few soldiers with a 0 for Psi Strength at my bases. I'll check back tomorrow with my results. We'll get to the bottom of this mystery yet! :lol:

[Bomb Bloke]

Unitref[037] does not change. Every unit has psi strength, even those that do not use psi. The easiest way to check this is with my map viewer (which I've only released an alpha version of, not the latest version). I plan for the viewer to eventually show statistics that you don't get to see in game, but I haven't got around to that yet.

 

There *has* to be a random number in the attack equation. Didn't spot that flaw this time round, but I do remember it coming to mind last time I saw it however long ago. Otherwise, an attack will either always work, or it always won't.

 

It always seemed to me that morale played a BIG role in psi combat. That would be one reason why aliens seem to use panic attacks before they go for mind control.

 

Since I'm one of those deprived people without the OSG, can someone tell me exactly what it is that page 227 contains?

[Zombie]

Simply put, page 227 of the OSG lists those psionic equations which I presented a few posts ago. Nothing really else of interest. If you want to see a scan of it, PM me and I'll send it your way.

 

As promised, I did a little testing with a couple of soldiers having 0 for Psi Strength. I also brought along someone with a 1 for Psi Strength to compare. These soldiers had been in psionic training for roughly 7 months, so their Psionic Skill was around 60. Now I sent them (along with some other high-psi soldiers) to take care of a Sectoid Small Scout mission. When I got there, my high psi soldiers took control of 4 out of the 5 Sectoids. The 5th was panicked so that the mission wouldn't end. After cornering the aliens in their spacecraft, my low psi test subjects corralled them in place. Let the testing begin!

 

First I tried to Mind Control the Sectoid soldiers with the two soldiers having Psi Strength of 0, and then went to the soldier with 1 for Psi Strength to see if he fared any better. After trying for 60+ turns, none of those soldiers were successful.

 

Next, each of my soldiers picked a Sectoid, and panicked it once per turn. The next turn I would Mind Probe the Sectoids to see if they lost morale. By golly, after roughly 10 turns the two troopers with 0 for Psi Strength were able to lower their Sectoid's morale to 70! It shouldn't be possible, but I guess it is.

 

Since I know what the Psi Stats for a Sectoid are, I plugged them into the PAD equation to see how high of defense they have:

PAD = [(Psi Strength) + (Psi Skill/5)] * 10

For the Sectoid, Psi Str = 40, Psi Skl = 0. Substituting into the PAD equation yields:

PAD = [(40) + (0/5)] * 10

PAD = 40 * 10

PAD = 400

Since my soldiers were able to panic, it must mean that the soldiers PCS (Psionic Combat Strength) is 401 or more. Assuming that Psi Strength is the variable, I plugged the soldier's Psi Skill number into the PCS equation.

PCS = (Psi Strength) * (Psi Skill)

401 = x * 62

401/62 = x

x = 6.47

My other soldier with a lower Psi Skill of 57 was also able to panic

401/57 = x

x = 7.04

 

Therefore, soldiers with 0 for indicated Psi Strength are somehow able to manage an average of 6.75 for their Psi Strength when doing Panic Attacks. This MUST mean that there is a random roll involved in calculating the chance of success. That roll is able to increase the total Psi Strength by probably 7 points or more.

 

Since I was unable to mind control the Sectoids, I'm thinking that my soldiers need to be in psionic training for a little while longer to increase their Psi Strength to compensate for the extra difficulty involved with Mind Control. In fact, to get the same 7 point increase in Psi Strength, I need my soldiers to to have 3 times their current Psi Skill. That means they need a Skill of 186. It's possible, but I need to get those troopers out in the field for more hands-on training. The only other thing I could do is fire up my soldier editor and edit those numbers in manually.

 

I'll continue to test this out, and depending on how busy I get, I could have an answer as early as tonight or early tomorrow.

[Bomb Bloke]

Psi strength, as we know it, does not change for a unit, ever. But maybe it gets run through a modifier...?

 

Ok, I ran some checks on unitref[056], and found my initial guess was incorrect. The match I'd seen to begin with had been a mere fluke.

 

It would seem the value is a percentage, or a chance, for... something. Coincedence maybe, but I still think it's psi related.

 

For any unit that is not an X-Com troop, the value is directly linked to the unit type.

 

50 - Female Civilian

54 - Snakeman

70 - Floater

70 - Tank/Laser Cannon

70 - Hovertank/Plasma

76 - Floater (Commander)

76 - Sectoid

78 - Muton

80 - Reaper

80 - Celatid

80 - Silacoid

80 - Sectopod

80 - Chryssalid

80 - Zombie

80 - Cyberdisc

85 - Etheral

 

A civilian is at the bottom, and the values work their way up to the Etheral on the top rung. Just below the Etheral is a list of units who cannot use items, and then we get down to the more normal aliens, along with our tanks.

 

A floater commander broke the pattern a bit. Other alien commanders didn't seem to, but I doubt I checked them all.

 

Whether these values are effected by difficulty, I dunno. I believe these stats were from a Beginner game.

 

Now, here's the other thing. YOUR units will have a random value here, 40 or less. I didn't work out the minimum, but I believe it to be 10 or more. When I say random, I don't mean it changes each game. It's generated randomly when you first get the soldier, and I don't think it ever changes over the course of the campaign.

 

So, this value is used in some equation. The first thing that came to mind was 'damage modifier', but that can't be right - you'd expect it to be the same for your troopers as well, in that case. Hence why I reckon it might have something to do with psi.

 

The test to try would be to get a normal floater, a commander floater, and a sectoid on the same map and do some psi tests on them with a single X-Com unit. The success rate should be the same for the commander and the sectoid, but different for the normal floater. If that's the case...

 

Anyway, I've uploaded another version of my Map Viewer. You can find it easily enough by following my sig.

[NKF]

Just in passing, I just thought I'd mention that I once gave a floater commander some psi-skill, and it started using psionic attacks on my soldiers. I just thought I'd mention this because your values for the floater commander and the sectoids are identical.

 

I don't know if it matters, because I haven't tried upgrading the psi skill of a unit that doensn't regularly use psi to see if they'll use it.

 

- NKF

[Bomb Bloke]

I'll try giving some other aliens skill, and see what they do with it.

[Zombie]

All aliens have Psionic Strength. Only some have Psionic Skill. Those aliens without skill have a level of 0. Increase that level above 0 and the game will recognize that the alien can use Psi powers. It's the same as X-COM soldiers.

 

From the looks of things, Psi Ability in aliens must be a built-in feature (unlike X-COM troops which need to use a Psi Amp). We talked about this a while back but never figured out what would happen. Now we know!

 

NKF: Last time I checked, Floater Commanders didn't have Psi Skill. Therefore, you did upgrade "the psi skill of a unit that doensn't regularly use psi".

[NKF]

I think I should've said that I havent tried it on any other non-psi units beyond the floater commander. This was a long time ago, and I think someone told me that that floater commanders could use psi at the time, and I was trying to find out. I've never seen a floater with natural psi skill, personally.

 

One other thought I have regarding those values is that they could be telling the game the percentage of TUs to use or leave. Apart from that, I still haven't a clue what they'd be used for.

 

- NKF

[Zombie]

Well, I have found the answer to what those Unitref[056] values represent. Yes, stupid ol' Zombie figured it out. While looking at Bomb Blokes list, I thought I recognized those numbers from somewhere. So I checked with the Official Strategy Guide. Low and behold, there on pg. 251 in the Alien Characteristics table was my answer. What those numbers represent is this: The base accuracy of Close Combat attacks, a.k.a. HTH combat. Here's a quote: "This characteristic applies only to aliens that are unable to used ranged weapons (Reaper, Chryssalid, Silacoid, and Zombie). And here is a condensed list:

 

54 - All Snakemen

70 - All Floaters

76 - All Sectoids

78 - All Mutons

80 - Reaper

80 - Chryssalid

80 - Silacoid

80 - Celatid

80 - Sectopod

80 - Cyberdisc

80 - Zombie

85 - All Ethereals

 

Close Combat Base Accuracy (CCBA) roughly equates to Firing Accuracy in terms of use. That value is a constant and doesn't change as the skill level increases. The strength of the alien is akin to the weapon accuracy. When these two values are multiplied together, the end result is the chance for success.

 

The CCBA number for aliens and humans without HTH combat attacks is a "ghost" value left over when the programmers decided not to impliment HTH for everyone. (Remember the "Rifle Butt to the Face" thread a while back? That was a discussion about using the HTH attack by "stacking" a weapon on a Stun Rod). The values are still there, it's just that the game cannot normally use most of them.

 

The value of 76 for the Floater Commander is a glaring problem. All floaters should be 70, regardless of rank. Who knows, maybe the OSG didn't get the number right. I would definately recheck to be sure.

 

The OSG does not give the HTH attack numbers for the X-COM HWP's. I know that the Strength value (which is very similar to CCBA) for all tanks is 60. It's definately possible that the value of 70 is the correct number. I'd also recheck these numbers to be sure.

 

I'll wager to bet anything that the CCBA numbers for X-COM soldiers equals their original Strength rating. When the soldier's strength increases due to improvement, the CCBA number should remain the same. According to my 1000 soldier list, all rookies have an initial strength (and CCBA) number between 20 and 40 (inclusive).

 

So a revised list should look something like this (assuming the Floater Commander is 70):

 

(20-40) - All X-COM Soldiers

50 - Male/Female Civilian

54 - All Snakemen

70 - All Floaters

70 - All X-COM HWP's

76 - All Sectoids

78 - All Mutons

80 - All Terrorists

85 - All Ethereals

 

That's about everything I know about Close Combat. Hope that helps to explain things a bit.

 

If you are going to be "decoding" any more values in the Unitref file, it might be useful to know the other values the OSG gives for the aliens. Those that are left are: Height, Aggression, Intelligence, and Victory Points. They are constants and do not change with skill level. I'm not sure if you have them yet, but in the odd chance that you don't, let me know. I'll be happy to send them along.

 

- Zombie

[Bomb Bloke]

I'd love to have those. I've seen some stats that could be 'maybes', but the only way to confirm...

 

Concerning height, I think I've spotted two values for that - a second for a kneeling unit. Any records for that?

[Zombie]

I PM'd you with those numbers, just to keep the length of my post down a bit.

 

The OSG does not give any numbers for kneeling. If you think about it, aliens cannot kneel anyways. The only units that have the ability to kneel are X-COM soldiers. Height should therefore always be a constant for the aliens.

 

I would suspect that a kneeling value for an X-COM soldier would be a simple boolean, either yes or no (or 0 or 1). Same goes for flight ability for aliens or X-COM units.

 

The height value is any one of these numbers: 10, 12, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21 or 23.

Aggressiveness is: 0, 1 or 2. Intelligence is: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8. Victory points go from 10 to 40.

 

If you ever run across a unitref column with a bunch of numbers in them, and you don't know what they are for, post 'em somewhere. I have memorized pretty much all the tables in the OSG, so if anything matches, I'll let you know.

[Bomb Bloke]

The comlumn I posted before I had to create manually out of multiple saves. I was kinda hoping someone would be able to find those stats in the OSG, but between the time I made the list and posted it, I forgot all about that... :lol:

 

I'm... fairly... sure you can get aliens to kneel, and that they have height stats for it. You see, one of the files I've come across (and may even still have) is one that allows you to play X-Com multiplayer.

 

Simply, it edits the save files between turns by some process, swapping control of the units around. Catch is the aliens can't use stuff unless you've researched it, but while running this little hack program, you can get the aliens to kneel.

 

Since they have no kneeling image, they end up being rendered shorter with no legs. Unless the programmer gave them a kneeling stat, the new height must have been stored in the original game files. *shrugs*

 

I know tanks are quite short. You can fire over them.

[Zombie]

Well, I have tried to get aliens to kneel many times in the past, and have failed. I tried it again right now. Nope, still no success. For these tests, I have been using the Playstation.

 

First, I mind control a "walking" alien. Next, I looked at the units TU. Then, I clicked on the "kneel" button. The image of the alien remained the same, as well as it's TU! Kneeling should cost something for the alien, if it was an enabled feature.

 

Now, I didn't try this on the computer version. It wouldn't surprise me if the programmers "accidentally" allowed aliens to kneel there. But I thought I tried it once and found it wasn't possible. Hmmm..... I must recheck!

[NKF]

No, you cannot have a mind controlled alien kneel. They just won't (my guess it's under the same restrictions as the inventory - you cannot access a mind controlled unit's inventory normally via the interface). You need to actually own the unit.

 

Hmm, here's a thought that might work on the Playstation. Get an X-Com Chryssalid and give that a try. You know the drill. Mind control a zombie, kill it, then wait till the chryssalid is under your control.

 

- NKF

[Zombie]

Way to think on your feet NKF! Yes indeed, that Chryssalid did lose TU when I tried to get it to kneel. 110 - 106 = 4 TU to kneel. 106 - 98 = 8 TU to stand up from a kneel. However, the image sprite of the Chryssalid didn't change during the process.

[Bomb Bloke]

As I said... A XcomUtil-a-like program is involved. I bet some units have a flag disabling normal crouching, and this program flipped the switch, so to speak. I bet there's a stat in there, much like the HTH accuracy stat.

[Jman4117]

I have swapped sides with the aliens and made them crouch. They just appear as having their legs imbedded in the sand.