Brainstorming Features

[bovine_cannibal]

1. Trained mutants! Ever want a pet chomper?
   
2. Reticulan whipping boys
   
3. Exploding muckstars
   
4. New species of human: Brute. Gigantic, superstrong, unable to weild most equipment
   
5. New species of human: Troll. Specializes in pyrokinesis.
   
6. New species of human: Fanboi. Specializes in modding equipment. High defensive skill.
   
7. New mutant: Giant Cockroach. What?! Didn't you think it odd that humans survived the apocalypse but these didn't? Get realistic enough, and they'd be scarier than any of these mutants.
   
8. Random unique traits, inspired by arcanum or fallout tactics. I want bloody mess! And yes, I do expect bloody mess and plasma weapons to have a slight downside. Namely the complete destruction of equipment.
   
9. Random unique trait 2, hypercaffinated. This character does everything faster. Turn that katana bug into a feature! Downside: need to keep producing coffee in your medfactories/biolabs.
   
10. Random unique trait 3, Windows Cyborg operating system. Make your own jokes.
    
11. Quadruple barreled laser shotgun: tradeoff between coherence(Range) and power.
    
12. Atmospheric effects on weapons. Lasers excellent in a vacuum, useless in rain or smoke.
    
13. Multiple environments - space, hi-g, lo-g (watch that grenade travel forever!), aquatic, dimensional rift (watch physics be bent and broken).
    
14. Air support - call in strafing runs. Fortified enemy position? Tactical nuke it. Just make sure you control the airspace first.
    
15. Shoes. Boots with a knife hidden in the sole for killing unconscious flatsters. Nikes- bring in the advertising revenue and provide a speed boost. Anti-gravity shoes: downside, low traction, every bullet can knock you around. Bio-gecko boots. Inspired by that wonderful lizard, your units can now walk up walls in low-g environments.
    
16. Minigames- whack a wargot! Now with artillery.
    
17. Easter eggs- Frogger. Cross the road while dodging traffic and rockets. Die, and die again. True to original.
    
18. New weapon- soupersoaker 500,000. Loads napalm, acid, and water for those wicked witches of the west. I'm melting!
    
19. New species- beastmen. Heightened sense, marks territory with acid urine (perfect for finishing off flatsters), and new smellovision.
    
20. New training- sexchange operation. Disappointed by the amount of men in your army? Wish your male scouts were stealthier? Your female human commandos tougher? Get a sexchange. Fun for the whole family.
    

[Accounting Troll]

Trolls? Pet chompers? Whack a wargot (sounds like a twisted version of Pong)? I don't know what you've been smoking, but I want some :mad:

 

I particularly hope that Altar adopt the different environments suggestion. The lunar missions just don't feel right when you have the same gravity and atmosphere as on Earth. The Wargot mothership missions would also have been more interesting if soldiers had a penalty to their speed, capacity and throwing skills.

 

I would like the diplomacy expanded so that the other factions can have diplomatic relationships with each other. If two factions start bickering with each other and you are allied with one of them, the other faction should automatically become distrustful of you. It would probably be a good idea if you could also mediate in disputes.

 

The ability to recycle surplus weapons and equipment for raw resources or to give them to allied troops, thus making your allies slightly stronger. It's a bit wasteful having a squad of maybe twelve soldiers and having over one hundred SPAS-12 shotguns in the armoury.

 

Field artillery such as mortars and light cannons. Mortars would be particularly useful because of their ability to fire OVER buildings.

 

Smart missiles. Modern smart missiles can go down a chimney or hover over the battlefield while looking for a suitable target. Altar would have to be careful not to make them overly powerful like the blaster bombs in X-Com.

 

Custom battles, rather like in X-Com Interceptor or the Total War games. You select the units and weapons for each side and then have a one-off battle independent of your main game.

[bovine_cannibal]

A bit of thought onto smart missiles or aircraft support, and possible gameplay mechanics to limit abuse while making gameplay more interesting. Imagine alternate objectives in the same mission. Obj. 1- kill all enemies, Obj. 2 - knock out AA turrets or warp interference generator. And tactical nukes would be a bad choice if you were on any kind of extraction mission, but would make for an insertion objective.

 

Like the custom battles idea. I've often wanted a 'war games' or training mission mode to allow me to try things out, or understand what my tactics might look like from the other side, controlling both teams so I can play around with cover and other concepts.

 

Oh, and what I was "smoking" was Godiva hot chocolate. Yes, I was TUI, typing under the influence.

[infael]

I'd like to rename squad tabs. I.e. renaming "Squad A" to "cultists", "Squad B" to Wargot Squad".

 

And an confirmation to trn off a track. A few times I've accidentaly turned off a track while trying to lay a new one.

[komplex]

I was just think what made X-COM so good, along with a few other favorites..

 

-What about Vehicles? Or robot tanks like X-COM..

 

-More of a back end.. like for example mines and buildings should require hundreds of people to run them.. So in a way people are another resource.. If not enough people staffed in a building then the building only runs at a % of its full power...

 

-Diplomacy like CIV or MOO, where you can ask them to attack or defend for you, or even share technology both ways.. tribute, terror tactics etc..

 

-A better GUI to allow your troops to face a certain direction, I find it very clumsy now... or even a special better sneak or stealth mode, where anyone on this mode moves slow but stealthy and people with stealth bonus even more so..

 

 

-Multiplayer mode, I can think of some ways to add a multiplayer co-op or death match version to the current game... but the easiest way would just to offer multiplayer just in the tactical mode.. have about 20 or so scenarios we could play.... laputains vs cyborgs, or mutants or even laputains etc.. you could choose a "tech" lvl to play.. for example use only "human weapons" or just "blades" or only "lasers" etc They can even add a money value to everything and give a money amount to spend for multiplayer battles.. it would make the game more dynamic..

 

-Some defense in missions.. pill boxes, traps, trip wires, dug in troops, even ambushes.. and smart troop movement.. the cpu should always go for cover, try to range fire if getting ranged at.. and WATCH their flanks!! Even make them smart enough that when they hear shots or movement they try to come up on the flank, or pick a front attack or rear attack at random so you get rushed in all directions the other words (smart cpu flanking, or coordinated attacks).. Also why not have them call for help.. radios let them call in for help from others in the level, calling in potions of your troops etc..

 

Just my 2 pennies

[bovine_cannibal]

Dangnabbit. These are some good ideas, but why not have a little fun also. I want smart AND stupid ideas.

 

Vehicles: modified clown car: will carry 20 troopers in a very small space.

Serious: Unarmored hover platform/lift. Allow you to set up artillery, or simply ferry troops across a small lake. Then, there's ATVs. Amphibious APC?

 

Vehicle: Breaching Assault Vehicle: Rams through the wall of a hostile complex and unloads troops on the other side. Obviously, it wouldn't breach everything, and might be somewhat slow.

 

Politics: you're on a strange planet. Suppose your first contact is with the criminal underbelly of an alien society. Perhaps they hit you up for protection money until you establish a "reputation".

 

Politics: French aliens dislike your politics, so your congressional body declares reticulan fries will now be called freedom fries.

 

Politics: Diplomatic alliances through marriage (yes, thats a hot reticulan:P). Hostages (yes, I can smell the controversy), but not necessaily of the criminal/terrorist kind. I think historically some groups cemented shaky alliances by marriage or by guesting the other nobilities children. Party A would send their son to party B as a show of faith, and vice versa.

[komplex]

I AGREE! Great Idea's.. I'd like feed back on mine so Im going to give some feed back on my favorite idea's you guys came up with (this is brainstorming after all)

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bovine_cannibal:

-Trained mutants! Ever want a pet chomper? = Great idea! I could picture sending some mutants on "point" to take some fire..

 

-New species of human: Brute. Gigantic, super strong, unable to wield most equipment = sure why not! Mars has lower Gravity after all..

 

-Multiple environments = this would just be neat! It would add a whole new aspect to the game

 

-Politics: well Alien gangsters is a very creative idea, but lets not limit it.. Diplomacy is a great in general...

 

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Accounting Troll:

 

-if soldiers had a penalty to their speed, capacity and throwing skills = YES! that would be great.. so people just can't throw worth a darn..

 

- I would like the diplomacy expanded = Fighting factions! which affects your standing with one or both of them, maybe having to choose sides! mediate a dispute.. I love it!

 

- Custom battles = I mentioned this also.. So of course I think its a good idea.. test some new strats etc..

 

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infael

 

- And an confirmation to turn off a track = YES! I've done this myself, its very annoying, and not to mention a waste of resources

 

-I'd like to rename squad tabs = post this as a mod idea.. im sure it would be easy to make re-namable tabs

[Crazy Gringo]

Eh!....

Better grenade throwing....Low/High arching....Bouncing them off wall/ceilings....

And actual ceilings and floors in the tactical mission enviroment. There is nothing like watching a grenade arching high over a supposed ceiling in an interior enviroment and nuking half your squad.

Better explosion effects/modelling....Fragment damage from fragmentation grenades. Burn damage from phosforous grenades at the time of impact and some lingering damage effect for that 'burning' feeling. Blast effect from explosives that sends objects/people flying.

[Preda]

1- An imitation of the HL2 Combine SLAM(Selectable Lightweight Attack Munition) maybe? These bombs are a 2-way explsive. You can set them as a remotely-detonated bomb, or a laser tripwire mine.

 

2- Space-time distortions: this requires a far more complex engine and advanced optical effects, but imagine what it would make out of teleporters and warp weapons

 

3-Nanotech, maybe? A weapon that fires a devastating cloud of molecular-destruction-nanobots. The cloud behaves like a unit, replacing the soldier wielding the weapon. It vanishes after some time, or returns to the gun.

 

4-Wargots; Starghosts: I want to know how the Starghosts look like. It would be more than awesome if both species had sent a fleet after the renegades that attacked Earth, like the Reticulans did.

[ArdRaeiss]

1) Other player-like factions/enemies/neutrals, i.e. AI-controlled small group with bases, research- and manufacturing- plants, missions (with/against player), squad and squad training/healing/reinforcing, equipment, resources, politic.

This can be independent "Project Anti-UFO" or evil "Cult Survyvors" with known target(say "kill all aliens" or "cult must reborn"), alien group with unknown target.

 

2) Non-linear storyline. Or, at least, more-that-one way to finish game.

 

3) Vehicles. At least small AVF. Controlled by team member or special AI(consume 1-2 system slots)

 

4) Improved weapon- and armour- upgrade system.

 

5) Battle fields - Mars, Base(m.b. underground), Fobos(l-grav, vacuum!), space platform/craft(artificial grav, m.b. earth-like - h-grav for Mars).

Random map generating with major 3 types:

1. Storyline mission. Fully preconstructed or combined from 2-3 special "Last mission" or "Grand alien tomb assault" parts.

2. Combined from preconstructed parts base-, crafts- and "old-city" missions.

3. Random maps, generated by templates("random base", "random crash site"...) from external text-file(for modding).

 

6) More space for items - shoulders, belt "pistol slot", etc. Pistol slot used only for pistol-like weapon with special command "take pistol" - drop current gun and take pistol as fast as possible. Left-hand manipulations with items on belt(take ammo, insert into gun). Back "gun" position for rifles-like(no rocket-launchers) weapon.

 

7) Passive(always on) "Aliens"-like scanners as one-hand weapon (right hand - pistol, left - motion detector). Active scanners must work as "switchable" items - swtich on/off, not "one time use". In active mode slowly use battery.

 

8) Low-level grenade throwing! Why soldier can't throw grenade forward in door frame instead throwing almost to roof? Again, grenades bouncing from walls.

 

9) Diffirent envyronments on battle fields. In space squad cannot use "open" armour - player must construct special "space heavy" and "space light" suits. Early Mars env also can't support life - m.b. this will be changed during game by aliens or player manipulations?

 

10) Composite damage model - say first impact(damage #, dmg type #), explosion(dmg #, dmg type #, radius #), then burning(dmg #, dmg type #, duration #).

 

11) Non-circular field of view(non-optical/infrared scanners and psi users have circular fov).

[bovine_cannibal]

1 & 2). Non-linear storyline (maybe alternate techtree) based on which factions you align yourselve. In terms of Aftershock, imagine taking a cultist route, or assimilating into the cyborg faction. "Resistance is futile."

 

6). Heathen! Nobody shall mess with the sacred commandment "Thou shall not use thy left hand."

 

As much as it might go against the rpg spirit (of rolling dice until you get the stats you want and great warriors starting weaker than civilians), why not let you custom order soldiers. Suppose it gets prohibitively expensive as a countermeasure, its the future, your on an alien planet with a limited population, why not let you clone woody allen if you want to?!

 

Instead of fixed backpacks, perhaps options. Ammo bandoliers, dual sword scabbards over the back instead of a backpack, or cargo pants from Old Navy.

 

Honestly, I despise random maps. I find Diablo 1 & 2 complete bores, but Nox and Sacred... While I feel strategy and tactical games are better suited for random maps than action rpgs, I still almost never play randomly generated maps in RTS. I may be exagerrating my opinion mildly.

 

Take a clue from freedom force and the sims and allow heavy support for either user models, skins, or meshes to customize their soldiers. Maybe in-game support such as many boxing or wrestling games have for making your own fighter?

 

Select-A-Voice-Pack: Want all your soldiers to sound like sylvester stallone? How about Ozzy Osbourne or George W. Bush, or Kim Jong-il. How about the Beatles!

[Gimli]

A few things that are not tied to the gameplay: demo recording, log files (VERY useful for the support forums), being able to change some things through a .ini file, such as the resolution, aspect ratio etc.

[Space Voyager]

My wishes (will add more in time):

 

- more diplomacy

 

- trade; I want to be able to trade my excess weaponry for whatever. An idea; perhaps you should be trading equipment and resources for equipment and resources (all combinations) untill you research something like "monetary system". Than you buy and sell, while the prices are influenced by the demand.

 

- larger maps

 

- random maps

 

- more diverse missions; perhaps a stealthy mission would be to land far from a building (max. 3 soldiers), infiltrate it, steal plans or whatever. If you are discovered, you must move the squad to the capsule (or whatever transportation will be used) in a certain ammount of time or your men are overrun. If you fail, you loose the squad. Oh, oh, and another mission is added - rescue your squad.

 

- basic AI for your soldiers; at least shoot on sight.

[Chi Tsung]

Ok.. I'm new here..

 

Here is my wish list..

 

* mission generated at provinces should be more systematic.. e.g

 

first mission (always)

- send out scott unit to observe what are the hostile unit out there

- this can determine the next available mission (e.g. rescue, escort, attack base, get unique item ??)

 

second mission

- depend the natural of the mission (e.g attack base)

- you need to get rid of the defenses first...

 

third mission

- of course killing everyone is the base...hahaha... of course...

 

* randomness of map. I found AS maps are quite limited.

* more and more guns and weapons accessories

* human should be able to change race.... for example. if a soldier seriously injured, he should not be able to heal completely, decision to make is to either make him 'sleep' with honour or converted it to cyborg !...

* some hard work for soldier, make them jump, hang, climb (like jagged alliance 2)

* I want blood ....pleeeeeeaaaasssseeeeeee....

[Crazy Gringo]

Seeing the trend with the american XM25 and XM26 modular weapon systems I would like to see more weapon customization options like:

'Build/customize your weapon kits' Convert that singleshot weapon to a alien killing machinegun.

 

Different barrel length/twists, intregal and attachable silencers, accelarators, compensators.

Different trigger groups.

Different buffers.

Picatinny rails equipment galore(up till 4 extra goodies a weapon....).

Different scopes/aiming equipment.

Different butt stocks normal/foldable/extendable/snipers.

More Ammo types like AP-explosive/Incendiary/phosforous for bullet/slug based weapons. (When a shotguns breaths fire it has got to hurt.)

[Kalak]

My wish-list:

1. The ability to take prisoners even if you are not on a specal 'Capture-Mission' -> to study your Enemies alive (and dead - after the interrogation) like in the X-Com games. I never understood why you kill all the new aliens you have never seen before (Wargots, Starghosts) and at the same time get missions to capure another 'Special' Morelman.

2. More different alien species - including some 'rare' ones you don't see in every mission. Exept the Atoll & Scuttlebugs I think I saw every type of unit a faction had after the second or third mission against them. After that you never see any new aliens fighting for that faction.

3. Different missions for the enemy - the only thing the aliens do in Aftershock is attack to conquer an area or destroy it (->Pillar of Death). They could destroy important installations you have to protect, assassinate/abduct your scientists/engineers/VIPs, build/supply bases, have secret meetings to infiltrate your planet, try to free your alien prisoners, ... It was really cool when you cracked the enemy communication sytem in X-Com and knew what they were planning.

4. The species/races in the game should be divided into sub-categories (-> Jobs) ...the missions would be much more interesting if you could capture an enemy doctor/engineer/... and then interrogate him, her or it for information. Or you could kill all the soldiers protecting enemy scientists to make them surrender.

5. The other factions should also do research. They could steal stuff from you or capture & disect a Cyborg to learn how to make implants themselves ( -> ) or learn how to create new mutants . Or finish an 'Anti-Human Poison' Project if they capture enough subjects to experiment with.

6. Building your own air- or spacecraft (different types with many equipment possibilities) to fight against UFOs.

7. More complex base-building possibilities and larger bases -> defensive positions, communication relays, anti-air defense, cell blocks/containment chambers for human & alien prisoners, power stations, hangars, ...

[sandstig]

Other than the things everyone else has already suggested such as larger, random maps, ability to rename squads (groups), I'd like to add:

 

1. Shorter loading times. (Heck, even with 1GB of RAM you spend a few minutes waiting for a tactical mission to load )

2. Ability to station your troops in different bases. Thus, your troops in London, shouldn't show up when you're viewing your base in New York.

3. Larger transports allowing you to carry more troops.

4. Pseudo-military rank structure, with higher ranking troops giving a morale bonus... and a morale penalty when they get killed

[MJ12 Commando]

More modding features for weapons.

 

You know that XM8? Give it an extended barrel and it turns into a marksman rifle for snipers. Or give it a short barrel and reduced stock to turn it into a one-point-five handed SMG. Lots more attachments-I want some kind of underbarrel shotgun, at least, so you could combine the fun of short-range shotgunning with the fun of long-range plinking.

 

More movement features for soldiers. I mean, splinter-cell and action-movie style stuff like dive rolls, jumping through windows, maybe even leaping off buildings if you have high enough skill. As a corollary, add an 'acrobatics' skill in Misc. keyed to agility, or acrobat training, or something you need for the more advanced moves.

 

The ability to fire on the move. A toggle setting like 'fire when moving' or 'stop to fire'. Firing on the move would obviously reduce accuracy.

 

A 'suppress fire' order where your guys put random unaimed fire in a sector to keep enemy heads down. Burns through ammo, but keeps enemy heads down... unless they're stupid mindless mutants, in which they'll charge through and die anyways.

 

As a difficulty setting corollary, add 'damage settings', like:

Arcade: Standard damage levels.

Tactical: Most of your guys and most of the enemies can only take four or five good hits from weapons unless given good armor.

Realistic: X-Com style, one shot you're in real bad shape, style.

 

Armor which doesn't just reduce damage by a percentage, but negates a flat amount of damage first, making it so that heavy armor is no longer rediculously vulnerable to 9mm ammo.

 

The ability to buy, sell, and trade weapons you don't need for weapons you do.

[Preda]

How about longer, more imaginative weapon and tech descriptions, like those in Aftermath. Aftershock tech reports totally sucked, and I'm planning to change them with a mod.

 

Vehicles should be in. I would LOVE to see a Wargot vehicle(in the form of a MASSIVE floating tank with guns on it ), or a Halo-ish 3-seat warthog rover.

[Space Voyager]

You should be able to see how many pieces of a certain equipment you already have while you are in the manufacture screen.

[Krabjuice]

Fully destructable enviroments. And I mean fully. With enough grenades, i'll create a subway.

[Space Voyager]

When I want to put something into the production I want to know how much of it I have. In Aftershock you need to jump between the production screen and the squad screen constantly... So my wish for Afterlight would be that the number of items in the stores (preferably without the ones already equiped) is visible in the production screen.

[Lochmacher]

* What about a device that allows the molecular deconstruction of items? Too many shotguns? Break them down for their source materials!

 

* Instead of levels and ranks of training, how about actual RANKS? Private, sergeant, etc...

 

* Make alien autopsies yield more practical results. Who cares how large their brain is, except to turn it into mush with a .50 round? Increased criticals!

 

* When aliens attack a structure, I want to be able to place my troops! Also, make the enemy use a stinking point of entry such as our landing pods!

 

* Greater control over pausing options! I hate my psionist! She "sees" things all the time and really isn't helping by pausing everything for something nobody can shoot!

 

* What? No water? I have yet to see a map with any water in it. Just a thought.

 

* The ability to lean out around corners. Not imperative, but would be incentive for light/no armor.

 

* Selectable skills instead of vocations. Would allow for greater customization of units.

 

* More logical tech progression. Why is a sniper scope such an enigma?

 

* Hand to hand combat without blades! A commando should have attack options when empty handed! Again, little/no armor a plus.

 

* Larger, but fewer, bases. This way you could incorporate things like terraforming to increase the size of bases over time etc.

 

* A new, universal standard weapon system where all parts are interchangeable to make all manner of weapons. A basic firing core, fitted with a .50 barrel, stock, and scope makes the sniper, but the same core with a short 9 mil barrel, no stock, and a large clip equals a submachine gun. Basically, choose barrel length (affects accuracy and aiming time), firing mechanism (full auto-semi, semi, bolt-action, burst), caliber (uses what ammo type, changes damage), stocks (aiming time, accuracy), and loader (clip, manual feed, belt). Maybe too drastic, but I would like that IN ADDITION to other mods such as laser sights, scopes, silencers, etc.

[Xomul]

i) Vehicles are a must...at least a mounted turrent or something for base defence

 

ii) exploding suicidal disillusioned colonists. Your team of soldiers are the ones who try and make mars habitable before de-frozing their cargo of human settlers...what if a few are de-frozen, deemed not for the job cos they simply went crazy, hows that!

 

iii) turning system reworked....these are professional soldiers! they should do those cool SWAT turns without me telling them to and takes less than 0.2s to complete

 

iv) move while shooting

[TYR]

Just one thing for me... MOD TOOLS

 

because then all these funny features may be possible. I would suggest a signature thread where we demand a proper way to mod, this would include a plugin for 3ds or any noname 3d tool and a compiler tool.