Chryssalids? Scary?

[Zombie]

The item/units are linked, but I still say they aren't the same thing.

 

But I didn't know corpses had more health then other items. On the other hand, I vagually remember that a heavy plasma is a lot more likely to survive an explosion then then corpse that dropped it.

Corpses do not have more health than other items. They have the least amount of health of any item. The reason why I question your theory of Unconscious Units = Items and Dead Units also = Items is because:

1) the unconscious unit takes less to damage than a weapon (item), and

2) a dead unit will always take less to damage than a weapon (item)

 

When using fire to damage things, the unconscious unit has to be killed first, forming the corpse. After the corpse forms, the fire will eventually consume the body leaving only the weapons behind. On top of all this, weapons cannot be destroyed using only fire, like bodies can.

 

When using explosives to damage things (as your name implies), things are a little different. One explosive blast near the unconscious unit will not only kill the unit but also vaporize the body. For this case, the unconscious unit could be considered a dead unit, but it still cannot be considered an item. Items such as weapons take much more damage to destroy than a body does.

 

It is anyones best guess whether an item=corpse=unconscious unit. Items are probably 100% resistant to fire, while bodies and corpses apparently are not. Bodies do not seem to be resistant to explosives, while items may have a little resistance.

 

Hobbes, any constitution numbers pertaining to bodies and corpses and weapons (items) would be helpful!

[Alien-Bait]

First time I encountered a Chrysalid...

*runs at my guys*

what is this thing, stupid?

*impregnates one guy*

AAAAA

I think you can take it from here...

[JellyfishGreen]

I see a challenge here. If you're wearing suitable armor to fend off the pathetic Zombie attacks, and/or can out-run them, and you manage to kill all the Chryssies at a terror site without harming any zombies, theories say that the zombies will NOT hatch on their own, only when shot dead. Any Chryssies after that must be ones you missed on your first sweep.

 

Anyone care to test the theory? Perhaps we could trap a zombie in a room (block the door with a power suit or HWP) and observe?

 

Hey Pumpkinhead! Maybe we could list zombie stats on the Chrys page of your UFOPedia.

[Pumpkinhead]

I'd thought of doing that, but for some reason, never got around to it

[Blehm 98]

I did the test, and they didn't hatch after 70+ turns I think that something official once said they will hatch after a while though

[Zombie]

I too, did the test. I sent the Zombie upstairs of a small grocery store - you know the one with a table and a few chairs and some cabinets. My guys downstairs blasted out the steps so there was only a charred spot on the ground. Now, a couple of soldiers stood on level 0 where the stairs used to be. This prevented the Zombie from wandering off. I had a soldier with a flying suit keep tabs on the Zombie by peeking in the window for 120+ turns and nothing happened. I don't know. Maybe this is "a watched pot never boils" hypothesis!

[Bomb Bloke]

It may be the case that they SEEM to pop on their own, due to, for example;

 

- Aliens blowing up fuel stations

- Aliens throwing grenades.

 

You might not see the damage get dealt, just the chrys on the edge of the blast.

[JellyfishGreen]

I think we have a key fact here for the Tactical Guide. NKF believes the Chrys will NOT hatch if the Zombie is killed with incendiary rounds (direct hits, not just burning to death). So if the zombies don't hatch on their own, there is no reason to fire at them with anything BUT incendiary rounds. If you can't be sure of vaporizing it (and don't have sniper support at the ready) then hold fire.

 

Of course, terror sites tend to have a lot of crossfire. I wonder if the Snakemen will ever deliberately pop a zombie?

Will HE or other explosives vaporize the zombie and the egg together? If there's no body, will the chrys not hatch?

[Zombie]

JellyfishGreen:

 

Snakemen (or any other main alien race for that matter) are pretty unintelligent to begin with. Would a Snakeman ever deliberately "pop" a Zombie? Nope. But when they are trying to shoot at civilians, they might miss. The shot flies off and connects with an "unlucky" Zombie. I have seen this happen many times.

 

JellyfishGreen Posted on Jul 26 2004, 05:48 AM

Will HE or other explosives vaporize the zombie and the egg together?

I assume that your description of "vaporizing the Zombie and egg together" means killing the Zombie and vaporizing the resulting Chryssalid. Right? No gun, or explosive in the game has enough 'oomph' to do this. It always takes multiple hits.

 

Take the Blaster Launcher/Blaster Bomb for instance. A Blaster Bomb fired at a Zombie will only impart enough damage to turn the Zombie into a Chryssalid. Checking the Chryssalids' health/armor stats after the explosion shows no reduction in either. The High Explosive pack is the same. It has enough strength to turn the Zombie into a Chryssalid, but any extra damage does not get carried over to the Chryssalid. You have to hit the resulting Chryssalid with another high explosive blast to vaporize anything. Oh well...!

[Bomb Bloke]

Aliens often use grenades against civilians, killing themselves. They could easily catch a zombie in the blast.

[Alien-Bait]

Yes it makes my job alot easier when the aliens blow themselves up early in the mission

[JellyfishGreen]

Just a few more things to report. I loaded NKF's savegame to get three zombies chasing the super-soldier around. Some rounds I let them attack and some rounds I just let them wander.

- After at least 50 rounds, no zombies ever spontaneously hatched. This wasn't the CE version, it came on a DOS-installable CD.

- Neither the zombies nor Chryssalids (after a swift few grenades to prompt the hatching) were able to move up the level from the Skyranger ramp into the 'Ranger itself. A Chrys at the top of the ramp was facing my soldier, who could stand well back in the Ranger or right at the very lip facing the ramp without being attacked. Once the soldier stepped onto the ramp, he was attacked. Inside the Ranger is a pretty safe zone from melee attacks, apparently.

 

Now to edit that savefile and give someone a flaming autocannon.

[Zombie]

- Neither the zombies nor Chryssalids (after a swift few grenades to prompt the hatching) were able to move up the level from the Skyranger ramp into the 'Ranger itself. A Chrys at the top of the ramp was facing my soldier, who could stand well back in the Ranger or right at the very lip facing the ramp without being attacked. Once the soldier stepped onto the ramp, he was attacked. Inside the Ranger is a pretty safe zone from melee attacks, apparently.

Interesting observation, but I seem to remember Chryssalids attacking my men while they were standing in the Skyranger. I had 2 guys standing side-by-side at the top (lip) of the Skyranger, while a Chryssalid stood at the foot of the ramp. Next round, the Chryssalid came up the ramp and attacked one of my guys.

 

I know for a fact that Chryssalids can attack your men if the level change is via steps. Skyranger ramps or inside a craft? Gotta check... It sure would be nice if there was a safe-haven for your troops in case Chryssalids are present.

 

- Zombie

[Danial]

- After at least 50 rounds, no zombies ever spontaneously hatched. This wasn't the CE version, it came on a DOS-installable CD.

Are we still going on about this one? As I said earlier in this thread, I don't care what anyone says, I've personally witnessed a Zombie turn Chryssalid on its own

 

Perhaps the answer lies in a difference between the original UFO: Enemy Unknown UK release and the re-released X-COM: UFO Defense in the US, did we ever sort that out?

[Stun Grenade]

I get attacked on the ramp all the time!!!

[Zombie]

I just thought of a reason why Zombies might spontaneously hatch into a Chryssalid.

In two words: Fatal Wounds.

 

If you mortally wound any unit, the number of this type of wound will reduce health by the same number. For example, if a soldier has 3 fatal wounds, his/her health will go down by 3 points every round those wounds remain unhealed. When health drops below 0, your trooper is dead. Roughly, the same thing should apply to Zombies: reduce health below 0 via fatal wounds, and Zombie hatches into Chryssalid.

 

Perhaps Danial (or a Snakeman) mortally wounded that Zombie by accident. It would therefore appear to spontaneously hatch, but in reality it was suffering from fatal wounds. And the only way you would know is to either Mind Control it, or Mind Probe it.

 

The next task is to prove this theory of mine that Zombies can get fatal wounds... and die from them.

 

- Zombie

[Danial]

I can accept this explanation... assuming, as you pointed out, that Zombies can even get fatal wounds

 

If your tests come back positive, we might have finally solved the "spontaneous Zombie popping" mystery that has plagued mankind for centuries!

[Zombie]

Even if Zombies can hatch into Chryssalids via fatal wounds, it probably does not explain the seemingly droves of people claiming to witness this. Perhaps version does play a role, but I'm wagering my money on fatal wounds at the moment.

[Blehm 98]

From what i can tell, there is no way that an alien can get fatal wounds, no matter what editors i use, or looking at their stats, or shooting the crap out of one and then checking for fatal wounds, the only way to get fatal wounds is to edit them for aliens.

 

I am thinking that perhaps these people claiming to see zombies hatch are probably just thinking they saw one hatch, i mean, seeing three zombies one turn, then five turns later they see three chrysallids is pretty convincing

 

It is likely, that they could have been accidentally hatched while the player wasn't looking, or that stray explosions got them

[Jasonred]

Version check everyone! There's too much conflicting info which could be easily resolved!

 

For me, I not only seem to recall an alien with fatal wounds, if I recall right, I might have actually seen one unconscious alien DIE from fatal wounds. mmm...

 

This was on the PC X-com Gold Edition, if I'm not mistaken. Needless to say, this seems to also be a spontaneous Chrysallid hatching version.

 

... this might seem a little weird, but, has anyone tried landing within visual sight of the zombie, in a place it can attack? My memories of spontaneous tranformation makes me *SEEM* to remember spotting zombies, saying to myself, oh, it'll never be able to reach me, it transforms into a Chrysallid, and plows into my squad....

[Blehm 98]

i have the *link removed* version, so i do know that what i said is true for that

 

[Edit by Zombie: removed link.]

[Danial]

I am thinking that perhaps these people claiming to see zombies hatch are probably just thinking they saw one hatch, i mean, seeing three zombies one turn, then five turns later they see three chrysallids is pretty convincing

 

It is likely, that they could have been accidentally hatched while the player wasn't looking, or that stray explosions got them

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The time I remember seeing it happen, one hatched right in front of me, so something's not as it seems...

[Blehm 98]

i am very annoyed - i edit my post, and discover my double was deleted so i dont have the original

never mind this

[NKF]

One hatched in front of you? Could it be the cause of a missed reaction shot?

 

Can fatal wounds transfer from one of your existing soldiers over to the zombified state? I highly doubt it, but it's worth a look.

 

- NKF

[Danial]

One hatched in front of you? Could it be the cause of a missed reaction shot?

No, there was no shooting involved... And this was back on my 486, so it was nice and slow

 

Can fatal wounds transfer from one of your existing soldiers over to the zombified state? I highly doubt it, but it's worth a look.

That's definitely worth checking out...