Zrbite location in Cruisers?

[magic9mushroom]

I just resolved to finally have a go at TFTD on Superhuman. I had to save-whore through part of my first mission when an alien camped for over 100 turns in the tail of the Cruiser with a Sonic Cannon and shot everyone coming in through the doors. I used a GC-HE round to kill him, which went off against the very tail of the Cruiser.

 

When I finished the mission, the Zrbite was gone. No other explosives had gone off in the ship. And the GC-HE's blast radius isn't large enough to reach the IBAs with sufficient force to destroy objects from going off against the back wall of the ship.

 

So is the Zrbite actually in the tail?

[Zombie]

Tail, front, whatever. It spawns underneath the right globe at the tip of the craft. See the end of this post for the particulars.

 

- Zombie

[NKF]

Most of the ships look like some form of manta ray, with the cruiser being the most prominent. That would make the entrance the head. The only other really unique ones are the Fleet Supply cruiser which is either a squid or a king crab without its barb, and the Battleship which reminds me of a turtle. But being submersible UFOs, I suppose it hardly matters which way they travel. They could stand upright for all we know. The intro however does suggest that they use the broad end for attacking.

 

As for zrbite locations, you can't always match up a zrbite pod with the IBAs. Just keep an eye on your overhead map or watch for the tell tale yellow bars at the base of the interior objects of a USO or a colony.

 

- NKF

[Zombie]

Traditionally, the head of the craft is at the opposite end of the main entrance (which is either an East or a South facing door). Barring that, the bridge would determine orientation. I guess in this case, neither do? I can't really see a craft orientated with the big end going first as that would put tremendous pressure against the weakest link in the hull: the doors. That would be a helluva design oversight. Then again, the USOs must employ some sort of force field to eliminate drag underwater so orientation wouldn't matter much.

 

Alien Sub Construction says USOs are modeled on (not after) sea creatures. I would hope that the alien designers took some liberties and propelled the Cruiser the opposite way the manta/sting ray travels.

 

- Zombie

[NKF]

They've already got the Xarquids floating in the wrong direction than the Nautilus that they're based on. Then again, they are alien, so they can get away with a lot of stuff.

 

If the UFO/USO exteriors had been coated with image tiles so that they looked like proper saucers or streamlined submarines, it wouldn't be too outlandish for the Cruiser to move with its larger end like a manta after throwing in a few things like hull forcefields and IBA propulsion.

 

- NKF

[magic9mushroom]

Tail, front, whatever. It spawns underneath the right globe at the tip of the craft. See the end of this post for the particulars.

 

- Zombie

 

Ah, no wonder then. That's exactly what my shot hit.