Celatids

[Danial]

I was looking into Brainwaves earlier today, and it turned out to be very interesting. One thing that piqued my interest in particular, was that they range from 0.2Hz to 38Hz respectively of activity. Normal activity is around 15-20Hz, whereas deep, dreamless sleep is between 0.2-3Hz.

 

In regards to the X-COM universe, I was wondering if Celatids could not only "detect" brainwaves, but "see" their frequency. If that was the case, they'd theoretically be able to tell if a person was asleep, dreaming, relaxing, or even anxious (20-38Hz). If they can only simply detect them, all it would serve is to show the person's location.

 

What is everyone's thoughts? In a hypothetical X-COM world, do you think Celatids would "see" brainwaves, or simply "detect" them?

[Jman4117]

In a really X-com combat situation I believe that they would be able to tract humans around and know their state of mind.

[The Veteran]

Yeah, if the makers of the game had thought about it in as much depth as you have Dam, I imagine they would have come to the same conclusion. It would make sense that Celatids would use their senses as more of a weapon than anything else. By detecting brainwaves they have an effective scanner but by analysing them, they become deadly terror units.

 

They could simply appear and disappear at will until they sensed fear so great in their enemies that they knew they would be unable to retalliate. They would effectively be able to wait until a unit was panicking before making an attack on them itself. It would be a good function to have on a game where we played the aliens, it would have an acid attack and a kind of motion scanner/sensor option to find and analyse enemies.

 

The whole idea is actually pretty damn cool

[Jman4117]

It would be totally uber though and thus not a good thing to implement

[Quantifier]

i would say that celatids can't detect all brainwaves, lower frequencies are "invisible" to them.

they attack only people in "active" state of mind. if your soldier lies on the ground unconscious, enemy ignores him, and the only explanation i see why terror unit would ignore potential target is that it just can't detect/"see" him.

 

and what about tanks? does this mean there is actually man inside?

[Jman4117]

The onboard computer may give of an electrical field they can read

[Danial]

On several occassions I've seen civilians walk circles around Aliens, which means that in UFO, they obviously have no "anxious" state!

 

Implementing varying states of mind would be a cool feature to put into a game. Not only would it be useful to the Celatids, but it could also be somehow tied in to MC (like being easier to MC, the higher the frequency*), and also, it would require civilians to actually be asleep during late-night terror missions instead of doing the gardening or whatever it is they do outside at 3am

 

 

 

*It would certainly add another level to the gameplay if you had a MC "mind-state" modifier

[Bomb Bloke]

I heard about about brain wave frequencies during a lecture about electrical standards.

 

You can change the frequenices whihc go down the wire, that is voltage (or something). Crank it up to high and touch the wire, you get zapped, right?

 

However, before you reach those heights, lower frequencies can kill a human. They're simply tuned in such a way that they stop the heart.

 

Implementing mind frequencies in the game would be tricky. Troopers don't become anxious when they SEE aliens. They only get anxious when friendlies die. It COULD be implemented, but it would mean a re-write of the entire game engine... (Kinda like the one I'm trying to do now ).

[Kriptor]

In regards to the X-COM universe, I was wondering if Celatids could not only "detect" brainwaves, but "see" their frequency.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think that celatids must see the freqs, because every animal that have nervous system have "brain" waves, and the celatid won't shoot a muton or a cat or an ethereal

If that was the case, they'd theoretically be able to tell if a person was asleep, dreaming, relaxing, or even anxious (20-38Hz).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It can't tell if a person is anxious, but it can tell if that person is vigilant or oafish.

[Solitaire]

The idea of them actually seeing brainwaves, like we see anything else is really cool. I think that's feasable. Though, last time I checked, I didn't know what the hell I as talking about. So when someone with that there book-learning on this subject comes to argue the point; don't look at me.

[Jman4117]

But what happens when your tank is running around full tilt? Does the Cetelid's 'vision' get overwelmed by the drive motors or does it screen out artificial sources?

[Solitaire]

Maybe the tanks only give out a small amount of electrical energy in a frequency that the Celatid can see?

[FullAuto]

Do Celatids even have eyes? Or did I miss something?

[Solitaire]

I don't think 'eye' are the best way of putting it. I think (if this idea is good) that they have they are aware of frequencies like we are of sound, vision, smell, touch. It's just anther sense. 'Seeing' and 'eyes' are just an easy way of putting it in a concept we can grasp.

[FullAuto]

Fair one. Thought I'd missed a revelation there.

As for changes in mind-state, perhaps they just wouldn't make any difference to a Celatid? Whether sleeping or awake, calm or excited, they're still brain waves.

[Solitaire]

I don't have a clue... I think it might be wise to poke Danial with sticks until he researches this further...

[Accounting Troll]

I tend to think of Celatids as being like bats. A bat uses sonar to hunt and navigate at night although most species have excellent eyesight despite common misconception. A Celatid finds the approximate location of conscious humans by homing on on brainwaves, but it uses other senses to help it work out whom it should target. I'm not sure if the Celatid posesses intelligence by itself or if it is controlled by the Etherials in the same way as Mutons and Snakemen.

 

I also think the tanks have an operator as they are subject to loss of morale and panic attacks if the battle goes really badly: therefore they can be sensed by the Celatid.

[FullAuto]

Ummm...I'm pretty sure bats use radar, not sonar.

[Accounting Troll]

Please tell me you're joking Bats emit sound waves (not radio waves) which is bounced off things like trees, the ground and moths, thus enabling them to hear what is around them. This method doesn't work very well when there are lots of other bats in the vicinity and it gives away a bat's position to owls, which is why it is useful for them to have good eyesight as well.

 

When a Celatid detects human brainwaves, its brain probaly treats the information like sound. Distinguishing between X-Com operatives and civilians in terror missions would not be hard - a human who stands his ground or advances towards it is more likely to be a soldier than a human who runs away.

[Solitaire]

a human who stands his ground or advances towards it is more likely to be a soldier than a human who runs away.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Unless the soldier is French omglyle lol I r teh racistst!!!?!1

 

I wonder if it would be too much to go through all of the aliens and try to build up some rather weak pseudo-science tfor them? i'd imagine that could be a rather long and interesting topic...

 

What do you guys think of that?

[FullAuto]

Yes, joking...

Sounds like a bit of an idea, Solitaire. Going where the ufopaedia fears to tread.

[Solitaire]

Seems a rather daunting task.. where would one even begin with such a thing?

 

Sectoids I assume?

[FullAuto]

They do seem the easiest place to start, being humanoid and fairly stereotypical aliens.

[Jman4117]

Go into Roswell and human prehistory and such? Coolies.... :mad:

[FullAuto]

"Extremely large eyes...possible descendants of Japanese animated characters..."