Will there be targetted shots? I know it's real-time but what about something like Fallout Tactics's system. Or a chance system where you designate 2/3 of shots aim for torso and 1/3 for eyes or whatever ratio you want?

 

Little features like these are important in games, IMHO. Otherwise, will there be some sort of skill set for use in combat? In a way like Diablo 2, but obviously without classes and without powergaming. Cause it's not like you have spells or force powers. So what will make combat fun? Deus Ex style biomods/nanotech augmentations?

 

Because I'd hate to see combat end up like Dungeon Siege 1 where the only interesting thing was that you could use a better weapon from time to time. It'd be a moot point if the game were first person, but it isn't.

Blood, plus lots of sub-explosions, plus guns with impact.

Make it fairly lethal, force players to prepare for ambushes and such by using formations and scouting and similar military tactics. Make it visceral, show that players need to keep a distance to the xenomorphs by making alien close combat completely brutal, decapitations, guttings, disembowelment and such and on the other hand give the characters a relatively weak melee prowess, so that at most they can hurt or push back the xenomorphs. Take a nifty feature from Dawn of War and add sync kills, kicking an alien to the ground and shooting it's head off with a pulse rifle from one feet back not only makes the marine look completely bad ass, but you can tie it to possible leadership skills of the player character, by adding a morale factor to close combat. If the party member is scared witless or severely unnerved, he may be able to burst fire a drone to death, but a runner that makes it her face is instant death(unless someone helps her). Of course, a mechanic is probably not up for this kind of hands-on contact(I doubt anyone would be), or a medic.

You don't think that completely lethal close combat would cause the game to be too jagged... that it might destroy flow? I personally would hate to have to reload my game every 5 minutes because an alien got close and killed my team, regardless of how "visceral" it were.

The game needs chainsaws for close quarter combat. One-time use, kills the alien, nearly kills you.

 

But, in more seriousness, I'm not sure close combat needs to be completely lethal. However, given:

1) Aliens don't have much in the way of ranged attacks.

2) I'd find it incredibly awkward for someone to 'tank' the Aliens.

I can't think of any other way to really do it.

 

I wouldn't expect one-hit kill lethal. But, if an Alien gets into melee, it should encourage some sense of OH GOD, GET IT OFF ME.

You mean like the "hey look, a zombie is eating my brain!" minigames from Vampire: Bloodlines, while a team-mate tries to shoot it off you?

 

So lethality of aliens could be one way to keep combat interesting, supposing it doesn't hurt game flow. But surely there will be other things? Grenades as in KOTOR perhaps? I liked the way they were handled. Attack styles (the over-popular two pistols at once)?

Edited December 3, 200718 yr by Krezack

You mean like the "hey look, a zombie is eating my brain!" minigames from Vampire: Bloodlines, while a team-mate tries to shoot it off you?

Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that? In fact, I just did. I'm a genius.

Did you? Maybe you were the one who brought it up in the other thread. Still, I don't know if that's a suitable solution - it depends on what the team-mate limit is (if it's 3, it could be hard), and it also eliminates things like solo'ing the game (which some players like to do, if only after they've played it normally).

 

Is it safe to assume that aliens won't be the only enemy? Humans and synths will be too?

Of course it can't be purely xenomorphs, unless they are looking at making a very short game.

 

I'd assume that once the aliens show up, the difficulty rises to the occasion. It would be great if the game curb-stomped you when you meet the xenomorphs, after manhandling pirates and space scum for the last chapter or so.

 

The xenomorphs have to be a game-stopper. If there's one thing I wish for myself, purely out of selfish and masochistic wants, it's high difficulty curve whe dealing with aliens. Sure, once you have a couple of smart-guns and troopers with servos to carry them, drone swarms should die with relative ease, but that should be either a late game thing or a rarity, or be somehow balanced so that the introduction of the alienkiller doesn't ruin the difficulty entirely.

I think variety has to be the watchword. There should be quick and nasty bits, and slow and steady bits.

 

We've already discussed the fact that not all teh game should be about xenos. In my concept theer woudl be bits where you might fight gangsters, corporate security, escaped prisoners, and xenos. Theer could even be bits where the PC tries to fight their way through crowds of ordinary civilians trying to escape a subway station. That would be dashed unpleasant.

There's a wonderful scene in 28 Weeks Later, a decent zombie flick overshadowed by it's vastly superior prequel, where a crowd of civilians pursed tight is assaulted by a lone zombie. The runner attacks a couple of the already fearful folks on the fringe of the horde and panic ensues. What really made me cave in to the atmosphere was the almost tangible fear that quickly rushed from the very edge of the crowd to cover everyone and transformed them into a stomping, screaming and near-mindless flock of cattle for the zombies.

 

It would be neat if a similar theme could be used in Aliens as well. True enough, it's not entirely orthodox for the original sources, in the movies the panic came from being alone and completely outclassed, not from surviving panicking hordes. Nevertheless, if the character is someone who holds some authority, and not a regular joe in gray overalls, a segment that had you controlling and managing civilian or technician evacuation and had you controlling panic for instance, would be something I'd like to play. I don't mean an escort service attempt, like the awful segment in Half Life 2: Episode 1 in the train station, but something on a larger scale. And, if at all possible, something akin to Assassin's Creed's(and to a certain extent Dead Rising's) crowd AI and mechanics could be implemented, it could be yet better.

That just seems ridiculously complicated and potentially technically demanding for something that has large emounts of potential to turn out not even remotely fun. Turning an Aliens RPG into a crisis management sim for even a short period of time. It sounds like it would fit in better as a full indie game or perhaps even a full professional game if it were developed in Japan.

 

I can imagine scenes like the ones you're describing fitting in. But, it would mostly consist of a crowd panicing with a player merely making choices on how they alone act, controlling only your own panic. Trying to hold the Aliens off so people could escape, or yelling at them, fruitlessly, to calm down as they trampled over each other. My mind draws it as the PC character standing still for a moment, player looking at the character's back in a dramatic pose while people with frightened looks on their faces run past the camera, shifting around the PC and then the protagonist walks forward towards the source of the panic, gun in hand, ready to kick some ass.

Edited December 5, 200718 yr by Tale

I realise now that I was totally thinking 28 days/weeks later when I wrote my piece. However, I agree with Tale. I personally don't want a disaster management sim in the crowd bits*. I want the panicking wildebeeste feel as the predator appears amongst the herd. I think the loss of control, is improtant, as well as the realisation that (I don't know) you're going to get carried over the edge of a bridge unless you start bludgeoning people in order to get up a stanchion.

 

A big part of teh above would be getting the expressions and sounds right. Real animal terror.

 

 

*Depending on the character path the player takes, as I've discussed elsewhere.

Combat, What makes it fun?

Fallout.

I think I'd get more fun if I had a conversation and used my evil persuasion skill to convince someone to stay back, take one for the team etc.

 

Talking about tense conversations, would there be a time limit meaning we have to pick conversation paths quickly before the aliens catch up? Or will time be suspended?

Of course it can't be purely xenomorphs, unless they are looking at making a very short game.

 

Human enemies and allies: (just some ideas)

 

Weyland Yutani:

 

-Scientist : WY Labs

-Security Officers and Soldiers

-Corporate lawyes : Like Carter J. Burke

-Colonist and Workers

 

 

 

And dont forget ICC, like Van Leuwen.

I dug out my old copy of the Aliens RPG (worth having, devs). I noticed that the dropship the marines arrive in is called 'Bugstomper' with the slogan "We Endanger Species" This, as well as background in the book, suggests there are many hostile alien species besides the xenos in the film.

I dug out my old copy of the Aliens RPG (worth having, devs). I noticed that the dropship the marines arrive in is called 'Bugstomper' with the slogan "We Endanger Species" This, as well as background in the book, suggests there are many hostile alien species besides the xenos in the film.

 

You can see "bugstomper" and "endanger species" in the film. You can see too the slogan "We aim by PFM" (pure fuc*** magic)

In ferro's helmet you can see the slogan " flying friendly skys"

Ash states that in the first movie that the Alien is more important than the crew's lives because it is a scientific discovery. The idea is that it's the first Alien lifeform humans have encountered.

Ash states that in the first movie that the Alien is more important than the crew's lives because it is a scientific discovery. The idea is that it's the first Alien lifeform humans have encountered.

 

What about "not another bughunt"?

Giant killer roaches.

You know, the term 'Bug' seems to be overused.

 

Would be nice if we could use another term for the catch phrase IMO.

Ash states that in the first movie that the Alien is more important than the crew's lives because it is a scientific discovery. The idea is that it's the first Alien lifeform humans have encountered.

I've actually thought about this a lot. After watching both Alien and Aliens (which are 57 years apart), I have to assume that while "the" Alien race is very important because of its extraordinary lethality and terrible reproduction methods, other alien species have been discovered by humans. During the mess scene in Aliens, the Marines talk about Frost getting some "Arcturian poontang" with some jokes about their (presumably) hermaphroditic anatomy. Also, the Marines are constantly talking about "bug hunts" and there's the whole "Bug Stomper" logo. In the Colonial Marines Technical Manual, they also talk about other alien lifeforms, referred to as "bee bops".

 

I don't know if humans had encountered sapient alien life, but they certainly have encountered sentient alien life.

Well regarding other alien species, I especially enjoyed the Builder ruins in AvP2. But I'm a sucker for lost cultures, crumbling ruins and old civilisations. They're the best kind of mystery story. This was also good because the Builders didn't actually show up or anything. They were a sapient alien race but long gone so they couldn't "show up" humans or the Alien threat, or detract from each's own uniqueness/importance.

 

Unrelated: I think the devs should all watch the first 5 seasons of Stargate for ideas.

Well regarding other alien species, I especially enjoyed the Builder ruins in AvP2. But I'm a sucker for lost cultures, crumbling ruins and old civilisations. They're the best kind of mystery story. This was also good because the Builders didn't actually show up or anything. They were a sapient alien race but long gone so they couldn't "show up" humans or the Alien threat, or detract from each's own uniqueness/importance.

 

Unrelated: I think the devs should all watch the first 5 seasons of Stargate for ideas.

 

Stargate style its totally diferent from alien films. Alien films are more in a dirty realistic way.

 

 

During the mess scene in Aliens, the Marines talk about Frost getting some "Arcturian poontang" with some jokes about their (presumably) hermaphroditic anatomy

 

Sounds more like a geneticaly modified human, than an alien race. You know, stargate its totally unrealistic, aliens whit humans shapes, 2 eyes, 2 arms, 2 legs...are ridicuolous, as far as you know a bit of biology, natural selection, genetic mutation etc...