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« on: September 22, 2015, 06:58:06 am »
One of the more significant complaints that I would make against TFTD (after complaining about Gauss weapons) are the overly large maps.
On a general mission, capturing a USO, it isn't too bad. Really. Especially once you get Displacers.
But Alien Colony Missions are much, much too large. For starters, on the first stage, you land in three different areas of what is the same map layout. You've got the tower in the center with the MC asses and tentaculates and the secondary tower in the upper-right that has windows the aliens can shoot out off.
The second stage is where the crap just gets silly. You have THREE floors of the alien base, and all of these floors are as big as a general map in the game. Elevators, nooks, hallways, intersections all work to make each floor (again very large ones at that) a massive pain to go through.
There are dozens of aliens on this stage, but actually most of the base is literally empty space. In Vanilla, the the lobster douche commanders will be next to the control device, but otherwise the lobsterman stick to the edges of the map rather than the center, at least on the second floor. Tenta's will be buttholes and hide in nooks.
Granted, there's a way to deal with it effectively. Meridian's Rush, which involves running in with grenades, blowing up the control device, and running back out. Displacers are even more effective and made destroying colonies more of the "once or twice a month" thing that destroying bases where in UFO Defense.
But I just can't help but feel that the size of colony missions is unnecessary. Maybe mod them so that you only have to deal with one floor? And it would be random as to whether it would be the 1st floor type, the 2nd floor type, or the 3rd floor type.
Another idea is that maybe terror missions should be completely eliminated. It just seems like the game should be all underwater, all the time. One thing that TFTD does well is the underwater environments, especially the alien colonies, and artifact sites. The rarer terrain types--like shipwreck, underwater lab, and Atlantis--are all cool and nicer to look at than a lame island or port.
I was thinking, we could have artefact sites with more varied alien set ups. Not just Tasoths and Aquatoids with tentas and jellyfish, but the whole gambit. I think all land terror units should be able to show up in the water. Including Triscenes (which that one document said were supposed to be "rays" as in stingrays I guess).
Lemme know what you think.