So I had a thought about vision, and how the cone isn't exactly on point. In reality, we can see things in the corner of vision, but blurry, and particularly movement. My idea is, have a check to allow for peripheral vision (160 degrees, or 180, if thats easier) in which a check, and calculation is done, for both detection of units, and reaction fire against them.
The check would operate, I imagine, as such : Say a hostile unit enters a friendly units peripheral view. Each square away increases its effective ability to blend in , since movement is harder to detect on smaller things, and things appear smaller further away. Smaller targets get an additional buff for difficulty in detection, while larger units are more easily noticed. So lets say a large 2x2 unit has a "blend" factor of -20, a large -10, medium -5, ect. Just ball parks. Then you also factor in the units camoflage, lighting, and if the target is on fire (a bright light would obviously be noticable). At the end of this you then get a moving units score, for blending in. I suppose you could also factor in melee as a psudo stealth factor for this. and their own reactions perhaps? dont know..
The check for the peripheral viewer, would weigh first, LOS if that would allow them to be seen with normal vision in this direction. If this fails, and they would be invisible in full view with those circumstances, it immediately fails the check. If not, it weighs reactions, and current TU's (tus being the theory that you spot better when still, and still means no TU's used). In the end, if the score is better for the viewer than the attacker, perhaps the unit could be displayed as a black blob moving, similar to "enemy activity" normal observation, but obviously obscuring identity of who. Reaction shot then would weigh the TUS of both units, and if the viewer passed the reaction check, t would incur a reactions shot, with -20% accuracy (for sudden, jerky shot) and 5 energy.
I figure this could make stealth a little more risky, and make flanking attacks a little less deadly to the right units. You, or the ai, would need to min max to make the most of it, but it could potentially save you, or kill you when sneaking up on an aliens side. It would also add an advantage to lighter armors, since helmets would eliminate, or Nerf peripheral vision.
Sorry my math isn't the best for this. My idea is, that, the further away, and more camo you have, the easier you remain un-noticed, while a person with amazing reactions, and full tu's might be able to cover a whole hall alone against invading mooks. small idea, but I still wanted to share it.
