x-com bases with sizes other than 6x6?

[moriarty]

I was wondering: how hard would it be to have x-com bases that have sizes other than 6x6 small facilities?

I mean, other than the problem of actually displaying them in the basescape view, is it possible at all? restricting the game to a base of 4x4 (two hangars plus seven facilities or one hangar plus eleven facilities) or even 3x3 (one hangar plus four facilities) to make the game harder might be fun. or a modded game where you only have one base, but that base has 12x12 facility spaces?

is there any part of the base layout that is still so hardcoded that this would be completely impossible?

another interesting thing would be bases with other shapes (3x5? 2x8?) or spaces that cannot be built on... like in apoc. is there any easy way to make this possible? maybe it would be possible for "scenario"-type savegames to create a "facility" (named "rock" ) that does not need to be connected to the access lift and can only be placed or destroyed in debug mode? this would make it possible to reduce the available space

[Warboy1982]

graphics aside, this would be simple to pull off code-wise.

[Danny]

Maybe cheaper initial base cost, as you have less space.

Listening posts don't need much space ^^

Or bigger more expensive ones for large manufacturing facilities...
Maybe add 2x2 or even bigger workshops that work more efficient, reducing costs and needing less raw materials... =3

[SupSuper]

You can already have n-sized facilities.

[moriarty]

You can already have n-sized facilities.

oooh, I'm going to add a 6x6 facility giving you all you ever wished for, which you'll never be able to build - just to annoy the hell out of people 

[Hobbit Lord]

In theory this idea sounds really awesome, making the base smaller as an additional difficulty

As for larger than default bases, I'm not sure what you'd use the extra space for. I can fit pretty much everything into the starting base, my additional bases are radar/interceptor outposts

Larger bases would make sense if you guys (or modders) are planning to add more buildings/facilities?

A single large base with lots of winding corridors would be great for alien infiltration/base invasions


Also, has anybody suggested multi-level bases? I don't remember which remake featured this. Make use of the additional floors (currently base only has 2?), use elevators and stairs/central lift shaft to get between them. Could 2 maps be superimposed in base view? Eg a 1 and 2 button to switch between them

If you allowed moriarty's single large base idea, could the additional base slots in base view (where you can move between base-1 and base-2) be used to represent different floors of the same base? In essence hack it so all the different bases are actually the 'same' base, in the same location, sharing/pooling the same research/manufacturing/storage capability, and using a single multi-level battlescape when under attack

^ not sure if that's clear

[Warboy1982]

multi-level bases were a TFTD thing, i think they had 4 or 5 floors

[Hobbit Lord]

multi-level bases were a TFTD thing, i think they had 4 or 5 floors

What? In the unmodded game?

I don't remember that


It turns out it is the new Firaxis game (which I haven't played) which has this, saw it in a gameplay video

[SupSuper]

What? In the unmodded game?

I don't remember that

He means in the Battlescape, base facilities were 4-levels tall: https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Sub_Pen

[kkmic]

Yeah, they were 4 levels high.

An improper base layout could result in a very long base defence mission. It would have been easier to sacrifice an Leviathan (no lose it, but unable to use it while being repaired) than to face a wrong-layout base defence mission.

(I could not believe how easier the terror sites and base defence missions were for UFO compared with TFTD - I've played TFTD first)

[moriarty]

If you allowed moriarty's single large base idea, could the additional base slots in base view (where you can move between base-1 and base-2) be used to represent different floors of the same base? In essence hack it so all the different bases are actually the 'same' base, in the same location, sharing/pooling the same research/manufacturing/storage capability, and using a single multi-level battlescape when under attack

I think this is a great idea, but it would be very difficult for base defense missions, don't you think? If you want it to be a multi-stage mission (like TFTD's alien bases), that would probably be possible, but where would you start? sure, the aliens will come down from the top level, but they would probably move down the main lift rather quickly, so you would basically be fighting on all levels simultaneously...

of course, it would be interesting to start on the bottom level with only some of your soldiers, then once you cleared that, you will join the soldiers one level above that who until then were holding the aliens off (a.k.a. nobody died, perhaps some wounded on both sides), and you have to fight your way to the top level. kinda complicated, truly epic-scale if done right, but then again, in this kind of game it would be your only base, so that would suit the situation just fine, I guess

[Solarius Scorch]

Well, you don't have to build your lower level around the main lift. You could instead use additional lifts/staircases (which would be a new type of facility, present on both levels) to move up and down, and place these away from lifts/hangars.
Anyway, there is no need to add another base layer unless we have more facilities to build (maybe a hospital ward, a training facility other than Psi Lab, a cyber enhancement facility etc.). Which I totally support.

[Zharkov]

You can already have n-sized facilities.

Could you elaborate?  Where is this defined?

[Arthanor]

Any time this topic comes up, I remember this . It had so much potential. That plus ruleset support to restrict base number and size would give us everything needed for any 2D base craziness. I personally like the 2D bases better than 3D (easier to see it all at once and digging wider should be easier than deeper), with the one exception of having a surface layer (where aliens can spawn anywhere) and an underground one (where they are restricted to one entry point).

[Solarius Scorch]

I personally like the 2D bases better than 3D (easier to see it all at once and digging wider should be easier than deeper), with the one exception of having a surface layer (where aliens can spawn anywhere) and an underground one (where they are restricted to one entry point).

This, so much.
But it'd require some sort of toggle to switch between upper and lower parts of the base.