Hi.
I have been thinking about an aspect of the XCF.
If I understand it correctly, one of X-Com's mission objectives is keeping the whole monsters/cults/aliens thing secret from the general population.
At the start of the game, there are cults, sometimes monsters. Cults could be kept secret easily enough, monsters only if they do not terrorise a city.
But there comes a point, where X-Com engages in open fire-fights with aliens across farms, forests, etc. These places tend to be free of civilians, but the easy explanation for that is, that they ran away from the landing/crashing UFO.
The point is, by 2001, pretty much the whole population would know that there are aliens and that there is someone fighting them.
So how about introducing 2 research topics.
I. The Masquerade
Time: Very short (2)
Dependancies: None
Building: Intelligence center
Points: 0
This would tell the player about the next topic and allow them to research it.
II. End the Masquerade
Time: Very short (2)
Dependancies: The Masquerade
Building: Intelligence center
Points: -10000
"We revealed our existence to the general population. The council hates this, but it means we can now recruit proper soldiers and we will not be blamed for someone accidentaly stumbling on the secret."
Researching the second one would end Concerned Citizen missions, End events of the like "Someone found a weird fish, -100 points" and allow recruiting soldiers with boosted minimal starting stats.