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Author Topic: Psionics Revamp  (Read 5102 times)

Offline Slaughter

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Psionics Revamp
« on: December 31, 2016, 11:51:54 pm »
Note: I haven't played through much of the X-COM Files, through I played a nice chunk of FMP. Don't spoil me.

As we know, psi in X-COM ins't perfect. Mainly, it relates to player use - psi is not really very limited by anything, so the player can just scare or mind-control aliens en masse and generally use psi better than the aliens. It doesn't really take many resources and such.

(did they fix the "AI psi focus fire on the psi weakest soldier" AI bug? I know a guy who had a mod which did that for the original game)


Some ideas I had:

1. Line-of-Sight Psi for the player, traditional psi for the aliens: Pretty much what the title says.  The aliens have psi for hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of years. X-COM picked up psi yesterday - it was a know phenomena on Earth, but considered bunk. To the aliens, tho, its estabilished science.

2. Psionics Tech Development: The aliens use psi with cybernetic amps or even no amps, humans have to use the psi amplifiers (mind benders in apoc). Then we pick up the tech and know as good as them? Seems preposterous. Instead, it would make more sense to have two or three levels of psi amp tech.

4. Psi resources. The obvious resource here are bodies of psi-active creatures - Sectoids (especially Leaders and Commanders) and Ethereals.

5. Psi weakens with distance. Of course, alien psi probably should't do that, because screw you player.

6. Psi charge. In Apoc psi spent psi energy, but it expended TOO much energy for not enough return. I think the simpler thing is to just use stamina for psi. Alternatively, use morale like dog does.

Offline Solarius Scorch

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Re: Psionics Revamp
« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2017, 12:03:43 am »
(did they fix the "AI psi focus fire on the psi weakest soldier" AI bug? I know a guy who had a mod which did that for the original game)

Arguable a feature, and a vanilla one, so... :P

1. Line-of-Sight Psi for the player, traditional psi for the aliens: Pretty much what the title says.  The aliens have psi for hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of years. X-COM picked up psi yesterday - it was a know phenomena on Earth, but considered bunk. To the aliens, tho, its estabilished science.

5. Psi weakens with distance. Of course, alien psi probably should't do that, because screw you player.

6. Psi charge. In Apoc psi spent psi energy, but it expended TOO much energy for not enough return. I think the simpler thing is to just use stamina for psi. Alternatively, use morale like dog does.

Some of these ideas have already been implemented. Some not. :) But there are some other to balance it out, like max range for the Psi Amp.

2. Psionics Tech Development: The aliens use psi with cybernetic amps or even no amps, humans have to use the psi amplifiers (mind benders in apoc). Then we pick up the tech and know as good as them? Seems preposterous. Instead, it would make more sense to have two or three levels of psi amp tech.

Maybe there will be several stages... Like more advanced psi-amps? I'm not sure yet, although I do have some loose ideas (a flying brain HWP as an ultimate X-Com psionic, lol).

4. Psi resources. The obvious resource here are bodies of psi-active creatures - Sectoids (especially Leaders and Commanders) and Ethereals.

I... don't really like this one. It's interesting game-wise, but psionics shouldn't depend on dead matter.

Also, aliens in XCF are regularly buffed, which includes psi. :P

Offline Eddie

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Re: Psionics Revamp
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2017, 01:30:19 am »
Another idea I've seen in some other mod:
Have two soldier classes, one with low psi skill and cap, one with high psi skill and cap but weaker other stats. In the other mod the psi soldiers were hybrids.