| Purpose Of The GeoScape |
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The purpose of the geoscape is to provide the player with an overall view of the world on which (s )he is playing. It will display player bases and also that of all the known Alien buildings. Also the geoscape is where players interceptors will hunt down and engage enemy craft. Upon successful downing of an alien vessel, the player may want to send a recovery vessel filled with Talon agents to recover or destroy remaining aliens and their technology and/or ships. The Geoscape will also be one of the most central parts to the game, with all other options begin reached from this point. In effect the geoscape and accompanying side panels will be the main interface for the game it self.
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| How The GeoScape Functions |
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In essence the geoscape acts just as the real world does, It has a day/night sequence that sees half the globe in darkness while the other half is in the light. It is a replica of the earth itself, With approx 60sec=1day/revolution at standard speed. This can be speeded up as required for the quieter periods in Talon, Although with some luck… this may be almost never ;) The geoscape itself is self-running. But the player has almost full control with how the globe is acting. Ie : Zoom in and Zoom out function, Rotate world globe and of course slow down and speed up time. The globe should contain a DATA layer that controls many aspects of how the tactical battlefield will be played out (More on this later). This layer should also communicate directly with the cloud layer which is also determining the conditions of a battle in this region. This may also include the difficulty of shooting down an alien vessel in this area. Ie : 50% cloud cover = rain, with some wind, this may apply a -10% hit ability for the Talon craft attacking the Aliens. A scale of weather might apply something like this: - 0% cloud cover = fine & clear - no wind - 0% hit ability 25% cloud cover = partly cloudy - little wind -0% hit ability 50% cloud cover = rain - some wind -10% hit ability 75% cloud cover = heavy rain - medium wind -15% hit ability 100 % cloud cover = torrential rain - strong winds -20% hit ability (More on this topic later) The globe in effect, is a playing board with a player starting by building a base somewhere on the world's surface. Shortly after this the player will begin to receive messages about UFO's, This message will be a pop up display that will ask the player a number of choices, some of these may be: - · Reset game time to standard and focus on UFO · View UFO Location with out resetting game time · Go to closest Talon base and reset time to standard · Go to closest Talon base with out resetting time · Continue on present course (J) After this sequence the player may either choose to ignore the UFO or if available the player may select the closest Interceptor and pursue the UFO, In the event of a Talon interceptor being destroyed then the player will be exited back to the GeoScape view to either attempt to attack the UFO with another interceptor or they can simply play on with the game. Alternatively if the player takes down a UFO then the interceptor will automatically return to it's home base and the player may then choose at (s)he's leisure to send out a recovery team, i.e. shuttle bus... (?) From any base that may have one available. This is much like a interceptor except they only have X weapon hard point's and can carry up to X amount of Talon agents on board. If the player chooses this option then the shuttle (For lack of a better word) will depart from its home base en-route to the downed vessel. Upon arrival at the crash site the player may be presented with a number of options. These might be: - · Stealth landing (May take longer then normal to land but the aliens will not know the player has arrived yet, The down side to this is that the aliens have longer to dig in :: THIS OPTION WILL NOT BE AVAILIBLE STRAIGHT AWAY AND IS ONLY GAINED THROUGH RESEACH OF ALIEN TECHNOLOGY::) · Rapid descent (This is by far the fastest way to get to the ground. How ever the aliens will know that the player has arrived and will be more alert. They will more then likely be pinned down inside the UFO still “if the player got there in a short amount of time” (This might be something like: - For every 30sec there is no TALON activity another 2 aliens leave the ship.) Note… This can be anything; these numbers are just example and are subject to change · Survey crash site (This is a patrol of the crash site, The TALON shuttle will scan the area to see if it can get an idea of what is below. I.e.: 3 live beings, small amount of E115 detected ECT, ECT. Open for debate. This would be a researchable advancement that's not available from the start of the game. I.e.: Only after some contact with aliens will it be possible) · Bombard crash site (this is designed to even up a fight against a possibly more advanced alien or one that out numbers the TALON shuttle by more then 2:1 ratio. This option may only be available for certain circumstances and will cause a greater amount of damage to alien vessels and surrounding area, reducing the chances of recovering any useful components from the UFO and greatly upsetting the local government, this option should be used with extreme caution). · Abandon crash site ((Self explanatory)…hmmm… “Just in case”. ;) This is if the player realizes that they no longer wish to recover this particular vessel or the odds are to far against them to play on, or maybe the phones ringing… what ever!) |
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