Openapoc: [Cityscape] Alien Movement between buildings - Implementation ideas

[FilmBoy84]

One of the roadmap issues for 1.0 is resolving aliens moving between buildings and from UFO crash sites

Here i hope to discuss ideas for how we want this to work in OpenApoc

In the OG, aliens would both spread from the building they are dropped at, but also retreat from combat zones to move into other buildings... This currently does not happen in OpenApoc.

Things to consider:

• Aliens in crashed UFOs need to move into the city buildings when their craft self-destructs... How do we pick where they go? Simple nearest building? Or do they split forces so eggs and chrysalis are moved to safer buildings such as nearby friendly organisations whilst combat units move to the current infiltration targets?

• How do aliens split their forces between buildings? Mission Type? Organisation relations? Unit type? Alien Infiltration stats?

• We need to implement real time movement of aliens (like agents move) around the city, not just teleport them... This was the case (although unseen) in OG... Do we limit them to people tubes and walking? Or do we allow them to move freely in real time and assume they are using sewers and pipes? The latter was the OG option.

• We need to implement aliens in the city being killed by falling tiles and destruction of the tiles that hold them precisely the way it is dealt with for agents in the city. Suspect the aliens are in a people tube or hiding in a slum block? Shoot it down! Aliens totally controlling a building? Blow it up! (at a cost to relations and score of course)

Please feel free to post all ideas and code queries here...

[Quickmind01]

1. Depending on what humans can do, I think the aliens should have to follow the rules X-COM (humans) do. If they leave their craft, they should go to the nearest building. Otherwise, they have the ability to travel anywhere on the map while X-COM, in their own dimension and city, cannot. Heck, my scientists can't pass through People-Tubes if Transtellar doesn't like me, and for some reason, they're unable to hop out and make the trek around the building. I think they should be free to move once they've arrived at the building which should be normal behavior at that point.

2. I would probably say Mission Type first. One or two of the others can fit under Mission Type. For instance, striking at another organization or X-COM. The aliens would probably want to start at a friendly organization before striking out.

3. Tough call on this one. Are you saying the aliens used sewers and pipes in OG? I didn't know that if that's the case. I guess my answer would depend on what is available to X-COM and what other ideas are being implemented. I guess I could go either way.

4. This makes sense. Though, I wonder how the population of the city changes when buildings are leveled? Could we turn Megaprimus into a ghost town by leveling it? What happens to the non-security civilians when a building is destroyed? This is probably too large in scope, but it might need to be considered when it comes to organizations losing agents/equipment as well. I can understand an organization not being "defeated" like X-COM if their building(s) is(are) destroyed.

Those were some really good things to consider, and some things that sound like they fit into the espionage idea that was dropped from the game. Tracking would really help with finding where the aliens are moving if it were to get implemented.