Quote from: Kailem on Dec 25, 2022, 09:24:51 AMIt definitely sounds like losing marines is going to be something that happens and you're just going to have to deal with it.
I remember in XCOM you could get kinda fond of your soldiers if they managed to make it through several missions in one piece, and it sucked to then have them die later on in the game. It was a cool way of making you actually care about what happened to them without any of them having any sort of real character or personality.
Sounds good to me!
I hope friendly fire and acid blood spray/splash damage is a real thing in this game, forcing the player to be as cautious and calculated as possible, or things will go south faster like an express elevator to hell. Stress, fear and exhaustion should also have a big impact on the marines, just as the leadership of each squad's NCO.
Also, make each and every Xenomorph a dangerous match, making the kill count for each mission low - I'm talking 7 to 10 adult xenos killed per mission at the very most, not counting facehugggers, eggs, chestbursters or incapacitated/severely wounded xenos. Like, pistol bullets should ricochet 9 times out of 10 against adult xenos, shotguns should only be lethal to adult xenos up close, flamethrowers should only ward off and disorient adult xenos but should be an effective lethal option against eggs/chesbursters/facehuggers, whereas pulse rifles/smartguns should be the most effective way to kill or incapacitate xenos in general, with the downside of pulse weapons resulting in the most far-reaching range and radius when it comes to acid blood spraying and splashing over nearbyish marines. Using grenades or explosives too close to a friendly marine, who's still outside of the blast radius, should still shell-shock, stun or knock over the marine temporarily. Sentry guns, proxy mines, PUPs etc. should be the mainstay of any successful mission.
If you want a incapacitated or severely wounded marine to survive, you will have to escort them to an APC, dropship or an extraction zone. The saved marine still won't be able to be used again until the next mission. Field medics should only be able to heal light wounds (light acid wounds, light shrapnel wounds, friendly fire pistol bullets or stray buckshot, light burn wounds), administer drugs that lower stress and trauma.
And NO powerloader fights, please!
