A:CM plot surprisingly close to Aliens Colonial Marines Technical Manual (1997)

[gold]

The best bit of genius for mine was how it made the whole escape from Hadley completely redundant by leaving the colony almost entirely intact after a 40 megaton nuclear blast.

- It's WHY it was "late" to pick up Ripley and Newt from the processor, not because it had to "circle around because the platform was getting unstable".

Why did it jeopardise the specimen by going to pick up Ripley and Newt instead of flying away?

Also how did the suddenly evil Bishop send "live" data when there was no communication uplink after the destruction of the APC?

As it happens I was having a play of Stasis Interrupted yesterday and only just noticed - the fire that caused the evacuation was almost completely absent.

Those are what they are I'm afraid. It has many errors like that. The names on the lockers have incorrect first letters on some marines, etc. There's many goofs.

Great question on why it picked them up at all. It was an easy pickup and guaranteed specimens to impregnate immediately. The egg/facehugger might have been injured or in an unknown state. Best to impregnate immediately as the embryo is what counts, not the egg/facehugger if you ask me.

I see you're playing Stasis Interrupted just now. I finished it a few weeks ago and it has taken me this long to let all 4 sources "simmer" in my head. (A2, A3, CMTM, Game) and come up with my conclusion.

Notably the CMTM. I read that months ago and all those "little juicy facts" I quoted were bugging me. Obviously they're added for a reason but I just couldn't figure it out, so cryptically written all of it. I believe I now have. Also noone (that I have found) has bothered looking into those sentences in the TM in depth all these years. Admittedly it is cryptic, but once you figure it out it all slots into place (A2, A3 and CMTM) The game script follows on from that and you can see that whoever wrote it had "cracked" the CMTM. There are absolutely some holes but I feel my summary is consistent within itself overall.

Feel free to read it again, I've clarified some parts through edits just now.

Also, if you'd like, I can send you an edited pecangame.ini to replace your own in my documents, games (after backing yours up somewhere safe, to put it back if you like.)

It's one single (tiny) file that improves the look of the game considerably. My version has been collected from bits of advice on the net over the years and completely changes the lighting, shadows, aliasing, time bodies stay where theyfall, etc. It changes the game quite a bit. (I haven't tried the templargfx mod yet, (if you have that installed my .ini would be pointless for you.) Crap, that's all if you're on PC I forgot to realise.

[SM]

Wasn't that also a Mikey Neumann original?

I believe Neumann is the only listed writer, but those BSG guys often get mentioned.  Dunno how much of their story survived intact.

Great question on why it picked them up at all. It was an easy pickup and guaranteed specimens to impregnate immediately. The egg/facehugger might have been injured or in an unknown state. Best to impregnate immediately as the embryo is what counts, not the egg/facehugger if you ask me.

Almost crashing into the platform doesn't sound like an easy pickup, with seconds before the place exploded.  Additionally, Hicks was in no shape to fight off a hugger and therefore a prime host.

PS: and if the ENTIRE franchise (Prometheus prequels, Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection, CMTM, Video Game, WYR) is CANON as Fox have repeatedly said (much to everyones confusion), there you have it

The only canon video game is Isolation.  None of the information or events in A:CM are referenced in WYR.  Until Blomkamp's film, Hicks is still dead.

Not that I doubt your assertion that CMTM and A:CM can fit together.  For me, the point is moot.

Also, if you'd like, I can send you an edited pecangame.ini to replace your own in my documents, games (after backing yours up somewhere safe, to put it back if you like.)

It's one single (tiny) file that improves the look of the game considerably. My version has been collected from bits of advice on the net over the years and completely changes the lighting, shadows, aliasing, time bodies stay where theyfall, etc. It changes the game quite a bit. (I haven't tried the templargfx mod yet, (if you have that installed my .ini would be pointless for you.) Crap, that's all if you're on PC I forgot to realise.

Thanks for the offer but I'll pass.  I rarely play A:CM, and even then it's just to mindlessly shoot Aliens and laugh at the appalling dialogue.  Like when Stone kills a WY commando and yells 'That's how marines do it!', before telling Hicks he doesn't want to talk about his past as a marines.

[gold]

Thanks for the offer but I'll pass.  I rarely play A:CM, and even then it's just to mindlessly shoot Aliens and laugh at the appalling dialogue.  Like when Stone kills a WY commando and yells 'That's how marines do it!', before telling Hicks he doesn't want to talk about his past as a marines.

You're very welcome. Lol yeah, it's full of things like that. Like the first time Bella comes on the radio she says something like "THIS IS BELLA", and when she's done speaking O'Neil goes "THAT SOUNDED LIKE BELLA".

It's nuts. But I love it regardless, I'm (have always been) an Aliens 1986 nut. That whole James Cameron look, the over the top weapons, the James Horner music, that company scheming for a share, etc. I've always wanted to delve into THAT world, esp. after reading the CMTM and DH Book one and Book two, I wanted to know more about those gritty places.

I loved Alien: Isolation too, but quite frankly it makes me shit my pants. Lets put it this way: I stopped playing that after I ran out of underwear. But the low fi tech design was amazing in how it captured that '79 version of 2130's.

And to be honest it's more about you vs the alien and I'm much more interested in the greater "world" of that universe.

The A:CM game is the only visual media today that is a sequel to that Aliens world that I wanted to explore and its nowhere near as bad once you make sense of it all and patch the graphics. And it brings back the most loved male character of the franchise what more could you want? .  (Lets admit it) EVERY, SINGLE fan was shocked and disappointed when they found out he was simply dead in the next movie in 1992. This fixes that in a really not all that bad way once you take the CMTM into account. It's an intriguing story due to the complexity of it all. And you got to see Syd Mead designed locations of the Sulaco you never got to see in the movie.

Yes it was really bad game on release, (much better now, esp with TemplarGFX) but it wasn't THAT bad. There were plenty of people on the hate bandwagon simply shouting what the guy next to them was shouting too.

But, yeah, don't get me started on what it could have been.

Original concept art:

[Local Trouble]

How does Turk fit into this scenario?

[gold]

How does Turk fit into this scenario?

Stasis Interrupted Spoiler:

The Legato was supposed to simply dock with the Sulaco and collect the impregnated Ripley. That's what those PMC's came into the cryogenic compartment for in the beginning of Stasis Interrupted.

The specimens were never supposed to escape and cause contagion and havok on the Legato, causing colonists including Elisabeth, Stone and Turk to free themselves, and escape to the Sulaco where in that fight with the PMC's Turk ended up jettisoned in the cryotube programmed for Hicks.

[windebieste]

The sad thing is Unreal Engine 3, upon which the game is built, can easily handle rendering environments like that.   Especially when the player views it from street level with buildings occluding anything inside/behind them.  Take into account LODing, massive LODing and other rendering tricks to optimise performance.  Yep.  Easy peasy.

Could've been Great!  Sadly, something went very wrong somewhere along the line.

-Windebieste.

[SM]

EVERY, SINGLE fan was shocked and disappointed when they found out he was simply dead in the next movie in 1992.

Shocked yes; but many would say they weren't disappointed.  Back then I would've preferred it followed the comic storyline, but quickly came to prefer Alien3 as it stands.

This fixes that in a really not all that bad way once you take the CMTM into account. It's an intriguing story due to the complexity of it all.

I'm not really seeing any complexity.  "Company wants to exploit the Alien and, predictably, louse it up really badly; the protagonists seek to survive the ensuing chaos and carnage."

That concept art sure looked mighty nice though.

[gold]

The sad thing is Unreal Engine 3, upon which the game is built, can easily handle rendering environments like that.   Especially when the player views it from street level with buildings occluding anything inside/behind them.  Take into account LODing, massive LODing and other rendering tricks to optimise performance.  Yep.  Easy peasy.

Could've been Great!  Sadly, something went very wrong somewhere along the line.

-Windebieste.

Really is an obvious example of passion/skill influencing the result I'm afraid. The people making the decisions just weren't skilled enough and / or passionate enough. Just compare it to the masterpiece that was Alien Isolation.

But there is hope for us who want to explore the (Aliens) world in videogame format again after Blomkamps film, which hopefully wont get cancelled.

[windebieste]

I don't see the need to wait for a movie that isn't even in production to set any standards here.

Scott's new movie is now less than 12 months away from release. 

A lot will be hinging on that release.  Including influencing whatever form Blomkamp's movie takes.  Mind you, I do find the notion of Ripley, Hicks and Newt returning to be appalling, inane and ridiculous. 

Other than that, I'm all for supporting Blomkamp's effort.

-Windebieste.

[gold]

EVERY, SINGLE fan was shocked and disappointed when they found out he was simply dead in the next movie in 1992.

Shocked yes; but many would say they weren't disappointed.  Back then I would've preferred it followed the comic storyline, but quickly came to prefer Alien3 as it stands.

I'm one of those rare people who love both Aliens and Alien 3 (the assembly cut ofcourse). The hellish desperation in A3 was perfect for Fincher. But I would MUCH rather have seen Hicks alive and gone to a non-isolated / busy environment as in the Gibson script. And a tiny bit like we thankfully got in the game.

This fixes that in a really not all that bad way once you take the CMTM into account. It's an intriguing story due to the complexity of it all.

I'm not really seeing any complexity.  "Company wants to exploit the Alien and, predictably, louse it up really badly; the protagonists seek to survive the ensuing chaos and carnage."

That concept art sure looked mighty nice though.

Oh I think it's complex when you factor in the Legato, Sulaco, Sephora, Resolute, Derelict, HH and how the events on each intertwine over the course of time from Aliens to CMTM to Stasis Interrupted, to Alien 3, to Sephora, etc. It took me weeks to figure out what I summarised at the end of the previous page.

If someone asked me in 2011 to pen a script connecting Aliens to CMTM, to A3, SOMEHOW bring Hicks back, introduce a new crew of Marines into the mix in a 13 hour adventure, include WY scheming, revisit HH. Combining all those conditions I couldn't have done it as congruent as this.

[SM]

I bet you could have.

[gold]

Thanks, I'll take it as a compliment

PS: Other A:CM goofs:

If Cruz was a Battalion Commander he would actually be a Lieutenant Colonel and not a Captain.

A Captain would be in command of just a (rifle) company of 100-200 men, consisting of three to six platoons of 15-30 men, each headed by an Lt.

With a platoon consisting of two squads of 8-12 men, each headed by a Sergeant, and each squad consisting of two to three fireteams of 3-4 men, each headed by a Corporal.

If USCM infantry battalions are anything like present day USMC infantry battalions, Cruz would have closer to 960-1500 Marines under his command and not a few hundred.

Also, the word "Actual" is being used incorrectly.

Unit commanders like Cruz are referred to by their unit's callsign and the number 6. Cruz would be Sephora-6 and Sulaco-6.

The only time the word "actual" would be used, is to clarify that Cruz is the person actually speaking, and not his radio operator relaying the message.

[SM]

I didn't want to get into '257 ways A:CM sucked' - and won't now - but I wasn't aware of those ones.  It just keeps on giving in ways you wish it didn't.

But on a similar note in terms of marine ranks; I was recently re-reading the Colonial Marines comic, and noted that for a platoon full of dregs and screw-ups, who either did some crappy work detail or went to the stockade - there were four PFC's and three Corporals.  Did the USCM not demote people?

[gold]

No idea. I never served. I just looked up Marines military units on wikipedia.

[Local Trouble]

I didn't want to get into '257 ways A:CM sucked' - and won't now - but I wasn't aware of those ones.  It just keeps on giving in ways you wish it didn't.

Will you expound on that if I start a new thread?