Geoscape (EU)

The Geoscape is a combination of base management screens and the world view. The Geoscape is where you fight the strategetic war, whereas the BattleScape is where you fight tactical battles. In the Geoscape, you can manage your bases, view alien activity graphs, Country Funding, view in-game UFOPaedia, load and save games in-progress, and intercept UFOs. The Geoscape is also played in real time. Managment of bases and ordering planes essentially pauses the game and these can be done at leisure, however all non-trivial actions, such as planes flying to their destination, take time to accomplish and this time must be waited out in the world view.

World View

The Geoscape world view is presented on a 3-D spherical map of the Earth with approximations of continents and terrain. This map can can rotate and zoom in and out. Rotation is not smooth, but zooming in increases the level of detail presented on the model of earth, such as country borders, country names, and cities. The current greenwitch mean time is displayed and the day/night status of locations is apparent. On the surface of the map X-COM bases, planes, waypoints, detected UFOs, and alien bases are displayed. Time elasped per tic, and map view are also controled from this side of the screen. From this view base coverage can be, if not observed, approximated. Airforce confrontations are also played out in the view.

Base Management

Viewing a base will bring up a layout of the current base and a list of commands. From here you expand your base, purchase supplies, recruit people, view your troops, manage research, production, your air force, and strike teams. While managing a base, time does not elapse, and virtually all commands take time to complete, so expect to be popping in and out of here frequently.

You can also change bases and build new bases from the base management screen.

Base Expansion

Your first base is pre-made for you, but is laughable blind and cramped. You need to expand by digging into the rock around you and filling it with base components. These components must be built adjacent to your existing base and take a lengthy amount of time to complete. See Base Facilities (UFO Defense).

Supplies

This is the goverment. Everything is accounted for, taxed, and signed for in tripplicate. Well, almost. Every peice of equipment takes room to store, costs money, and can even be sold. Let us take for example, the life of a spare pistol clip.

1. The clip is originally purchaced by Base#1 for $20. It takes 3 days to arrive.
2. Base#1 no longer uses pistols, so it is tranfered to Base#3 for $5 via fedex. It takes 2 weeks to arrive.
3. Base#3 loads it onto a troop transport-of-the-damned-cause-they're-useing-pistols-the-poor-bastards.
4. The troop transport-of-the-damned-cause-they're-useing-pistols-the-poor-bastards lands at a city being terrorized and Johnny picks it up before embarking.
5. Johnny dies two steps off the ramp, but Billy picks up his spare clip.
6. Billly fires off his pistol in the vuage direction of an alien.
7. Billy loads the spare clip into his pistol.
8. Billy manages to get back in the troop transport before bleeding to death with his unused pistol clip still in the pistol.
9. Back at base some unseen janitor unloads the pistol and the clip resides in the troop transport, taking up it's own unique space.
10. The clip is unloaded from the troop transport to make room for a bazooka.
11. Finally, it is sold back to the public for $3.

This is the level of detail that makes casual gamers bleed out of their eyes.

People are essentially supplies that need beds and get paid to breath.

Browse Troops

Look at your troops similarly to the battlescape stats display. You can also assign them armor.

Research

Research requiers a base, Scientists, Money to pay them and room for them to sleep, a Laboratory for them to work, and finally, for you to assign them to a research topic. See Research (UFO Defense)

Production

Similar to research, your engineers sometimes also require materials to build from.

Manage Aircraft

Check on their damanged status, fueling status, and current weapons package.

Outfitting Strike Teams

Troops transports need to be assigned troops and equipment (weapons, tanks, tools). The troops live in the base, but the transports equipment is apparently tied to the vessel, taking no room to store. The crazy details of this game still stun me. The transport also automatically restocks any expended/destroyed equipment from the base's stores.