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[10ebbor10]

((Genetic manipulation isn't easy, you know.))

Maybe they intended to use them during later negotiations/whatever (It's easier to talk to someone similair than to a starfish alien) but dived straight into the uncanny valley.

[Sirus]

((Genetic manipulation isn't easy, you know.))

Maybe they intended to use them during later negotiations/whatever (It's easier to talk to someone similair than to a starfish alien) but dived straight into the uncanny valley.

Considering how much trouble WE have with the uncanny valley, its hard to blame the aliens in this case.

[GlyphGryph]

It's clear they USE them as battlefield infiltration units, and everything about them indicates that was their intended purpose. I imagine being able to pass for human at a distance is an amazing advantage to that. I don't recall anything in the lore that says they are supposed to be espionage units - if espionage was the original purpose, they obviously decided they'd be more effective for combat infiltration at some point exceptionally early on, and the whole stealth weapons, freaky agility, and ambush ability leads me to believe that was the point all along - get behind enemy lines without being noticed, and fuck shit up.

Nothing about them makes any sense if you treat them as standard espionage units. Not the type that's supposed to interact with and mingle, anyways. Maybe the type that's supposed to be able to observe and won't be immediately uncovered if someone notices their presence... But there's no indication they were used in game for information gathering purposes. Everything points to them being a unit built to do damage behind enemy lines - a military unit, but one where avoiding notice is a benefit.

Everyone else is talking about espionage, which is also called infiltration (including the developers when they call thin men "infiltration" units).

Source on that?

[Mephansteras]

They're also Infiltration units in the traditional X-Com sense of being the units sent in to deal with nations that back out of the Council and bring them to the Alien side. You see this clearly if you lose the game.

[GlyphGryph]

That's true as well. Though it's clearly the sectoid that's doing the actual "negotiation".

The Thin Men are also the most reliable, versatile, and loyal units the ethereals have - it wouldn't be terribly surprising if they filled multiple roles.

[Sergius]

Everyone else is talking about espionage, which is also called infiltration (including the developers when they call thin men "infiltration" units).

Source on that?

"These aliens were clearly intended to be used as infiltrators, moving among us and observing without raising an alarm. However, the question remains, how were the aliens able to physically modify this species to achieve this goal?"

Your description of "small, lightly equipped infantry forces attacking enemy rear areas while bypassing enemy front line strongpoints and isolating them for attack by follow-up troops with heavier weapons" clearly talk about SOLDIERS (arguably in uniform and visibly armed) that are just fast and sneaky that they can move fast thru the front line. Not a disguised unit intended to look like the enemy to fool them.

This is a regular combat tactic and has nothing to do with long term infiltration in disguise. It's more akin to guerrilla warfare, commando saboteurs, etc.

And much of the in-game dialogue indeed points to the fact that these guys have enough language skills and semblance to humans to fool other humans at close distances, even if they seem "creepy", they're not meant to fool people just "at a distance".

[forsaken1111]

Thin Men are the only alien unit which might be able to walk down a darkened street without causing people to panic and freak out.

[Robosaur]

From far away they probably look human.

[USEC_OFFICER]

From far away they probably look human.

With some makeup to hide their scales and some coloured contacts/better shades to disguise their eyes, they could also look human from close up. Especially if they change their gait/shape to something more human-like, which should be easily doable for them. Admittedly it wouldn't be perfect, but they wouldn't look scary/horrible enough to call the police. Just odd and a bit out of place, which probably wouldn't work in their favour once the aliens actually started attacking, but before the war they must have gotten through just fine.

[Parsely]

From far away they probably look human.

With some makeup to hide their scales and some coloured contacts/better shades to disguise their eyes, they could also look human from close up. Especially if they change their gait/shape to something more human-like, which should be easily doable for them. Admittedly it wouldn't be perfect, but they wouldn't look scary/horrible enough to call the police. Just odd and a bit out of place, which probably wouldn't work in their favour once the aliens actually started attacking, but before the war they must have gotten through just fine.

I always wondered why they were still decked out in their "disguises" when they face you during engagements.

[Kagus]

From far away they probably look human.

With some makeup to hide their scales and some coloured contacts/better shades to disguise their eyes, they could also look human from close up. Especially if they change their gait/shape to something more human-like, which should be easily doable for them. Admittedly it wouldn't be perfect, but they wouldn't look scary/horrible enough to call the police. Just odd and a bit out of place, which probably wouldn't work in their favour once the aliens actually started attacking, but before the war they must have gotten through just fine.

I always wondered why they were still decked out in their "disguises" when they face you during engagements.

It's probably just their natural fur coat.  These are genetically engineered/modified monstrosities, after all.

[USEC_OFFICER]

From far away they probably look human.

With some makeup to hide their scales and some coloured contacts/better shades to disguise their eyes, they could also look human from close up. Especially if they change their gait/shape to something more human-like, which should be easily doable for them. Admittedly it wouldn't be perfect, but they wouldn't look scary/horrible enough to call the police. Just odd and a bit out of place, which probably wouldn't work in their favour once the aliens actually started attacking, but before the war they must have gotten through just fine.

I always wondered why they were still decked out in their "disguises" when they face you during engagements.

It might just be a kind of uniform, seeing as they're all identically equipped with the same outfit. Alternatively it's so that they look more like civilians, which would give them some more tactical options that wouldn't appear in the game. Alternatively the designers didn't want to spend the extra time making outfits for them. Who knows?

[Parsely]

It's probably just their natural fur coat.  These are genetically engineered/modified monstrosities, after all.

Clothes aren't genetic, unless you're modifying the textiles before stitching all them suits together. *Alien Suit Stitching Division*

It might just be a kind of uniform, seeing as they're all identically equipped with the same outfit. Alternatively it's so that they look more like civilians, which would give them some more tactical options that wouldn't appear in the game.

Perhaps the Aliens could mistake business attire for having more meaning than, "I sit in an office and type all day," but its doubtful. Making themselves appear to be human civilians offers zero tactical options on a battlefield while fighting against XCOM operatives and presumably normal soldiers, which they know they're going to end up doing when assaulting cities. Maybe early on we might have mistaken them for humans and been punished for it in a token engagement or two, but midway into the battle for Earth's survival, when we've been killing these losers for months? Yeah, right. And its not like they're trying to fake it in the first place either, what with diving around and jumping and crap whenever you see them. Another thing, if they all look exactly the same (which is to say, they do), how hard would it honestly be to simply hunt their asses down when they try to infiltrate our cities? If they were only infiltrating our cities before and during the beginning of the invasion, having realised that their disguises no longer work, why do they still wear the suits into normal engagements? Do the Aliens have a thing for Men's Wearhouse or something?

Also. Remember those green metal pods from the intro? What do they actually do? It was fairly ambiguous IMO.

[GlyphGryph]

Don't the green metal pods actually deliver the aliens? Well, that and the ones that seem to deliver that wrap-them-up gunk. The advantage of the thin men is that they can get to the site WITHOUT using those drop pods, presumably by going unnoticed until the battle.

That's how they have time to plant bombs, and why they can pop out of the woodwork left and right?

[Mephansteras]

I think the Abduction pods just capture people in the green gunk for later alien experimentation and whatnot.