The Black Chamber

Since the screen shot doesn't really capture it and it's not ready for video yet, here's a quick rundown of what goes on behind the scenes at the HQ screen.

Every time step (days or hours, not sure yet) your satellites (the green boxes) detect any paranormal phenomena within their radius. Depending on how you've arrayed your intelligence forces, you may also catch wind of a cultist plot being undertaken. Satellites and intelligence services can overlap, increasing detection probability. Phenomena are constant, and may happen at any time, whereas cultist plots happen in two distinct varieties: major and minor. Major plots are concocted by the big baddys, only one of whom is active at any time. Fail to stop enough of these, and the world is toast. Minor plots are the undertakings of smaller fringe cults, and, while dangerous, cannot be apocalyptic in and of themselves. Smaller fringe cults have no limit on how many may be active at once, but they can be tracked down and permanently eliminated from the game.

There are two possible ways in which the player interacts with plots and phenomena. In the first, satellites and intelligence services uncover them before they are unleashed. This leads to a simple response mission or, in some cases when dealing with cults, an Operation. The second case occurs when the player fails to stop the plot before it becomes harmful. This is when things go FUBAR and bad stuff happens: cities are overrun by zombies, giant tentacle monsters rise from the sea, and the use of nuclear weaponry is authorized to stop a shambling mound of pseudoplasm from devouring the Washington Monument. Try not to let that happen.