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Author Topic: Please tell me why OpenXcom is the best  (Read 20350 times)

Offline Matti

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Please tell me why OpenXcom is the best
« on: December 28, 2016, 11:05:27 pm »
Just today I played through XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Now I'm looking for new (or old) challenges, and OpenXcom is on the list. But I need to know and understand why should I spend my little free time with it instead UFO: Extraterrestrials or Xenonauts or something else?

Little about my gaming history and knowledge:
I've had and played illegitimate copy of X-COM: UFO Defense on my father's 40 MHz 386SX PC when that game was still new. I enjoyed of it then, but I think user interface is bit clunky compared to some newer games. How does OpenXcom address this aside mouse wheel support? Anyway I know well what X-COM is like and I like it better than XCOM (unless I forgot nostalgia glasses on my head)

I've had UFO: Extraterrestrials for several years, but I got pissed when aliens got shots at my soldiers from outside of sight range. Just now I started the game again on easy level and aliens don't do that anymore. Otherwise game & gameplay seem to be close match to UFO Defense, though something about mouse control ticks me off. Also game doesn't visualize radar ranges (unless there is something in options menu I need to tick). All that aside, its only strong point is I already own it.

I have watched videos on YouTube about Xenonauts. I like the selection of equipment and tactical combat for aircrafts. There are cover available for troops with colour coding. This looks to be my strongest choice. Unless OpenXcom has improved selection of the equipment and has improved cover system since UFO Defense?

Bottom line: why do you play OpenXcom instead one of the aforementioned games? If you have played them all, which one do you recommend for me and why?
« Last Edit: December 28, 2016, 11:25:52 pm by Matti »

Offline Solarius Scorch

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Re: Please tell me why OpenXcom is the best
« Reply #1 on: December 29, 2016, 12:47:16 am »
Very interesting questions! To be perfectly honest, I feel kinda intimidated trying to answer it, because of how broad and difficult they are. But I'll do my best.

In my opinion, there are two top-tier tactical games about repelling an alien invasion (Jagged Alliance 2 is great too, but it's something else). These games are: the first X-Com (and by extension, OpenXCom) and UFO: Aftershock. These games are both incredibly entertaining, but also quite different, so I recommend everyone to play both of them.

Why not other titles you mentioned? Because I think they are imperfect clones of X-Com. They do have their strong points, but ultimately fall flat as games. Let me elaborate:

1) UFO: Extraterrestrials. This title was made in the darkest hour of tactical gaming, where the genre seemed effectively dead. That's the only reason this game reached any level of success, because frankly it was pretty shit-tier. It had some nice ideas, I actually liked the terrain for example, and the RTS-like air combat was engaging, but it was produced by a really small, inexperienced studio and it screams "made by amateurs!" at every opportunity. Its interface is clunky, the graphics are mostly bad, but the biggest problem is that the overall design was disappointing. It was just weak as a whole, from bad design decisions (aliens get worse with your progress, each tier of weapons was worse than the previous one except for damage etc.) to the snorefest finale.
Now, there is a huge mod for this game called UNIMOD which make it a much more enjoyable experience, with many fixes, additions, better balance, etc. But it didn't address the biggest problems in the game. It made it a good gaming experience, but not as good as X-Com.

2) Xenonauts. This game was also quite budgetary, but much more professional than Extraterrestrials and it looked very nice. But the core mechanic was actually the worst of all titles discussed here. All the good points were parroted from X-Com, and everything else was ultimately as nice as pulling teeth - the suppression mechanics, stupid armours, never-ending chases after teleporting enemies, unsatisfactory modding engine and so on. They clearly lacked a talented lead designer who would eliminate core problems with the game. I never forced myself to finish it. It has a really nice air combat model though which I enjoyed a lot.

Now, let's move to the X-Com proper. Why am I saying it is better than the other two? Because it was actually written by a great designer. It is perfectly balanced, has many ingenious mechanics (for example how reaction fire works - without any random element but very naturally), delivers exactly what the player wants, avoids tedium when possible, and so on. as a player, you just feel that you are in the right hands, and it's not nostalgia glasses - you are actually being catered to, without being belittled by the game. It is simply very polished, a high quality product. This is why I keep playing this game after so many years and so many other games - it's just the most fun.

Now, I understand your reservations about details like weapon selection. but the beautiful thing about OpenXCom is the modding community. I doubt many veterans here play exclusively vanilla X-Com; we've done it to death over the last two decades. But there are several huge mods which add and rebalance weapons, include new mechanics, polish the interface and so on. If that's what you're interested in, then OpenXCom is even more recommendable for you.

I'm not sure if this post was explanatory enough, but don't hesitate to ask more questions if necessary.

Offline CanadianBeaver

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Re: Please tell me why OpenXcom is the best
« Reply #2 on: December 29, 2016, 04:21:51 am »
Play the UFO:AI. This game is the best.

Offline scyt4l3

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Re: Please tell me why OpenXcom is the best
« Reply #3 on: December 29, 2016, 05:10:34 am »
So I dug out my hard copy of ufo aftershock... I remember the class system being cool. The graphics though... openxcom modern resolution settings are making a big difference I think. Aftershock was a nice flash, I'll put some hours into it.

Offline Matti

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Re: Please tell me why OpenXcom is the best
« Reply #4 on: December 29, 2016, 07:11:35 am »
Now, I understand your reservations about details like weapon selection. but the beautiful thing about OpenXCom is the modding community. I doubt many veterans here play exclusively vanilla X-Com; we've done it to death over the last two decades. But there are several huge mods which add and rebalance weapons, include new mechanics, polish the interface and so on. If that's what you're interested in, then OpenXCom is even more recommendable for you.
When you wrote about Xenonauts, did you mean vanilla game or community edition? What mods do you use for OpenXcom and what do you recommend? Also I have interest for X-PirateZ for the new storyline.

Offline CanadianBeaver

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Re: Please tell me why OpenXcom is the best
« Reply #5 on: December 29, 2016, 07:36:33 am »
So I dug out my hard copy of ufo aftershock... I remember the class system being cool. The graphics though... openxcom modern resolution settings are making a big difference I think. Aftershock was a nice flash, I'll put some hours into it.

ufo aftershock is unbelievable game, but it is not a turn-based like the X-Com. And, unfortunately, aftershock is bugged a lot, but really unbelievable game.

Offline Solarius Scorch

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Re: Please tell me why OpenXcom is the best
« Reply #6 on: December 29, 2016, 11:50:10 am »
Play the UFO:AI. This game is the best.

Ah yes, it's impressive work, but I could never really get into it because it was in perpetual alpha state, with no real balance and many features missing. (Maybe it got better.) But my biggest gripe was completely indestructible terrain; this may seem like a detail, but it's actually quite fundamental.

In fact, X-Com is the only game with full, free terrain destruction (with the exception of player crafts, but this can be modded easily).

When you wrote about Xenonauts, did you mean vanilla game or community edition?

I don't really know the difference, but I doubt these problems with Xenonauts can be resolved easily.

What mods do you use for OpenXcom and what do you recommend? Also I have interest for X-PirateZ for the new storyline.

Piratez is probably the biggest mod, and certainly the most developed total conversion, and it certainly is worth playing. Other playable, but less developed total conversion mods are From the Apocalypse and Warhammer 40k mod. But if you want to play actual X-Com but expanded, there are mods like: Area 51, Hardmode Expansion, or my Final Mod Pack (and its continuator X-Com Files, in progress). Xeno Operations is very impressive too, but kinda abandoned and buggy. And I probably missed to mention something important. :)

ufo aftershock is unbelievable game, but it is not a turn-based like the X-Com. And, unfortunately, aftershock is bugged a lot, but really unbelievable game.

I recommend playing with ACM Mod by Okim, it really makes the game richer.

Offline ivandogovich

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Re: Please tell me why OpenXcom is the best
« Reply #7 on: December 29, 2016, 05:26:36 pm »
Matti:  Like Solarius, your request is so for understanding on what makes OpenXcom so good is fundamentally so broad that its hard to quantify it easily, but I thought I'd weigh in here on it a bit.

OpenXcom is like a huge breath of life into an already classic and excellent game.  In my opinion there are two fundamental improvements that make it "THE" X-Com Game. 
  • Playability
  • Modability

In terms of playability, things like keyboard shortcuts, and mod wheel support are things that modern gamers expect and trying to accustom themselves to mouse-only play (which was revolutionary at its time) makes the classic in DosBox feel clunky and a bit stale.  Add in the fact that all of the keyboard shortcuts are configurable and that makes it so much better.  Vast improvements in the tedium of much of the grindiness of inventory management and equipping of troops has been removed.  (This alone ruined me for going back to play Apocalypse which is another classic).  Auto-equip will give all your troops something, but then add in the ability to copy inventor templates and paste them and you've made great strides.  Branches like OpenXcom Extended (OXCE) and OpenXcom Extended Plus (OXCE+) have added even more interface improvements allow multiple inventory templates, craft autopatrol, unit facing indicators, better vision models, etc.   The extent that OXCE+ has improved even base vanilla OXC for the player is truly staggering.

Modability is the second aspect where OpenXcom really shines.  The mega-mods like X-Piratez and FMP and the others that Solarius mentioned are examples of how far you can implement whatever you imagine and strides continue to be made to allow more and more options for mod creators.  The fact that the files are pretty much in plain English (YAML) makes modding fairy easy to begin.  Want to add an incendiary clip for the Assault Rifle? Just mod it in.  Want to fix the vanilla issue of about twenty items using the grey blob "grenade" hand object to actually show a good handob representation for each?  Just download and activate the "Improved Handobs Mod" or make your own.  So many examples of these are terrific.  Scout drones, combat knife, attack dogs, dart rifles, improved terrain and maps, tons of great new content.  Its here that the game continues to breath new life.  I personally have been immersed in XPirateZ for the last couple years and the constant improvements in that mod alone and the replayability have meant hundreds of hours of enjoyment.

How does this game stack up against the modern descendents (XCOM EU 2012, EW, XCOM 2)?  The game is better at the strategic simulation with multiple bases, and a better economic system.  On the tactical side, its larger squad sizes and enemy spawns make it less of the "board game" and a more fluid battle.  OpenXcom is definitely not the best tactical turn based game, even JA2 does it better, but its still a great game.  XCOM2 with its procedurally generated maps gets closer to the original, and the small gritty organization vibe that it carries is echoed in OXC mods like PirateZ or X-Com Files.

All in all, if you are interested in the classic xcom and are ready for a much better playing experience, I'd highly recommend OpenXcom with a recent nightly.  The hours of enjoyment you will get from it make it a ridiculous value for the tiny cost.

Offline Matti

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Re: Please tell me why OpenXcom is the best
« Reply #8 on: December 29, 2016, 06:09:55 pm »
It is hard to make a choice between good games. So I got them all from Steam! X-COM: Complete Pack and Xenonauts for total 12,18€!!! Not a bad deal for 6 games :D

I'm gonna start with Xenonauts, downloading now. While I wait for it, I'll play one more turn of Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword, which I have reinforced with Caveman2Cosmos mod. If you've got Civ4:BtS, look it up (if you haven't by now)

Offline CanadianBeaver

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Re: Please tell me why OpenXcom is the best
« Reply #9 on: December 29, 2016, 06:31:53 pm »
גן ילדים

Offline Matti

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Re: Please tell me why OpenXcom is the best
« Reply #10 on: December 29, 2016, 10:12:13 pm »

Offline Solarius Scorch

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Re: Please tell me why OpenXcom is the best
« Reply #11 on: December 29, 2016, 10:18:55 pm »
Huh, what? ???

My mad Google skllz told me it's in Hebrew :)

Offline Matti

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Re: Please tell me why OpenXcom is the best
« Reply #12 on: December 30, 2016, 06:21:25 pm »
I'm not sure if this post was explanatory enough, but don't hesitate to ask more questions if necessary.
This is said elsewhere on the Internet
Quote
I mostly play Xeno over the original X-COM because of the UI improvements. I know OpenXCOM is a thing, but I've had mixed results getting it configured to work properly. Xenonauts just works.
Does that make any sense to you? Also I'm gonna copy-paste part of your post over there.

Offline Meridian

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Re: Please tell me why OpenXcom is the best
« Reply #13 on: December 30, 2016, 06:56:29 pm »
Yes, both make perfect sense.

Just play both and stop wasting people's time with these questions... judging by your childish and totally off-topic reaction: "if you've got Civ4:BtS, look it up (if you haven't by now)", you're not even interested in the answers...

People like Solarius and Ivan invested at least 20 minutes of their time to answer your questions and your response is less than adequate, to say it politely.

Offline scyt4l3

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Re: Please tell me why OpenXcom is the best
« Reply #14 on: December 30, 2016, 06:58:15 pm »
Now you got me worked up on Xenonauts... I've been thinking about buying it for a long time, but the lack of destructible environment put me off. If the only thing going for it is the more modern graphics and sophisticated dogfight, I'll pass. Some more thoughts?