OpenXcom Forum
OpenXcom => Offtopic => Topic started by: hsbckb on January 05, 2012, 08:00:27 pm
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Firaxis is working on an all-new, all-different and all-strategy X-Com remake entitled XCom: Enemy Unknown:
https://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/115063-Firaxis-Reveals-a-Real-X-Com-Remake (https://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/115063-Firaxis-Reveals-a-Real-X-Com-Remake)
(https://cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/79/79209.jpg)
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:o
We had xenonauts, XCOM the fps, .... and now the true remake?
Do the fans still need openxcom? Otherwise we just stop :p
Just kidding, I'm excited to see more of this title and probably try to get that digital version of gameinformer with the preview in it.
Release: fall 2012 , this only means openxcom 1.0 needs to be released around that same period, so people that are not happy with Firaxis remake can fall back to openxcom and get back the feeling how the original xcom was :)
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interesting :) Im cross my fingers hoping that they allow to blow up whole map using explosives :D
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I'm pretty sure that it will be far from original X-Com.
It's been a dream of ours to recreate X-Com with our unique creative vision
Oh yes, you dream to use famous name for your own project and name will be the only similarity between original X-Com and this one.
So as you see, I full of scepticism.
Edit:
For the PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3
Burn it, burn it, it should not survive!
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Xcom was on PS1 too... :P
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Wow this is really good news, if anyone can make a good remake it is Fraxis :)
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don't expect too much ;)
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we always have fall back to OpenXcom :D
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Hopefully Sid Meier gets heavily involved then it stands a chance of being good, i still enjoy playing Civ2 especially the X-com version of it :D Fraxis can make some good stratergy games when they want eg Alpha Centauri.
Honestly i will probably still play the original more ( until this gets to version 1.0) as its going to take more than flashy graphics to win me over .
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I won't lie, I cried a tear of joy when I first read this.
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Xcom was on PS1 too... :P
Yes, and Firaxis credible for an excellent series of Civilization, which has been ported to consoles too.
But I've seen too many "X-Com remakes" and "good console strategies", so I not believe.
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The huge feature in February's Game Informer goes into all the gory details of XCOM's destructible tactical environments, the interaction between the real-time strategic view and the turn-based combat, how the XCOM organization improves its capabilities as the war rages on, and much more.
We will have more information from February's Game informer which will be available next week.
Here is the official homepage of XCom: Enemy Unknown:
https://www.xcom.com/enemyunknown/ (https://www.xcom.com/enemyunknown/)
Sectoid, welcome back! :P
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This is good news. It wouldn't take much to refresh X-COM, but the temptation is to do too much. A graphics refresh, a bit more in the research tree, some "optional" paths to further improve replayability, multi-player collaborative and competitive (multi-player competitive mode with turn time limits would be great). But start throwing out the turn-based format or make it a first-person action shooter, and it becomes just another Quake clone.
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I had two reaction, holy **** and oh crap.
Forget about them doing too much. You'll be lucky if the remake has 70% of original features.
This is a company that ruined the civilization series by making Civ V - the most thinned down version of Civilization and widely accepted as the worse in the series.
And they did it for one "compelling" reason - money. If it's simple enough, then they can sell it on pc AND all the other TV console platforms. And the more platforms, the more money.
This X-Com remake is already said to be released on more than on platform. And you can BET it'll be shitty.
And if you want more prove that this remake is for simpletons, go search "CITIZEN SKYWATCH" on google.
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How to define shitty? when YOU don't like the game? or when it sells bad? :p
And I don't know what the fuss is about multiplatform? The original X-Com ufo defense is also multiplatform, and you like that one (or you are on the wrong forum) :)
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Waits patiently for screenshots to appear in the near future.
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First screens and new infos:
https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/09/first-screens-and-details-of-xcom-enemy-unknown.aspx
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Michal, thanks for the information.
The base can be multi-level:
(https://media1.gameinformer.com/imagefeed/featured/2kgames/xcom/enemyunknown/reveal/HQ_Large1280.jpg)
I want to know the battlescape design for base attack ( if any).
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Basescape looks like shit actually. Who have told them it's a good idea to drop "backgrounds" as base module look?
Battlescape also looks crappy. Figures are ugly, xcom and aliens are the same, and battlescape doesn't look to be having destructable landscape, which is essential feature of xcom spirit.
Nothing to bother about. Another consolish crap like UFO:Aftermath.
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Hmm its not looking like something i want to play , is that wrong ?
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Maybe it's on an early stage of development?
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Yeah, I still hope these screenshots are taken in a very early beta stage and they completly changed their mind in the meantime...
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I doubt ;) Maybe there are some placeholder art, but i think that overall direction won't change.
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Battlescape also looks crappy. Figures are ugly, xcom and aliens are the same, and battlescape doesn't look to be having destructable landscape, which is essential feature of xcom spirit.
Battlescape lack something more important than that, its DARKNESS :D I think that night missions in Xcom are source of it success.
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Battlescape lack something more important than that, its DARKNESS :D I think that night missions in Xcom are source of it success.
Yep. Night missions too. So why I didn't get XCOM:Apoc right. It's always daytime in 3rd part of series.
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In these 20 years, the fans of Xcom game talked about many reasons why they love this game. I cannot believe that they do not hear these voices through internet/forum.
Is it so difficult to create a good remake Xcom game?
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hsbckb, I guess it is... It's difficult just because people, developers fall into trying "make it better in every way", and as consequence - they're loosing game spirit and drop project without finishing.
UFO1 is a masterpiece, like a statue without any excessiveness. There's a great temptation of adding something to it :) Just because it looks quite poor, without modern look... So people become victim of their own hunger for features and something "cool".
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Actually they DO have destructable terrain. But so far noone knows how much. If you can't dig a tunnel through the ground I'd say it's a fail.
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In these 20 years, the fans of Xcom game talked about many reasons why they love this game. I cannot believe that they do not hear these voices through internet/forum.
Is it so difficult to create a good remake Xcom game?
I guess there aren't targeting x-com fans but whole wider audience. That's why they need to please as as many players as possible. We, x-com fans, probably have quite different needs and expectations. So that's why i think that Xenonauts will be lot better project - as it's made for x-com fans.
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I'm going to sum up what I see so far.
1) Square grid turned to hexagon (from Civ5 no doubt)
For X-Com definitely an improvement. For those who play boardgames or comp games, you'll know hexagons are always more realistic. Though I would have preferred polygons of such small size it seems there's no limit to the map at all (like SC2).
2) Cover system is a no-shield, half-shield, or full-shield?
I hope this is not the way accuracy is calculated, or it's definitely dumbed down.
3) One shooting button?
I pray it's one of those spawn-more-radial-button buttons. Or all I can say is F@#$!!!!
4) It looks like there's no realistic sub-level.
So if you're on ground you'll never be half-way up on a rock or a hill. Either you're up one level or you're not. Or there may only be one level which is our worst nightmare.
5) Base is sideways.
Unless the tactical part of the game has at least 6 levels? Then we're doomed. Because there will be no base defense missions at all.
6) Says they have definitely "streamlined no small amounts of the original game".
Sigh
7) There are 5 soldiers on the radar (unless the triangle thingy is something else).
And there's no next-soldier button. Hints at VERY few soldiers per mission.
8) The sectoid is ... crawling on all fours with a shoe in its mouth.
Devoid of intellect and turned into some feral monstrocity. Scary ... yes, inappropriate ... yes. Let me explain. They look brainless and a race lacking in techology. And they're supposed to be flying ufos in space. Who knows, they could now be terror units in this new remake, some kind of alien warhound.
P.S. The game looks good graphic wise and there may be some good changes. I'm just complaining about the disastrous changes that are already clearly visible.
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Actually they DO have destructable terrain.
Please point at signs of that.
I haven't noticed anything destructable in this remake.
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You're making assumptions from 3 concept screenshots from something only announced last Thursday. I hate to be playing devil's advocate and didn't even wanna get involved, but at least wait more than a week and check your facts before jumping to the RUINED FOREVER bandwagon.
There's two interviews here:
https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/06/why-firaxis-loves-xcom.aspx
https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/06/first-screens-and-details-of-xcom-enemy-unknown.aspx
They've claimed there will be all the core elements, destructible terrain, line of sight, fog of war, permadeath, etc. I know this is just the developer's word but I still don't see you can discern the contrary from some still images so far.
Also:
I had two reaction, holy **** and oh crap.
Forget about them doing too much. You'll be lucky if the remake has 70% of original features.
This is a company that ruined the civilization series by making Civ V - the most thinned down version of Civilization and widely accepted as the worse in the series.
And they did it for one "compelling" reason - money. If it's simple enough, then they can sell it on pc AND all the other TV console platforms. And the more platforms, the more money.
This X-Com remake is already said to be released on more than on platform. And you can BET it'll be shitty.
And if you want more prove that this remake is for simpletons, go search "CITIZEN SKYWATCH" on google.
This doesn't even make one lick of sense.
- So, Firaxis ruined the Civilization series (that they have founded)? Just like they did when Civ4 was first launched, and Civ3, and etc?
- And because XCOM: Enemy Unknown is multi-platform, this is somehow why Civ5 is "dumbed down for consoles", despite it being released before?
- Not to mention Civ5 isn't available on consoles, like every other title Firaxis has made (the sole exception being Civ Rev which was exclusively for consoles)?
- And this is somehow related to the Citizen Skywatch marketing campaign for the FPS XCOM being made in parallel by a completely separate company?
???You
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Great interviews.
A must-see I guess, before jumping to conclusions.
I like that lead designer's point of view, he *IS* really a fan like anyone of us. (no doubt he've also seen other fanmade projects, and maybe even openxcom)
But I so really hope he succeeds in implementing it right, and the producer and artists are really aware of what made the game so perfect.
Also I have learned that at Firaxis they have 3 people there from the old Microprose that have actually worked on the oldskool XCOM projects...
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They've claimed there will be all the core elements, destructible terrain, line of sight, fog of war, permadeath, etc.
From listed above I've found only "line of sight", "fog of war" and "permadeath" in articles, which is obviously essential, but isn't nearly enough. And I found no mention of destructible terrain. From screens there's no any.
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I guess there aren't targeting x-com fans but whole wider audience.
I think this is the reason why there is no good X-Com remake. Games changed dramatically since 1994 when the first X-Com was released. Modern wide audience don't want to play something hardcore and too complicated. While fans can't play something too simple and too modern. And this is the reason why I think that Firaxis will fail in an attempt to create a really good game.
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I second SupSuper. The game was just announced. And definitely things will change in the game. Let's not be that quick with conclusions.
The fans will make their voices heard. You can make your voice heard. There is an official forum with 11,000+ posts already (https://forums.2kgames.com/forumdisplay.php?75-XCOM). And I bet you that the developers will at least look at what the fans are talking.
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You have to read that:
https://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?117098-New-info-from-game-informer!
Many new informations, like:
No black blobs in Firaxis's XCOM. The guys in suits are called "Thin Men" and they can use weapons, jump large distances, and puke disgusting goo.
Sectoids and Mutons are in. Cyberdiscs and Thin Men are also mentioned. Evidently psionics are also in.
No action points. The game uses a move-and-shoot (or move-and-move) dynamic. They don't want people piddling around counting individual action points. Some will call this a concession to consolitis; others will call it useful streamlining.
So yeah, you only have one base. Building different bases has been removed, but you still buy satellite coverage (the new radar) and build hangars for interception in different countries. Your single base is like way more crazy awesome than any base from the original, though, and presents lots of opportunities for more decision-making in terms of digging deeper as well as what kind of expansion facilities you add on (see the screenshot of the "ant farm" that we put online Monday).
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Chris England - Xenonauts Project Lead :
I wasn't particularly unimpressed with what they were doing until I read the bit about only having 4 squad members. To me, that'll really kill things. The other stuff was alternative but not necessarily much worse - having a certain number of actions a turn and having units unlock abilities rather than just their stats increasing both seem cool to me. The actions thing is heavy streamlining, but it could work fairly well. It'd make it easy to manage a lot of soldiers...except you've only got 4. Hmm.
The one-base thing is a bit of a shame but not the end of the world either. I imagine there won't be standard base defence missions given the base view screen, but there'll probably be a set-piece mission where you defend part of your base on a preset map (I imagine the upper parts of the base have a preset layout). If that's true, it's losing a little something from X-Com but it's not fatal to the game.
Hexes? Yeah, ok. Reimagined aliens and setting? Okay, go on then. Scripted missions? Fair enough. Simplified combat system? OK. Ludicrously unrealistic art style? Fine.
But put them all together, it does seem rather like death by a thousand tiny cuts. And the big 4-soldier slash across the neck. What they're making may well be a good game, but it's not looking a lot like X-Com any more.
It strikes me as a fairly fundamental misunderstanding of what annoyed people about the FPS reboot - basically, that the game wasn't recognisably X-Com. This is much closer to the mark but it does seem to be a very dumbed-down console-style remake (although it may well be a very enjoyable game). But that heralds well for us, because it's just reinforces our core appeal.
Also, Cyberdisks turning bipedal? What's all that about?
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Funny news. One base, 4 man squad, two actions per turn. Excelent! Looks like game will be epic. Epic fail.
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where is place for causalities when you have only 4 men? in classic sometimes you lost 4 in first turn or some victories was archived by Cannon Fodder strategy :)
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A video about the art direction and more screenshots: https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/11/the-art-of-xcom-enemy-unknown.aspx
(https://i.imgur.com/P4u4Sl.jpg) (https://imgur.com/P4u4S)
See destructible terrain. :P
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Funny news. One base, 4 man squad, two actions per turn. Excelent! Looks like game will be epic. Epic fail.
I can only accept the implementation of 4 soldiers if they have super hero's abilities. Please rename this game to Fantastic 4 or X-men.
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More screenshots:
https://forums.spacebattles.com/showpost.php?p=7105422&postcount=225
Mutons and sectoids are there too ;)
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Those sectoids look scary.
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Some new screen shoots from this source:
https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/153896/xcom-enemy-unknown-new-research-screen-update-01122012/p1 (https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/153896/xcom-enemy-unknown-new-research-screen-update-01122012/p1)
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Oh mein Gott.. Why such large pics???
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There are some news related to X-COM's soundtrack and alien sound design from Game Informer:
https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/16/the-unsettling-music-of-xcom-enemy-unknown.aspx (https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/16/the-unsettling-music-of-xcom-enemy-unknown.aspx)
Some new screen shoots:
The buildings and the vehicles are seem to be destructible:
(https://hkdragonboy.netfirms.com/bug/DinerAfterDestruction_1280watermark.jpg)
How about the ground? Destructible or not?
Gas Station!!
(https://hkdragonboy.netfirms.com/bug/GasStation_03_1280watermark.jpg)
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UFO cannot have "visual realizm". That is huge flaw for UFO concept.
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https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/18/alien-breeds-the-evolution-of-xcom-s-enemies.aspx
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Always fun to see concept art.
Personally, I think they shouldn't have re-used the xcom name... Because of this name, people associate this too much with the original games, and start to compare and complain about what is missing and wrong, even before the game is released.
Fireaxis maybe should have called their game xenonauts and goldhawkinteractive's game maybe deserves the original xcom name more :p
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Personally, I think they shouldn't have re-used the xcom name...
I so agree with you.
The biggest problem of this game is its name.
It may be good in general, but it is not X-Com.
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I'm a little surprised. They announce 'X-COM' game that is completely different to the original - a million angry nerds cry out in despair. So they decided to make ANOTHER X-COM game that will stay true to the original. And then they start to change so much shit that it's very different to the original. Cue angry nerds.
LOL. Ah well, I'm happy to see how it pans out but I'm not holding my breath for a great sequel. Hope I'm wrong about it though.
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Edge interviewed Julian Gollop (original designer) on the whole thing here: https://www.edge-online.com/features/julian-gollop-xcom
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Very interesting read.
So, basically if you want to go extend UFO in the Gollop's vision:
- accessibility: a teaching system while playing / complexity revealed gradually (good for people new to xcom)
- don't get in temptation to make things big and complex (like combining TFTD and UFO)
- more variation in tactical missions, like randomly generated UFO interiors (or different UFO maps for the same ufo type - already suggested here, and more maps in general)
- better AI (working on it :p)
- skill trees for character development (hmm, interesting, it would be nice you can spend skill points instead of the system choosing it for you - this is already requested a lot)
- fix psionics (a must but not sure how)
- more interesting weapons (interesting suggestions on this forum too)
- convincing destructible terrain (also already suggested : collapsing of buildings etc)
Ok.. we'll know what to put on the roadmap for openxcom version 2.0 ? :p
But overall he is not -yet- very excited about the Firaxis game, now is he?
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Tutorial mission are interesting idea :) We could create mission on begin of game where you as SWAT leader taking down group of gangster (New Gang form luke83) and after your stellar victory you get position of X-Com tactic commander :)
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“you need to keep each turn having at least some interesting decisions for the player about where to go, what to attack, how to attack.”
I strongly agree with this but this is not easy to implement.
Besides, we can see the tutorial from his gba game: rebelstar tactical command.
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Edge interviewed Julian Gollop (original designer) on the whole thing here: https://www.edge-online.com/features/julian-gollop-xcom
I wonder what he would think about OpenXcom ;)
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I wonder what he would think about OpenXcom ;)
I have asked, but he never replied.
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FYI: A new challenger appears!
https://www.spacesector.com/blog/2012/01/xcom-enemy-unknown-vs-xenonauts-the-debate-heats-up/
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I wonder what he would think about OpenXcom ;)
I do not mind what he think about OpenXcom but I trust that we are moving towards a correct direction.
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GI updated information: Exploring XCOM's Combat Part I
https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/26/advanced-tactics-exploring-xcom-39-s-combat-part-1.aspx (https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/26/advanced-tactics-exploring-xcom-39-s-combat-part-1.aspx)
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Thanks for the link hsbckb , if i was the muton there i would just shoot the car instead blowing up the heavy unit , seams like poor AI to me
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GI updated information: Exploring XCOM's Combat Part I
https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/26/advanced-tactics-exploring-xcom-39-s-combat-part-1.aspx (https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/26/advanced-tactics-exploring-xcom-39-s-combat-part-1.aspx)
seeing these pictures, does that look turn-base to you? look at the first picture, he is giving commands to the sniper while the other soldier is shooting?
(https://www.gameinformer.com/resized-image.ashx/__size/610x0/__key/CommunityServer-Blogs-Components-WeblogFiles/00-00-00-00-09/4130.gi_5F00_triplecombo00001.jpg)
also, when he is ordering the heavy unit to advance, it looks like he is placing waypoints; why would he need to if it's all in his turn?
(https://www.gameinformer.com/resized-image.ashx/__size/610x0/__key/CommunityServer-Blogs-Components-WeblogFiles/00-00-00-00-09/1665.gi_5F00_triplecombo00010.jpg)
and that whole thing about "suppression fire", is that some kind of very advanced reaction-fire thing? because if it's just "fire at that spot again and again" you could just move around that spot. I really want to see a video of the gameplay.
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Maybe in the second screenshot it's just pointing out where along that path the soldier would be in cover.
But for the first observation I have no explanation at this point. Maybe some kind of "asynchronous" turns?
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Maybe in the second screenshot it's just pointing out where along that path the soldier would be in cover.
But for the first observation I have no explanation at this point. Maybe some kind of "asynchronous" turns?
that could be it. you are right, they said something about partial cover and shield symbols somewhere.
and the soldier in the first picture could be in "suppression fire" mode. which I still don't quite understand.
at least those selection sidebars appear to be offering a lot of tactical options which are just hidden in the basic UI...
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Am I the only one who thinks that blue translucent interface looks cheap?
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Same. I will withhold judgement until its released but I'm not a fan of the UI. I'm hoping it's still in early alpha. If not hoping xenonauts hurries up
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Am I the only one who thinks that blue translucent interface looks cheap?
Extremely cheap.
Come on, how hard is to hire a good UI designer? Especially for a project with this history.
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I don't think it's that bad. how would you like it to be? like the original, big blocks of opaque grey, like buttons? or some kind of animated, annoying I-pretend-to-be-a-HUD thing? The way it looks right now, I think it's least distracting from the actual battlefield while still large and iconic enough to be easily recognizable and hands-on. again, time (and after-release-testing) will tell :)
btw, something I didn't notice before: what currency do you think the prices displayed on the gas station are in? 320 Dollars a gallon? 320 Euro-Cent a litre? Yen? Come to think of that, do you think they will have regional (e.g. Western versus Asian) differences in the battlefields?
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Jake Solomon, Lead Designer on XCOM:EU, answers fan questions:
https://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?118292-Jake-Solomon-Lead-Designer-on-XCOM-EU-answers-fan-questions (https://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?118292-Jake-Solomon-Lead-Designer-on-XCOM-EU-answers-fan-questions)
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FYI guys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpvQGHCFKpQ
(Sorry if this has been posted before)
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XCOM: Enemy Unknown first look - in-game footage and interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3uHHmTSDCvA#!
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XCOM: Enemy Unknown first look - in-game footage and interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3uHHmTSDCvA#!
Not gonna lie, that is everything I would make a remake look like (if I could :P).
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It looks really nice. I wonder how the interface works and if it's really holding up, but the first impression is really good. it's still the same combat sequence we've been seeing for weeks, though... time for some new footage.
love the base view -> geoscape transition, kind of reverses the original concept, but nicely so.
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doesn't look like they've detracted much from the turn based strategy. Really keen to see a proper 1 or 2 minute play through of a turn than all these snippets mashed together. Some really nice bits though in their implementation (the wire frame wall concept).
I'm keen to see how it pans out. Hopefully they've identified that if done well it could be a real cash cow for sequels, etc. There's a very large number of amazing amount of less hard core xcom fans (as well as the hard core types).
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XCOM Enemy Unknown's Floater Re-Imagined:
(https://gon.cdn.on.net/screenshots/a/0/8761/2012-05-01/xcom_floater_comparison.jpg)
Actually, I do not like the new design :(
Here is the full news for Games On Net:
https://games.on.net/article/15503/Exclusive_Reveal_XCOM_Enemy_Unknowns_Floater_Re-Imagined (https://games.on.net/article/15503/Exclusive_Reveal_XCOM_Enemy_Unknowns_Floater_Re-Imagined)
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Agreed, crappy "floatinger", I refuse to call him "floater".
This game seems to become another after-ufo-like-shit.
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I#ll reserve judgement until later... really, if you think about the original floater, he was kind of a lame enemy. his "floating" didn't give him that much of an advantage, and in the new XCOM, which is a lot more dynamic, anything closer to the original would have been way too much of a sitting duck.
this one sounds to me like someone read the ufopaedia text and inferred that the surgical altering described there makes him a cousin of the Bio-Drone - an organism that has been forcefully fused with a machine and that is now a strong and utterly mad beast. yes, it deviates quite a lot from the original, but I don't know if that's a bad thing. If you want to play the original, stick with openxcom :D
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If they decided to deviate quite far from original concept, they should be getting new names for those creatures. By getting old names they are mixing them up and actually messed up all UFO concept.
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true. well, they already introduced the thin man as a new enemy, they might as well give this one a new name... since it doesn't float. it's more like a rocketzombie. perhaps someone should mail firaxis and tell them :)
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release date has been published, and more information is leaking...
https://www.2kgames.com/blog/xcom-enemy-unknown-release-date-special-edition-and-more
...and if I'm not completely mistaken, I see zombies here:
https://downloads.2kgames.com/2kgames/uploads/images/community/xcom_eu_e3hr_006_blog-15321-cropped.jpg
and something that might just be their version of a chryssalid here:
https://downloads.2kgames.com/2kgames/uploads/images/community/xcom_eu_e3lr_003_blog-15331-cropped.jpg
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Are you sure it's a new chryssalid? It looks like ant or something like this. Will it have the same features as the original chryssaid?
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just saw a new preview video on a german computer magazine site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h1gl0LFGieY
yes, they are the new chryssalids, and yes, they can infect and reproduce in their victim's bodies... around 2:33 minutes in the video above you see a nice close-up of that :)
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So, guys what do you think about these new chryssalids?
As for me I was shocked that one of them was killed by one auto-shot! What a mess!!
Also, did you notice that the new floaters look something like Stroggs from Quake 4?
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it appears to me that they have been changed from a one-alien-army to something more of a swarm-insect type of enemy. less tough, greater numbers. even in the intro video for the tutorial you see at least two of them. having them appear this early in the game suggests that they are a lot less tough than they were in the original. that's just assumptions, though. will have to play the game to be sure :)
I don't know if I like that or not. I think with the ability to reproduce they were a little bit too tough in the original. I mean, tough to kill, deadly-even-to-heavily-armored-soldiers in hand-to-hand-combat AND multiplying like hell was just a little bit too much. looks like they took the hand-to-hand part and turned it into a new alien (the berserker). it's no small change, true, but it might be a good one.
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New video, battlescape gameplay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1VP4YmExQAE
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yeah, I watched that one live on the 2K Livestream (https://de.twitch.tv/2K). There's more streams this weekend, live from PAX, like this one (https://de.twitch.tv/2k/b/330618661) showing off the multiplayer gameplay :)
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Is there any mirror of that video for non logged users?
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1) which one?
2) what do you mean by "non logged"? (all the videos on 2k's twitch channel are free, you just have to confirm that you are old enough by entering your birthdate.)
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They also finally showed off the PC UI, which even has the classic "cube cursor" and grid-like Battlescape control, pretty cool. :)
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and for all their talk about the game NOT being grid-based, we could all see that it actually is, from the placement of the "high cover / low cover" icons. the units may move freely between the starting tile and the ending tile, but the mechanics are still there :P
less than 30 minutes until the next PAX live panel, with more XCOM:EU info. anybody else here pre-ordered? I did weeks ago.
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1) which one?
2) what do you mean by "non logged"? (all the videos on 2k's twitch channel are free, you just have to confirm that you are old enough by entering your birthdate.)
This one requires you to login:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1VP4YmExQAE
Anyway, i can open it in android youtube application without logging in ;)
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17+ video, need youtube account
or some tricks ;)
https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/1VP4YmExQAE
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Wow its looking pretty good :P
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yup, very good game.
If/when there's a pre-order on steam I'll pre-order it immediatly.
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Daiky, when are you going to play it? You need to code OpenXcom ;)
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Daiky, when are you going to play it? You need to code OpenXcom ;)
We'll take turns, when one plays the other codes. :P
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It's part of a research for new openxcom features. I mean:
- a throwable battlescanner
- civilians in terror missions that are hiding until an xcom unit tells them to run to safety
- a memorial wall
- critical shot mechanic
- names for soldiers of all kinds of nationalities
- %hit chance shown on your crosshairs when hovering over an alien
- some kind of perk / class system
are all things that could be added to openxcom too in the future. So that's why I have to play the game :p
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- Throwable battlescanner? You mean something like "remote eye"? This is quite nice idea, but smells cheating :)
- Who decide where is safety? How civilians will decide either hide somewhere or run to avoid aliens before any xcom suggests? And how these suggests will look like? Do xcom soldiers need to go face to face with each civilian to make these "suggests"? Or they can "yell" through all map? In this case aliens will hear that and 1) will be dragged to "yeller" 2) they would know where is the "safe place" and mass murder can be most effective.
- Memorial wall? Same as actioncam - pathos and bombast. Want to disable.
- Critical strike actually is very delicate matter. Everything I seen before (about critical strikes) was mostly a random event with some involvement of "perks". Kinda "random cheating". I would like to see more "physically correct" critical strike nature, like small body zones which 100% lead to critical hit. Like - limb joints, and eyes (actually depends on creature anatomy). With some %% you'll get critical hit even with autoshot. Aimed shot can work on "critical zones" as target points.
- What? Isn't that already implemented? :)
- That would be nice.
- I really dislike idea of "perk/class" system in xcom game. I hate those unrealistic RPG elements, when I must decide what kind of skill I need to develop, which contradicts to some other skill. And all these menus with bunch of strange "skill" or "perks" names. Game mechanics should be kept as simple as possible. Getting into this RPG too deep will make game more annoying when one of your "heroes" will die. And lot of more "loads" with every miss.
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Some t houghts about battlescanner. I suppose this device should be occupying 1 tile, and can be destroyed. And I believe it will be destroyed by aliens quite often. Or at least by "smart" aliens with high rank.
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The video explains only a part of how battlescanner, civilians and critical strike work, I didn't see any aliens try to destroy it? I think it's too early to judge them right now.
You may find the damage system of 0%-200% damage and the current skill leveling system perfect, fun and realistic.
But I think there is room for improvement. And by default I kinda trust a team of professional game developers (experienced people that already wrote history) that have spend their time looking for better mechanics more than anyone on this forum (including me :p) ;D
... for now... but professionals can screw up too sometimes (under pressure of greedy publishers)... so I wait and see.
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Greedy publishers already made this firaxis project too casual (to make game "fine" even for thoughtless people) - example: action cam. I don't see any practical use of it. If they won't make "disable action cam" there will be 0 chances I buy it.
BTW. They've made it as a console game, and using "gamepad" as controller. That is really gross :o.
About "trust". I don't trust. I don't care on "history" and authority on something. I judge result with my personal sense of "how it should be". I will blame even Jesus Christ if he'll made something stupid. Blasphemy? No way. Just a honesty.
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as far as I've seen, you can absolutely disable the action cam. I think you can also disable the soldier's voice confirmations, as well as tons of other "bling" that other people may find nice.
I'll give each of those little extra things a chance, and if it bugs me, I'll disable it. from what I've seen of the developer interviews, they all seem to be true fans of the original game(s). in my opinion, the game as it is in the original simply wouldn't work today. if you simply updated the graphics, but left all systems and mechanics unchanged, it would be extremely weird. (again, my opinion.)
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To be "true fan" is not enough. They also must be "free" in their creativity, with zero pressure from publisher or whoever pays them. Actually I would trust "indy" developer more, than them. Yeah, I probably getting them with too sharp angle. Well, I'm not too optimistic, considering every previous "xcom successor" was quite a failure.
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as far as I've seen, you can absolutely disable the action cam. I think you can also disable the soldier's voice confirmations, as well as tons of other "bling" that other people may find nice.
Yeah, in a rockpapershotgun interview he confirmed both killcam and the soldier voices are optional: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/05/05/firaxis-on-xcom-vs-xenonauts-optional-kill-cam/
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Alright. Option to disable glam cam and enemy health bars. Nice. :) But RPG elements with "grappling hook" ... still kind of a... nah.
Speaking of enemy health. I think there shouldn't be any bars or numbers which shows you how effective were your actions, though there should be some visual feedback. I can only suggest bloody injuers or even splatters (someone told of bloody trails to trace injured alien).
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XCOM: Enemy Unknown is now available for pre-order on digital distributors like Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/200510/) and it's already one of the best-selling games so far. :)
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Can't wait,,,,,,,, can't wait,,,,,,,, must defend Earth,,,,,,,,, must kill aliens,,,,,,,,team must be prepared,,,,,,,,,,,scientists and engineers must be ready,,,,,,,,,,,,,,must keep funding stream active,,,,,,,,,,,,need their tech to survive,,,,,,,,,,,,,GO GETTEM XCOM!!
Seriously, I get beautiful Skyrim for D&D like dungeon exploring and now XCOM is remade? I feel so guilty!
I've been tracking this since I first heard about it a while ago, the only thing that is really bugging me is no base defense? That was one of the best parts. That's really irritating. Maybe in the sequel or a mod or something but how you leave that out I don't know. :-\
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In one of the vids, it shows your squad containing different "classes" of units - ie, a sniper, a heavy etc. Does anyone know if these are fixed roles?
I've seen a few things that have me close to clicking cancel on my pre-order. I probably won't cancel, but I fear being disappointed - I have been with most of the non-indie games I've bought recently. :(
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yep. you get your rookies, and once they gain some experience, they automatically gain a class - randomly generated, afaik, but probably with the fitting attribute bonus.
the whole system is somewhat different from the original xcom, but I guess if you want to play the original, go for openxcom :P
the most complete list of stuff (some spoilers, I guess, but nothing too serious, nothing you couldn't guess from having played the original) is here:
https://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?117515-X-COM-Information-Summarized-READ-ME-FIRST! (https://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?117515-X-COM-Information-Summarized-READ-ME-FIRST!)
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I like some of there mission types , most of them have been mentioned here before though:
- Hostage Extraction [27]
- VIP rescue, (player controlled VIP) [27, L]
I dont know if this game will give me the same long term LOVING feeling the original does , but i am sure it will be good for a few weeks .
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the whole system is somewhat different from the original xcom, but I guess if you want to play the original, go for openxcom :P
I suppose, Given what I read in your link, might be more favourable (comments below)
the most complete list of stuff (some spoilers, I guess, but nothing too serious, nothing you couldn't guess from having played the original) is here:
https://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?117515-X-COM-Information-Summarized-READ-ME-FIRST! (https://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?117515-X-COM-Information-Summarized-READ-ME-FIRST!)
Thanks.
Here's some of my thoughts from that post:
"Class hidden until first promotion"
"Psionic - Late game class"
- I don't like class systems (in most cases) :( It feels like they are locking you out from having the team you want, to the team they want you to have
- What happens if your recuits randomly generate to all heavies for example? :o
- Are your troops "locked in" to said class? Would that mean you need new recruits later in the game to get psionics?
"Funding and resource bonuses varies"
"One base only"
- Surely these contradict each other?
"Walls and Cover destruct able, Roofs or Ground are not"
- Urm, so what if you blow all the walls out? Roof just hangs there?
"Soldier customization"
- Doesn't include Male/Female!?
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I suppose, Given what I read in your link, might be more favourable (comments below)
Thanks.
Here's some of my thoughts from that post:
"Class hidden until first promotion"
"Psionic - Late game class"
- I don't like class systems (in most cases) :( It feels like they are locking you out from having the team you want, to the team they want you to have
- What happens if your recuits randomly generate to all heavies for example? :o
- Are your troops "locked in" to said class? Would that mean you need new recruits later in the game to get psionics?
classes are locked, but psionics are a kind of "meta-class", apparently... any soldier can (randomly determined) later become a psionic additionally to his class. that's what I read from the semi-cryptic remarks I've heard from Jake Solomon in the interviews.
"Funding and resource bonuses varies"
"One base only"
- Surely these contradict each other?
you get certain bonuses depending on the region you place your single base in. so the bonuses vary from game to game, depending on where you play from. also, you do get "secondary bases" (interceptor hangar-bases, basically), and if you place them in another region you get some of their bonuses, too.
"Walls and Cover destruct able, Roofs or Ground are not"
- Urm, so what if you blow all the walls out? Roof just hangs there?
no, that would be xcom :P actually they designed the houses so that the corners and some structural elements like pillars can not be destroyed, but the rest can be.
"Soldier customization"
- Doesn't include Male/Female!?
gender and nationality (as seen by the little nation flag they carry on their back, up at the neck) are locked, but the rest is quite open. you can change a soldier from a baldie albino to a dreadlocked dark-skinned guy without a problem. plus you can give them a helmet, if you don't want to see their faces at all - although I think the helmets might be "elite soldier pack" only (what you get when you pre-order or buy a game from the first shipment).
I was alternating between totally excited and deeply suspicious ever since I heard that they are actually doing a "re-imagining". But now that I've seen some in-game action (like this epic multi-player battle (https://www.twitch.tv/2k/b/331088930), I'm quite convinced that it will be at least "good".
I still think that openxcom will have a higher re-play value, though :)
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Awww, building destruction was allowed in Apoc ;D
I must admit though, I am interested in the multiplayer aspect. Shame it wasn't more like "The Two Sides" multiplayer, but hey
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Anyone tried demo? People who tried say there are very few points of choice, pretty linear and reminds jRPG.
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I've tried the demo, and also watched lots of the videos available where some developers play against other people or against the computer and chat about the game.
the demo consists of the tutorial mission and one additional mission, with a bit of very limited base-management and sutff like soldier promotions, research allocation and the like in-between.
the tutorial mission is heavily scripted, but of course that's intentional. you can't use any of the commands that are not supposed to be used at that time, and have to move the soldiers precisely where the tutorial wants you to go. but that's okay, it's supposed to show you the basics, nothing more.
the second mission allows for more free play, but the level design keeps it pretty linear: it's basically a narrow strip of playable dockyard-terrain, so all you can do is advance, find the aliens and kill them.
from what I've seen of the rest of the game, this demo is VERY limited, yes. I'm still not sure how the game itself will feel with the non-random terrain... every single level is hand-crafted, after all. sure they all have multiple spawn points and stuff, but I guess it will get repetitive after a few play-throughs. then again, the levels are a good deal more complex than those from the original... and to be honest, the original was quite repetitive, too. the actual number of different levels may have been greater, because the map tile arrangement was almost entirely arbitrary, but how much difference is there between a farm where the house is on the left side of the barn and one where it is on the right side?
the only real problem I think I'll have with the new xcom is that they didn't implement free-aim modes except for the area-of-effect weapons. for me, shooting at a wall with auto-fire because I knew that there was an alien behind that wall was a big part of the original game.
but I guess I can live with that - after all, how realistic is it really to shoot down a wall section approximately 1x2m size with a rifle? if you want to do that, you use a grenade :)
one thing that did disappoint me, though, was the limited camera freedom. from what I'd seen in the videos, I thought it was a completely free camera. as it turns out, you can only turn the camera in 90°-steps, and zoom in and out in five or six steps. the camera only closes in in the "action-view" (when you want to perform an action with a soldier like shooting, the camera drops in for an "over-the-shoulder" view, looking at the target), and you cannot look around in that view, the camera direction is always "at the target".
I'm very curious how the full game will turn out. I suppose it will be great, but I don't know if it will be quite the same... as I've said before, I love the original because it is so very simplistic and leaves so much for your own imagination.
EDIT: oh, and >5GB for a demo? and one that's this limited in functionality? come on. people have already started dissecting the files, and found a lot of spoiler info in there... I think if you bring out a demo, you could at least put a little more effort into it, like removing all unnecessary game data. from what I've read, there are probably all of the autopsy reports in there, and even the end movie... :P
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Yeah the demo is very limited, just part of the game tutorial (the full game has an even longer tutorial, since it has to cover everything you'd usually find in a manual :P but it can be disabled). I guess it's to get new people hooked more than the old fans.
I am in love with the PC interface though. Finally, I can shoot aliens in two clicks! :D The music is great too, and I found it amusing how the Options screen specifically has all the stuff fans bitched about: Disable Soldier Voices, Disable Action Cam, Disable Enemy Health, etc.
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also, the keyboard shortcuts work nicely. wasd for scrolling, q and e for turning the camera, f and v (or was it g and b?) for zooming in and out, space for entering action mode and using selected action. if you want to play quick (i.e. timed multiplayer...), you can just tap spacebar twice as soon as you spot an enemy and your unit will fire on the enemy in sight.
and yes, the options menu is very interesting :) the "Disable Enemy Health" button reminds me: I have yet to check whether that also disables the "damage dealt" numbers that float up when you hit an enemy... do you know if it does, SupSuper? I don't know yet if I want to use that option, though. It certainly will make the game a little bit more challenging, forcing you to plan more carefully... :)
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The intro movie reminded me of Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds.
The linear effect indeed is probably very obvious because it's a demo. The first mission, it even says where you have to move your soldiers to and when to fire. Second mission is more like the real thing I guess. Great visuals, sounds and music. I can't wait to research all the alien stuff and see where the story leads :) Cydonia? :p
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from what I've seen of the rest of the game, this demo is VERY limited, yes. I'm still not sure how the game itself will feel with the non-random terrain... every single level is hand-crafted, after all. sure they all have multiple spawn points and stuff, but I guess it will get repetitive after a few play-throughs. then again, the levels are a good deal more complex than those from the original... and to be honest, the original was quite repetitive, too. the actual number of different levels may have been greater, because the map tile arrangement was almost entirely arbitrary, but how much difference is there between a farm where the house is on the left side of the barn and one where it is on the right side?
Actually, that's a *huge* difference when it comes to tactics--It's not that the level becomes more visually interesting due to the rearrangement, it's that it changes how you play.
With a set level you can generally rely on a "most effective" path to complete a mission, and that would get boring much faster than a map where that path keeps changing, and doing so exponentially because it's not just one building that moved, it could be all of them, which means there may or may not be aliens on the other side or not.
This game's not going to have the same replayability, but they obviously had to go that route to appeal to a slightly more casual audience (consoles...), not to mention it's much easier on the technical side.
EDIT: oh, and >5GB for a demo? and one that's this limited in functionality? come on. people have already started dissecting the files, and found a lot of spoiler info in there... I think if you bring out a demo, you could at least put a little more effort into it, like removing all unnecessary game data. from what I've read, there are probably all of the autopsy reports in there, and even the end movie... :P
I believe they've said it may be possible to unlock the entire game using just the demo (and an update?), so you don't have to download it again. So yeah, there's a lot of stuff in there for a reason.
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I cancelled my preorder. I watched a few people playing the demo and wasn't really that impressed.
When the full thing comes out, and I've watched people play the "full" game, I might reconsider.
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What was so different when you decided to pre-order then?
I got the opposite reaction: when playing the demo it felt better than the video's I had seen before.
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I think the demo is fine if you never saw the game before - and perhaps never played the original game. So it serves its purpose.
For me, it was a little bit disappointing, having seen all those play-videos that used the "press build", with large portions of the game playable.
Then again, it's less than two weeks until I can play the full game, and I don't think anything could have made me cancel my pre-order.
I wouldn't be too surprised if it took less than a month until some clever fans (who are, by chance, experienced Unreal-Engine-modders) bring out a mod that adds random terrain.
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What was so different when you decided to pre-order then?
I got the opposite reaction: when playing the demo it felt better than the video's I had seen before.
Perhaps I should play the demo myself, but...
# I didn't really get the "scientists as a reward". It half implied that you can't purchase scientists when you feel like it. It's probably just a per-mission "bonus" though
# I didn't like the force between defending one of two sites. In UFO:EU, you were technically able to respond to every single event. This could be just demo/tutorial stages, but I'm not sure.
I think there were a couple of other minor things, but I can't think what they were now.
To be fair, I've been touch-and-go on the pre-order all throughout. Whilst there looks some positive changes, I still see some things that I'm don't feel particularly impressed with.
I'm not saying it's definately out for good, but might just hang on a bit to see what the game is like after the "tutorial" section.
Besides, I've still got plenty of games already that I need to get on with first.
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Perhaps I should play the demo myself, but...
# I didn't really get the "scientists as a reward". It half implied that you can't purchase scientists when you feel like it. It's probably just a per-mission "bonus" though
# I didn't like the force between defending one of two sites. In UFO:EU, you were technically able to respond to every single event. This could be just demo/tutorial stages, but I'm not sure.
I think there were a couple of other minor things, but I can't think what they were now.
To be fair, I've been touch-and-go on the pre-order all throughout. Whilst there looks some positive changes, I still see some things that I'm don't feel particularly impressed with.
I'm not saying it's definately out for good, but might just hang on a bit to see what the game is like after the "tutorial" section.
Besides, I've still got plenty of games already that I need to get on with first.
afaik, you can hire scientists, but they are expensive, so getting them as a mission bonus reward is always a nice thing.
the "choosing between two missions" is definitely a part of the game. the geoscape is actually changed quite a bit from the original: you can't send craft out on patrol, instead there are "geoscape events" that you can react to, and often those are two or more things happening simultaneously, and you can only respond to one of them. it's a deliberate design choice. I think it will fit in with the rest of the game, from what I've seen... the game appears to be much more "claustrophobic" in a sense, tailored to make you feel the global panic and driving you to finding the one solution that lets you end the alien threat before everything comes crashing down on you.
it appears that this is made to prevent those never-ending games like in the original when you had all the tech, 8 bases with two or three avengers each and completely dominating the airspace, crashing battleships for fun and milking alien bases for supply ships regularly... :) :) :) although jake solomon hinted at the possibility to delay the final mission for fun in order to complete the tech tree. I guess we'll find out what is possible and what isn't.
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afaik, you can hire scientists, but they are expensive, so getting them as a mission bonus reward is always a nice thing.
That won't be so bad then
the "choosing between two missions" is definitely a part of the game.
Yeah, I understand they designed it this way, but it's not "believable" (I'll avoid "realistic" given the context of the game). Are you telling me that with all the money they have, they can only afford 4-6 soldiers and can be in one place at a time?
Also, it's a "forced loss". By which I mean that regardless of choice, you "lose" on the other. In the original, you could theoretically respond to several terror missions at any given time. If you can't, it's your fault (as the player) for not having enough ships/units/equipment, and that, to me, is much more powerful.
I was playing UFO:EU not long ago, I sold one of the fighters to buy some more scientists. Later on, I got 3 large UFOs, and I only had my single fighter to defend. That was *my* fault.
Actually, I'm assuming you're allowed to recruit more soldiers at any point? or are you fixed?
it appears that this is made to prevent those never-ending games like in the original
Never-ending game? Never had one; but if anything, this will be at the player's discretion if they have all the tech, so it's not never-ending in the true sense.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93M_fLmmecU&feature=player_embedded#!
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one thing that did disappoint me, though, was the limited camera freedom. from what I'd seen in the videos, I thought it was a completely free camera. as it turns out, you can only turn the camera in 90°-steps, and zoom in and out in five or six steps. the camera only closes in in the "action-view" (when you want to perform an action with a soldier like shooting, the camera drops in for an "over-the-shoulder" view, looking at the target), and you cannot look around in that view, the camera direction is always "at the target".
Note that the scroll wheel only changes the height level, to zoom you have to hold down the middle-mouse-button and drag, and you can zoom in/out a fair bit (to the point you can see outside the tutorial map edge because they forgot to disable it there :P).
If you disable the third-person mode, you'll remain in "regular camera" and can keep moving around when aiming at enemies.
EDIT: oh, and >5GB for a demo? and one that's this limited in functionality? come on. people have already started dissecting the files, and found a lot of spoiler info in there... I think if you bring out a demo, you could at least put a little more effort into it, like removing all unnecessary game data. from what I've read, there are probably all of the autopsy reports in there, and even the end movie... :P
I think it's a general developer's rule that you shouldn't remove anything that you're not absolutely sure it's not required by the game, because even the slightest thing might break it. :P
also, the keyboard shortcuts work nicely. wasd for scrolling, q and e for turning the camera, f and v (or was it g and b?) for zooming in and out, space for entering action mode and using selected action. if you want to play quick (i.e. timed multiplayer...), you can just tap spacebar twice as soon as you spot an enemy and your unit will fire on the enemy in sight.
and yes, the options menu is very interesting :) the "Disable Enemy Health" button reminds me: I have yet to check whether that also disables the "damage dealt" numbers that float up when you hit an enemy... do you know if it does, SupSuper? I don't know yet if I want to use that option, though. It certainly will make the game a little bit more challenging, forcing you to plan more carefully... :)
Yes, it also disables the "damage dealt" numbers when you hit an enemy (you still see damage dealt to your soldiers though).
Looking around online, I find it interesting that a lot of people are complaining that the tutorial demo is too linear, and proceed to miss a lot of options because the tutorial didn't specifically tell them. :P
For example, here's all the different ways to select a soldier I've found so far:
- Click on the Prev / Next Soldier buttons.
- Click on the Tab / Ctrl-Tab hotkeys.
- Click on the Back/Forward buttons on your mouse (if available).
- Click on the soldier on the Battlescape screen.
- Click on the F2-F5 hotkeys to select a specific soldier.
And all the different ways to attack an alien:
- Click on the Fire button.
- Click on the Alien Spotted indicator on the bottom-right.
- Click on the alien on the Battlescape screen.
- Click on the 1 hotkey to switch to Fire mode.
- Click on the Space hotkey to switch to Action mode.
So there's no lack of options. Some people on the 2K Forums even found out how to change the difficulty level (https://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?139306-How-to-change-Difficulty-Settings-here) (the demo defaults to Easy) and various game options (https://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?139131-Demo-set-on-quot-Daddy-can-I-play-quot-mode!) (watch out for spoilers) if you wanna get more out of the demo.
Actually, that's a *huge* difference when it comes to tactics--It's not that the level becomes more visually interesting due to the rearrangement, it's that it changes how you play.
With a set level you can generally rely on a "most effective" path to complete a mission, and that would get boring much faster than a map where that path keeps changing, and doing so exponentially because it's not just one building that moved, it could be all of them, which means there may or may not be aliens on the other side or not.
This game's not going to have the same replayability, but they obviously had to go that route to appeal to a slightly more casual audience (consoles...), not to mention it's much easier on the technical side.
I believe they've said it may be possible to unlock the entire game using just the demo (and an update?), so you don't have to download it again. So yeah, there's a lot of stuff in there for a reason.
They talked about this design choice, it ends up being a pros vs. cons kind of thing. Procedurally generated maps have the advantage of producing thousands of unpredictable map combinations with a few elements, and worked well for the original X-Com's simple graphics and hardware limitations (they were definitely not visually interesting :P). But you have the disadvantage of having very little control over the result because you're leaving it up to random chance. You can end up with really hard maps just because the game decided to put a lot of open fields between you and the aliens, or really weird bizarre layouts due to the randomness, specially with 3D graphics.
So they weren't happy with the results and settled with just making hundreds of randomly-selected hand-crafted maps. It's a lot more work to make every map individually (the game has been 4 years in the making), but you have full control over the results, and they said there'll be enough to "not see the same map after two playthroughs". Spawn points and mission elements are still randomized anyways, so there won't be a "most effective path".
it appears that this is made to prevent those never-ending games like in the original when you had all the tech, 8 bases with two or three avengers each and completely dominating the airspace, crashing battleships for fun and milking alien bases for supply ships regularly... :) :) :) although jake solomon hinted at the possibility to delay the final mission for fun in order to complete the tech tree. I guess we'll find out what is possible and what isn't.
It has been confirmed you can still have never-ending games if you can manage it.
That won't be so bad then
Yeah, I understand they designed it this way, but it's not "believable" (I'll avoid "realistic" given the context of the game). Are you telling me that with all the money they have, they can only afford 4-6 soldiers and can be in one place at a time?
Also, it's a "forced loss". By which I mean that regardless of choice, you "lose" on the other. In the original, you could theoretically respond to several terror missions at any given time. If you can't, it's your fault (as the player) for not having enough ships/units/equipment, and that, to me, is much more powerful.
I was playing UFO:EU not long ago, I sold one of the fighters to buy some more scientists. Later on, I got 3 large UFOs, and I only had my single fighter to defend. That was *my* fault.
Actually, I'm assuming you're allowed to recruit more soldiers at any point? or are you fixed?
You can still recruit soldiers freely. I think they're just trying to balance out things with the new design. Like you said, in the original game you could have multiple bases and Skyrangers and their "downtime" was the only thing restricting you. Going to one mission might keep the craft from going another. In the new one you always have the one base Skyranger available as far as I can tell, so they have to do something else. From the streams only the alien abduction missions seem to force you to choose anyways.
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So they weren't happy with the results and settled with just making hundreds of randomly-selected hand-crafted maps. It's a lot more work to make every map individually (the game has been 4 years in the making), but you have full control over the results, and they said there'll be enough to "not see the same map after two playthroughs". Spawn points and mission elements are still randomized anyways, so there won't be a "most effective path".
From a tactical standpoint, I think terrain is much more a determining factor in pathing than enemy positions since you want to be in the area that offers the best possible cover for any dynamic situation, regardless of where the enemies are: I don't care if there's a sectoid hiding in that building or not--I want to hide in that building. But its nice to know there are so many maps! That should alleviate some of the repetitiveness...
Wonder what kind of modding tools the game will have, if any.
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hmm, apparently the camera can be set to free turning in the .ini files.
I think they said that there won't be an SDK, but since it's all based on the unreal engine, there's a lot of stuff possible. and the amount of settings that can be changed in the .ini files alone is astounding already.
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Wow, the steam pre-orders went through the roof. I think 2K can better rename their first-person-shooter XCOM - too much name confusion imho for two totally different games. People never say xcom-enemy-unknown they just say "xcom", while that still officially is the name of the shooter... which has been delayed for more than a year.
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Has anyone encountered a startup CTD on the Steam demo on Windows 7 x64?
Is there a 'direct download' available for the demo?
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Nope, runs nice on Windows 7 x64, nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS 256 Mb, 4 Gb RAM.
Maybe you have old videocard?
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Must be. It's a ATi x1650.
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Everywhere you look, PC Gamer, Gamespot, Metacritic, the game gets amazing reviews and scores.
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It is amazing.
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you lucky americans, you :)
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It is amazing.
Just don't pull the pin on Openxcom , i have spent way to many hours on Mods to stop now :P
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I've spent way to many hours on coding :p But a lot more on gaming :)
I'm on a gaming low now, I'm only busy playing 5 games: WoW(mists of pandaria), Skyrim, Minecraft on PC, LA.Noire and Forza on xbox. So playing a bit of xcom enemy unknown on the side won't make a big difference. :p
Soon there is a new Far Cry and a new Sim City! ...Must..... play .... everything.... Must ... not ... sleep .... Zzz
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Well, I've re-pre-ordered XCOM :o I thought I might as well. Hopefully some of you will join me up for some online play.
I tend to end up playing Starcraft 2 mostly, because I have a bunch of friends who I regularly play with. It's a shame, because I have quite a few other games I really enjoy playing, but they hardly ever get booted up.
I'm really struggling to code in my personal time. I guess that's the problem having two jobs that are both software development roles. I think it might be nice to have a more content-orientated role for a while, ie. making maps/graphics/music. Not sure how good I'd be, but it'd be a nice change.
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Sooooo....
Has anybody got it? My copy arrived today. Didn't realise the disc version still required you to have a Steam account (Not that it's too much of a problem for me, but I could see that being annoying if you didn't).
As a remake/reimagining of UFO:Enemy Unknown, I'm not all that impressed. However, as a strategy game, it's not bad. Some things I think are a bit nonsensical - like chosing between a grenade or a flak jacket - but I think it'll probably get some play.
I did a multiplayer game earlier, which I think might end up playing more than the game itself, who knows yet, early days.
If anybody fancies playing me, feel free to add me (https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198046520737/) on Steam.
Edit: Oh, for a game pushing the use of cover, there's an awful lot of seeing and shooting through walls and other solid objects
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I have refused to buy it because of the steam activation , that stuff really rubs me the wrong way...
"I think it might be nice to have a more content-orientated role for a while, ie. making maps/graphics/music. Not sure how good I'd be, but it'd be a nice change." On the topic of mapmaking , new video added to youtube :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7ErO2K-TqnE
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Luke, that's cool :D
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I have refused to buy it because of the steam activation , that stuff really rubs me the wrong way...
You know, I didn't know this when I bought the disc version. It would have really annoyed me if I didn't already have a Steam account.
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I own the game...
Played it 3 hours, and haven't felt the urge to play it again since. The awkward mechanics in Battlescape really threw me off, and the lack of freedom in the "BaseScape" didn't help one bit. I am not liking the finished product so far.
I think I'll restart the game in "Easy" dificulty and try to at least finish the story thru the end.
It's definitely a shelved game once I'm finished with it tho. I seem the prefer the original X-COM by a long shot.
Too bad tho, I had great hopes for that title. :(
Oh well.
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Played it 3 hours, and haven't felt the urge to play it again since. The awkward mechanics in Battlescape really threw me off, and the lack of freedom in the "BaseScape" didn't help one bit. I am not liking the finished product so far.
I played a multiplayer game with SupSuper. I agree some mechanics are annoying (like if you shoot as your first "action", you don't get a second one), but it just means you need to think a little different. It's not all that bad.
Maybe give the multiplayer a few goes. Might think it's not so bad
One of the more annoying basescape is all the excavating to build facilities! Really really annoying!
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*sigh* Well, I posted a list of my problems with the game when talking to a guy on N4G... and it took forever to write said list. Well, time to write one again!
Let's see, I think 6 members at most is too few. 10 -12 is the sweet spot, which helps maintain the idea that every squad member is important without limiting the players or making each turn take too long. I think 3 actions per operative per turn is probably better than just 2. Besides, there are problems with this little system anyway. Like pmprog said, not getting a second action because you fired/reloaded on your first is ridiculously stupid. When the developers say you have two actions, then let us have two actions. Better yet, I'm actually in favor of using the Time unit system again. I'm not sure how many other people would prefer the TUs now, but I do.
When it comes to base management, I have a number of problems here as well. Why do we need to manually excavate every damn tile? Why do we need a certain number of engineers to build something rather than just making it take longer to build it? Why does your base, the headquarters of an international group of elite operatives (never mind the fact that in all X-COM games, you start out with rookies that can't shoot for shit, which would be stupid in real-life. Wouldn't be find the best of the best of the best, sir, in real life? Whatever...) dedicated to fighting off a mysterious extraterrestrial threat feel so damn small? Speaking of which, why is the hanger only large enough to support one Skyranger? And if we can only have one Skyranger, why can we have numerous Interceptors? Why can't we build more bases in the world? Why can't we pick a precise location in the world to place our base? If I'm not mistaken, placing your base on some tiny island in the original kept aliens from attacking you so easily, but you would have less of a chance of detecting aliens. I may be wrong about that, but back to the main topic. Why don't aliens EVER attack your base, anyway?
Enough of the base, let's think about the inventory system. Why does a fiber vest or whatever keep you from carrying a grenade? Why can you only carry one grenade? Why can't you carry both a medkit and some grenades of your belt (or wherever they pull this out from)? Why can't you stick anything in a backpack, as in the original game? Oh, you wanted to carry a shotgun and a rifle? Hahaha, too bad. -_- And when referring to the weapons and armor, why are they just strict upgrades rather than "side-grades"? This just reduces the tactical depth in general of outfitting your squad. And why can't you sell some equipment that you think is useless in comparison to your soldier's medkit? And when customizing soldiers themselves, why aren't there any accents outside of the "Default American" accent? It just feels weird to have a chick from China that sounds like she's been an American all of her life. Though, I appreciate the fact that they included the original games' famous hairstyle and shade of blond. A little bit of fanservice never hurt anybody.
Now the geoscape. Where's the time buttons? All we get is "Scan for Activity." And the geoscape brings other problems. So, you can detect random UFOs and can go shoot them down, but you'll never be able to see those UFOs that are exclusive to certain locations. You know, the UFOs that keep bringing up the abduction missions? I shouldn't have to go to the XCOM Nexus or alter the .exe itself to activate a fully functional part of the game that I think adds to their whole, "Every choice you make is irreversible" thing they have going on. Since, as I said, there's just one UFO per country that stays neatly inside of said country's borders, choosing to get rid of a UFO gets rid of one of the abductions missions you're tasked with choosing between, but at the cost of never getting the benefits that country would provide if you completed an abduction mission there. And why is the air combat so limited? More so, in fact, that the original's, which is REALLY REALLY saying something.
Now back to combat's problems. I've already mentioned the problems the 2-action system comes with, but there's still quite a fw other issues. As has been stated repeatedly, why is there only one way to fire with the exception of some special equipment like rocket launchers or grenades. Limiting free-aim is just stupid and not allowing more precise single-shots is a missed opportunity. And on Classic difficulty, why is the AI so cheap. Oftentimes, your basic Sectoid can critical one of your soldiers from across the map turn after turn. And such a problem is more infurating when a fully-leveled soldier can't target the Sectoid (or whatever alien it is) because said Sectoid is actually TOO FAR AWAY. 0_o Oh, and the camera is just horrendous. Absolutely horrendous. There's also a ton of bugs here, as they are in the entire game. Clipping is in abundance, too.
And, finally... why is Second Wave disabled by default as well? Because some of the modifier's don't work? Okay, then scrap those and include the ones that do work, dammit.
Still, you know what the really weird thing is? Even though this game has problem after problem after problem after problem... I still REALLY like it. It's a good game, perhaps on the border of being great. But the thing is... it says XCOM on it. And when you compare it to a game that's constantly considered the best strategy and/or tactics game ever created, you REALLY start to notice a lot of problems. Regardless, it's a very fun game in my opinion and it's managed to rip me away from my game of the year, Dishonored. That takes some miracle.
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I like the game, but I'm disappointed in Jake Solomon. He's a fucking piece of shit liar.
Sorry.
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Because he told players he was remaking the original in details ?
Just curious as to why blame Jake specifically ?
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I've put around 25hrs into it so far..
I......
I'm not enjoying it...
It's not the same game at all. They're just the similar topic.
The constant in & out of mission control, the endless running to cover makes it.... the smaller areas.... the 10mins to more 3 feet....it's a totally different game.... a boring version of the original. I much prefer the old game. I miss having the bigger team of troops, I love being able to shoot windows/walls/hedges in the old game. I love the vast areas... I love the old nades.... the standing in a field of wheat and then being sniped by some &^#%@%%# sectoid from distant darkness with my fave soldier dying and then smashing my keyboard in a rage while the neighbours call the police.... *sob* *sniff*
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the standing in a field of wheat and then being sniped by some &^#%@%%# sectoid from distant darkness with my fave soldier dying and then smashing my keyboard in a rage while the neighbours call the police.... *sob* *sniff*
There is just something about that feel most moddern gamers don't understand ;)
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AlienRape summed up parts of what is missing, without going too much into the mechanics of it ;D
Managed another 1 hour last week-end. I've rescued the civilan, but man this game is boring.
Oh well.. it's not going anywhere so I'll finish it eventually.
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The good thing about the new game being boring is that it just makes this project that much more desirable.
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Oh well. This game is old news to me now, the DLC doesn't help either. I'm sick of games that promise high and end in the trash. It's like politics. Fuck the industry.
...Now we wait for OpenXcom ;)
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What's in the DLC ?
I must admit I was surprised the game wasnt all that good, because these are the same guys that remade "Pirates!" and beside the nuking of the Treasure Fleet/Silver Train and the 1560 playable area (which I really miss) the remake is incredible. It is "very" similar to the original game, up to the number of cannons on the ships (!).
Must be a different team that remade X-Com.
Yeah it's becoming old news for me as well... Now there's this project and the new "Star Citizen"; a Wing Commander game remake by none other than Chris Roberts. And World of Tanks to kill time (and ppl).
;)
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The DLC contains some new armour graphics, and a new hairstyle... I think that's about it... Certainly glad I didn't pay for it.
I'm not quite sure why you guys (and gals?) seem to hate the game so much. Sure, it has issues (what game doesn't?), but it's not bad. Forget it's called Enemy Unknown, and enjoy it for the squad based tactical game that it is.
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Why we hate it? It worse (more naive) than original. Like Diablo3 worse than Diablo2 (more naive too). It may be interesting for people who doesn't like thing called "challenge", but adore of "entertainment" thing.
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It's interesting that your first response is "It worse (more naive) than original" ans your main reason for hating the game. You do not it is not UFO:Enemy Unknown, right? Despite the name.
Now, if you'd have said it wasn't challenging, or it was boring, I would have just said "fair enough", but it kind of sounds like you've not really "tried" it. It is challenging, even on the edge of cheating (if not downright).
I'm not going to try winning you over, you're entitled to your own opinions, I just think you're expecting too much of what it isn't ever going to be.
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No, it's totally fair to expect nowadays games getting "naive" - it's just marketing methods to increase income by spreading "targeted audience" on people of different attitude, like children, teens, housekeepers, like for most part of IQ spectrum possible. Downside of that approach - they've made this game "boring" for not very large group of "xcom lovers" who hate word "naive". But, hey, they've earned for what they aimed. "XCom lovers" just cannot compensate possible income of thousands and thousands of consollers.
It would be quite another game which might hit 100% of what we expected. And definately not this one, I might add. And that's really good news (like someone said earlier) - we still have a chance to cover this part of audience.
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Some stats on shots in the new XCOM ;D
https://sinepost.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/is-xcom-truly-random/
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Been playing the demo on XBox, I must say it really plays well on a console, which I never expected from a strategy game...
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Some stats on shots in the new XCOM ;D
https://sinepost.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/is-xcom-truly-random/
That's an interesting post, and eventually we ought to consider implementing "streakiness", which would allow some control of "randomness". The basic idea (like having a hot QB) is that when you start hitting you tend to keep hitting, and vice-versa. So when your QB turns cold, you don't go for long shots, you start again with high-percentage shots and try to rebuild your streak.
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The basic idea (like having a hot QB) is that when you start hitting you tend to keep hitting, and vice-versa.
I really like that idea. I've seen quite a few people modding their XCOM, so this might be something doable.
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Really? I severely dislike this concept ("streakiness"). If MUST be an option. Because otherwise it only makes it worse for the player in the early game (when they miss a lot) and easier on the later game (where they tend to have better stats).
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True, but then I'd probably look to implement it like this:
Say you're character "A" has a 50% hit rate. He manages to hit an alien, so his next shot he gets something like a +10% accuracy, which means he now has 60% chance on his next shot. If he misses, he only drops back down to 50%, so you're at no loss, it's just an extra when consistantly hitting. It'll only remain during the mission too. I'm assuming the accuracy still increases over time of hitting in the new game, like the old? So naturally, he should build up his accuracy better, to the point where you could maybe exclude them from the "streak bonus"
I wish there were some better details on the abilities you could give you units too. I give my sniper the ability to take shots for free (can't remember what it's called off-hand), but sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. I'm assuming there's a rule to it, but it's not very clear IMO
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I wish there were some better details on the abilities you could give you units too. I give my sniper the ability to take shots for free (can't remember what it's called off-hand), but sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. I'm assuming there's a rule to it, but it's not very clear IMO
Ufopaedia's got your back (https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Classes_(EU2012)) ;) (some abilities are better explained in the Battlescape help). If you're talking about Double Shot, it's a bit finnicky sometimes, but I think the rule is if you take a shot you get another one for free as long as there's something else to shoot at.
Anyways I finally finished my first game, and I throughly enjoyed it, it's been a while since I've had that much fun with a new XCOM game. I'm shocked so many people around here hate it and nowhere else (ok it's not that shocking given OpenXcom attracts the purists :P). I'll write a review on it later.
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No, I was talking about "In The Zone", but thanks for the link. I hadn't realised that Ufopaedia added the new XCOM (which makes sense, I guess I just didn't look)
I was a little disappointed that 60% of my recruits ended up as "heavies". I've not finished yet, but I think getting close. Given my watchings of Metal Canyon's playthrough.
I've enjoyed it too. I am struggling to manufacture things, I never have enough alloys, and my aircraft seem woefully inadequate at handling any UFOs. Once I finish this game though, I'm going to see if MetalCanyon releases his mod (or even look at other mods) for the next game.
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I am enjoying it, too :) I only play every other week, but I like a lot about the game. Of course it's not the same, it's much less sandbox-y, rather more story-driven than the original. I guess the original was actually supposed to be story-driven, too, it just wasn't possible at that time :)
about "streakiness": I'd rather see something like a "sustained fire bonus", I think Space Hulk (from the warhammer 40k universe) had something like that: If you take shot after shot at the same target, your aim should increase. that's only for uninterrupted shooting at the same target, of course.
(in RL, if your first shot misses to the left, you will of course correct your aim to the right for the second shot. and if that is still too far to the left, you will correct again... and so on.)
as long as neither the target nor the firing unit moved, the to-hit probability should keep increasing. this should be especially true for aimed shots! watching the point of impact and correcting aim is what snipers do all the time.
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as long as neither the target nor the firing unit moved, the to-hit probability should keep increasing. this should be especially true for aimed shots! watching the point of impact and correcting aim is what snipers do all the time.
Hmmm, I don't think that'd really happen in XCOM though. It seems quite rare to get two consecutive shots at the same target without one moving.
Also, a gripe of mine is Squad Sight, which says "Allows firing at targets in any ally's sight radius". That's not true at all. There's plenty of times my sniper can't shoot at anything where they are visible to my other units. Anyway...
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Hmmm, I don't think that'd really happen in XCOM though. It seems quite rare to get two consecutive shots at the same target without one moving.
Also, a gripe of mine is Squad Sight, which says "Allows firing at targets in any ally's sight radius". That's not true at all. There's plenty of times my sniper can't shoot at anything where they are visible to my other units. Anyway...
Well obviously it won't let him fire through walls or something. :P Mind you a sniper is pretty much useless without Squad Sight.
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That I could understand, but I've had them jetpacked in the air, and still not allowed to shoot something on the ground. It bugs me a bit, but doesn't put me off.
I've just downloaded XCOM Meddler (https://xcom.nexusmods.com/mods/76/), so I'm thinking on aborting my current game (meh, I've never "finished" a game since, urm, maybe pre-2000 anyway), and fiddling with the game.
Shame you can't just rip the game apart using the UDK. Then I could have tried to put in the hit streak bonus :)
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Hmmm, I don't think that'd really happen in XCOM though. It seems quite rare to get two consecutive shots at the same target without one moving.
oh, yeah, sorry, that was meant to be something for openxcom, not for XCOM:EU. you are right, that would rarely happen in XCOM:EU because the "turns" are much shorter :)
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I'm not a fast gamer, so I only finished my game on normal difficulty last night. But I must say it was really great towards the end. Like other people here, I really enjoyed every bit. Very addictive once you get sucked up in the story, and you really want to beat them.
The different psionic skills are fun. The class and skill system is fun. There is enough variation in the missions. I actually regret I did the end mission so soon, I wanted to do some more battles, cause I didn't really test out the flying armor and the higher level SHIVs yet.
I'm certainly going to play this game some more, what hardly ever happens with modern games once I finished them (if I even finish them before getting bored)
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I've not played this in an age. I can't even remember where I got up to now - definately not up to Psionics though
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https://www.polygon.com/features/2013/1/31/3928710/making-of-xcoms-jake-solomon-firaxis-sid-meier
Not sure if anyone's seen this yet, but there's a great article here about the development of XCom: EU. It includes some footage of the pre-alpha, which was more or less a 1:1 remake of UD. What's interesting is that the devteam really wanted to make a very close remake, but was forced to simplify and cut a bunch of features out of fear of not being greenlit by 2K and lack of resources. Hopefully, now that the game's proven to be a commercial success, the expansion that Firaxis has been hinting at will expand the depth of the game, especially since they scrapped the second DLC to focus on it.
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https://www.polygon.com/features/2013/1/31/3928710/making-of-xcoms-jake-solomon-firaxis-sid-meier
Ooooh, thanks for that. I'll watch that when I get home. I love game post-mortems
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Thanks for that link, it's a terrific read. :D Pretty fun to see what goes on behind the scenes of development, specially in something as bold as X-Com.
It's interesting to see that implementing all of original X-Com's features with today's technology is actually a whole lot harder, not easier (I'm glad we're not doing this in 3D :P). And that even professional developers can make the same mistake as fan developers: Their first prototype was a lot truer to the original (TUs, equipment, disembarking off the skyranger, etc), but if you just take the original and pile all the cool new features you've always wanted, you're just gonna get a mess. This is what happens with most remakes. You always need to redesign from scratch to see if everything is still fun or not, unless you're just trying to appeal to a niche audience like us. ;)
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Yeah that was a great article.
I actually really liked that combat pre-visualisation video. I like the new XCOM game but I still prefer the original and OpenXCOM overall but I would have liked the new one a lot more then I did if it was more like the pre-visualisation video, but then again I would also like it more if it wasn't so damn buggy a.k.a. god-damn sectoids stop teleporting into my squad and then shooting at them!
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Hi guys, I found this game thanks to this thread. I have played it and finished it yesterday.
I had like many of you, very mixed feelings while playing it. First of all I think that none of us will ever feel the same than the first time we played the original XCom, mainly because of the feelings of the Unknown. XCom was the first game, we did not know the different races of aliens, when you killed one you really wanted to go to the laboratory and research it to find out more. I remember taking a body of an alien myself to the skyranger and abort mission!!
Anyway, this remake was very nice to play. At the begining it was a little bit messy. I started playing like "ironman" but the game was very unstable and lost too much time with a couple of crashes. I liked the new "turn based" mode, it was easier to calculate distances and possibilities to shoot (not at the begining), however it also added undesired secondary effects but I must admit that looked like a "modernized turn base" strategy. I liked mostly all the remakes of the alien razes. The fact of being story driven also was good, however some missions became repetitive (the original xcom was much more repetitive though xD), other xcom related games had a more dynamic line story making the game a little bit less boring. The base handling was not very useful I guess, you don't really need more than one interceptor, you will not reach some UFO's but you can live with that, also all the abilities of the soldiers were not very clear unfortunately there were too many in very few missions to test. It is funny that the original XCOM was much more complex in possibilities and things to learn, however you can finish the new XCOM without understanding half of the abilities or some of the dynamic of the game, however in the original XCOM even if it was more complex with more possibilities you finished the game being an expert on all the available options.
I was very happy to find small references to the old XCOM, like testing the new rifles against a picture of a muton of the old xcom. Also the music when the Psi laboratory had new results I think it came from the old XCOM, etc. I hated the new geoscape, the megaunrealistic size of the ships, distances were no longer important, etc, I guess that this is because I am an aerospace engineer and I hate seing these things wrong. I did not like the ending of the game, no problem if they wanted to completely change it, but I did not like it. It is always very difficult to find a nice/credible ending for a story like this though. That's life I guess!
In general I was very pleased with the game, I had a very good time, I am sure people that did not play to the original might feel the same that we felt in 1994... Or at least I desire them that.
And after this... I can only think of how the hell did they manage to get a such a complex game with it wonderful flexibility in 1994. The first time I played was a demo, a terror mission, I played it like 50 times. Amazing, first game (in "3D") and a world to explore. Amazing...