New X-COM game on the horizon...

[rvg]

And this time it's none other than Firaxis as its developer. I'm cautiously optimistic.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/featur...y-unknown.aspx

[rajpoot]

Been awaiting this one eagerly since the first trailer.

[rvg]

Cannot vouch for the authenticity but if this is true, then there's a God and he loves me.

http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread...-game-informer

Sorry if this is unorganized, it is pulled from a bunch of different sources:


•Destructible environments

•In the scenario they showed, one member died. Because of this the other squadmates didn't get an experience bonus

•Without the bonus, the sniper leveled up still. He was able to choose from two abilities. Either Squad Sight(which means he can shoot anything a squadmate can see) and Snap Shot(which lets him shoot after moving. Something snipers aren't normally allowed to do)

•You can't recruit specific classes. You can only recruit rookies and then level them up to become specific classes

•The guys in suits in the screenshots are 'Thin Man' aliens. They're able to leap long distances

•Challenge is stressed a lot

•same quick save/load system though they are considering an iron man type mode where you can't load previous saves

•Firaxis states that they're not rebooting it, they're re imagining it. Using the same core gameplay with modern technology, weapons, audiovisuals, etc.




There's apparently a 'Heavy Armed Mobile Cover Platform that serves as a powerful rock on which to anchor any tactical advantage' and you can directly customize the heavy troops armor and weapons individually.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF XCOM'S CONTENT COMES IN THE FORM OF PROCEDURUALLY GENERATED MISSIONS AND ENCOUNTERS, MEANING THAT EVERY PLAYTHROUGH UNFOLDS DIFFERENTLY. (Sorry for the caps, just quoting here.)




•randomly generated missions, terrain. Developer says you'll never play the exact same mission twice outside of a few story missions which feature in-game cinematics

•fog of war is confirmed. area starts off with darkness everywhere, and the average soldier can't see ☺☺☺☺

•enemy spawns are randomized

•mobile platform called SHIV; customizable for new chasis

•Sectoids and Mutons confirmed

•The base's screenshot is accurate. It is now a side shot instead of top down. You can also upgrade your base, like the satellite, with alien technology

•There was an example in one scenario where Japan had the laser rifle already developed before the invasion because they felt threatened, so that seems random.

•You have 16 countries in the funding council you need to keep happy. Some provide more money, but others, like Africa, provide more raw resources

•The sniper units have a grappling hook ability to get on top of buildings

•Gunners have a suppressing fire

•you can equip your xcom guys with all kinds of different guns. customization looks like a big deal

•Apparently there's some sort of cinematic view when your guys get killed. They didn't cite VATS or anything, so I doubt it's too in depth

•Unexperienced agents can panic, freak out, etc if something bad happens

•Firaxis designer states that the PC version will have an enhanced interface. He cites Dragon Age: Origins on PC and console as a big inspiration




•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.

•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.

•Soldiers gain perk-like abilities when leveling up; some examples given are, for a sniper, Snap Shot (move-then-shoot, not normally a sniper option) or Squad Sight (shoot any enemy anyone on your squad can see -- not sure of the rationale there....).

•Environments are destructible, as we would wish.

•Soldiers can still panic, but not to the point of wiping the squad. Likewise, you'll never get plasma-bombed right out of the carrier. They want to make the game more fair, and those were specifically mentioned.

•The strategic layer is extremely robust. You still need to choose which countries to send missions to, which offers of aid (in exchange for more protection) you'll accept from which countries, which alien technologies you'll research, etc. The back-and-forth between tactical and strategic play remains at the heart of the game.

•Overwatch, duck-and-cover, etc. are all still very much present, tactically.

•You can research vehicles, which take the place of a squaddie. They don't gain XP and when they are destroyed they are lost for good, but they provide serious cover and firepower. One example given is a mobile heavy weapons platform that serves as a good overwatcher for a tactical advance.

•Sectoids and Mutons are in. Cyberdiscs and Thin Men are also mentioned. Evidently psionics are also in.

•Aliens have their own special perk-like abilities as well.
Overall it looks really ☺☺☺☺ing fantastic and I am now DAY ONE.



The article specifically cites a sniper spending their entire turn to take an aimed shot for Massive Damage. Perhaps it's more accurate to think of the game as having only two action points per turn, for Move-Shoot, or Move-Move, or Aim-Shoot, etc.

Gus, like I said, overwatch is in the game. In, in, in the game. You definitely can set up squaddies who haven't used all their actions in a turn, such that they can do overwatch and shoot the instant something comes into view.




Reloading costs an action, so it is a tactical consideration. Ducking into cover is the main positioning mechanic they mention. They also mention supppressive fire as another mechanic -- your heavy weapons guy can lay down a barrage that can paralyze pinned units (e.g. remove their actions). Grenades are in, wounding is in. Generally it doesn't sound like there are fewer tactical options, but rather that the bookkeeping is simplified.



(This part was by the author of the GI article)
Apologies if the article was unclear, but the deal is that sniper rifles are unusual in that they take a full turn to shoot. You can unlock a move-shoot perk for snipers at some experience level, but your basic sniper rifle takes a full turn to fire.

Ammo is abstracted. You're assumed to be carrying enough clips to reload as much as you want, but it takes a turn to do so. Suppressive fire is crazy awesome, for instance, but it burns through ammo like a mofo so you're borrowing turns down the road to kick ass now.

Body positions - AIUI you are assumed to be kneeling behind partial cover etc. They didn't go into a ton of detail here. Personally that's a level of control granularity that I'm not concerned about preserving, so long as I have other awesome ☺☺☺☺ that I can do and creative tactics to explore. Which from what I've seen will not be lacking.


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).


------------------------------------------

Without a doubt, this game looks FANTASTIC! I'm worried about them saying they want to make the game more "fair" and toning down soldiers going berserk and whatnot, but still even with that this looks like it is going to be a great successor to the original!

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Huh, well that makes two X-Com games coming out. We should be in good hands between this and Xenonauts.

[Monk]

Huh, well that makes two X-Com games coming out. We should be in good hands between this and Xenonauts.

I was just thinking that. Xenonauts is set to arrive, it hit its "press build" last month if i'm not mistaken. And it's got some really cool features which are nothing to sneeze at.

My excitement is almost palpable.

[easytarget]

I'd still pay 2x whatever they are charging for their "re-envisioning" to simply get the original, with updated graphics, and speed corrections made so it runs on modern systems.

The game for me does not require improving. And I've seen what Firaxis thinks "improving" means in the Civ series.

We shall see, but my guess is, the closer I get to the kitchen of this restaurant, the less likely I'm going to continue eating there.

P.S. I do love watching the initial excitement in posts though, this is always the fun part, so don't let me rain on your parade, we've got plenty of time for that, no doubt most if not all of the year.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

I was just thinking that. Xenonauts is set to arrive, it hit its "press build" last month if i'm not mistaken. And it's got some really cool features which are nothing to sneeze at.

My excitement is almost palpable.

For whatever reason the current build never gets past the first battle for me. After I kill the last hostile and hit end turn, it just gets stuck on the end turn screen. Very promising though.

[Fragony]

I hope it will be a huge succes, putting turn based tactics on the map again.

[rvg]

Okay, we finally have a preview video. Looking mighty good...

http://www.xcom.com/enemyunknown/

[econ21]

It does look fantastic. I like the bit at the beginning - what do we want to keep from the original? everything!

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Ugh, can't wait. Even though I'm still not clear on how the turns work in combat without time units. I would love to see 5 minutes of playing without talking developer heads interrupting.

[Monk]

Okay, we finally have a preview video. Looking mighty good...

http://www.xcom.com/enemyunknown/

When's this game coming out? Answer: not soon enough.

[Whacker]

I'm not holding out hope for this.

•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.

This is one of the reasons. I also held out some hope for the newest Jagged Alliance game, which turned out to be complete crap and nothing at all like the originals.

Edit - "Streamlining" is a universal flag, and always translates into "dumbing down".

[easytarget]

Exactly right. Streamlining, sure.

When you seek to "improve" what already ranks arguably as one of the top games of all time for the PC, I consider that incredibly ballsy and frankly rather stupid. There is absolutely no way Firaxis is going to improve on X-Com.

Next they'll want to take chess and streamline it into an RTS.

[econ21]

Move and/or shoot could work. If you had three "moves", with options being move, shoot or go into overwatch, it would not be so different from the original. Only two moves would be something of a dumbing down.

It's funny going back to turn-based after all this time. I downloaded the free Fallout from Good Old Games mentioned in the offers thread. While the combat works fine, it is very "gamey" and a little slow. I can't say I lament the move to real time in Fallout 3, which seems in retrospect a remarkably successful updating of the franchise. By contrast, Firaxis seem unusually conservative in their ambitions. I wonder if there is anything more than a niche market for this kind of game?

[Whacker]

Move and/or shoot could work. If you had three "moves", with options being move, shoot or go into overwatch, it would not be so different from the original. Only two moves would be something of a dumbing down.

I differ here greatly. The original combat controls in X-COM 1 and 2 were comprehensive and enabled large combination of actions, and offensive/defensive postures. The interface itself could have used a good amount of beefing up, probably some additional action options, and more information presented to help make decisions, but it all boils down to MORE information and options.. not less.

It's funny going back to turn-based after all this time. I downloaded the free Fallout from Good Old Games mentioned in the offers thread. While the combat works fine, it is very "gamey" and a little slow. I can't say I lament the move to real time in Fallout 3, which seems in retrospect a remarkably successful updating of the franchise. By contrast, Firaxis seem unusually conservative in their ambitions. I wonder if there is anything more than a niche market for this kind of game?

The best example I can give of a major franchise that jumped genres and succeeded beyond everyone's wildest imagination was Metroid with Metroid Prime. MP remains my favorite game by far on the Gamecube, and it's consistently in the top 10 or 5 of Best of Gamecube lists all over the web. It retained all of the quirks, gameplay mechanics, and things that made Metroid "Metroid". In contrast, the latest "streamlined" Jagged Alliance game has been universally panned by the rather sizeable old JA1/JA2 community, nor has it fared that well amongst the major gaming review sites. They completely missed their goals by trying to reach that all encompassing "casual gaming" audience and missed their core supporters and demographic, and it flopped.

[Monk]

The best example I can give of a major franchise that jumped genres and succeeded beyond everyone's wildest imagination was Metroid with Metroid Prime. MP remains my favorite game by far on the Gamecube, and it's consistently in the top 10 or 5 of Best of Gamecube lists all over the web. It retained all of the quirks, gameplay mechanics, and things that made Metroid "Metroid". In contrast, the latest "streamlined" Jagged Alliance game has been universally panned by the rather sizeable old JA1/JA2 community, nor has it fared that well amongst the major gaming review sites. They completely missed their goals by trying to reach that all encompassing "casual gaming" audience and missed their core supporters and demographic, and it flopped.

To be fair i don't think the bolded had much to do with JA being faithful to its roots or not. The game was fundamentally broken in just about every way imaginable. It was an awful game in it's own sphere before you take into account its "pedigree," so you have to consider that.

However I understand your point well enough. The Syndicate remake would probably be a good comparison to draw with metroid prime. It was functional but so far removed from the original inspiration it had people crying betrayal from its first announcement. Whether the X-COM remake follows that line of development I cannot say, since i've only seen one video, which has been heavily edited, that has gameplay footage. The comment that I am willing to make, however, is that the game certainly looks more shooty and action oriented. It doesn't look that far removed from it's source material, but it might be enough for some to dislike it.

Personally I like what I've seen thus far, and am anxious to see more footage that isn't so heavily edited. A mission walkthrough with a dev making moves in real time would be wonderful, until then:

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

If you want a more faithful spiritual successor, look up Xenonauts.

I'm looking forward to both Xenonauts and this.

[Fragony]

'The best example I can give of a major franchise that jumped genres and succeeded beyond everyone's wildest imagination was Metroid with Metroid Prime.'

Uh-huh, I almost joined the Taliban when I read the words 'first person' WHAT????????????????? When I read the reviews I gave it a try, still expecting to hate it. And I did at first. After a while I reluctantly admitted that they nailed it, and it was actually a better game than Super Metroid. Metroid Prime 2 was even better imho. Didn't care about the the third, just felt wrong.

[Whacker]

'The best example I can give of a major franchise that jumped genres and succeeded beyond everyone's wildest imagination was Metroid with Metroid Prime.'

Uh-huh, I almost joined the Taliban when I read the words 'first person' WHAT????????????????? When I read the reviews I gave it a try, still expecting to hate it. And I did at first. After a while I reluctantly admitted that they nailed it, and it was actually a better game than Super Metroid. Metroid Prime 2 was even better imho. Didn't care about the the third, just felt wrong.

I'm the reverse on MP1 and 2. 1 was legendary. 2 was more of the same, but I wasn't real into the new mechanics or setting at all. I didn't like 3 at all, because of the crappy Wii controls.

[Fragony]

More of the same but better imho. I like games like Demon's/Dark Souls because they don't apoligize for being hard, Metroid Prime 2 was just as psychotic. The light/dark mechanism made navigating the world really tricky, one big puzzle I loved it. Oh and bosses, a good boss should cost you at least one controller (boost-guardian you)

[Sarmatian]

I'm more excited about this than new Xcom

[Fragony]

That looks awesome as well, better really

[Sarmatian]

The price is an issue for me. 29.99 for preordering an indie game seems too much. If it were around 15 I'd preorder it right away.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

You can get it through kickstarter for $20:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/69341191/xenonauts

(But only for the next 48 hours)

[easytarget]

I'm going to have to stop looking at stuff like this or I'm likely to start getting a little excited, and I just can't let that happen. I want to play this with just the expectation it's going to be an interesting turn based game, and try really really hard not to compare it to the original masterpiece.

Got to say though, I'm definitely now beyond just intrigued by this one, I can't help it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evnM...layer_embedded

Very hard not to feel there's possibility when the guy talking to you says in the interview he got into game programming BECAUSE of the original....

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Rock Paper Shotgun's coverage has totally sold me on the game. Also the developers seem like they're not totally awful AAA zombies.

[easytarget]

Things have been a bit too quiet on this front of late, what's going on?!

[Fragony]

Martians won

[easytarget]

Now that is a shame, happened all too often for me in the original....