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X-COM

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Re: X-COM

#201

Post by the_af »

ncallaway wrote: post #193
the_af wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> However, while I wouldn't want to miss the originals for the reboot, the reboots are done very solidly Much like you, I'm a diehard X-COM fan and anticipated the XCOM reboot wouldn't please me, and again like you I was pleasantly surprised. I think the biggest improvement is the streamlining of TUs from the original (which was always a bit messy) into the actions of the reboot. > In contrast, I always felt the seri…

> I can play XCOM while eating a sandwich or drinking coffee, while I can't play an RTS that way. To be clear, Frozen Synapse is also a turn-based strategy game. You can enjoy your sandwich or coffee while playing. The difference it's you and your opponent plan your turn simultaneously. But you are still fundamentally planning a turn. The aspect I enjoy about the mechanic is it leaves a lot more uncertainty in the ai…

A bit like Laser Squad Nemesis then? (Also by the Gollop brothers if I recall correctly).

I should be ashamed: I own Frozen Synapse, but I think I've never played it. Yet another impulse buy :(

Re: X-COM

#202

Post by publicola1990 »

eru wrote: post #73
nottorp wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Xcom 2 is a disaster due to the arbitrary time (or turn, for the nitpickers) limits in all missions. If you don't rush via the shortest path or if you do the unthinkable and explore the map a bit you'll run out of time and die. And if you install a mod that removes the turn limits it becomes way too easy because it's balanced for rushing blindly ahead and it's like taking candy from a baby if you have time to scout a…

War of the Chosen fleshed out the turn limit mechanics quite a bit and made them more palatable. I understand why they added the turn limits, but I think the execution could have been handled better. 'Invisible Inc.' did a much better job of getting you to hurry up. Another interesting take on the squad level tactical game is Into the Breach. They solve the design problem of getting you to hurry up, by inverting the…

Also Darkest Dungeon and perhaps Battle Brothers.

Re: X-COM

#203

Post by sandworm101 »

Natsu wrote: post #198
sandworm101 wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try "Xenonauts", a recent remake of X-com using the original mechanics. It isn't a direct port, they have added a couple mechanics in areas like air combat, but it is 95% x-com with better graphics. My want: Xenonauts + TFTD. TFTD was the pinnacle of the x-com franchise imho. That opening sequence, and all the sound, was amazing. I still hear TFTD sounds being reused in modern scifi.

There's a Xenonauts 2 that's in the works, though it has no fixed release date yet. I have it on my Steam wishlist.

Well, if they are the "spiritual successor" to the X-com franchise, Xenonauts 2 will have to be horrible. If they called it "Xenonauts: Fear the Depths" then I would be hopeful.

Re: X-COM

#204

Post by wazoox »

gabereiser wrote: post #194

12 year old me saw the box art at babbages and begged my mother to buy me the game. I didn't have a machine it could run on well. All I had at the time was a 486DX 66mhz IBM PC and I didn't care, lag and all, it was one of the most complex and satisfying gaming experiences. It's up there for me with Doom 1 (Ultimate Doom by the time I could afford to buy it). Quake. Ultima Online. Descent. SW: Tie Fighter. X-COM.

Man I've played X-Com for nights and nights on a 386SX16 with 2 MB RAM. The floppies where damaged for some reason, so some of the later levels (particularly on Mars) were heavily corrupted (missing maps parts with black holes, etc). The machine was so slow that the screen "hidden enemy move" sometimes lasted 10 minutes or more. Fun times.

Re: X-COM

#205

Post by pjmlp »

nottorp wrote: post #151
eru wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slight nitpick: I am fairly sure the original X-COM was not written in C++ in Visual Studio. No clue about the actual language it was written in, probably C or assembly. C++ is unlikely but possible. But I am rather sure that the game was not written with Visual Studio. Of course, your point still stands. As an addition to go even further back in time, I would add stories that people just tell to each other. It's a g…

If I remember well, it should have been Watcom C, like most DOS games that wanted to go beyond 640 kb. The two separate executables (it had one for the geoscape and one for the tactical battles) displayed the DOS4GW banner at startup if i remember well.

Watcom also had a C++ compiler in the box, and Abrash books have some examples with it.

Re: X-COM

#206

Post by georgeecollins »

The thing that blows me away about X-Com is that it shipped with difficulty settings that initially didn't work. People didn't notice at first! The game has such a self correcting feedback loop that it seems hard if you are doing well and it eases off if you are doing badly.. naturally. It is an amazing and very complex game design.

Re: X-COM

#207

Post by PhaedrusV »

Andrew_nenakhov wrote: post #192
PhaedrusV wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree on all points. There's a total conversion mod for the original X-COM: UFO Defense that is amazing, and being actively worked on. New updates every month or so. Hundreds more hours in the campaign. Set a few hundred years after X-COM loses, and earth is a radiated wasteland when some intrepid mutant gals start to fight back against the "Star Lords". It's called xPiratez. Rated a soft "R" for gratuitous pixellate…

TIL about the existence of OpenXCom, so I guess I know where my next weekend will go...

Yeah, it breathed new life into the basic game in a big way. The mods, on the other hand, get pretty different.

Re: X-COM

#208

Post by appleiigs »

Delk wrote: post #176
hooande wrote: post #15

I loved, loved X-COM. It had an ability to capture imagination in a way that few turn based strategy games do. The randomly generated soldier names still loom large as heroes in my mind. I was affected when they were killed in action. "Bernard Dujardin", wherever you are, I salute you

It did get slightly comical when one of them died (or you started another game from the beginning) and you had the second or third guy with the exact same name down the road, though. But it's true, you did grow attached. Since in some sense the nature of the game is also that your soldiers will die -- and sometimes a lot of them -- because of a small mistake or just due bad luck, that creates a weird dichotomy where…

I remember it was a big enough of a dilemma to me that I had to decide at the beginning of the game whether I was going to frequently save or not for that entire run.

Now I figure it's most fun not to re-do and deal with the drama, but I do bring some red-shirts with me now.

Re: X-COM

#209

Post by GeorgeWBasic »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #114
zenojevski wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it's a matter of personal taste. But disclaimer, TFTD was indeed my first entry to the series. And yes, I hate the ship as well. The atmosphere is absolutely terrifying. It really made me clutch for the life of my soldiers as if it was mine. It was unfair, but not without reason, as even today our submarine warfare would pale against T'Leth. So close yet so powerless. The superb work on the graphics brings…

> Of course it's a matter of personal taste. To a certain extent yes, but TFTD is objectively even buggier than the original. IIRC it is even possible to put the original game into an unwinnable state by simply researching things in an unintended order. Fortunately OpenXCom[0] fixed this. [0] https://openxcom.org

Is it just me, or is that openxcom site down for everyone else, too?

Re: X-COM

#210

Post by JohnBooty »

Andrew_nenakhov wrote: post #184
IggleSniggle wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, this is it! The special sauce of the original is that there is so much mystery; "Enemy Unknown" is the whole idea. While I love the Firaxis reboot, and think it has better gameplay , I'm not sure it's strictly a better game. It all feels so clean and organized, and it's always clear what needs to be done. There's no sense of bureaucratic panic, wasted time on pointless tech-trees, or over-investment in a singula…

Hey, don't offend Laser Rifles! First, they are a valuable source of income (second only to Light Alloys + Personal Armors production, but that requires 2 components and is also messy), and do not require any ammunition, firing endlessly. My every soldier carried an obligatory Laser Rifle in his backpack, taking it out and firing it every chance he had, achieving 3 objectives at once: - the more stuff you carry, the…

    Unfortunately, original XCom doesn't have loadout templates.
I remember downloading a savegame editor just to "cheat" and automate some of the equipment management. I shouldn't have to manually tell my soldiers to load ammo into their damn weapons, lol.
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