oh man so cool. I love firaxis a ton, and the art direction here is soooo siiiick. I swear to god i drew an uglier version of that exact gun as a reinterpretation of the xcom rifle like five years ago, it's like firaxis took all of my hopes and dreams and made a mockup out of them.
I'm glad to hear of the turnbased part, because the obstacle course cover gameplay from the video seems very dissapointing.
Art wise it looks great, with a great capturing of the imagery of the time, but it looked like the gameplay was quite stale.
So jealous of you guys. I didn't realize there were so many firaxis people here, you guys definitely have one of the coolest jobs in the world working at that studio.
There are things this game needs to do, to get right, if it is to be both a successful homage and a successful modern strategy game in its own right. Here’s what I want from it.
Higher resolutions. That’s it.
...
8 ) Include the thing from the original UFO: Enemy Unknown box art:
Always a tragedy it never appeared in-game. That sucker’s got spaceships for arms!
...
10) And make sure the soldiers don’t all look the same. I want individuals, guys and girls I can recognise on sight from the squad management screen. Ditch the Guile from Street Fighter haircuts though, please.
...
12) Civilian casualties by the shedload, please. This is an invasion, not two teams playing foot-to-ball on a neatly cordoned-off pitch.
...
and so on. amusing article from one of the staunchest xcom fan-sites
Its funny, i always hoped that a remake would feature rich basebuilding (something along the lines of theme hospital, being able to set the various room sizes manually) and to watch the individual scientists take pride in their work....just basically observing the real-time workings of the base....please let me see when my crates full of weapons arrive and get stored firaxis!
While I hope to be proven wrong; the only thing I truly miss would be destructable environments.
Yeah, thats VERY important with a X-Com game, it opens up for new tactics and dangers (throwing an grenade to kill an alien, blow part of a wall and another badass one is behind it and shoots you dead.)
Ahh, my favorite waypoint-guided-rocket-launcher, so much fun we had.
i kinda like the the sideview base construction, it looks pretty nice, that sequence (?) shot also looks pretty nice, but i have to admit i can't see much in the gameview, it's really pretty hard to see whats going on, the shadows are creating so much noise it distracts from the actual gameplay i think. But maybe in motion it works better.
I don't remember reading anything re that, but have they stated the environments would be non-destructable?
Environmental destruction seems to be the norm these days, and i hope they have it, as the originals did.
Tactical ufo rooftop explosion entry was my favorite entry, BANG then entered with full force.
Environmental destruction is still as norm as it could be though, and most games wont ever need them, they'll go by with partial destruction, and I'm just wildly guessing that it isn't destructable, as every set piece looks very handbuilt.
Still even then this is much more close to how I'd want a proper xcom remake to be, rather than the fps one, it's all about replayability and ever changing playfield and missions.
You make up the story, the game provides the setting and events.
Completely agree, which is what is so great about these games. I'm not too keen on the FPS XCOM that is coming out, won't be getting that at all. This though, most definitely.
And also, destruction, only some games need it, it's nice, but some games it's is rather pointless, where as in a tactical game, whereby the destruction opens up choices in approach and execution - that is quite a big must for me.
And also, destruction, only some games need it, it's nice, but some games it's is rather pointless, where as in a tactical game, whereby the destruction opens up choices in approach and execution - that is quite a big must for me.
Yep, it played a very big role in ufo, and apocalypse featured some even more impressive destructability.
Hey sweet, some screens are up! I've been working a lot on the strategic layer stuff, so a decent chunk of that base shot is my work. I made the room with the globe, the room below it, and the long room below and to the left of the globe room, among others.
I wonder if you guys can figure out what the different rooms are supposed to be? :poly124:
Also as it was mentioned in the Game Informer reveal, I can reiterate the game does indeed have destructible environments.
Found this piece of gathered info on ttlg, so I'll just copy it straight over:
Info from Game Informer by a 2K forums member:
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.
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 shit
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.
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).
So some good things and some very bad ones :S....being that im a huge fan of xcom probably makes me biased...and no offense to any of you guys that are working on it, but this sounds alot like a hit and miss.
If its a remake you do it 1:1, changes muddle the water and i can't think of anything worse than cutting back on the level of management.
I'm especially dismayed at the fact that the base view looks so incredibly poor, granted the art is gorgeus, but its presented in the worst possible way....from the side? come on
Sorry for the rant, i guess i'm more disappointed than i initially thought.
seriously, gameplaywise, why would be a topshot better than a sideshot?
In Xcom the base was always only a simple representation of the fecilities you have, as you really don't play in it it doesn't matter at all if its sideview or topdown view. Even now with more possibilities to present whats going on in each department, you can do exactly the same things in topdown and sideview. As long as its good looking and plays good i don't see why this should be an issue at all, feels more like "i'm not used to it, i don't like it" just because its not exactly the same as before. But it is, the visualisation is just different.
So some good things and some very bad ones :S....being that im a huge fan of xcom probably makes me biased...and no offense to any of you guys that are working on it, but this sounds alot like a hit and miss.
If its a remake you do it 1:1, changes muddle the water and i can't think of anything worse than cutting back on the level of management.
I'm especially dismayed at the fact that the base view looks so incredibly poor, granted the art is gorgeus, but its presented in the worst possible way....from the side? come on
Sorry for the rant, i guess i'm more disappointed than i initially thought.
They wanted to be clear though, it's not a remake, it's a re-imagination much like the fps one, but a re-imagination that retains the important core-elements of the game.
I think the base view looks very interesting, it really doesn't change much at all, it sounds like it will be even deeper to make up for the lack of building more bases.
"•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."
FFFFUUUUUUUUUUU
Neox, Jagged Alliance: Back in Action doesn't have fog of war, apparently. Not even an option
In Xcom the base was always only a simple representation of the fecilities you have, as you really don't play in it it
Actually, you do. When your base is invaded by aliens, the tactical map matches the layout of your base.
It's possible he meant the vision of the troops, the maps were always exposed fully from start though from what I recall, so no fog of war.
Yeah, it's in reference to troop vision. In Back in Action, apparently all enemy troops are visible from the outset. Which is kinda lame, especially if, as I've heard, there's not even an option to enable fog.
Gone are the surprise ambushes by the AI, as now you can all the enemy positions, removing all surprises.
So glad they didn't remove that from XCOM, XCOM looks like it'll be done justice, and hopefully, with JA:BIA, Fog of war will be modded in, as we know the engine can handle it, maybe modders can find some remenant code and re-implement.
This sounds really cool! I would be dubious about the final fantasy tactics move-shoot mechanic if it wasnt firaxis -- i'm sure they'll figure something out.
I think we should call this "hex-com' from now on, though!
Replies
Art wise it looks great, with a great capturing of the imagery of the time, but it looked like the gameplay was quite stale.
I got to work on this game, and you're going to love it.
Now are you listening, EA? See all the good will here that's going to turn into good money? How about a real Syndicate game, hm?
QFT
EDIT> Wondering if the 2nd screen is the way you build your base - not impressed if thats the case
Environmental destruction seems to be the norm these days, and i hope they have it, as the originals did.
Yeah, thats VERY important with a X-Com game, it opens up for new tactics and dangers (throwing an grenade to kill an alien, blow part of a wall and another badass one is behind it and shoots you dead.)
Ahh, my favorite waypoint-guided-rocket-launcher, so much fun we had.
Tactical ufo rooftop explosion entry was my favorite entry, BANG then entered with full force.
Environmental destruction is still as norm as it could be though, and most games wont ever need them, they'll go by with partial destruction, and I'm just wildly guessing that it isn't destructable, as every set piece looks very handbuilt.
Still even then this is much more close to how I'd want a proper xcom remake to be, rather than the fps one, it's all about replayability and ever changing playfield and missions.
You make up the story, the game provides the setting and events.
And also, destruction, only some games need it, it's nice, but some games it's is rather pointless, where as in a tactical game, whereby the destruction opens up choices in approach and execution - that is quite a big must for me.
Yep, it played a very big role in ufo, and apocalypse featured some even more impressive destructability.
I wonder if you guys can figure out what the different rooms are supposed to be? :poly124:
Also as it was mentioned in the Game Informer reveal, I can reiterate the game does indeed have destructible environments.
If its a remake you do it 1:1, changes muddle the water and i can't think of anything worse than cutting back on the level of management.
I'm especially dismayed at the fact that the base view looks so incredibly poor, granted the art is gorgeus, but its presented in the worst possible way....from the side? come on
Sorry for the rant, i guess i'm more disappointed than i initially thought.
In Xcom the base was always only a simple representation of the fecilities you have, as you really don't play in it it doesn't matter at all if its sideview or topdown view. Even now with more possibilities to present whats going on in each department, you can do exactly the same things in topdown and sideview. As long as its good looking and plays good i don't see why this should be an issue at all, feels more like "i'm not used to it, i don't like it" just because its not exactly the same as before. But it is, the visualisation is just different.
They wanted to be clear though, it's not a remake, it's a re-imagination much like the fps one, but a re-imagination that retains the important core-elements of the game.
I think the base view looks very interesting, it really doesn't change much at all, it sounds like it will be even deeper to make up for the lack of building more bases.
FFFFUUUUUUUUUUU
Neox, Jagged Alliance: Back in Action doesn't have fog of war, apparently. Not even an option
Actually, you do. When your base is invaded by aliens, the tactical map matches the layout of your base.
It's possible he meant the vision of the troops, the maps were always exposed fully from start though from what I recall, so no fog of war.
Now I only played the first one though.
Yeah, it's in reference to troop vision. In Back in Action, apparently all enemy troops are visible from the outset. Which is kinda lame, especially if, as I've heard, there's not even an option to enable fog.
Gone are the surprise ambushes by the AI, as now you can all the enemy positions, removing all surprises.
So glad they didn't remove that from XCOM, XCOM looks like it'll be done justice, and hopefully, with JA:BIA, Fog of war will be modded in, as we know the engine can handle it, maybe modders can find some remenant code and re-implement.
I think we should call this "hex-com' from now on, though!
ah damn, forgot about that, and yep you are right hmmm :poly122:
and that all enemies are visible n jagged alliance sounds pretty bad :X
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/11/the-art-of-xcom-enemy-unknown.aspx