looks cool still, the engineering screen is interesting - looks as if there's gonna be a peek into the daily doings of the base...wonder if the npcs are just repeating patterns .
Is it me or is there a slight inconsistency in the texture qualities? The 2nd screen with the soldier, the texture look crisp, even on the alien...but all the other environment textures look muddy or more 'realistic' than the 'cartoony' feel i get from the characters?
Reading over this thread made me want to try out the old games (I never played any of em), so I bought the bundle off Steam. I'm looking forward to both adaptations, frankly.
Edit: Playing the original now. I've restarted twice and played 2 missions...On Beginner, both times, my guys get annihilated walking off the ramp like D-Day, before I can even see the enemy to target them.
They're notorious for their difficulty....its part of the charm frankly - its unfortunate that its happened to you twice but honestly it adds more to the game than being cookie-cutter easy
Reading over this thread made me want to try out the old games (I never played any of em), so I bought the bundle off Steam. I'm looking forward to both adaptations, frankly.
Edit: Playing the original now. I've restarted twice and played 2 missions...On Beginner, both times, my guys get annihilated walking off the ramp like D-Day, before I can even see the enemy to target them.
One thing the game doesn't tell you clearly enough though: It's fully acceptable to have considerable losses at the beginning.
1. Move out teams in two, always one covering the other and a bit further back, this ensures that if one alien reveals himself as he shoots the first, the other can take the shot.
2. During night-missions, bring light-grenades, darkness affects vision something greatly.
3. Spare some turnpoints for when you end the turn, these can in return be used by the unit as reaction-shot when he sees something pass.
4. at any cost down a ufo (preferably a landed one with intact powercore) to get some alien alloys so you can research the first armour, which will not save your units but might save them from a fatal wound from a stray shot or so.
5. Tactics go all the way, take it easy and don't bum-rush, but if you do bum-rush, do it with a full group, that way some will survive to bring down the enemy.
yea scoob research as much and as fast as u can
pickup anything and bring it back for ur scientists -- and get cool artwork when they're done!
Heh, can imagine that being kinda a bummer for agents:
Agent: "Doc! We found these alien items and weapons! Take a look at them!"
Doc: "Oh this is very interesting, come back next week and we might have something for you."
---later---
Agent: "What have you found out, did your research come up with something we can use against the invading hordes?"
Doc: "Well, not really, but look! See these pretty sketches we made of them! Those live model drawing classes really paid off!"
Agent: "...."
--- slowly drawing his gun ---
in order to make up for the deplorable accuracy of fresh recruits, equip them with the autocannon and HE rounds. not much finesse, but splash damage will save your butt in the beginning. and yeah, move in teams, bring a lot of medkits. you will get butchered on a regular basis in the beginning.
i'd actually like an Xcom Apocalypse remake. The original had a lot of promise (relations between various factions of the city, being able to just incinerate their buildings in cityscape mode, but i have never ever finished a single game because it's still kinda meh.
One thing I always do with a new game (and newly hired batches of recruits) is quickly scan over the stats for all my soldiers and do a quick rename for the ones with useful stat allotments. Jacques Dujardin who has a high Firing Accuracy becomes "Sniper Jacques", Carl Miller who has high Time Units and Reactions becomes "Commando Miller", Tatsuo Yamanaka with the high Throwing Accuracy becomes "Grenadier Yamanaka", and Lyudmila Chukarin who has just terrible stats in general becomes "Chump Chukarin".
And then I usually send out troops in pairs like Eld said, with the Chumps in front and Snipers/Commandos/Grenadiers tucked just behind them to clean up their mess.
I could never get into apoc, at all. Too goofy and weird, I missed the tacticool horrorterrors from xcom. The sense of scope in the battles was sweeeeeet though, lighting up entire gigantic hanger bays to deal with a couple of aliens.
still sucks that it's first person... i miss strategy games... like they used to be.
but i'll check it out anyway.
It is strategy isn't it?
There are two games being talked about here. One is the FPS, earlier in the thread, and the other is the Firaxis strategy one. Unless I'm missing something.
I know this is the XCOM thread, there is no JA:BIA thread, and i'm not sure how many are looking forward to this game, and as we've discussed JA:BIA briefly here, i'll just announce and post this link here:
I'm not convinced yet about JA. Still needs to show a nice profile pic of Ivan while he mumbles something incoherently in Russian. Can't compromise there.
I'm excited and I've not even played the originals? Worth killing my xcom virginity?
Yes, definitively, it's hard to find anything quite like it even up to this day.
the first XCOM being the one game you really have to play, with terror from the deep being pretty much the same game reskinned in a different but very interesting underwater setting and more lovecraftian horror, and apocalypse being the true successor to the first XCOM, but never quite got the budget and time it needed, still very interesting.
I hate to admit it, but I never played them myself as well. So I got the steam pack and started out with UFO Defense.
I'm a sucker for turn based games to begin with, but UFO Defense is so fucking rad it's almost criminal. Pretty unforgiving and hard AI though, which is a good thing.
Yes, definitively, it's hard to find anything quite like it even up to this day.
the first XCOM being the one game you really have to play, with terror from the deep being pretty much the same game reskinned in a different but very interesting underwater setting and more lovecraftian horror, and apocalypse being the true successor to the first XCOM, but never quite got the budget and time it needed, still very interesting.
Apocalypse wasn't finished, basically, was it? If i could only find that old article about all the features that were supposed to have made it in (some hinted at in game graphics etc.) .. such a shame, it could have made a great Xcom II. I still like playing it on my netbook once in a while but i do agree with the general feel of "weirdness", both in aesthetics and design.
Maybe Firaxis'll tackle Apoc next.. that would very, very likely turn out epic.
I'm not convinced yet about JA. Still needs to show a nice profile pic of Ivan while he mumbles something incoherently in Russian. Can't compromise there.
This!
Another classic bit: "See a dude here, shootin' him would be real easy"
Apocalypse wasn't finished, basically, was it? If i could only find that old article about all the features that were supposed to have made it in (some hinted at in game graphics etc.) .. such a shame, it could have made a great Xcom II. I still like playing it on my netbook once in a while but i do agree with the general feel of "weirdness", both in aesthetics and design.
Maybe Firaxis'll tackle Apoc next.. that would very, very likely turn out epic.
Probably not, but I'd like to see julian gollop get the funding to do a proper xcom like game, and take that same route, apocalypse had the most dreary and sad setting of all the xcom games, as well as some really awesome physics going on, where you'd accidently down entire buildings when trying to take down ufo's, resulting in lowered funding.
also, factional warfare was quite cool, but yeah, it wasn't as finished as it should've been, and the focus on both realtime and turnbased hurt the game in the end.
Still, jesus horrible fuck it was scary having the enemy launch pods of brainhugging critters into your squad and shit just going south with squadmembers panicking at the one person who just ended up under alien control, and afterwards hearing this music during the cityscape:
yeah the music was great too. i personally loved to just fuck around with those alien cultists.. never managed to completely wipe them off the cityscape though, despite razing pretty much everything they had. or searching their buildings and spreading some incendiary love..
i do agree with the general feel of "weirdness", both in aesthetics and design.
it might have been slightly weird but for me its stylistics were a big improvement over the cheesy american comic book style of first 2 games. alien designs in Apocalypse were awesome too.
as well as some really awesome physics going on, where you'd accidently down entire buildings when trying to take down ufo's, resulting in lowered funding.
oh yes, and i think those damages would also affect the mission maps
Do you guys have any advice for getting into Apoc? I own it on steam, and I played the first game to death, but I can never really get settled into a game. I start a campaign, storm a few buildings full of aliens, research some inter-dimensional whatever drives, and then quickly peter out without any real sense of what to do or why to care.
well, you can fast forward the time until ufos come and eventually start giving you a hard time. especially if you have 3 dimensional gates (or however they were called) in the city. at this stage missions have more variety and let you send troops into crashed ufo sites.
Other than that i dunno. I just always found it interesting enough to keep playing.
on the other hand I had a similiar feeling for enemy unknown and terror from the deep. I played them few hours each and just lost the interest. still, i'll definitely try again someday.
Yeah, in UFO there's sortof a roadmap -- buy scientists, get alien containment and living quarters, get lasers, get medkit, get armor, get new planes, branch into plasma or something, start dealing with alien bases, etc... To playing the game well and enjoying it. With apoc i just feel pretty lost.
Will the steam versions of UFO and XCOM:Appocalypsework on Win7 too?
The Steam page says it's "100% 2000/XP-compatible" but google brought up it would work on Win7 too.
Will the steam versions of UFO and XCOM:Appocalypsework on Win7 too?
The Steam page says it's "100% 2000/XP-compatible" but google brought up it would work on Win7 too.
Yeah, AFAIK it runs in dosbox just as xcom and terror from the deep does on steam.
Replies
Really like that lighting, and the art direction is great.
I take it for the UI, that first screen is for console, and the 2nd screen is for PC?
Is it me or is there a slight inconsistency in the texture qualities? The 2nd screen with the soldier, the texture look crisp, even on the alien...but all the other environment textures look muddy or more 'realistic' than the 'cartoony' feel i get from the characters?
Edit: Playing the original now. I've restarted twice and played 2 missions...On Beginner, both times, my guys get annihilated walking off the ramp like D-Day, before I can even see the enemy to target them.
One thing the game doesn't tell you clearly enough though: It's fully acceptable to have considerable losses at the beginning.
1. Move out teams in two, always one covering the other and a bit further back, this ensures that if one alien reveals himself as he shoots the first, the other can take the shot.
2. During night-missions, bring light-grenades, darkness affects vision something greatly.
3. Spare some turnpoints for when you end the turn, these can in return be used by the unit as reaction-shot when he sees something pass.
4. at any cost down a ufo (preferably a landed one with intact powercore) to get some alien alloys so you can research the first armour, which will not save your units but might save them from a fatal wound from a stray shot or so.
5. Tactics go all the way, take it easy and don't bum-rush, but if you do bum-rush, do it with a full group, that way some will survive to bring down the enemy.
pickup anything and bring it back for ur scientists -- and get cool artwork when they're done!
Heh, can imagine that being kinda a bummer for agents:
Agent: "Doc! We found these alien items and weapons! Take a look at them!"
Doc: "Oh this is very interesting, come back next week and we might have something for you."
---later---
Agent: "What have you found out, did your research come up with something we can use against the invading hordes?"
Doc: "Well, not really, but look! See these pretty sketches we made of them! Those live model drawing classes really paid off!"
Agent: "...."
--- slowly drawing his gun ---
HAHAHAHA, so true
The ones that survive the trial of fire and ranks up gets armour!
And billions of tax payer money going into that, no wonder those nations pull their funding.
AUTOSHOT!!!
in order to make up for the deplorable accuracy of fresh recruits, equip them with the autocannon and HE rounds. not much finesse, but splash damage will save your butt in the beginning. and yeah, move in teams, bring a lot of medkits. you will get butchered on a regular basis in the beginning.
i'd actually like an Xcom Apocalypse remake. The original had a lot of promise (relations between various factions of the city, being able to just incinerate their buildings in cityscape mode, but i have never ever finished a single game because it's still kinda meh.
And then I usually send out troops in pairs like Eld said, with the Chumps in front and Snipers/Commandos/Grenadiers tucked just behind them to clean up their mess.
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/11/the-art-of-xcom-enemy-unknown.aspx
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/06/why-firaxis-loves-xcom.aspx
sit back, take a breath and let it run
no worries
but i'll check it out anyway.
It is strategy isn't it?
There are two games being talked about here. One is the FPS, earlier in the thread, and the other is the Firaxis strategy one. Unless I'm missing something.
Hey its not your fault. This thread started for one game, then it was hijacked for another more..compelling game by the same name.
Fog of War has been re-integrated into the game! (JA:BIA)
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/01/13/jagged-alliance-releases-feb-with-fog/
Ok, think I'll go ahead and preorder it now, because lack of fog was a total deal-breaker for me.
[edit]
I'm confused now. The admin on the official forums is insisting that LOS is still a no go.
Which is not the same as the confusion about why they refuse to simply re-enable it... AS A FUCKING OPTION
Yes, definitively, it's hard to find anything quite like it even up to this day.
the first XCOM being the one game you really have to play, with terror from the deep being pretty much the same game reskinned in a different but very interesting underwater setting and more lovecraftian horror, and apocalypse being the true successor to the first XCOM, but never quite got the budget and time it needed, still very interesting.
I'm a sucker for turn based games to begin with, but UFO Defense is so fucking rad it's almost criminal. Pretty unforgiving and hard AI though, which is a good thing.
Apocalypse wasn't finished, basically, was it? If i could only find that old article about all the features that were supposed to have made it in (some hinted at in game graphics etc.) .. such a shame, it could have made a great Xcom II. I still like playing it on my netbook once in a while but i do agree with the general feel of "weirdness", both in aesthetics and design.
Maybe Firaxis'll tackle Apoc next.. that would very, very likely turn out epic.
This!
Another classic bit: "See a dude here, shootin' him would be real easy"
Probably not, but I'd like to see julian gollop get the funding to do a proper xcom like game, and take that same route, apocalypse had the most dreary and sad setting of all the xcom games, as well as some really awesome physics going on, where you'd accidently down entire buildings when trying to take down ufo's, resulting in lowered funding.
also, factional warfare was quite cool, but yeah, it wasn't as finished as it should've been, and the focus on both realtime and turnbased hurt the game in the end.
Still, jesus horrible fuck it was scary having the enemy launch pods of brainhugging critters into your squad and shit just going south with squadmembers panicking at the one person who just ended up under alien control, and afterwards hearing this music during the cityscape:
[ame="
maybe this new XCOM is moddable??
oh yes, and i think those damages would also affect the mission maps
Other than that i dunno. I just always found it interesting enough to keep playing.
on the other hand I had a similiar feeling for enemy unknown and terror from the deep. I played them few hours each and just lost the interest. still, i'll definitely try again someday.
15 euros. And it has Apocalypse, Enforcer, Interceptor, UFO Defense and Terror from the Deep. Pretty cool.
from here: http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/13/why-you-should-care-about-xcom-enemy-unknown.aspx
[ame="
The Steam page says it's "100% 2000/XP-compatible" but google brought up it would work on Win7 too.
Yeah, AFAIK it runs in dosbox just as xcom and terror from the deep does on steam.
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/16/the-unsettling-music-of-xcom-enemy-unknown.aspx
oh my god, lovely!
gave me the hibby jibbies