XCOM by Firaxis

13

Comments

  • TykjenTykjen Join Date: 2003-01-21 Member: 12552Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2012/09/13/video-from-x-com-to-xcom/" target="_blank">From xcom to Xcom</a>

    Cant fkn wait.
  • sherpasherpa stopcommandermode Join Date: 2006-11-04 Member: 58338Members
    I cancelled my £24 pre-order from GMG as I'm tempted by the customisation unlocks and Civ5 freebie* if bought directly from Steam for £6 more.

    *I'm being cynical and assuming that the pre-order progress bar will steadily rise and hit 100% a few days before release, regardless of pre-orders.
  • SentrySteveSentrySteve .txt Join Date: 2002-03-09 Member: 290Members, Constellation
    Maybe I'm an idiot, but there's a demo of this game out on Steam. I never even realized.

    I also already preodered but it looks questionable as to whether or not the 3rd tier preorder prize will be unlocked.
  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu Anememone Join Date: 2002-03-23 Member: 345Members
    Well the demo came out today so you're not an idiot for that reason. I have mixed feelings. I've posted on like 3 forums about it already so I'll just copy and paste stuff I've said elsewhere:

    The demo was fun I guess. If this game is moddable I foresee wonderful things. Otherwise, I suspect I will stick to the original X-COM and Jagged Alliance if I want overworld with my tactics, and Frozen Synapse if I want the actual fights to be interesting. I don't like all the abstraction in the game; everything is percentage chances to hit, and if your roll a "hit" your bullets basically go through the wall and curve spacetime to hit. I had a lady behind a wall shoot through a window to her right to hit a Thin Man who was directly on the other side of the wall. She leaned out and fired through the window, so her bullets basically had to literally shoot backwards and sideways to hit the guy. Contrast that to something like the original X-COM, where your bullets hit what they hit and you dealt with it. Or how someone behind a corner can get shot because "corner" actually just means "cover." In (original) X-COM, if I'm behind a corner, I'm safe until they shoot through the corner. In this game, a telling someone to stand at a corner actually means telling them to lean all the way out of the corner whenever an alien shoots at them. Because to do otherwise would be unchivalrous.

    My biggest beef with the game is the move towards cover and % chance to hit as the basis of combat rather than concealment and % chance to fire accurately. In the original X-COM, if you were behind something, you were safe until that thing was blown up, and you were doubly safe because nobody could see you. In this new game, bullets will break the fabric of reality to hit their target as long as you roll a "hit." Cover doesn't actually block anything, even being behind a corner doesn't protect you from being seen or being shot - cover or a corner just add to the % chance that the bullets miss. I don't really think I enjoy the change. It looks silly for my soldier to fire a shotgun out of a window next to her in order to hit an alien on the other side of the wall from her.

    The tiny squad sizes are pretty stupid too.
  • elodeaelodea Editlodea Join Date: 2009-06-20 Member: 67877Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    After playing the demo i have only two words

    Godahm consoles...
  • ZaggyZaggy NullPointerException The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-12-10 Member: 24214Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos, Subnautica Playtester
    <!--quoteo(post=1982748:date=Sep 25 2012, 07:03 AM:name=elodea)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (elodea @ Sep 25 2012, 07:03 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1982748"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->After playing the demo i have only two words

    Godahm consoles...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Have downloaded the demo but not yet played it yet (am at work)
    What in particular did you not like?
  • elodeaelodea Editlodea Join Date: 2009-06-20 Member: 67877Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited September 2012
    <!--quoteo(post=1982764:date=Sep 25 2012, 06:01 PM:name=Zaggy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zaggy @ Sep 25 2012, 06:01 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1982764"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Have downloaded the demo but not yet played it yet (am at work)
    What in particular did you not like?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Its definitely not the same x-com experience although to be fair its very well polished for a title that seems to have been designed from the ground up to play well on consoles. Within that limitation it's really very well made though.

    I think there are really two parts. The first being lack of depth that you'd expect when compromising between interactivity and gamepad navigation. For example, instead of globe interaction and sending your interceptors/skyrangers you have a 'choose which mission' from a list kind of interface which is pretty console friendly. There's the lack of interactivity with the ant-farm, where most of the functionality is really only done via the menu on the top. Basically, everything flows within the idea that the user is constrained by a gamepad which goes all the way down to auto targeting in combat.

    The UI isn't very pc intuitive at first either. I guess it might be because im generally pretty whingey, but the way you select actions and move the camera about in combat is kinda clunky. There's forced mouse lag/smoothing, no mouse sensitivity setting, very slow edge scrolling even on maximum, no re-bindable key settings.

    Oh and Tycho hit the nail on the head with the LOS issues. It does feel kinda dumbed down.

    Granted its only a demo and still a fun experience, but not exactly x-com in nature imo..
  • TykjenTykjen Join Date: 2003-01-21 Member: 12552Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Downloaded the demo and loved every minute of it. Albeit short demo, but a sweet taste.
  • SvenpaSvenpa Wait, what? Join Date: 2004-01-03 Member: 25012Members, Constellation
    edited September 2012
    <!--quoteo(post=1982691:date=Sep 25 2012, 03:11 AM:name=TychoCelchuuu)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (TychoCelchuuu @ Sep 25 2012, 03:11 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1982691"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->In this game, a telling someone to stand at a corner actually means telling them to lean all the way out of the corner whenever an alien shoots at them. Because to do otherwise would be unchivalrous.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    THIS, this bugged the hell out of me. At first I thought it as superior alien weaponry with penetration but when my xcoms did the same thing it just felt weird. It was even weirder when one of my guys was on a roof, crouching behind a crate, as an alien opened fire upon him from the ground. The camera showed the alien's view and from that perspective the soldier was completely concealed behind the crate and yet the alien hits him for 2 damage (where is their health anyway?). The camera felt kinda of clunky but not too bad once I found the middlemouse button for scrolling.

    I still don't know how to open doors silently, the tut placed your soldier near the door and told you to press "v" and he opened it but when I tried it later nothing happened.

    The story also seems kind of "eh" judging from the tut level and absolute ######loads of unskippable cinematics which put me off from doing another demo run. I hope that stuff fades out later on so you can do your own thing.

    I noticed you could select a base on several continents, wasn't it confirmed that you only have one base? Or is your choice the one and only you get?
  • AlignAlign Remain Calm Join Date: 2002-11-02 Member: 5216Forum Moderators, Constellation
    I can't get it to staaaaaart!
  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu Anememone Join Date: 2002-03-23 Member: 345Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1982852:date=Sep 25 2012, 08:24 AM:name=Svenpa)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Svenpa @ Sep 25 2012, 08:24 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1982852"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I still don't know how to open doors silently, the tut placed your soldier near the door and told you to press "v" and he opened it but when I tried it later nothing happened.

    The story also seems kind of "eh" judging from the tut level and absolute ######loads of unskippable cinematics which put me off from doing another demo run. I hope that stuff fades out later on so you can do your own thing.

    I noticed you could select a base on several continents, wasn't it confirmed that you only have one base? Or is your choice the one and only you get?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    I had the same door problem. That was pretty weird.

    The base thing is exactly that: you choose your one base location and that's it.
  • Dirty_Harry_PotterDirty_Harry_Potter Join Date: 2002-11-21 Member: 9500Members
    So, Giantbomb has a quicklook up for the game (It's one hour long though!). It has two of the developers present - they play the game, which Ryan Davies (one of the hosts on Giantbomb) asks his own questions and takes questions from the chat (it was a liveshow).

    A couple of notes: The mood in the video is very 'chummy' (like a lot of Giantbomb stuff can be) - so don't expect super precise answers from the devs in this video. It's more about them playing the game, and seeing a bit of the game unfold. What they show: A crashed UFO mission, promoting units, base interface and looking for missions, and finally a special 'bomb' mission.

    *point* <a href="http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-ex-xcom-enemy-unknown/17-6601/" target="_blank">Giantbomb Quicklook EX: XCOM Enemy Unknown</a>
  • SentrySteveSentrySteve .txt Join Date: 2002-03-09 Member: 290Members, Constellation
    edited September 2012
    I enjoyed the demo but would be very surprised if they took away the free-form map and missions. For example, in the original XCom you'd shoot down a plane then have to send a dropship to board it. In the demo, they just gave you two missions to select.

    I was assuming (hoping) that the 'mission select' was just for the simplicity of the demo. I mean, if you're only ever selecting missions what's the point of having a hanger/fighter jets?

    /edit

    Just replayed the demo and noticed that cover is literally meaningless as described above. My one guy shot an alien through one of those alien-green-gas-pod things. 100% right through it. Very lame.
  • NeonSpyderNeonSpyder &quot;Das est NTLDR?&quot; Join Date: 2003-07-03 Member: 17913Members
    As I understand it there is still importance to shooting down alien craft and detecting them, the RPS review I read indicated that they had to set up satellites to be able to see UFOs flying around so they could then intercept them. The review indicated a need for awareness and attention to the world, but also indicated that at times you can't do everything and need to choose one mission over another.

    I don't know how the mission selecting thing is fully going to work, but the review did not seem very concerned about it. The demo was poor in that it only showed the on-rails part of the tutorial/intro whereas the reviews say after that it opens way up to a 'guided sandbox' style where as you discover certain stuff you unlock story missions, or for example just like in the original x-com you needed to conduct an autopsy to unlock the rest of the research tree. Something like that. The review also indicated that there is the same 'invisible timer' as in the original X-COM where as game time passes everything becomes more difficult and the aliens become more powerful.

    As I understand how cover works it is basically a %percentile modifier. half cover probably gives like 10-20% accuracy reduction and hard cover like 30-40%. I noticed also in the second level that my sniper had really ###### aim with the sniper rifle at a close enemy, so it seems there is a 'sweet spot' medium range for the sniper rifle to be effective which is very good to see. I would imagine also that the sniper rifle probably has a better chance against enemies in cover than a rifle or pistol would, but I did not test this.

    Personally I was very receptive to the emotional tone of the game. Within the first few minutes of the introduction trailer and sequence I got this incredible feeling of ignorance, impotence and scrabbling terror. The sequence all the way through the tutorial level did a great job of showing you "We suck, the aliens are amazing and unimaginable, and the entire planet is trying to help you and we still suck." the Arthur C. Clarke quote at the beginning was a stroke of genius as well, the first thing you see and get it stuck in your brain before hell breaks loose.

    Based on the reviews that I have read I am really looking forward to the game, and I am a big X-Com, JA2 fan. I am eager to explore the bleakness of the narrative and the meta-tactical effort of trying to stop the alien invasion. Of course I will be doing an iron man hardcore difficulty :D

    The only thing I can complain about is facial animations for characters and the combat UI being non-PC intuitive. Fortunately it seems the UI is just non-intuitive and not actually painful to use, though it is a little borderline at first. The facial animations I dunno, they don't really have any excuse for that one. They were serviceable but not terrific.
  • ZaggyZaggy NullPointerException The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-12-10 Member: 24214Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos, Subnautica Playtester
    Played the demo.
    The graphics feel outdated and the controls and GUI overly simplified, very much console like.
    Then again, I only got to play through the point click tutorial and one mission.
    I'll try the game, just because xcom.
  • SvenpaSvenpa Wait, what? Join Date: 2004-01-03 Member: 25012Members, Constellation
    <!--quoteo(post=1983076:date=Sep 25 2012, 11:57 PM:name=SentrySteve)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SentrySteve @ Sep 25 2012, 11:57 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1983076"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Just replayed the demo and noticed that cover is literally meaningless as described above. My one guy shot an alien through one of those alien-green-gas-pod things. 100% right through it. Very lame.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Unverified sources say that being shot behind a corner/through walls is a bug, which is supposedly fixed in the full version.

    You can change the difficulty in the demo! (which is locked on easy) Open up one of the .ini files and find "difficulty" line, edit from 0.0 to 3.0 (0.0 easy, 1.0 normal, 2.0 Classic 3.0 impossible iirc. There is a paste circling around but I didn't save it, I'll look for it later.
  • Dirty_Harry_PotterDirty_Harry_Potter Join Date: 2002-11-21 Member: 9500Members
    edited September 2012
    So.. 2K has recorded a livestream of the game. They play for about an hour. <a href="http://www.twitch.tv/2k/b/330155062" target="_blank">*link*</a>.

    <a href="http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/09/25/some-things-you-should-know-about-the-xcom-demo/" target="_blank">Rockpapershotgun</a> also has a bunch of comments on the Xcom demo - supposedly it's pretty much only the tutorial section of the game, and not really representative of the final game in various ways.

    Edit: more videos!
    <a href="http://www.twitch.tv/2k/b/330728983" target="_blank">2K PAX Prime Stream</a>: 2K showcased Borderlands 2 and XCOM at PAX. So this stream switches between the two. There's XCOM stuff in the video at these times:
    - 0:45: Multiplayer match between a Dev (Jake Solomon) and a fan. XCOM features a vs multiplayer mode, where each player selects a squad of up to 6. They can mix their squad composition using any unit in the game - so you might not want to go straight into this mode when you get the game as it *will* have spoilers for what aliens you encounter.
    - 1:13: Rematch between the Dev and the Fan.
    - 1:36: Showcases some parts of the artbook that comes with the physical special edition of the game (which is the only physical edition I think)
    - 2:46: Singleplayer Terror Mission, this is the same save as the one featured in the previous video. They play on the Impossible difficulty, and get their ass handed to them.
    - 3:28: A couple of short interview with a bunch of the devs, followed by...
    - 3:37: the XCOM panel! They talk about all sorts of ideas they considered during development, but scrapped.

    <a href="http://www.twitch.tv/2k/b/330851810" target="_blank">2K PAX Prime Stream 2</a>
    Same principle as the other video, this is from the day after the other PAX video.
    - 0:16: Another multiplayer match. This time between Jake and a guy from Amazon. The dev is answering a bunch of questions as he plays.
    - 1:54: The Terror Mission again. The same guy gives the mission another try on impossible.
    - 3:17: Yet another multiplayer match.
  • SvenpaSvenpa Wait, what? Join Date: 2004-01-03 Member: 25012Members, Constellation
    edited September 2012
    <!--quoteo(post=1983262:date=Sep 26 2012, 02:54 PM:name=Dirty_Harry_Potter)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dirty_Harry_Potter @ Sep 26 2012, 02:54 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1983262"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->..also has a bunch of comments on the Xcom demo - supposedly it's pretty much only the tutorial section of the game, and not really representative of the final game in various ways.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    So I have to pirate it to get a demonstration that actually represents the final game? A livestream does little to show me how it FEELS to control and muck about in my own random ways.

    :/

    EDIT: >How to change difficulty

    >Go to the XCOM demo steam install folder (\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\XCom-Enemy-Unknown-Demo\Engine\Config).

    >Open "BaseGame.ini" with notepad, edit the line "GameDifficulty=+0.0" change this to "GameDifficulty=+3.0" for impossible.

    >0.0 easy
    >1.0 normal
    >2.0 classic
    >3.0 impossible
  • SentrySteveSentrySteve .txt Join Date: 2002-03-09 Member: 290Members, Constellation
    edited September 2012
    whoa, had no idea Xcom:UE had multiplayer. It looks pretty awesome.

    makes me wish for a turnbased/'tabletop' version of warhammer 40k.
  • SwiftspearSwiftspear Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1910872:date=Mar 7 2012, 02:17 AM:name=lolfighter)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (lolfighter @ Mar 7 2012, 02:17 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1910872"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I think that's what people don't want - old fans of the genre prefer that their troops are replaceable so they don't have to savescum quite as much.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    From what I've seen, it's somewhat worse than originally thought. It seems you don't even have enemy fire flying from the shroud of war anymore. Aliens can't shoot until they have been seen.

    There's a certain point where "fair to the player" becomes stupid for gameplay.
  • SentrySteveSentrySteve .txt Join Date: 2002-03-09 Member: 290Members, Constellation
    for those who haven't tried it...

    I put the game on the hardest difficulity and, maybe I had a lucky run, but none of my guys ever even took damage. I was shot at twice, maybe 3 times?, and each time was a miss.

    After I got past that mission I did notice one significant change. On "easy" the panic level in the country you ignored went up 1 bar. On "Impossible" the country you ignored goes to full blown panic.
  • AlignAlign Remain Calm Join Date: 2002-11-02 Member: 5216Forum Moderators, Constellation
    edited September 2012
    For those who have preordered, the bar just hit 100% and we've all got copies of Civilization 5 now. I already owned it, so, anyone wanna?
  • Dirty_Harry_PotterDirty_Harry_Potter Join Date: 2002-11-21 Member: 9500Members
    edited September 2012
    Yet another XCOM video! This time it's a 45min video that showcases attacking an alien base. I have not watched it myself yet, nor I am sure I want to view it in its entirety - I'm already sure that I am going to get the game, and I'd rather not spoil the game for myself.

    <center><object width="450" height="356"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tuH6yRNDa3Q"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tuH6yRNDa3Q" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="356"></embed></object></center>

    Edit: Oh, okay, the video has been taken down. Guess it broke some kind of NDA. As compensation! I'm linking another video by the same guys. They show the early parts of the game. Playing on Classic difficulty and Ironman mode.

    <center><object width="450" height="356"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5KPGHW1A2hI"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5KPGHW1A2hI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="356"></embed></object></center>
  • RetalesRetales Panigg cultist Join Date: 2003-08-07 Member: 19180Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1984521:date=Sep 29 2012, 02:27 PM:name=Align)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Align @ Sep 29 2012, 02:27 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1984521"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->For those who have preordered, the bar just hit 100% and we've all got copies of Civilization 5 now. I already owned it, so, anyone wanna?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    If you haven't yet given it away, I would very much appreciate it. Only game I have in my Steam inventory to give in return would be Terraria, but I guess everyone owns it by now.
  • SentrySteveSentrySteve .txt Join Date: 2002-03-09 Member: 290Members, Constellation
    some really funny quotes in here...

    <center><object width="450" height="356"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/T1pyJxcETmc"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/T1pyJxcETmc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="356"></embed></object></center>

    My favorite;

    <span style='color:#000000;background:#000000'>You can play this game for 10 hours and then lose. That doesn't sound like fun when I say it... but it is</span>
  • SvenpaSvenpa Wait, what? Join Date: 2004-01-03 Member: 25012Members, Constellation
    X-com demo editor:
    <a href="http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2949856" target="_blank">http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/show...d.php?t=2949856</a>

    "DHX from the official 2k forums just created this editor from the game files, which allows you to choose the game difficulty, number of Soldiers in the Skyranger, and the composition of the Aliens in the second mission."
  • Soul_RiderSoul_Rider Mod Bean Join Date: 2004-06-19 Member: 29388Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
    edited October 2012
    <!--quoteo(post=1983918:date=Sep 27 2012, 11:40 PM:name=SentrySteve)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SentrySteve @ Sep 27 2012, 11:40 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1983918"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->whoa, had no idea Xcom:UE had multiplayer. It looks pretty awesome.

    makes me wish for a turnbased/'tabletop' version of warhammer 40k.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    OT - Did you ever play Blood Bowl. I have Dark Elves and Legendary editions on Steam. I love this, the turn based version at least. Doing the same to Warhammer 40k would be amazing.

    /offtopic

    I downloaded the demo, forgot I was still on windows XP. Deleted the demo, fired up XCOM:Terror From The Deep. Shot down the 2nd Alien craft I encountered. Lost all aquanauts and killed 1 alien on the first mission.

    Closed terror from the deep and uninstalled. Then I cried.
  • SentrySteveSentrySteve .txt Join Date: 2002-03-09 Member: 290Members, Constellation
    If you bought this game you can now pre-load it.
  • remiremi remedy [blu.knight] Join Date: 2003-11-18 Member: 23112Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester
    I didn't know what XCOM was, but turns out it's pretty fun, and the demo was extremely effective. It stopped at just the right point to make me want to buy it. So now I've got it preordered and I am waiting patiently for release. I'm hoping I won't get bored of it too quickly after getting past the demo-showcased portion.
  • DaeicaDaeica Join Date: 2012-10-05 Member: 161595Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1988321:date=Oct 7 2012, 06:40 PM:name=Psyke)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Psyke @ Oct 7 2012, 06:40 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1988321"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I didn't know what XCOM was, but turns out it's pretty fun, and the demo was extremely effective. It stopped at just the right point to make me want to buy it. So now I've got it preordered and I am waiting patiently for release. I'm hoping I won't get bored of it too quickly after getting past the demo-showcased portion.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    The demo is fully moddable if you want some extra milage out of it.

    <a href="http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?140536-Demo-Editor-I-just-Made" target="_blank">Link is here!</a>
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