Like the old X-Com Games - Page 2

Bee · 05-08-2007, 06:13 AM

Sounds like the game is pretty easy to mod and some modders have been making impressive progress working on the game (UFO-Extraterrestrials). There might still be some hope that this game ends up being a pretty good remake of X-COM once it's patched and modded.

Yossarian · 05-08-2007, 07:03 AM

It's interesting to see people rag on this game for not being as good as X-COM.

Although there have been some recent attempts to re-develop x-com (UFO Aftermath and the ilk), the change in the tactical battle gameplay (to pausable real time) makes them feel like belonging in a different genre.

This is (in my opinion) the first true x-com style game we've seen since the franchise ended.

So after such a break I'm delighted to have a remake even if it isn't as good as the original. The original was / is one of the best games of all time. People still talk about it frequently and dig it out to give a whirl every couple of years (dos emulation permitting).

Why would you think this game would be as good as that? If you look at the dozens of FPS games, you don't say they all suck because they aren't as good as Half Life 2.

It must be because this is such a narrow genre / niche. If you differ from the X-COM design more than just a little, it feels like your outwith the genre (unlike FPS).

I've been playing this game for about 10 hours and it's a total blast.

The problems that most people have don't seem to be that big to me and in some cases improve upon the X-COM mould.

Take the soldiers issue re: healing.

In X-COM you treat new recruits like cannon fodder. You take in an army with 4 or 5 studs and the rest are newbies used to take the auto-fire from the aliens. If a stud dies, most people re-load a save.

IMO this is an unattractive gameplay mechanic. The lack of any concern for newbies is a negative and the insta-reload is a negative. UFO-ET makes it so that you are less likely to reload because you will get your guys back, but there is a huge disincentive to getting shot - your guys will be out for weeks!

I've had studs out for over 40 days (I saw that listed as the maximum somewhere). But I didn't reload the save. Had that been X-COM, as much as i'd like to think I wouldn't, odds are that I would have reloaded because you just need your studs later on in the game.

I do think there is something of an issue with soldier recruitment because at least at the start of the game, I frequently had no available combatants due to injury, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me, and it made me super-cautious in my battles, which added tension.

There are also many nice elements to the game that were missing in X-COM, it's much easier to ensure proper load out since you equip before you fly - the interface is MUCH cleaner (although there is some functional loss due to this) - you can move more than one soldier at a time (makes missions much faster).

I don't think this game is better or as good as x-com but it's a good game in its own right and the first game since x-com to recreate the global aspect of the game with a faithful recreation of the turn base mechanic.

I'm looking at it as a tentative re-entry of this sub-genre into the market. If these guys do well, hopefully they'll extend the gameplay with a sequel (much as the real-time UFO games have done).

Bee · 05-10-2007, 07:31 AM

I picked it up at gamersgate.com for $29.99. Saved $10 vs Matrix Games and avoided putting money in the pocket of the company that released Maximum Football, so win-win.

I'm having a blast with the game. It's not perfect but it's much better than any of the other X-COM remakes I've tried. There's a mod available that makes huge changes to the game (adding in perma-death, hotkeys, etc). I haven't tried the mod yet but the basic game is pretty solid IMO. I'm kind of waiting for them to balance things a little with the mod before I install it.

I think any X-COM fans should seriously consider this game. While it's not as good as the original game, it's probably as close as we're going to see anytime soon.

Eilim · 05-18-2007, 12:05 PM

Just got back into this game (too many good games have come out recently...) and came across this mod that I absolutely love. Nice thing about it is it lets you set everything individually the way you want it.

It's called Bman's mod, and you can grab it here: Mod link

If you haven't done any modding to your game yet I suggest grabbing this little tool to make it a bit easier : Tool Link

Just to give an idea of what the mod does:

Atocep · 02-20-2008, 04:54 PM

After reading up on Bman's mod (up to version 4.07 now) I went back and reinstalled this and I have to say its a nearly perfect update to X-Com now. The mod gives you tons of options to tweak things to your liking. Everything from adding the classic aliens, to changing how quickly your soliders heal, and adjusting the sight distance for both your troops and the aliens in both day and night.

It was a bit of a pain for me to get patched, moded, running properly, but its been well worth it. It does seem to have a small memory leak, but it will only affect long play sessions. I've only run across one other crash and it seems to be tied to the cyberdisks from the original game in missions. When they're moving within sight of your troops the game has a chance to lock up. I just make sure to save often and it hasn't really bothered me much.

Its worth giving a look if you're dying to play X-Com and see this cheap or if you bought it and gave up on it earlier.

Groundhog · 08-03-2009, 06:32 PM

I was playing UFO: Alien Invasion yesterday for seriously every spare second I had. Wow.

If you haven't tried it and you like X-COM, I suggest that you go here:

UFO: Alien Invasion

Blade6119 · 08-31-2009, 01:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Groundhog

I was playing UFO: Alien Invasion yesterday for seriously every spare second I had. Wow.

If you haven't tried it and you like X-COM, I suggest that you go here:

UFO: Alien Invasion

Downloaded it and booted it up, and I am having a freaking blast..this is easily the best x-com like game ive played. And some of the things I wish x-com had, like equipment set-up not having to be re-done each mission, is a godsend. Really cant recommend this enough!

Oh, and its totally free!

Groundhog · 08-31-2009, 02:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blade6119

Downloaded it and booted it up, and I am having a freaking blast..this is easily the best x-com like game ive played. And some of the things I wish x-com had, like equipment set-up not having to be re-done each mission, is a godsend. Really cant recommend this enough!

Oh, and its totally free!

Yeah it's pretty awesome. It sounds like the current developer's version adds a lot to it, but I got my game to the point where there were no more techs or nasty enemies to come across, so it got a bit stale after that. Looking forward to the next release though.

08-03-2009, 06:32 PM	#56
Groundhog Coordinator Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney, Australia	I was playing UFO: Alien Invasion yesterday for seriously every spare second I had. Wow. If you haven't tried it and you like X-COM, I suggest that you go here: UFO: Alien Invasion __________________ Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. --Ambrose Bierce

05-08-2007, 07:03 AM	#52
Yossarian High School Varsity Join Date: Jul 2003	It's interesting to see people rag on this game for not being as good as X-COM. Although there have been some recent attempts to re-develop x-com (UFO Aftermath and the ilk), the change in the tactical battle gameplay (to pausable real time) makes them feel like belonging in a different genre. This is (in my opinion) the first true x-com style game we've seen since the franchise ended. So after such a break I'm delighted to have a remake even if it isn't as good as the original. The original was / is one of the best games of all time. People still talk about it frequently and dig it out to give a whirl every couple of years (dos emulation permitting). Why would you think this game would be as good as that? If you look at the dozens of FPS games, you don't say they all suck because they aren't as good as Half Life 2. It must be because this is such a narrow genre / niche. If you differ from the X-COM design more than just a little, it feels like your outwith the genre (unlike FPS). I've been playing this game for about 10 hours and it's a total blast. The problems that most people have don't seem to be that big to me and in some cases improve upon the X-COM mould. Take the soldiers issue re: healing. In X-COM you treat new recruits like cannon fodder. You take in an army with 4 or 5 studs and the rest are newbies used to take the auto-fire from the aliens. If a stud dies, most people re-load a save. IMO this is an unattractive gameplay mechanic. The lack of any concern for newbies is a negative and the insta-reload is a negative. UFO-ET makes it so that you are less likely to reload because you will get your guys back, but there is a huge disincentive to getting shot - your guys will be out for weeks! I've had studs out for over 40 days (I saw that listed as the maximum somewhere). But I didn't reload the save. Had that been X-COM, as much as i'd like to think I wouldn't, odds are that I would have reloaded because you just need your studs later on in the game. I do think there is something of an issue with soldier recruitment because at least at the start of the game, I frequently had no available combatants due to injury, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me, and it made me super-cautious in my battles, which added tension. There are also many nice elements to the game that were missing in X-COM, it's much easier to ensure proper load out since you equip before you fly - the interface is MUCH cleaner (although there is some functional loss due to this) - you can move more than one soldier at a time (makes missions much faster). I don't think this game is better or as good as x-com but it's a good game in its own right and the first game since x-com to recreate the global aspect of the game with a faithful recreation of the turn base mechanic. I'm looking at it as a tentative re-entry of this sub-genre into the market. If these guys do well, hopefully they'll extend the gameplay with a sequel (much as the real-time UFO games have done).

05-10-2007, 07:31 AM	#53
Bee Pro Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Fairfax, VA	I picked it up at gamersgate.com for $29.99. Saved $10 vs Matrix Games and avoided putting money in the pocket of the company that released Maximum Football, so win-win. I'm having a blast with the game. It's not perfect but it's much better than any of the other X-COM remakes I've tried. There's a mod available that makes huge changes to the game (adding in perma-death, hotkeys, etc). I haven't tried the mod yet but the basic game is pretty solid IMO. I'm kind of waiting for them to balance things a little with the mod before I install it. I think any X-COM fans should seriously consider this game. While it's not as good as the original game, it's probably as close as we're going to see anytime soon.

05-18-2007, 12:05 PM	#54
Eilim High School Varsity Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Foxboro,MA	Just got back into this game (too many good games have come out recently...) and came across this mod that I absolutely love. Nice thing about it is it lets you set everything individually the way you want it. It's called Bman's mod, and you can grab it here: Mod link If you haven't done any modding to your game yet I suggest grabbing this little tool to make it a bit easier : Tool Link Just to give an idea of what the mod does:

02-20-2008, 04:54 PM	#55
Atocep Coordinator Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Puyallup, WA	After reading up on Bman's mod (up to version 4.07 now) I went back and reinstalled this and I have to say its a nearly perfect update to X-Com now. The mod gives you tons of options to tweak things to your liking. Everything from adding the classic aliens, to changing how quickly your soliders heal, and adjusting the sight distance for both your troops and the aliens in both day and night. It was a bit of a pain for me to get patched, moded, running properly, but its been well worth it. It does seem to have a small memory leak, but it will only affect long play sessions. I've only run across one other crash and it seems to be tied to the cyberdisks from the original game in missions. When they're moving within sight of your troops the game has a chance to lock up. I just make sure to save often and it hasn't really bothered me much. Its worth giving a look if you're dying to play X-Com and see this cheap or if you bought it and gave up on it earlier.

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