KickStarter Phoenix Point - the new game from X-COM creator Julian Gollop

[PanteraNera]

So currently I am trying out Backer Build 4 and I just came across my first base defense mission, look in the left bottom corner, 13 soldiers on mission. Wonder how many more you could have.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Wonder how many more you could have.

Didn't they say way earlier that 16 is max squad limit?

 

[PanteraNera]

Didn't they say way earlier that 16 is max squad limit?

I think so, to bad I had not more soldiers around (they were all overseas) to see how many would show up on mission, or crash the game.

Have tried the base defense mission three times now, but my soldiers keep falling through the floor to the bottom level and keep running endlessly against walls going nowhere (only solution alt+F4)

 

[PrK]

Spoiler

Where is my :meh: button?

 

[PanteraNera]

So the newly added Siren has a mutation called "injector arm", which can "zombiefy" your soldiers.
It pretty much does the same as Chryssalid did in UFO:EU.

Doing research in the field I come to the conclusion that the "infected status" she causes to her victims needs to be higher than the soldiers remaining hitpoints, I shoot up a technician to be left with 1 hp, she caused 4 "infected" damage, the turn after he turned into a zombie.

 

[Infinitron]

Narrated gameplay footage from early access "Backer Build 4" of Phoenix Point. A quick play-through in one of three different mission scenarios showcased at the EGX Rezzed show in London in April 2019.

 

[Viata]

Have you ever owned an independent business and had 60 people depending on you to put food on the table

Won't somebody please think of the employees?

 

[Space Satan]

just in case, it seems they are selling it with big discount

 

[Latelistener]

just in case, it seems they are selling it with big discount

I wonder if devs are aware that they're selling a pre-order for less than $4. Seems like the decision to go with Epic was not the brightest one after all.

They're deliberately devaluating a lot of games that haven't even came out yet.

 

[PanteraNera]

In other news:

As we have stuff coming up like E3 and Gamescom, we want to save some stuff to reveal at those events. Most people reading the blog are already invested in the game. We want some big reveals to also attract new audiences. At the same time, we also don't want to show everything before the game is released.

Wow, Kings_Rook and RetconRaider covered a lot of things here. But like they have mentioned I just want to remind everyone that the game has a lot of placeholder elements and a lot of things are still not present in the builds.

For example, the diplomacy, economy and movement/radar system will be completely different in the final game. We will also have weapon attachments and other more utility-focused equipment.

I do want to focus on the automatic reloading a bit. I know that a lot of people (myself included) will probably not like the level of micro management we've added to the game. Hell, we haven't introduced the entire Phoenix Base management system. There will be a lot of mechanics tied to managing your troops during battles but there will probably be a lot of micromanagement in the final game. The important thing to note is that the game isn't just focused on the shooting when you get into the Tactical layer. Nor is it about just scouting and flying around when you're in the Geoscape layer. There are lots of things in between and that will require some mechanical input.

Having said that, know that all of what I said might change. We have all of the design written down but when we implement it in the game we end up changing some things and trying to see what works. That leads to massive changes. For example: the Geoscape had massive changes just days before the backer build and it had several after the patch we sent out a week later that didn't go into the build. It's awesome but also a bit chaotic but we have to try things out a lot. That's why most of the points you've made will be addressed. I am writing every bit of player feedback in this huge table and we talk about the stuff discussed within the community every day. Thank you for posting your thoughts!

link

and here some (new) concepts:

Spoiler

 

[Shog-goth]

and here some (new) concepts

Nice, 4 months until release date (lol) and still in concept phase. Q2 2020, at best, or a mutilated game. What a joke.

 

[Mustawd]

In other news:

I know that a lot of people (myself included) will probably not like the level of micro management we've added to the game

Things are starting to make a lot more sense about this game now....sad.

 

[PanteraNera]

and here some (new) concepts

Nice, 4 months until release date (lol) and still in concept phase. Q2 2020, at best, or a mutilated game. What a joke.

To clarify: these concepts are taken from the artists artstation portfolio.
Doesn't mean that they are new that is why I said (new).

But yeah by the state of Backer Build 4 alone I highly anticipate another delay, on the other hand nobody but the developers knows how the dev builds look and what content they already have in it.

Guess we find out around E3 as it was hinted by UnstableVoltage that they are going to reveal some new stuff there.

 

[Shog-goth]

To clarify: these concepts are taken from the artists artstation portfolio.
Doesn't mean that they are new that is why I said (new).

Yes, of course. But look at the current state of the game in BB4: I estimate more than 50% of promised/planned features are not implemented/explained yet. At best they need another full year (I think more) of development, or step back with a lot of things. I not longer trust them at all, especially after the "Epic affair".

 

[luinthoron]

and here some (new) concepts

Nice, 4 months until release date (lol) and still in concept phase. Q2 2020, at best, or a mutilated game. What a joke.

To clarify: these concepts are taken from the artists artstation portfolio.
Doesn't mean that they are new that is why I said (new).

In fact, we've seen most of these in the January blog post on Phoenix Project bases.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

To clarify: these concepts are taken from the artists artstation portfolio.
Doesn't mean that they are new that is why I said (new).

Yes, of course. But look at the current state of the game in BB4: I estimate more than 50% of promised/planned features are not implemented/explained yet. At best they need another full year (I think more) of development, or step back with a lot of things. I not longer trust them at all, especially after the "Epic affair".

Does it really matter when there will be 1 year long beta courtesy of Epic store?

 

[Grotesque]

In other news:

I know that a lot of people (myself included) will probably not like the level of micro management we've added to the game

Things are starting to make a lot more sense about this game now....sad.

I mean really... is this a surprise for anybody around here by now?

I know that a lot of people (myself included) will probably not like the level of micro management we've added to the game. [...] but there will probably be a lot of micromanagement in the final game.

Solomon's first version of revamped x-com had micromanagement until testers decided this type of game is not fun for their representative market taste.
Why Pheonix Point would not share the same fate?
Because Gollop is in charge instead? hmmm

But fret not. We will still have riders with horned helmets on hellish war-dogs if the game is steadily dumbed down along the line.
And even if Gollop is right-minded, he will be forced to cut out complex game mechanics if development drags too long.

I like to think that he took Epic Store money offer because he did not want to abandon his vision of a complex game with micromanagement (take this term with a pinch of salt because nowadays generation thinks even wiping the shit around the ass-hole is micromanagement, thus not swell.)

Well, I guess hope will only die at around 30 hours of game played after official release.
Scrap that... the bugs at release for this game will be glorious. Only masochists and daredevils should play it at release
Or the game will be so dumbed down by then that bugs that derive from complex game mechanics would be nowhere to be found.

 

[Israfael]

I guess they adopted this innovative management method:

 

[udm]

In other news:

I know that a lot of people (myself included) will probably not like the level of micro management we've added to the game

Things are starting to make a lot more sense about this game now....sad.

This coming from the QA Lead. Welp.

 

[Shog-goth]

Phoenix Point development in a nutshell: "few ideas, but confused".

 

[baud]

Yes, of course. But look at the current state of the game in BB4: I estimate more than 50% of promised/planned features are not implemented/explained yet. At best they need another full year (I think more) of development, or step back with a lot of things. I not longer trust them at all, especially after the "Epic affair".

Perhaps the Epic "affair" was the only way to fund that additional year of work?

 

[Shog-goth]

Perhaps the Epic "affair" was the only way to fund that additional year of work?

Before "Epic" they never talked about financial problems. On the contrary they seemed very satisfied in this regard, in many interviews and statements.

 

[PanteraNera]

 

[Shog-goth]

Frankly I don't give a crap to this "guess the mutation" 4 yrs old silly game, but I'd like to see implemented the background interface (original concept) instead of the atrocious current UI, as for pretty much everything else.

 

[Plaguecrafter]

Who's that Pokemon?