X-COM Firaxis - XCOM: Enemy Unknown + Enemy Within Expansion

[KoolNoodles]

Why do the game companies do anything they do?

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That statement is true, but too simple. Maybe that's why companies support games, but game designers certainly don't give a shit about money, they get their salaried paycheck anyways.

 

[evdk]

they get their salaried paycheck anyways.

From the producers, who, again, only care about money. And have a major say in the development process.

 

[Morgoth]

They keep making Civ games, which isn't exactly dumbed down console popamole.

 

[KoolNoodles]

they get their salaried paycheck anyways.

From the producers, who, again, only care about money. And have a major say in the development process.

Too cynical. Works like any company. If a product bombs who gets cut? The hourly workers at the bottom first or a handful of licenses get scrapped, not the designer. As with all salaried positions, it brings a certain amount of security as required by law. Even if you get let-go, there's unemployment benefits etc. I don't think designers really have to worry about that. Are some heavily influenced? Sure, but that's like a doctor who is influenced by pharma reps. It's their choice to get free swag and push certain prescriptions, but in most cases it wouldn't jeopardize their job to do otherwise.

 

[evdk]

EDIT: Morgoth

They also aren't as good as the old ones. And they are a bit heavy on useless unbalancing DLCs.

Thing is I haven't had a Day One Purchase attitude toward a game released by a major company in years and none of the promo footage released of X-Com has made me change my mind. I remain pessimistic to avoid disappointment.

KoolNoodles

Of course I am cynical - the last 10 years in gaming do not give a reason to be any other way.

And if all the actual game developers' jobs are so secure that they can afford to make non popamole dumbed down bullshit I would like to know where the hell are the non-shit games.

 

[Morgoth]

Fair enough. I'll wait for the XCOM demo myself.

They are going to show the PC UI in about 5 minutes btw.

 

[KoolNoodles]

evdk,

I just think more and more designers are absolute shit, rather than any publisher/company being the main reason. Gotta own up for all the garbage someday. I guess I mostly agree with you anyways.

 

[Morgoth]

Wish you could zoom out the game more, and have bigger maps. Stupid Unreal Engine.

 

[Morgoth]

Bunch of PC UI screenshots:

Phonebooths for added nostalgia!

 

[EG]

Have any of the X-Com knockoff games ever just implemented X-Com plus a good UI and non-faked 3D? Like for example explicitly showing you the LOS of a soldier as a cone or showing proper grenade arcs? Without fucking up destructible terrain or anything else?

No. None have.

And does not make any fucking sense.

 

[Jasede]

Don't like that PC UI at all.

 

[Micmu]

Reminds me of those Afetrshit, Afterlight, Aftershave X-COM wannabes (or whatever they were called).
At least they had a common decency and didn't call them X-COM.
Putrid shit.

And it's not possible to zoom out more than that? Haha, consolitis maximus.
I'm also willing to bet that it's one of those rotation fest nightmare shit games (Camera Rotation: The Game, 3D for the sake of 3D).

 

[Raghar]

Reminds me of those Afetrshit, Afterlight, Aftershave X-COM wannabes (or whatever they were called).
At least they had a common decency and didn't call them X-COM.

You mean they used a variation of original name. Only US people are calling it like you did. EU used name UFO.

If Aftershock had better dramaturgy, and they would self-educate themselves into proper programmers, it would be comparable to Fireaxis stuff.

 

[Computer Gamer Refugee]

They keep making Civ games, which isn't exactly dumbed down console popamole.

Have you played Civ V?

 

[Morgoth]

They keep making Civ games, which isn't exactly dumbed down console popamole.

Have you played Civ V?

Yes. If you think Civ 5 is dumbed down, you should maybe stop playing video games right now and seek different hobbies.

 

[Misconnected]

If Aftershock had better dramaturgy, and they would self-educate themselves into proper programmers, it would be comparable to Fireaxis stuff.

I'm a bit confuzzled by this. The first of the AfterX games was pretty dire in most respects, I'll admit. The only thing it really had going for it was the story. But the two later games were hardly terrible. Combat wasn't as good as in X-Com, mostly due to a combination of you having a too small and much too hardcore team and the aliens being too keen on throwing themselves at you. But other than that they were pretty great, and at least in my experience, not particularly buggy. I'll be more than a little bit surprised if FiraX-Com does anything other than graphical polish better and that's purely due to the budget difference, not the talent or ability of the people involved.

 

[Marsal]

They keep making Civ games, which isn't exactly dumbed down console popamole.

Have you played Civ V?

Yes. If you think Civ 5 is dumbed down, you should maybe stop playing video games right now and seek different hobbies.

I think it was massively dumbed down. What hobbies would you suggest?

 

[EG]

They keep making Civ games, which isn't exactly dumbed down console popamole.

Have you played Civ V?

Yes. If you think Civ 5 is dumbed down, you should maybe stop playing video games right now and seek different hobbies.

Civ 5 vs Civ 4 is a pretty good match up to Sim City Societies (or is it Sim City 4) and Sim City 3000 . . .

 

[Gozma]

The multiplayer makes the hit system in this look bad. They kept the super-random d100 linear hit chance from X-Com but they reduced the squad size from a billion to about 6 meaningful units on both sides and one miss can turn a whole match. They should probably do that "roll twice, use the average" normal curving system from the Fire Emblem games. With so few units and such a volatile hit system you could very easily run a map with identical strategy five times and have five different results from easy victory to catastrophe

 

[Gozma]

Also watching the 2K guy play on a hard difficulty level makes the damage look high enough to be really decisive, a la maybe Jagged Alliance 2. Not as much as "my character in power armor got liquified by a max range HPlasma shot because I turned a corner wrong" X-Com but pretty serious.

 

[EG]

I never touch multiplayer, Gozma. The single-player experience was a cake walk by virtue of being able to close off sections of the map using two or three units (because, inevitably, you'll be superior to the computer opponents).

 

[sea]

Bunch of PC UI screenshots:

I really don't like the transparent look of the UI. I know the buzzword these days is minimalism, but I miss big, chunky UIs in strategy games - they have more personality and tend to be way easier to read. All those icons there look like they'd get lost in the background (and the grid overlay).

 

[Morgoth]

Game should have been made with the CivV engine, PC exclusive. With different FOV, further zoomed out, larger maps, more units, different art direction, proper UI.

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

Game should have been made with the CivV engine, PC exclusive. With different FOV, further zoomed out, larger maps, more units, different art direction, proper UI.

Might as well hope that a billion dollars falls from the sky while we are at it.

 

[Morgoth]

Game should have been made with the CivV engine, PC exclusive. With different FOV, further zoomed out, larger maps, more units, different art direction, proper UI.

Might as well hope that a billion dollars falls from the sky while we are at it.

Why? They keep making major Civ games PC exclusive, why not do the same with XCOM?