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

[Dead Guy]

Geoscape controls are fine and intuitive, but the battlescape interface can be confusing if you're trying to figure it out on your own (mostly because it was the pre-tooltip era). Some of the stuff wasn't intuitive (like, you have to prime the grenade before you throw it) for a first time player, and the game itself was pretty brutal, which further made the learning curve steeper.

That's true, a lot of that stuff was impossible to understand at first. For examle the button that elevated a soldier in an elevator or if he had that flying powered armor was completely nonsensical until you encountered an elevator. I do remember throwing an unprimed grenade, too. But generally speaking, some quick fooling around with the buttons and some experimentation gave you a good understanding of the game. But sure, it took a while. Maybe those of us who enjoy figuring those things out are the minority.

You may laugh at this now, but when you are a 10 year old...
On the other hand, that 10 (give or take) year old me *could* muster the patience to learn the game with no manual.

A willingness to learn is a sign of strength. Patience is a virtue. Focus and discipline are the key to strength; diversion is the key to weakness.

Furthermore I didn't mean to imply that tutorials are bad, what I'm mainly upset with is the notion that you wouldn't be able to make a deep and complex game because people today are too dumb.

 

[EG]

Ah, at least you could still kill aliens (and your squaddies) with thrown, unprimed, grenades.

 

[EmoBunny]

Geoscape controls are fine and intuitive, but the battlescape interface can be confusing if you're trying to figure it out on your own (mostly because it was the pre-tooltip era). Some of the stuff wasn't intuitive (like, you have to prime the grenade before you throw it) for a first time player, and the game itself was pretty brutal, which further made the learning curve steeper.

That's true, a lot of that stuff was impossible to understand at first. For examle the button that elevated a soldier in an elevator or if he had that flying powered armor was completely nonsensical until you encountered an elevator. I do remember throwing an unprimed grenade, too. But generally speaking, some quick fooling around with the buttons and some experimentation gave you a good understanding of the game. But sure, it took a while. Maybe those of us who enjoy figuring those things out are the minority.

You may laugh at this now, but when you are a 10 year old...
On the other hand, that 10 (give or take) year old me *could* muster the patience to learn the game with no manual.

A willingness to learn is a sign of strength. Patience is a virtue. Focus and discipline are the key to strength; diversion is the key to weakness.

Furthermore I didn't mean to imply that tutorials are bad, what I'm mainly upset with is the notion that you wouldn't be able to make a deep and complex game because people today are too dumb.

The thing is, people really are that stupid. I'm in high school and I see this on a daily basis. Kids are full of incredible dumbfuckery, and besides, they wouldn't even want to learn to play something like X-COM anyway, which is the real problem.

 

[GaemzDood]

Consoles only? Fuck this shit.

 

[GaemzDood]

Silent Storm furthered the technology but nobody ever picked up the engine which was flirting with perfection, IMO (the Silent Storm games have their flaws elsewhere, though). Tactical options were abound thanks to the ability to literally destroy everything. I remember sometimes stray grenades would set off chain reactions, blowing up oxygen or fuel tanks and other things, and the next thing you know there were enemies falling out of the second and third stories, plunging to their deaths in the basement. It's a shame no company seems interested in pushing that technology further when it fits the genre so well.

The Silent Storm engine was used for another game developed by Nivial, too bad its typical shitty movie tie-in shovelware.

 

[GaemzDood]

I so hope this bombs on the consoles, so that all of their dumbing down turns out to have been a waste of effort

"Streamlining" (A.K.A. dumbing the fuck down) a turn-based strategy game thinking that popamoletards will be able to get in to turn-based strategy games. That's almost as bad as "streamlining" an isometric turn-based CRPG thinking that popamoletards will be able to get in to isometric turn-based CRPGs; luckily, that never happened nobody's safe.

 

[Haba]

you can’t just release deep, complex game if you want as many people to play it as possible

Why are those fuckheads still alive? Why didn't their father have enough common decency to smother them in their infancy?

OH GEE WIZ, YOU CANT MAKE CHESS THAT EVERYONE PLAYS CUZ NOT EVERYONE LIKES CHESS! SO LETS MAKES STRIP POKER AND CALL IT CHESS!

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

CHESS THAT EVERYONE PLAYS

It has been my experience that people who don't play Chess far outnumber the ones who do. Just saying bro.

 

[Misconnected]

CHESS THAT EVERYONE PLAYS

It has been my experience that people who don't play Chess far outnumber the ones who do. Just saying bro.

Possibly being too honest here, but I wouldn't play Chess if my SO didn't love it. It's too abstract and nothing at all like X-Com. And more importantly, I suck horribly at Chess.

 

[Raghar]

I so hope this bombs on the consoles, so that all of their dumbing down turns out to have been a waste of effort

"Streamlining" (A.K.A. dumbing the fuck down) a turn-based strategy game thinking that popamoletards will be able to get in to turn-based strategy games. That's almost as bad as "streamlining" an isometric turn-based CRPG thinking that popamoletards will be able to get in to isometric turn-based CRPGs; luckily, that never happened nobody's safe.

In comparison to combat in this game, Avadon's combat is pinnacle of complexity and correct design.

 

[MetalCraze]

Bros but it's turn-based. How can it be bad?

 

[Morgoth]

It runs on an engine which is heavily tailored towards shooter. No matter how hard they'll try to "re-imagine" X-COM, there's always going to be that sour after taste of piss in it's gameplay.

 

[Morgoth]

40 hour Hands-On preview of XCOM @RPS

Hmm, seems overly positive. Can RPS be trusted?

 

[Dead Guy]

"Cover is hugely important, with a normal turn being a quick jog to the best position available and then a shot fired, overlook engaged or an item used."

You don't say...

Chest-high walls. Chest-high walls everywhere.

It's a damn shame that I find some of the decisions they've made in the battlescape so utterly deal breaking, because a lot of the things he mentions regarding the strategic part don't sound bad.

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

because a lot of the things he mentions regarding the strategic part don't sound bad.

Yeah, they don't sound bad.

 

[Computer Gamer Refugee]

That quote was a bit worrying, but since he was talking about tutorials I'll gloss over it. It'll be fine, everything's going to be ok. Firaxis wouldn't beat me again.

I see what you did there.

Sigh, Xenonauts, hurry up!

 

[GaemzDood]

Bros but it's turn-based. How can it be bad?

Turn-based games can be bad, really bad.

 

[poocolator]

The enemy is unknown. Is it the producers? The developers? The fanboiz or the fans? What a Dashing! mystery.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

It's fascinating how he can collectively insult everyone under the age of 18 and expect no backlash at all. Perhaps the targeted demographic doesn't care all that much about having their intelligence mocked like that.

They should feel insulted though. Alternatively, if people under 18 are really too stupid to learn game mechanics by observing the game as they play it, maybe they should learn to pay the fuck attention.

Also, this game looks like it'll be shit. The solution for everything is cover and special abilities. Fuck 4 soldiers and fuck small maps. Shove your action camera up your asses.

I think I played X-COM when I was 18 or 17, just a few years ago.
I'm just 21, compared to most of the Codex, I'm a newfag to gaming. I had no serious complications understanding the game.

I don't think the new generations are that retarded.

Same situation here exactly. It's really not a complicated game at all.

 

[Surf Solar]

"Cover is hugely important, with a normal turn being a quick jog to the best position available and then a shot fired, overlook engaged or an item used."

You don't say...

Chest-high walls. Chest-high walls everywhere.

It's a damn shame that I find some of the decisions they've made in the battlescape so utterly deal breaking, because a lot of the things he mentions regarding the strategic part don't sound bad.

I like the tree on the right side.

 

[Dead Guy]

I like the tree on the right side.

Inspired by Minecraft.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

 

[Surf Solar]

I am actually really excited at this game.

 

[Morgoth]

7 min gameplay video from the PC version - UFO retrieval mission.

 

[EG]

I like the tree on the right side.

Inspired by Minecraft.

it's a nice throw-back to the late 90s, isn't it.