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

[tuluse]

As far as I'm aware they're still making it. I missed the xenonauts kickstarter though I guess.

I contributed to it, got access to a playable alpha through Desura. They still have a lot of work to do, enemy AI is virtually non-existent for instance. Still, the feel of the game is palpable already. You're soldiers are fragile and mediocre shots, and it takes multiple hits to kill the aliens. It's all very tense.

 

[Jashiin]

Ugh what a fucking turd. Cannot even change mouse-speed for the big ass cursor which i seem to need to drag through mud to get from one end of the screen to the other no matter what settings I choose. of which there are 2.
Or I could just not turn off vsync and experience the worst mouse-lag one could get without actually unplugging your mouse.

No changable keyboard shortcuts. not even a fucking list of the ones that are there.

Having never played the xcom games I was kind of curious what this would turn out to be without having the burden of it being instantly inferior to my glowing memories of the original. But this is just console shit. Crap interface, crap camera, shitty gung ho american shit bro moron style soldiers.
It just fucking oozes

I will wait for xenonauts to be completed and try that instead.

 

[Gozma]

I'm kinda laughing at how janky EU looks. It looks like something from a developer in Obscuristan. Like the original game actually drew a line from the barrel of the gun to wherever the bullet hit, and if it crossed anything it hit and stopped. In this game, made in 2012 on a budget of tens of millions, a solid 90% of shots are clipping through something. They also appear to have refused to implement the first patch I'd put in UFO Defense: a sight range halo.

 

[IDtenT]

Would love it . . . particularly if it were a game, instead of some weird military scrabble that TC is filled with.

TC?

 

[EG]

Would love it . . . particularly if it were a game, instead of some weird military scrabble that TC is filled with.

TC?

Hint: Sister-site to the RPG Codex focusing on strategy games.

 

[EG]

If only DU had their courage to continue FMF.

Familial Mediterranean fever?

You will be smited.

Unless I got the acronym wrong.

 

[bonescraper]

Tutorial is completely scripted/layed out for you, but at least not very long.

Lies. Half of the interface isn't explained, and you have to figure out for yourself which keys do what, since the tutorial simply doesn't explain that. Why? Probably, because it's exactly the same on consoles.

The "real" mission (actually there are 2, you get to choose)

No, there's only one "real" mission. I suffered through the demo twice just to find that out.

It can get somewhat interesting when you face 2 aliens and have only one soldier in a bad position

Heh. Too bad, you never face more than 2 aliens at once. It's impossible due to how the level is scripted.

The cover system isn't so bad, it makes sense to take cover in a game like this and it doesn't play too bad. You can't always reach a perfect position when advancing and a soldier caught out in the open might very well be a dead soldier (if more dangerous aliens will turn up - hopefully).

Too bad everybody can shoot through cover. It looks ridiculous. 'Cause it gives you only a -20% penalty to hit.

Graphics are ok, if entirely different in style form the old games.

No. the graphics are shit. JA:BiA might suck, but damn, those Coreplay guys know how to design good looking, complex and richly detailed levels. So far, XCOM's environments feel empty, generic and sterile.

If the original borrowed heavy from 90s comic-book aesthetics, this one borrows from post-2000 action-flics.

In other words it looks generic and uninspired.

Interface could use some tweaking. It's not completely unusable, but far from perfect. Choosing and then confirming an action like shooting should be much more convenient when using a mouse. Also I'm not sure if I can even shoot at random things (to e.g. destroy walls or cover) or only at enemies.

Nope. It should be completely revamped. This game needs a fucking bar with character portraits and all the necessary info. They should get rid of those big ass windows and use fucking tooltips instead. You should be able to perform every action through the UI with your mouse. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[IDtenT]

Would love it . . . particularly if it were a game, instead of some weird military scrabble that TC is filled with.

TC?

Hint: Sister-site to the RPG Codex focusing on strategy games.

Ah, thought you were talking about a game.

I'll try Xenonauts when the Beta comes out in October, since that's the first time that there will be an actual game.

 

[Morgoth]

Now they only need to fuck up Company of Heroes 2 as well and there's another whole genre to write off for good!

 

[SuicideBunny]

whoever thought that demo was a good idea should be shot in the kneecaps.
the only positive thing i have to say is that it at least looks somewhat okish when you disable action shots, over the shoulder camera when aiming and enemy hp displays.

 

[Gord]

Tutorial is completely scripted/layed out for you, but at least not very long.

Lies. Half of the interface isn't explained, and you have to figure out for yourself which keys do what, since the tutorial simply doesn't explain that. Why? Probably, because it's exactly the same on consoles.

My dear gentleman, I dare say you missunderstood me. I never said "The tutorial has everything there is to know about the game laid out for you" but that the tutorial is completely scripted and layed out for you. Meaning, you have to play it in exactly one way, without any possibility to do it differently.
That it only explains the lowest basics I don't care about. I prefer to find stuff out by myself or RTFM over boring tutorials anyway.

The demo just doesn't offer much to judge the game from. Sure, you will find stuff for bitching or to be butthurt about if that's what you are looking for (as evidenced by this thread). And hey it's fine. Absolutely possible and likely that you guys are right and the game WILL suck.
I do think though that the gameplay does have some potential. But here the demo falls awfully short.
It might be good enough if alien AI, map size and overall difficulty get better after the very early parts the demo seems to show. But from the demo I have no indication if they might do this and use the potential there is. Which is why this demo mostly fails as a demo.

 

[spectre]

So, doesn't run on XP, only available on steam... I think I'll just give it a pass.

Some of you may find it useful, found it on the 2K forums:
(And let me tell you, damn that place is a lot like Bitcomposer forums without the lulz. I think I pulled out with permanent brian damage.)

You can change the difficulty by editing "BaseGame.ini" in the install directory. Find the line: "GameDifficulty=+0.0" change this to "GameDifficulty=+3.0" for Impossible.
Supposedly, it alters HP values, fog of war and AI (yeah, this also means the demo defaults to easy peasy mode).

 

[Gord]

So, doesn't run on XP, only available on steam... I think I'll just give it a pass.

Why's there a version of the AMD dual core optimizer in the install directory? I thought this thing was only needed on XP?

 

[Astral Rag]

Wonder why you had to download several gigabytes just to play 2 very basic missions?

Videos (3,78 GB) can be found in:

"Steam\steamapps\common\XCom-Enemy-Unknown-Demo\XComGame\Movies"

In order to view them you will need:

http://www.radgametools.com/bnkdown.htm

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Now they only need to fuck up Company of Heroes 2 as well and there's another whole genre to write off for good!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/55300/

Reward #3. Keep in mind they changed the initial wording of that a day or two after they first put the preorder up. It originally said:

"Company of Heroes 2 Commissar Chest*

$5.00 Premium Currency
XP Boost
Unit Boost
Commander Archetype"

Basically confirmed to have a free to play cash shop in it. That's an even bigger popamole decline banal boring shit development than the Xcom demo, to me.

 

[SuicideBunny]

does get better on impossible. lost that soldier you absolutely must send to the rooftop to a single crit shot. supposedly real impossible will skip the tutorial entirely (and prolly won't bump your squad one grade like the demo does between tut and first mission either).

 

[Gord]

Yes, after adjusting difficulty, I lost two squadmembers to critical hits from the floaters.
They acted much more aggressively, used their jetpacks to jump behind my squad and dished out quite a lot of damage.
Still conveniently waited for me to spot them, though.

Really hope this is just due to the tutorial nature of the demo. If the full game will have the same retardedly passive aliens there's nothing that can save it.

 

[Morgoth]

Really hope

Stop it, please. The hivemind already made it's decision.

 

[spectre]

The aliens will most likely be able to move around, otherwise terror mission mechanics they use are kinda pointless.
Of course, if they only do it in terror missions... that's kinda retarded, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Why's there a version of the AMD dual core optimizer in the install directory then? I thought this thing was only needed on XP?

Fuck me if I knew, bro. The way I see it, there's no reason for it not to support XP, other than yada yada, we cannot officially support an OS unsupported by Macroshaft.
Neither the hardware requirements nor the engine justify it.

Still, some guy tried it and it simply won't run.
http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?138851-Demo-and-Windows-XP

On a plus side, the game will be moddable. To what extent, I cannot say.
http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?139746-Modding-the-Demo

Bonus:
http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?139366-Where-are-the-rest-of-the-X-Com-features
Some quality Best Thread Ever Material right there.
There are bros fighting the good fight... but the fanbois declinis consolititis is too strong.

 

[made]

XCom.Enemy.Unknown.Demo.Rip.ali213 - 700mb rip, no steam

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Really hope this is just due to the tutorial nature of the demo. If the full game will have the same retardedly passive aliens there's nothing that can save it.

I remember hearing in some interview somewhere that the aliens will patrol the map, but every gameplay video of Xcom has shown that "Aliens spotted" animation, so either they move as a vaguely defined "Area of alien" that doesn't coalesce until a player looks at it, or they don't tactically move to cover and shit while patrolling and just walk along until the player sees them, then they get a free brief turn to jump to cover.

Or the guy was talking out his ass and they don't patrol.

 

[EG]

Not supported by XP?

So we've finally started using DirectX 10!

(That's how it works, right?)

 

[Morgoth]

Not supported by XP?

So we've finally started using DirectX 10!

(That's how it works, right?)

No, the game still uses DX9.

 

[EG]

Not supported by XP?

So we've finally started using DirectX 10!

(That's how it works, right?)

No, the game still uses DX9.

Oh.

 

[IDtenT]

Not supported by XP?

So we've finally started using DirectX 10!

(That's how it works, right?)

No, the game still uses DX9.

Can anyone explain this retardation?