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

[Trans-Financial-Man]

Sorry guys, but you are really naive.

1- Gollop makes the real Ufo remake, very deep game with lots of micromanagement, high difficulty and a tough learning curve > total of 100 copies sold, half of them to rpgcodex users, commercial failure, the dev team go bankrupt and close.

2- Gollop makes Phoenix point, similar to the critically acclaimed Xcom 2, console-friendly and with a banal action trailer > thousands of copies sold, he can keep making games and money.

Why he should take the 1st route? It's not like he live and eat with rpgcodex opinions.

Fine. Maybe the game as it exists now makes more money. ( I am trying very hard to keep a straight face whilst I type that.)
But it's not the game backers like me were promised. No matter what else is right or wrong about the game, backers were lied to and then told by Gollop himself that our money isn't wanted anymore. Gollop and co are entitled to make whatever games they wish. But don't ask for money to do one thing and then do another. Because that's coming dangerously close to what a scam looks like.

 

[Trans-Financial-Man]

They just gave up on base building. This looks pathetic. JPEGS to represent base rooms. It's a downgrade from OG X-Com and somehow looks more casualised than Friaxis XCom games.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Mazisky]

Sorry guys, but you are really naive.

1- Gollop makes the real Ufo remake, very deep game with lots of micromanagement, high difficulty and a tough learning curve > total of 100 copies sold, half of them to rpgcodex users, commercial failure, the dev team go bankrupt and close.

2- Gollop makes Phoenix point, similar to the critically acclaimed Xcom 2, console-friendly and with a banal action trailer > thousands of copies sold, he can keep making games and money.

Why he should take the 1st route? It's not like he live and eat with rpgcodex opinions.

Fine. Maybe the game as it exists now makes more money. ( I am trying very hard to keep a straight face whilst I type that.)
But it's not the game backers like me were promised. No matter what else is right or wrong about the game, backers were lied to and then told by Gollop himself that our money isn't wanted anymore. Gollop and co are entitled to make whatever games they wish. But don't ask for money to do one thing and then do another. Because that's coming dangerously close to what a scam looks like.

True. My idea is that he wanted to do classic style first but he faced the market rules during development, and embraced them.

 

[Shog-goth]

It's a downgrade from OG X-Com and somehow looks more casualised than Friaxis XCom games

NuXCom latin motto is "Vigilo Confido", Phoenix Point one's "parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus".

 

[Shog-goth]

he wanted to do classic style first but he faced the market rules during development, and embraced them

Sure, because Gollop at the time of the Fig crowdfunding was a green developer with no prior experience about market dynamics or turn-based games.

 

[Citizen]

Looks like a mobile game

 

[flyingjohn]

Oh look, a epic exclusive also financed by Microsoft looking like a cheap cash grab.
Reminds me of another mediocre boring rpg that was released recently,i wonder if there is a connection?

 

[SausageInYourFace]

I essentially stopped following this completely and tried to get my money back but the process was complicated and didn't work and so I gave up on this shit.

Now I have an Epic key I don't want. Do I still get a steam key one year down the line? Or do I actually need to activate the epic key in order to get the game on steam? Could I just sell it or give it away to someone and still get the steam key?

 

[Mazisky]

I think i'll buy it at release just to support the genre. I'll provide feedback as soon as possible

 

[Shog-goth]

Do I still get a steam key one year down the line?

Yes, or a GOG one.

Or do I actually need to activate the epic key in order to get the game on steam?

No, they are independent from each other.

Could I just sell it or give it away to someone and still get the steam key?

Yes.

https://forums.snapshotgames.com/t/...are-offering-to-backers-of-phoenix-point/3083

 

[Mazisky]

Btw, i am a bit surprised that all those X-Com clones like Phoenix Point, Xenonauts, Shock tactics, etc. are all going SCI-FI and in result they look very similar to each other. I wish someone will make a fantasy Xcom.

 

[Spockrock]

Terror from the Deep in Jules Verne's universe

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

I wish someone will make a fantasy Xcom.

Did you already forget Fort Triumph?

 

[Citizen]

I wish someone will make a fantasy Xcom.

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.p...egion-a-medieval-fantasy-take-on-x-com.89304/

 

[Daedalos]

Wasn't this touted as being the "real" xcom game from the orginal devs? But now they sold out and the game is unfinished and shit?

It looks just like nu-xcom from the videoes, too.

 

[Raghar]

I wonder why they simply didn't created normal shooting against various factions, map domination, and possibly some plot. Shooting at random monsters isn't that interesting.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

I guess we will know in 2 days

 

[JDR13]

Now I have an Epic key I don't want. Do I still get a steam key one year down the line? Or do I actually need to activate the epic key in order to get the game on steam? Could I just sell it or give it away to someone and still get the steam key?

If you really don't want it...

*Raises hand*

 

[SausageInYourFace]

Too late, dude, sorry.

 

[Edija]

I haven't been closely following, what are people so mad about these days? Am I correct in saying that 90% of this shitstorm started once they went exclusively Epic for the first year? What gameplay decisions are people raging about? The only thing I remember which kinda put me off the game is that monster/alien design became increasingly boring. I'll pirate it though since mr. Epic paid for my copy anyway.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

It all stems from the figstarter promises that were changed later. Game was presented as PC only but soon came controller and console support, etc. Epic deal was just like throwing a grenade into a brimming outhouse.

 

[Thal]

Btw, i am a bit surprised that all those X-Com clones like Phoenix Point, Xenonauts, Shock tactics, etc. are all going SCI-FI and in result they look very similar to each other. I wish someone will make a fantasy Xcom.

I'm sure some have toyed with the idea at least. The problem with fantasy x-com is that it would play completely differently than shooty x-com since you'd have a mixture of melee, ranged and magic users with shields or no shields, in light or heavy armor. All unit types should be massively different from each other, but the player should still be incentivized or forced to field mixed squads. Could they make use of formations, and how would you prevent mages from being either overpowered or pin cushions? Shooty x-com doesn't have to deal with these questions because units are largely the same, the type of gun they wield being the biggest difference. Not saying it can't be done, but there are way more moving parts.

 

[Alienman]

We got the tactics already made in Battle Brothers, now we just need a real campaign.

 

[Galdred]

Btw, i am a bit surprised that all those X-Com clones like Phoenix Point, Xenonauts, Shock tactics, etc. are all going SCI-FI and in result they look very similar to each other. I wish someone will make a fantasy Xcom.

I'm sure some have toyed with the idea at least. The problem with fantasy x-com is that it would play completely differently than shooty x-com since you'd have a mixture of melee, ranged and magic users with shields or no shields, in light or heavy armor. All unit types should be massively different from each other, but the player should still be incentivized or forced to field mixed squads. Could they make use of formations, and how would you prevent mages from being either overpowered or pin cushions? Shooty x-com doesn't have to deal with these questions because units are largely the same, the type of gun they wield being the biggest difference. Not saying it can't be done, but there are way more moving parts.

Indeed, that was more or less what I was going to write about this issue:
A fantasy XCOM would feel very different on the tactical level, because most of the tension of the original X-COM comes from the fact that something you cannot see can kill your soldier in one shot.

It wouldn't work too well in a fantasy setting, because a significant part of the units will be melee, which leads to a very different "feel".
But as Alienman pointed out, Battle Brothers manages to create a strong feeling of tension with very different mechanics (battles are more about attrition than sudden burst of casualties).