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

[DeepOcean]

Well, Gollop, to fix this game, you just need to give me that sensation of "Mah God, I'm fucked." that I had with your previous X-COM like game, more like you throwing meat on the meatgrinder to slow down the relentless onslaught of the virus than having super power rangers murdering crabmen on nondescript industrial/ruins over and over until the end game.

You know, I was expecting Aliens/The Thing and I got the Expendables.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Community council, jeez. They must have really run out of ideas, or have no clue. Or both.

They posted this couple of weeks ago: https://feedback.phoenixpoint.info/snapshot-proposed-changes
So they do know what needs to be improved in the short run.
My guess is that they want the community council to be ones to test out their ideas before they decide which one to implement into full game. Kind of like how you show the unfinished movies to test groups and then make changes accordingly.

They shouldn't need it though. The original idea on Fig was good. Hence why many backed it. That's the game everyone wanted in the first place. If they did that, there would be no need for a community council. Because we'd all have the game we wanted in the first place. They changed their original vision and now have no idea how to follow through on their new, inferior ideas.

I guess they saw it differently than you. And now they noticed their vision might be flawed so they are changing design. Maybe by the end of all this, the game will look and play more like its Fig proposal.

do they pay you to shill for this game?

 

[Falksi]

if even fallout 4, one of the worst games ever, can be sort of almost barely salvaged by the right amount of mods.

Therein lies the problem. It's not. You can't unmod shitness.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

you can, if you somehow manage to change the game genre and focus. i also enjoy skyrim with the frost mod, the combat mod, the hunt mod, the difficulty mod, pick a bow and go hunt rabbits and stags, chuck some wood and build my house.

 

[Mazisky]

So, after the first months patches, Dlcs and polishing how is this game now? Better or worse than Xcom2?

 

[ArchAngel]

So, after the first months patches, Dlcs and polishing how is this game now? Better or worse than Xcom2?

Still needs at least one major patch. They said it might be coming in few weeks.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

it's not hard to be better than vanilla xcom2.

 

[Mazisky]

it's not hard to be better than vanilla xcom2.

Vanilla Xcom 2 doesn't exist since we are in 2020.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

AFAIK its still rough around the edges, the latest DLC fixed some stuff but brought in a ton of new bugs

 

[Shog-goth]

So, after the first months patches, Dlcs and polishing how is this game now? Better or worse than Xcom2?

Personally, I consider this "game" still a pre-alpha (Snapshot never said otherwise, on the other hand, they silently jumped beta stage at all and landed directly at this laughable "release" version) and just a complete and utter disaster. If you're interested, at least wait for Steam release (aka the "real" 1.0) because only then will it be possible (I highly doubt) to find if there is something to save of this incredible mess.

 

[ArchAngel]

New major patch. Looks awesome. I will report back on it when I try it.

Spoiler

Patch Notes - v1.0.57335 “Derleth” - 28/04/2020

SNAPSHOT REPLY
Today we have released the "Derleth" patch which addresses a number of bugs, balance changes and gameplay updates. This includes a reduction to acid damage. We have plans to further address the way which acid works in a future patch.

Features

• Changed the Lair missions' layout and objective. Players now have to evacuate all of their units after destroying the Spawnery.
  
  
• Units are no longer interrupted while they are using the Dash ability.
  
  
• Added a new model for the Scavenger Sniper.
  
  
• Added projectile penetration to all weapons. Now if a projectile hits and destroys a wall or body part the projectile will continue flying with the remaining damage.
  
  
• Virus damage ticks on the affected target's turn just like other damage over time effects.
  
  
• Added event filters that trigger music according to the missions and factions related to them.
  
  
• Added new tactical music.
  
  
• Balanced sound levels for most of the tracks.
  
  
• Added an HP bar to weapons that appears when you select a weapon that is damaged while in the Tactical layer.
  
  
• Added a character info tooltip when hovering over a character that is not currently selected by the player.
  
  
• Replenish screen now gives the option to replenish ammo for weapons that don't have any magazines in storage.
  
  
• Partially full magazines will not be visible in the equipment section of the Personnel tab. They will be used to automatically refill their respective weapons after a Tactical mission.
  
  
• Added more recruit info in Haven screens showcasing the recruit's skills, stats and weapons.
  
  
• Havens with recruits now have an icon next to them showing the recruit's class.
  
  
• Added a new trading interface accessible from Geoscape without going into Haven info that has a slider and trade all button.
  
  
• Added a new set of encounters when a player becomes Supportive, Aligned, or Allied with any faction.
  

Balance changes

• Disabling certain Spawnery body parts now causes the target to receive more bleed damage per turn.
  
  
• All mind control abilities can be used only once per turn.
  
  
• Reduced the damage on alien enemies' acid weapons and attacks:
  
  
• Siren Acid Spray reduced from 40 to 30 acid per tick
  
  
• Acid Grenade Arthron reduced from 20 to 10 acid per tick
  
  
• Elite Acid Grenade Arthron reduced from 30 to 20 acid per tick
  
  
• Acid worm explosion reduced from 50 to 30 acid per tick
  
  
• Chiron acid mortar reduced from 20 to 10 acid per tick
  

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that was causing only a smaller portion of the maps to be generated.
  
  
• Fixed a series of hangs that were caused by various edge cases involving the Panic status.
  
  
• Fixed a hang when Overwatch fire destroyed an enemy's weapon right as they were about to shoot with it.
  
  
• Fixed an issue with the Microsoft Store version of the game causing users who edited their keybinds to have their UI corrupted after loading a saved game.
  
  
• Fixed a hang when the Scylla used abilities related to the Spitter Head body part.
  
  
• Fixed a rare hang that occurred when Spider Drones tried to move when they had few AP remaining.
  
  
• Fixed a rare hang that occurred after successfully defending a haven with low population numbers.
  
  
• Fixed a rare issue that caused the player-controlled aircraft to freeze mid-flight.
  
  
• Fixed an issue where the player's aircraft couldn't move after acquiring more than 10 total ships.
  
  
• Fixed an issue that made the overwatch cone bigger at night despite the player's units having reduced perception.
  
  
• Fixed an issue with Gungnir SR-2's overwatch cone being too short.
  
  
• Fixed a performance issue before activating the Dash ability on certain maps.
  
  
• Fixed an issue where players weren't receiving the damage bonuses from certain alien vivisection researches.
  
  
• Fixed an issue which caused the camera to focus on the Pacific Ocean when loading a Geoscape save.
  

 

[ArchAngel]

New UI improvements are very good, Dash fix is awesome, Acid nerf was welcome. Game seemed to run better, maybe they also had some undocumented changes.
They nerfed Sirens even more

Didn't yet get to try new Lair, it should be much better now.
Ran into some new UI bugs, nothing terrible.

 

[geno]

New UI improvements are very good, Dash fix is awesome, Acid nerf was welcome. Game seemed to run better, maybe they also had some undocumented changes.
They nerfed Sirens even more

Didn't yet get to try new Lair, it should be much better now.
Ran into some new UI bugs, nothing terrible.

Care to post pics? I want to see these UI changes.

 

[ArchAngel]

New UI improvements are very good, Dash fix is awesome, Acid nerf was welcome. Game seemed to run better, maybe they also had some undocumented changes.
They nerfed Sirens even more

Didn't yet get to try new Lair, it should be much better now.
Ran into some new UI bugs, nothing terrible.

Care to post pics? I want to see these UI changes.

Trade UI:

Spoiler

New recruitment icons:

Spoiler

New info screen that lets you check out soldier stats and equipment before you buy them:

Spoiler

 

[Darth Canoli]

Is that all the characteristics they have ?
Looks like another game for android ...

 

[ArchAngel]

Is that all the characteristics they have ?
Looks like another game for android ...

There is also strength.

 

[ArchAngel]

I tried new Lair mission, it is noticeably easier mission now than before. Anyone that found it very irritating due to hidden objective and crazy amounts of reinforcements will like it more now. Now it is no longer hidden but when you kill it you need to evacuate all your troops but they reduced spawn rate of enemy troops.

 

[Alienman]

There is still 2 more dlcs before completion right?

 

[ArchAngel]

There is still 2 more dlcs before completion right?

4 DLC I think. 3 are already known and I think 2 more are planned.

 

[Agame]

it's not hard to be better than vanilla xcom2.

Vanilla Xcom 2 doesn't exist since we are in 2020.

Being maybe better than vanilla XCOM 2 is still a fucking disgrace. This game looks and plays like a nu-xcom mod, Gollop should be ashamed of himself.

I wish all these old game devs would just retire and play golf and stop ruining my childhood memories.

 

[Yaar Podshipnik]

You can't do that, if you spent all your money on booze, hookers, and blow.

 

[Togukawa]

The general lore/story is still very boring and uninspired. It's sad that they sacrificed the original art direction and setting for this.

 

[ArchAngel]

it's not hard to be better than vanilla xcom2.

Vanilla Xcom 2 doesn't exist since we are in 2020.

Being maybe better than vanilla XCOM 2 is still a fucking disgrace. This game looks and plays like a nu-xcom mod, Gollop should be ashamed of himself.

I wish all these old game devs would just retire and play golf and stop ruining my childhood memories.

It certainly does not play like nuXcom. And looks can also be discussed.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

It certainly does not play like nuXcom.

they have to be paying you for this

 

[ArchAngel]

It certainly does not play like nuXcom.

they have to be paying you for this

Did you play it for few hours or are you just parroting others?