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

[Infinitron]

https://phoenixpoint.info/blog/2021...e-new-qol-and-balance-changes-coming-may-25th

BEHEMOTH V.11 UPDATE - NEW QOL AND BALANCE CHANGES COMING MAY 25TH
To date, we’ve talked about the new enemies and missions, alongside the new Interception minigame and the Behemoth that ravages the Geoscape in Festering Skies… but there’s one more update to discuss: our next free content update which will introduce some new quality-of-life improvements and game balance optimizations for all players of Phoenix Point.

All Phoenix Point owners will receive our latest free update on May 25. The v.1.11 “Behemoth” (yes, named after the star of our Festering Skies DLC) content update, includes many upgrades and balance changes for key systems -- and it’s available to you whether you own DLC 3: Festering Skies or not. More details on the changes in the free update below:

Quality of Life Improvements

To start, we’ve made multiple improvements and rebalanced the toughness of all destructible objects like walls, doors, windows, etc. The toughness of objects should take into account a better calculation of the size and material type (metal, concrete, wood, etc.) when determining how much damage it may take before being destroyed.

We also know understanding enemy awareness was important for players trying stealthy maneuvers, and we wanted to help players know when they might be in jeopardy. Enemy perception range is now visualized when hovering over a selected enemy, so you can see which of your soldiers may be at risk. You can also get an understanding of the trigger range of Eggs and Sentinels by hovering over them as well.

We also included a few other QOL updates that include:

• The cone radius of the Overwatch ability will have a maximum size based on weapon type.
  
  
• Change of the rule for the Supportive Faction Havens. When the player discovers a site that is a Haven of a Supportive Faction, it is revealed.
  
  
• Improved information in free aim when mousing over body parts.

Game Balancing

We’re continually optimizing the game for all our players, thanks to the feedback we gather from our community. While DLC 3 took a large part of the team’s focus over the past few months, we were able to look at a few abilities and weapons in the core Phoenix Point game, and tweak them to align better with our vision for the game for this update.

Specifically, we’re making changes to the Technician’s Remote Control and Infiltrator’s Vanish to increase their AP costs and make them less exploitable. We’re also adjusting the Infiltrator’s Sneak Attack damage so that it now only provides 50% damage dealt when not spotted, versus 100%. Additionally, the Scorcher will get a rebalanced Ammo capacity and burst.

We’ll be keeping an eye on the reception of these changes and have other areas we’ll be addressing in future updates.

Last but not least, we’ll also be releasing a new cosmetic skin on May 25th for those looking to add some more style to their Snipers. We’re not making the code available just yet, but be sure to follow our social media or subscribe to the newsletter to be the first to receive!

 

[lightbane]

This game is the definition of wasted potential.

And dishonesty.

After the fiasco of BTech and other Kickstarter titles, I was somewhat wary of this game promising so much. Shame it ended up throwing away what made it cool.

 

[downwardspiral]

Epic really treat this like console platform war.
Investing in a specific genre in the hope of that will attract broader audience.
Like grandia for sega saturn. Blue dragon for XBOX360.

Still better than nu-Xcom.

It is hard to be worse than new Xcom. Especially this is mostly backed by players who dislike new XCOM.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Especially this is mostly backed by players who dislike new XCOM.

they took a big dump on their backers

 

[downwardspiral]

Especially this is mostly backed by players who dislike new XCOM.

they took a big dump on their backers

Not going to deny that.

 

[Azdul]

They could have made a lot more releasing it on Steam first. Adding mod support, while working with the community and upholding their promises would have made them sales second only to XCOM.

When your game is not ready, you can either release it on Steam early access, or sign deal with Tim Sweeney. Most impatient customers will install epic abomination, which does not even allow customer reviews - and you'll get one year to fix most bugs and implement missing features.

All EGS exclusivity deals so far costed Tencent 23 millions. As world domination plans go - this one comes quite cheap. But I'm afraid that at some point people will see through the scam, and wait for real release.

As a backer, I was pretty pissed at first, but then I've decided to wait for GOG key. One more year does not seem too bad when compared to some other Kickstarters.

 

[ricolikesrice]

when they took the epic money, every backer could very easily get a refund ( i did ) - if people are too stupid to take that offer, why care for them ?

i got the refund not because of epic but because at that time it looked like phoenix point development was going nowhere , i.e. it looked like another kickstarter failure and of course the change in art direction (power ranger armor) pissed me off too.

since i have game pass, i could play the base game for free later and did so before it came to steam: the game did/does have issues but its a good alternative to nuxcom that does many things better and only some worse. there are certainly a lot worse turn-based games here getting a free pass from the same retards who shit on nuxcom and/or PP all the time.

when it came to steam , i bought it for 25 bucks ( my kickstarter pledge/refund was 45 if i remember right) and will check out/buy future DLC too.

at the end of the day, maybe Gollops choice was a good thing: by ripping off EPIC he got a lot more cash than he would have ever gotten from kickstarter and maybe even more than from steam: even here on the codex not many people buy actually good turn-based games ... and instead throw their money after crap like Battletech, D:OS or X-COM Chimera which are a hundred times worse than nuXCOM or PP.

people too dumb to hit the refund button dont deserve any sympathy - but ripping off epic and using that money to create a fun game (that unfortunately isnt the spiritual sequel to original xcom but still good ) does, so in the end, PP did the right thing in my book.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

It isn't surprising at all, and I don't think it's only about the quality of the game itself. Like it was already said multiple times, for "big" games that have brand recognition by default the epic "exclusivity" deals can make some sense. For anything even remotely indie or niche it's like accepting cash in exchange for throwing your game into garbage bin.

At least some cunt got a big retirement check, I wouldn't call that a failure.

If it's a conscious decision from the dev then sure. I mean, it's not like PP would've been some big hit anyway.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

when they took the epic money, every backer could very easily get a refund

did they offer a refund with interest or did you really give them a zero rate loan?

 

[razvedchiki]

they havent mentioned any sort of anti air tech/weapon, which doesnt make any sense.
ok for the behemoth you cant do much but what about the much smaller flying crabs? at least new jericho should have something, they actually attack pandoran bases in game after a certain point.

 

[ArchAngel]

they havent mentioned any sort of anti air tech/weapon, which doesnt make any sense.
ok for the behemoth you cant do much but what about the much smaller flying crabs? at least new jericho should have something, they actually attack pandoran bases in game after a certain point.

There were two blogs about it, you can arm your aircraft and attack enemy flyers.

 

[razvedchiki]

i mean haven defence, like anti air batteries.

 

[ArchAngel]

i mean haven defence, like anti air batteries.

You dont even have anti ground defense in the game, what do you expect from SG :D

 

[razvedchiki]

if im not mistaken there is some artwork used as a loading screen showing some sort of gun turret around phoenix point bases.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

if im not mistaken there is some artwork used as a loading screen showing some sort of gun turret around phoenix point bases.

Thats just fluff

 

[Ibn Sina]

I just bought this, and for me this is so much better than Xcom 2. Xcom 2 for me felt extremely cartoony with your chosen aliens constantly chatting your ear off and commenting on every thing like if it was some kind of sitcom, I could not take it seriously anymore. I like the setting and aesthetic here a lot more, better soundtrack as well, than the constant boom music of Xcom 2 every time you embark on a mission. Yeah, Xcom did a lot of things better (more customization options for your crew, mod support, team bonds and so on) but this has some good things as well that xcom2 does not have, like operating multiple aircraft at the same time with multiple crew, and multiple havens.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

Xcom did a lot of things better

 

[Ibn Sina]

Xcom did a lot of things better

XCom has more customization options, weapon customization, armor customization and so forth. But it does not mean it is the better game, as I said I prefer Phoenix point, just because of the aesthetics and the setting.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

if you liked nu-xcom you'll probably like phoenix point, it improves on it in a lot of areas

the problem is that it's still nu-xcom

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

ooooooh, you meant "xcom did better than phoenix point"! i somehow thought "better than x-com". my bad.

 

[Mazisky]

I have a friend that says he likes average looking, chubby women more than classic attractive and sexy women.

Phoenix Point is the average looking women

I prefere the latter

 

[ArchAngel]

I have a friend that says he likes average looking, chubby women more than classic attractive and sexy women.

Phoenix Point is the average looking women

I prefere the latter

Then I don't know what you are playing as nu-Xcom is full of freaks.

 

[Mazisky]

I have a friend that says he likes average looking, chubby women more than classic attractive and sexy women.

Phoenix Point is the average looking women

I prefere the latter

Then I don't know what you are playing as nu-Xcom is full of freaks.

What I mean is that PP has this "cheap and not polished" feel I could not explain in other words

 

[ArchAngel]

DLC3 coming out today in about 4 hours. Prepare for aweso mediocre!

 

[razvedchiki]