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

[Shog-goth]

It's time to add touch interface support.

And they should add lootboxes at that.

 

[Shog-goth]

The only board game where the dice is a coin: move or shoot. Six faces are too much complicated.

 

[Perkel]

The only board game where the dice is a coin: move or shoot. Six faces are too much complicated.

FIRE !!

 

[Grotesque]

I always did feel that clearing out the entire map with mind-controlled aliens and blaster bombs from 2 blocks away was very fair and on par with what the aliens could do.

Sarcasm aside, in OG the superness of your soldiers all came from the tech they carried. In firaxcom it's the humans themselves that gather super powers.

Well the difference here is:

Blaster bombs drawbacks
- hard to use on terror sites (civilian casualties)
- if over used destroyed alien corpses and equipment (lessens income)
- will destroy reactors and other equipment on map on UFO sites and alien bases(lessens income, less materials for crafting)
- if used frequently must be crafted which costs 3 elerium (elerium being rare, especially if using blaster bombs inside of UFO's; and also needed as fuel for your airships)

I would say that these drawbacks actually balanced it, additionally as has been said here, the aliens could use them as well.

Personally I always used blaster bombs mainly as a fail-safe-device, if my soldiers missed a shoot and wouldn't survive the next alien turn.
Also I used it on battleship missions to enter them from above.

Superhero-abilities in NuXCOM had no drawbacks and were imho also silly.

The more I read your post, the more I remembered how neutered nuXCOM was.

 

[PanteraNera]

The more I read your post, the more I remembered how neutered nuXCOM was.

That is why I am so butthurt about PP :D.

But seriously, I see my flaw in being fabulous optimistic and believing that Julian Gollop would bring in way more of the good stuff into the battlescape.
Also as a side-note, the willpower system is not coming from Gollop but Allen Stoud, the lead-writer (it's inspired from his very own PnP RPG).

PP will be by today's standard pretty good I think (doesn't say much in my book, as today's standard is shit :D), at least better than NuXCOM. Looking forward what Gollop will deliver on the geoscape, as it seems to be more his baby than the tactical side of the game, sadly.

I really think that people that want a successor to the original XCOM should look else were, maybe Xenonauts 2 or the next game Overhype is doing (to be announced). Maybe PP has enough success that they have a bigger budget for the second game (they are already doing the lore with sequels/prequels in mind). Like I said several times, I doubt it, as they try to please NuXCOM and OldXCOM-fans. But maybe, hopefully I am wrong and they do succeed

 

[ArchAngel]

I always did feel that clearing out the entire map with mind-controlled aliens and blaster bombs from 2 blocks away was very fair and on par with what the aliens could do.

Sarcasm aside, in OG the superness of your soldiers all came from the tech they carried. In firaxcom it's the humans themselves that gather super powers.

Well the difference here is:

Blaster bombs drawbacks
- hard to use on terror sites (civilian casualties)
- if over used destroyed alien corpses and equipment (lessens income)
- will destroy reactors and other equipment on map on UFO sites and alien bases(lessens income, less materials for crafting)
- if used frequently must be crafted which costs 3 elerium (elerium being rare, especially if using blaster bombs inside of UFO's; and also needed as fuel for your airships)

I would say that these drawbacks actually balanced it, additionally as has been said here, the aliens could use them as well.

Personally I always used blaster bombs mainly as a fail-safe-device, if my soldiers missed a shoot and wouldn't survive the next alien turn.
Also I used it on battleship missions to enter them from above.

Superhero-abilities in NuXCOM had no drawbacks and were imho also silly.

The more I read your post, the more I remembered how neutered nuXCOM was.

Although it was, above example is a terrible way to show it. In UFO as soon as you get access to PSI powers and blaster bombs any semblance of challenge goes away. In nuXcom although late game is also much easier, you can still fuck up and lose soldiers or missions even if you are only half trying.
In UFO you had to really try to fuck up to actually fuck up.

 

[PanteraNera]

Although it was, above example is a terrible way to show it. In UFO as soon as you get access to PSI powers and blaster bombs any semblance of challenge goes away. In nuXcom although late game is also much easier, you can still fuck up and lose soldiers or missions even if you are only half trying.
In UFO you had to really try to fuck up to actually fuck up.

If you played on easy. And/or savescummed.

Like as stated, aliens can psi as well. And if you have lots of blaster bombs chances are high that aliens will control one of them and boom.

Also to actually get that far in UFO you needed to build a PSI-Lab (24 days) which can train 10 soldiers, and needs one full month of training to see their potential, and than needed training to get gud, in that month you can not use them for missions.
The drawbacks I stated for blaster bombs are valid. How much was the most blaster bombs you got as loot in missions? For me I think it was three.

Sure there were tactics which would let you counter enemy PSI, if you had the knowledge, for example you use two blaster bombs, first to breach hull, second to kill the alien officer (high PSI) on the UFO bridge. In the process you would lessen the amount of alien alloy you would get and destroy the UFO navigation.

If you tried to play only PSI + Blaster Bombs you had to work for it, put much resources into it and would actually gain less income out of missions.

What do you need to get Superhero-Button-of-Awesomeness in NuXCOM?

Your just being silly or have no fucking idea what you are talking about.

 

[ArchAngel]

Although it was, above example is a terrible way to show it. In UFO as soon as you get access to PSI powers and blaster bombs any semblance of challenge goes away. In nuXcom although late game is also much easier, you can still fuck up and lose soldiers or missions even if you are only half trying.
In UFO you had to really try to fuck up to actually fuck up.

If you played on easy. And/or savescummed.

Like as stated, aliens can psi as well. And if you have lots of blaster bombs chances are high that aliens will control one of them and boom.

Also to actually get that far in UFO you needed to build a PSI-Lab (24 days) which can train 10 soldiers, and needs one full month of training to see their potential, and than needed training to get gud, in that month you can not use them for missions.
The drawbacks I stated for blaster bombs are valid. How much was the most blaster bombs you got as loot in missions? For me I think it was three.

Sure there were tactics which would let you counter enemy PSI, if you had the knowledge, for example you use two blaster bombs, first to breach hull, second to kill the alien officer (high PSI) on the UFO bridge. In the process you would lessen the amount of alien alloy you would get and destroy the UFO navigation.

If you tried to play only PSI + Blaster Bombs you had to work for it, put much resources into it and would actually gain less income out of missions.

What do you need to get Superhero-Button-of-Awesomeness in NuXCOM?

Your just being silly or have no fucking idea what you are talking about.

I finished UFO (Open Xcom) on Superhuman Ironman 2 times. 2nd time I even didn't use any offensive PSI and Blaster Bombs only if there was no other way to finish that mission so I know what I am talking about.

EDIT: I also played both nuXcom 1 and Xcom 2 on harderst/ironman and I played Long War 2 on 2nd hardest/Ironman.

 

[PanteraNera]

I finished UFO (Open Xcom) on Superhuman Ironman 2 times. 2nd time I even didn't use any offensive PSI and Blaster Bombs only if there was no other way to finish that mission so I know what I am talking about.

Wrong, you would know what you are talking about if you only used PSI and Blaster Bombs.

 

[ArchAngel]

I finished UFO (Open Xcom) on Superhuman Ironman 2 times. 2nd time I even didn't use any offensive PSI and Blaster Bombs only if there was no other way to finish that mission so I know what I am talking about.

Wrong, you would know what you are talking about if you only used PSI and Blaster Bombs.

The amount of arguments and details you have given are overwhelming. I have no option but to remove myself from these conversations and leave only donkeys like you to talk to themselves.

 

[PanteraNera]

The amount of arguments and details you have given are overwhelming. I have no option but to remove myself from these conversations and leave only donkeys like you to talk to themselves.

Good boy!

 

[Jacob]

mustawd. I don't hate you but the ex-girlfriend's sister comparison thing is disgusting and I don't get the trump buttons so "shit" will have to do.

 

[Mustawd]

the ex-girlfriend's sister comparison thing is disgusting

Fair enuf my fren.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.pcgamesn.com/phoenix-point/phoenix-point-campaign-guide

How to save the world in Phoenix Point

Phoenix Point marks Julian Gollop’s return to a genre he first created back in 1994 with the original X-COM. It sees you fight to unite the surviving factions of Earth and rise up against the strange crab-like aliens that have pushed humanity to the cusp of extinction.

It looks much like the Firaxis XCOM reboots, a fact Gollop makes no attempt to hide when we meet him to play the game, but it takes the genre in new directions by imbuing the alien enemy with the power to adapt itself to your play style.

When you first start a campaign in Phoenix Point you are on the back foot as the aliens have all but completed their conquest of our home planet. Human settlements are dotted about the Earth, struggling to hold back the aliens, but it is a ditch effort. They call on you for aid when they come under assault. In time, though, you will have to start trying to do a little more to push the tide back.

Before you can eradicate the aliens you must learn as much as you can about them. You can talk to the other havens who will “give you intel about the aliens and also the location of their hives,” Gollop tells us. But that will only reveal so much. To work out what makes them tick you are going to have to take some alive.

“If you recover an alien you can research its individual body parts to work out what its function is,” Gollop explains. The function of a limb may appear obvious but studying it can also reveal its weaknesses. For instance, if a crab evolves a shield it is plain that it blocks bullets, but in researching it you can learn its limitations - such as the fact that when it is deployed, the crab is locked in that direction, leaving it vulnerable to flanking moves.

Your scientists will also suggest research to invent that may help to counteract particularly powerful mutations. The example Gollop gives is of a poison-spitting ability, “which is quite nasty,” he adds. When you first encounter it, you don’t have anything in your arsenal to counteract the poison’s effects, but if you can catch a spitter and study it then you can develop antivenoms and armour to protect your soldiers against it.

“They can also evolve laterally, completely changing some of the function of their body parts,” Gollop reveals. “It's that progressive development the aliens have that you need to keep track of. You'll get quite different creatures encounters in different parts of the world and between different games as well.”

The world map can shift and change dramatically throughout a campaign too. Deep under the sea, alien mist generators belch out a strange semi-intelligent fog that rolls across the land. The AI can direct the mist towards human settlements, surrounding and engulfing them. “Any haven or base that becomes enveloped by the mist is in severe danger of being attacked,” Gollop says.

The vaporous menace is more than a cloak: “The mist is what the aliens use to communicate with each other, to regenerate their systems, their health,” Gollop explains. The aliens can only build their structures in areas wrapped in mist and, the longer they go undisturbed, the larger they can build.

The simplest structure is a nest that produces monsters with simple mutations. They are more of an irritation than a serious problem. However, a nest grows into a hive, and a hive is ruled over by a hive queen.

The many-legged Hive Queen is quite the thing to contend with: crammed with health points and built like a tank, she is able to charge through walls, even collapse entire buildings. She will run down any soldiers in her path and force your squad to abandon their positions and scatter before her. However, you can drive her back to the hive if you cause enough damage - “she will try and preserve herself,” Gollop explains. Until you raid the hive and kill her once and for all, the queen will repeatedly appear in battle. Worse still, if you blast off her limbs they will grow back even stronger than before. “Each body part has several levels of power,” Gollop adds.

There are bigger structures than the hive and with tougher guardians than the Hive Queen, but Gollop isn’t showing them off just yet. “Locating these structures and destroying them is very important because they will expand the aliens’ area of influence,” he says. Gollop also explains that, early in the game, the aliens have such a strong grip on the world that you will be spending most your time leaping to the aid of settlements under assault by the aliens. “You will get rewards from havens for doing this, in terms of resources, or, if it's from some of the major factions, they will start to share some of their technology and research with you as well.”

There are three major factions in Phoenix Point and each has its own specialisation and technology tree, so you can benefit from befriending them all. The Synedrion, for example, focus on tech that repels the mist and hides their structures from enemies. “You can install [mist repulsors] in your base to reduce or eliminate the threat of aliens attacking their bases,” Gollop says. “That way you don't have to do so much defensive fighting.”

You can use the Synedrion tech to infiltrate hives, letting you jump the queen without having to fight your way through all the aliens on the way there. Or, if you are feeling nefarious, you could use the stealth tech against other factions “to steal their stuff.”

Your faction, the Phoenix Project, have their own technology but to get it you will need to track down and reactivate old bases that were lost in the mist. “You have the only active Phoenix base at the start of the game,” Gollop says. “All of the other Phoenix bases are potentially operable and have some of their own archives and research that people were doing there.” So bases are well worth searching out and taking back from whatever faction or alien now calls it home.

“You slowly manage to put together the Phoenix archives which is the history of the Phoenix Project and what they did,” Gollop continues. “There is an entirely Phoenix-Project-based solution to the alien menace that doesn't necessarily involve the other factions but it’s quite a difficult one.”

If you aren’t up for saving other factions or stealing from them, you can always try to trade with them for the tech and materials you need in your fight against the mist monsters.

To trade, you need gear, and to get gear you are going to have to scavenge. “Scavenging is a major part of the game,” Gollop says. “You need to send out your squads to reclamation bases” - weapon depots that were built in the last stages of the war - “often they're damaged and infested with aliens.”

You will be looking for weapons, materials, and, most of all, the “extremely rare and sought after” air vehicles. They are so valuable as the number of soldiers you can deploy is determined by “what kinds of air transport you have.” You have some manufacturing capabilities but “it's slightly different from the original X-COM again, the workshop you build is more about modding the weapons and vehicles rather than building from scratch because there is such a scarcity of high-tech resources in the game.”

There is much about Phoenix Point that will be familiar to anyone who has played X-COM. The moment-to-moment play follows the same beats that Gollop established back in the ‘90s, but it is fascinating to see how that familiar structure has been expanded. Between vying factions, evolving aliens, and scarce resources, there will be tonnes for you to get to grips with when alpha access is opened in the next few months.

 

[agentorange]

"Julian Gollop’s return to a genre he first created back in 1994 with the original X-COM. "
Didn't he create it even earlier with Laser Squad.

 

[Galdred]

"Julian Gollop’s return to a genre he first created back in 1994 with the original X-COM. "
Didn't he create it even earlier with Laser Squad.

I guess the genre itself is Laser Squadey games with an overworld layer. Laser Squad itself was a refinement of Rebelstar Raider, but it was a genre that existed already on tabletop (and maybe there were prior computer iterations, but I am not too sure).

 

[Shog-goth]

Your faction, the Phoenix Project, have their own technology but to get it you will need to track down and reactivate old bases that were lost in the mist. “You have the only active Phoenix base at the start of the game,” Gollop says.

Wonder why (in the lore) the Phoenix Project starts so backward. Missed something?

 

[orcinator]

I'm sure the geoscape will compensate for the NuCom battlescape

Cue video of the geoscape where you press a button to make time go fast then get an alert that the aliens are attacking and you have to pick which of the the THREE faction you will aid.

 

[PanteraNera]

Wonder why (in the lore) the Phoenix Project starts so backward. Missed something?

Well Phoenix Point got shut down, they were no more funded.
As far as I understand (not sure if Allen said so, or it was in a story, or RetconRaider came to the conclusion) after the whole organization got no more funding they operated as cell's independently from each other.

 

[Mazisky]

Wonder why (in the lore) the Phoenix Project starts so backward. Missed something?

Well Phoenix Point got shut down, .

LEL, for a moment i thought they canceled the game

 

[UnstableVoltage]

Wonder why (in the lore) the Phoenix Project starts so backward. Missed something?

Well Phoenix Point got shut down, they were no more funded.
As far as I understand (not sure if Allen said so, or it was in a story, or RetconRaider came to the conclusion) after the whole organization got no more funding they operated as cell's independently from each other.

This is pretty much it. The Phoenix Project lost their government funding and were pretty much disbanded. You start as a small group of activated Phoenix Project members at the Phoenix Point base. Part of the campaign is trying to track down and find out what happened to the other Phoenix cells.

 

[PanteraNera]

You can read it in the briefing II - The Hatch or on their web page https://phoenixpoint.info/archive/2017/7/13/the-hatch
In 1984 PP lost funding from the UN.
Also in the story it is said that PP is much older than the USA or Soviet Union.

 

[Alienman]

Sounds a bit like the background to Terror from the Deep. X-com lost most of its funding after the first alien war.

 

[Shog-goth]

This is pretty much it. The Phoenix Project lost their government funding and were pretty much disbanded. You start as a small group of activated Phoenix Project members at the Phoenix Point base. Part of the campaign is trying to track down and find out what happened to the other Phoenix cells.

Yes, but It seems that they waited until the last minute when there wasn't so much more to lose before taking action. What took them so long?

 

[PanteraNera]

Yes, but It seems that they waited until the last minute when there wasn't so much more to lose before taking action. What took them so long?

You most likely will find out when the game is released .
They stated several times (mainly Allen Stoud, the lead writer) that they will hold back most of the story until the game is released.
So for now its a mystery.