KickStarter Terran Shield: Edge of the Abyss - X-COM: Terror from the Deep spiritual successor

[_Arhaeus_]

About the polar ice in 2040, indeed the big polar glaciers melted almost completely, but during the winter months there was a big ice floe at the North Pole. The game starts in 1.01.2040 (so it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere) and in the trailer the stars in the background, are those that we will see at that time.
Good idea with the woman in the poster and it is in line with the plans that The Six had for us. They plan to abduct females to breed a new type of man, one that can breathe underwater and obey to his masters, an abomination half alien - half human. Some of alien terror mission consist in these abduction of young women from coastal regions.
We can also go with a fight between a aquanaut woman and some aliens, will see what our artists prefer.

 

[laclongquan]

1. The more flesh, the better.
2. Girl in middle of action, not static.
3. Not screaming face, please.

 

[thesheeep]

1. The more flesh, the better.

Please, don't. I want to take the game serious.
Except if you want to go the same route as X-Piratez and just turn the sex and comedy up to 11. In that case, go ahead.

But seriousness and absurd amounts of fan-service don't mix well.

 

[laclongquan]

I am pointing out that I suggest POSTERS, not ingame graphic. While I do like ingame graphic that way, I understand that can be a big problem, coding and more graphic works. So I didnt, and I dont suggest it that way.

You dont need to see a poster to enjoy the game. If you want to take the game serious, fine, go ahead.

I do point out that the lack of girly posters are detriment to marketing works, words of mouths, and brand recognition. And POSTERS should be cheap enough, easy enough, that you can do it fast, do it quick, yet still have high quality art-wise.

You need maybe two guys to work on it a couple of days: an original artist to draw some characters with posing, guns, etc... and a graphic editor who make a series of wallpapers, posters, and so-called concept images to wow the gamers.

 

[lightbane]

Good idea with the woman in the poster and it is in line with the plans that The Six had for us. They plan to abduct females to breed a new type of man, one that can breathe underwater and obey to his masters, an abomination half alien - half human.

Sounds like Duke Nukem was onto something.

 

[_Arhaeus_]

We had to postpone the launch of our Kickstarter campaign to have our demo properly polished and also the visuals for the campaign itself.
Until we have a certain launch date, here is the first concept of our main poster:

And also the UE4 scripting for the chance to hit function, that relates to the distance to target, unit accuracy, shooting stance (stand up, kneel/crouch + 7%chance to hit, prone + 14% chance to hit), morale (the morale under 80 comes with penalties to chance to hit), weapon accuracy bonus and weapon range.

 

[thesheeep]

When your to-hit function kinda looks like a bulky gun

 

[ERYFKRAD]

When your to-hit function kinda looks like a bulky gun

The more dakka crowd is onto something...

 

[_Arhaeus_]

Our Terran Shield alpha demo 0.2 version is available for the public: https://drive.google.com/open?id=15BkAd8YTVxMcNjzNexaXc-OgI8WVxGyj
There are still a lot of things to do, but the important thing is that the essential game core mechanics are working. The combat is fast, brutal and unforgiving.
We have already implemented the difficulty levels to develop the game from the beginning at a different intensity and challenge for each of them.
Currently, the AI is simple and direct, without any planning or teamwork, but it will evolve towards a much more complex one, as it should be.
If you want to help you can report bugs and gameplay issues here or at terranshieldalpha@gmail.com.

The next step will be to implement some user-friendly features and to polish a little more this alpha demo for the crowdfunding campaign.
We are still using the 4.192 UE4 version, but after the campaign will jump to 4.22, or 4.23 if it will be available in order to unlock some powerful new feature as Niagara effect system or other experimental and amazing new tools.

 

[_Arhaeus_]

The Terran Shield Alpha version 0.22 is available now to play.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=15BkAd8YTVxMcNjzNexaXc-OgI8WVxGyj
New features:
- the tutorial panel
- movement area
- ui sounds
- footsteps sounds, enter in water sounds
- centre on action on alien turn

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Might as well take this for a spin.

 

[_Arhaeus_]

Now, after the demo is done we nailed some gameplay aspects and we want to discuss those with you.

1. Action Points/Time Units vs one-two system (Firaxis X-Com, Phoenix Point).

We will use the Time Units system, aided by the moving area (as can be seen in the demo).


2. Non-specialized units vs specialized units.

We will have non-specialized units that will develop special perks in time, related to the way the player use them in-game. Specialized units are too restrictive in terms of gameplay diversity (you can recover guns from the battlefield and use them with any soldier; or more than that, you can use with a certain soldier only the weapons, he is specialized in).

 

[Citizen]

Obviously TU > two actions

Specialized units is a nice and simple way that allows implementing various specialization exclusive skills/perks/etc. What do you mean by no-specialization, though? Original x-com style where you have no control over units stats, no classes/perks/skills, classless RPG style (think of fallout, arcanum, TES) - character system that allows controlled progression of your characters and has skills/perks that allow character customization, but without class restrictions? If the latter - of course it's the most prestigious choice

 

[lightbane]

Wow, 7 GB for a demo? Can you try putting it into a torrent file, please?

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Original x-com style where you have no control over units stats

That's not entirely true.
Original X-com had "learn by doing" -system which increased units stats when it performed certain action(s) on battlefield.

 

[Citizen]

That's not entirely true.
Original X-com had "learn by doing" -system which increased units stats when it performed certain action(s) on battlefield.

Yeah, wrong wording. No manual control as opposed to classic RPGs where you control numbers/skills by manually assigning points

 

[_Arhaeus_]

We will also have "learn by doing" -system with 2-3 perks that the player will choose 1 from 3. The perks will also be in relation to the same "learn by doing" -system.
As I see the problem, the strategy games need the player to focus on the logical choices the strategical and tactical decisions. Rather than building a team with strong and complex skills/attributes/spells system, as a roleplay games do.
But we are opened for a more complex character build if the game demands.

Indeed the demo has 7GB, mostly because it includes also the underwater assets that are not used in above water missions. We will do some clean-up for the crowdfunding campaign demo. As for the torrent solution, we won't have an official torrent file, but if the fans will make one, we are totally fine with it.

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

Location: Romania

_Arhaeus_
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?misc/location-info&location=Romania
Are you a Gypsy? The answer to this important question will have very strong bearing on my decision to back/buy the game.


OT:
Looks like most of the incline is coming from Russia/Eastern Europe (Kangmaker, Underrail etc.)
Only exception which comes to mind is Age of Decadence from Canada, but then again Vaultdweller is Ruskie isn't he?

 

[commie]

Romanian bro trying to bring the incline?

Sign me up! A beacon of light here in Bucharest where people either disdain gaming or are into the basest of console popamoles.....

 

[lightbane]

Tried this. It's very rough and it shows, since the characters often walk where you don't want them to and it's hard to spot the enemies. The AI is effective and doesn't hesitate to grenade your guys, even lone ones, for maximum overkill.

 

[Cael]

Tried this. It's very rough and it shows, since the characters often walk where you don't want them to and it's hard to spot the enemies. The AI is effective and doesn't hesitate to grenade your guys, even lone ones, for maximum overkill.

I recall the original XCom, where aliens will throw a half-dozen grenades at your guys for maximum overkill. Or XCom Apoc, where their turn is practically RT and you can get multiple dimension missiles dropping on your poor lone scout. Hilarity ensures.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Those were the days mon ami, those were the fucking days...

 

[_Arhaeus_]

I prefer the TU system because you can do far more with it.

I think non-specialized is better. Why?

Because in the original X-COM, every player has their own way of specializing their soldiers.

For example, here's how I did:

ST: Scouts. The ones I sent first with stun-rods, pistols and grenades. They were my worst, weakest soldiers and they were pretty much meant to find the enemy so my other soldiers could snipe them from afar, or be the first one in assaults against buildings and UFOs. They were pretty much disposable.

RF: Riflemen. I gave them reasonable ranged rifles and had them go at it. Chosen as being middle-level, average soldiers.

SP: Snipers. My most accurate soldiers, armed with my best long-range rifles meant to kill everything with aimed shots from afar.

HW: Heavy Weapons. Strong, brave soldiers. Snipers who got strong enough could be used for HW duty as well.

DM: Demolitions. Soldiers given high explosives and sent on building demolition missions. Rather specific.

CO: Commanders. Always the highest ranking officer, whose duty was to stay back in the Skyranger and provide all sorts of cover and support to the others, from afar. His main duty was to keep squad morale up high. I also used them for odd jobs like using mind probes.

E: A suffix to my soldiers, it signaled that the soldier was Elite. This was a way for me to recognize my best soldiers, or the ones closest to other categories. Generally SP or HW soldiers.


That said, I think the perks are not a bad idea. The problem in the Firaxis games, is that they were more like superpowers.

This is why we prefer this simpler unit system, to let the players build their own game as they see fit.
The perks system is more like a bonus system for veteran soldiers and that can be seen in the demo where Melnikoff has the "Wolf Stamina" perk. You can use him for scouting because the stamina drain in jungle conditions is high and the usual soldiers run off stamina pretty fast.

Tried this. It's very rough and it shows, since the characters often walk where you don't want them to and it's hard to spot the enemies. The AI is effective and doesn't hesitate to grenade your guys, even lone ones, for maximum overkill.

The mouse command for moving is not currently blocked by the UI frame (only the active buttons block it), we have to work on that more to resolve the problem.
Until then, any unwanted command can be cancelled with a right-click anywhere on the screen.
The hard to spot aliens are intended, because this will favour the experienced player that can distinguish them more easily from the environment. I don't know if you used the left "Alt" key to highlight all spotted aliens, this is a valuable feature in the rich jungle environment.
About the AI, can you tell us on what difficulty level you played and if you won the scenario or not? We need a lot of feedback to properly tune the AI on different difficulty levels. Right now on higher difficulty levels, there is a higher chance of grenade use vs shooting.

 

[Cael]

This is why we prefer this simpler unit system, to let the players build their own game as they see fit.
The perks system is more like a bonus system for veteran soldiers and that can be seen in the demo where Melnikoff has the "Wolf Stamina" perk. You can use him for scouting because the stamina drain in jungle conditions is high and the usual soldiers run off stamina pretty fast.

Isn't that a lot like the new Xcom, which was basically tinsel sprinkled dog turd when compared to the originals?

 

[_Arhaeus_]

Isn't that a lot like the new Xcom, which was basically tinsel sprinkled dog turd when compared to the originals?

It is not like the new x-com, because in the surface missions you can take 30 soldiers if you want to and they can use any researched weapon or device. There is no "spawning" point for aliens, they exit the UFO or are deployed on the map and move each turn as the AI considers fit. In Apocalypse and also in JA2 the AI was in control of the units from the turn one but in UFO1 and TftD the aliens were "activated" if the player units came in range.

We implemented a 2 step command for movement, first you mark the desired movement spot and the next command actually moves the unit there. This way there are fewer chances for miss commands. The alpha version 0.23 is ready for download on the drive. https://drive.google.com/open?id=15BkAd8YTVxMcNjzNexaXc-OgI8WVxGyj