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[Dohon]

And just to add some more fuel to the fire of speculation:

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/01/11/the-art-of-xcom-enemy-unknown.aspx

An art movie and 3 more screenshots.

[GlyphGryph]

You know, I'm not sure how "hex" this is gonna be from those - It's actually looking more like the Valkyrie Chronicles system with every screenshot.

Are hexes actually confirmed, or did that one screenshot just look like it had hexes?

[Cthulhu]

I don't find the idea of sending four guys against invading aliens any more absurd than the idea of aliens invading.  They don't know the capabilities of the aliens so why are they going to commit a bunch of guys?

Right now.  I'm opening up X-COM.  I'm going to play the first mission with four hand-picked soldiers.  We'll see how it goes. 

It was night.  Floaters.  Reaction fire.   Point is, the thread is full of aggressive, baseless speculation.

It's not aggressive, i just want a friggin' squad .

Four guys is a squad.  Also, you get more guys, they were clear on that.

[Kilroy the Grand]

I found some information. A few guys have bought the digital magazine and have posted a bit about it.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=34170644#post34170644

What I've read is

•randomly generated missions, terrain. Developer says you'll never play the exact same mission twice outside of a few story missions which feature in-game cinematics
•fog of war is confirmed. area starts off with darkness everywhere, and the average soldier can't see shit
•enemy spawns are randomized
•mobile platform called SHIV; customizable for new chasis
•Sectoids and Mutons confirmed
•The base's screenshot is accurate. It is now a side shot instead of top down. You can also upgrade your base, like the satellite, with alien technology
•There was an example in one scenario where Japan had the laser rifle already developed before the invasion because they felt threatened, so that seems random.
•You have 16 countries in the funding council you need to keep happy. Some provide more money, but others, like Africa, provide more raw resources
•The sniper units have a grappling hook ability to get on top of buildings
•Gunners have a suppressing fire
•you can equip your xcom guys with all kinds of different guns. customization looks like a big deal
•Apparently there's some sort of cinematic view when your guys get killed. They didn't cite VATS or anything, so I doubt it's too in depth
•Unexperienced agents can panic, freak out, etc if something bad happens
•Firaxis designer states that the PC version will have an enhanced interface. He cites Dragon Age: Origins on PC and console as a big inspiration
•Destructible environments
•In the scenario they showed, one member died. Because of this the other squadmates didn't get an experience bonus
•Without the bonus, the sniper leveled up still. He was able to choose from two abilities. Either Squad Sight(which means he can shoot anything a squadmate can see) and Snap Shot(which lets him shoot after moving. Something snipers aren't normally allowed to do)
•You can't recruit specific classes. You can only recruit rookies and then level them up to become specific classes
•The guys in suits in the screenshots are 'Thin Man' aliens. They're able to leap long distances
•Challenge is stressed a lot
•same quick save/load system though they are considering an iron man type mode where you can't load previous saves
•Firaxis states that they're not rebooting it, they're re imagining it. Using the same core gameplay with modern technology, weapons, audiovisuals, etc.

http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php?622-Firaxis-Games-XCOM-Enemy-Unknown-announced!&p=7296&viewfull=1#post7296

[Cthulhu]

Why the fuck do people keep doing that?

You know a thread a while ago got locked because people clogged it with the same image macro right?

[EuchreJack]

I think the downgrade from money to bottlecaps signifies decreased enthusiasm, and is a legitimate social commentary.

But if we can put pictures in spoilers, it would be more respectful for those unfortunate forumites with slow connections.

Good news everybody!  The soldier shown only had 11 total hp!  Dunno about anyone else, but that doesn't look like a supersoldier to me!

[GlyphGryph]

But if we can put pictures in spoilers, it would be more respectful for those unfortunate forumites with slow connections.

Argh, why do people always say this? Putting an image in a spoiler does not make the page load any faster. The image still loads, spoiler or no (unless you happent to be using Opera, which is... unlikely)

[Domenique]

But if we can put pictures in spoilers, it would be more respectful for those unfortunate forumites with slow connections.

I'm surfing with 3G and it doesn't bother me. It can't get slower than that.

[Cthulhu]

But if we can put pictures in spoilers, it would be more respectful for those unfortunate forumites with slow connections.

Argh, why do people always say this? Putting an image in a spoiler does not make the page load any faster. The image still loads, spoiler or no (unless you happent to be using Opera, which is... unlikely)

I'm using Opera.

The loading isn't the problem.  The problem is that it's a gigantic jarring image that never contributes to the discussion.  There is nothing you can say in an image macro that you can't say with words. 

[Aklyon]

But if we can put pictures in spoilers, it would be more respectful for those unfortunate forumites with slow connections.

Argh, why do people always say this? Putting an image in a spoiler does not make the page load any faster. The image still loads, spoiler or no (unless you happent to be using Opera, which is... unlikely)

Unless you have the browser to automatically load everything, I haven't had any thing in spoilers load until I opened said spoiler.

[GlyphGryph]

What browser do you use? As far as I'm aware, Opera is the only one with that capability by default. Other browsers you need to tweak to get to work that way. Firefox and chrome both load the image immediately upon visiting the page, spoiler or no, afaik.

I'll actually test in a minute to be sure. Edit: Just confirmed for Chrome, at least.

That said, the real problem is, as Cthulhu said: It's jarring and stupid, regardless.

[Aklyon]

Firefox 4. No tweaks excpet for auto-update disable/set to ask.

[Gunner-Chan]

You know I don't know about everyone else here, but I like what I've heard so far. The biggest problem I had with the original X-Com was how pretty much no matter what you could just brute force any mission with rookies. This seems to be going out of it's way to force you to actually play correctly.

You know, use strategy.

[Tellemurius]

You know I don't know about everyone else here, but I like what I've heard so far. The biggest problem I had with the original X-Com was how pretty much no matter what you could just brute force any mission with rookies. This seems to be going out of it's way to force you to actually play correctly.

You know, use strategy.

i brought around the laser and rocket tank with my squad whenever i got the chance. It worked for a bit and at least the tanks can soak the chryssalids up while my men try to kill ethereals.
.

[Mephansteras]

You know I don't know about everyone else here, but I like what I've heard so far. The biggest problem I had with the original X-Com was how pretty much no matter what you could just brute force any mission with rookies. This seems to be going out of it's way to force you to actually play correctly.

You know, use strategy.

My objection to this much smaller size squad is really just the fact that it forces a pretty major change in the game. In the original you had a choice to make in terms of squad numbers and make up. Do I bring more guys or more tanks? Do I throw away troops or act carefully?

These are all valid options, and I don't like that this change means that I simply can't use some of them. I now only have 4 guys to start with and I'm much more limited in what I can do.

Besides which, one of the things I really liked about the original is that the large squad sizes felt a lot different from other tactical games. It gives me a different experience than playing Fallout Tactics or Silent Storm. And now...I'm not really going to get that. I'll be happy if you get the option to send in 12 guys on a mission with this new game, but somehow I kind of doubt theyre going that way.

But I'll reserve judgement until I see and hear more on what they're doing and why they're doing it.

For the moment I'm disappointed that one of the things that really differentiates X-Com, to me, is missing in this new game.