Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[a1s]

Um... that's not a source, it's a forum thread. Like this one, but on 2K's forums. There is no developer input in that thread. Can someone please get a copy of the article they keep talking about?
But, anyway, what do we think?
I'm kind of surprised about how big a deal people are making out of having the one base. Isn't the division into distinct bases mostly cosmetic?
Also, loling about some guy claiming you could do more with more AP (which you can't- all action, aside from waling an turining, are linked to a portion of full AP, how do these "bloodthirstily fans" not know that?  )
Finally, I liked the abstract ammo thing- ammo was not ever in short supply (unless you forgot to buy it...)

[nenjin]

Isn't the division into distinct bases mostly cosmetic?

It was important for the early game when you had shit for sensors and basic interceptors. It was part of the logistics of the game creating an effective defense network with quick-response capabilities.

[Sirus]

Closer source than most people provide

Anyway, looking over it I see a lot of the same panic in this thread, with some noticeable selective blindness. It's stated again and again that while you are limited to one main base, you can have hangers and defense outposts all over the world; people panic about not being able to shoot down UFOs on the other side of the world. Wild claims abound, from veterans having identical movement and stats as rookies to no longer being able to defend your base. I NEED MORE SOURCE.

[Mephansteras]

Isn't the division into distinct bases mostly cosmetic?

It was important for the early game when you had shit for sensors and basic interceptors. It was part of the logistics of the game creating an effective defense network with quick-response capabilities.

It also mattered in that you could lose bases. If you only have one, a base lose is game over. In the original game you could lose a base and still recover, as long as it wasn't your main base.

[EuchreJack]

Probably the best speculation thus far is that the game is not really a successor to X-Com, but rather Jagged Alliance vs. Aliens.

Which isn't a bad thing, just a bit jarring.

That's what I was thinking about earlier, it does seem like it might be the case. In JA2 you had tough troops who rarely (if ever) died, but it worked because it was very much an action hero movie type game - you had the elite veteran mercs (well, most of them) mowing down dozens of nameless generic mooks.

I don't think it's a good fit for x-com though. Part of the appeal was that it was a desperate war against a terrifying enemy. If x-com is reduced to action heroes vs bumbling cannon fodder aliens... it loses something important. It's one thing to liberate a 3rd world craphole country with minimal losses, but it's quite a different thing to save the whole planet earth from a massive invasion by technologically superior aliens with 4 guys and maybe a token death here and there.

Maybe it could end up being a decent game... but it won't really have the soul of x-com.

I just wanted to clarify that I changed JA to Final Fantasy Tactics at the same time the above reply was posted.  The main reason the game reminds me of FFT is because:
Each character gets one turn, one move.
You start with rookies, then develop them into various classes.

I'd also like to point out that the soldier in one of the picture from the below link only has 11 hp maximum.  So death is actually quite likely.

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

[a1s]

Isn't the division into distinct bases mostly cosmetic?

It was important for the early game when you had shit for sensors and basic interceptors. It was part of the logistics of the game creating an effective defense network with quick-response capabilities.

It also mattered in that you could lose bases. If you only have one, a base lose is game over. In the original game you could lose a base and still recover, as long as it wasn't your main base.

Yup, and that's kinda what they're selling here, but you don't have a choice anymore. In truth however it was not a meaningful choice, since there was no reason to have more than one "main base" (as opposed to a Hangar(+Radar) outpost). Well maybe you could place some barracks there, to have  a second tac-team service the other hemisphere, which I never did, but it sounds like it might be a good idea...

[sluissa]

I actually tended to have 2-3 "main" bases once I got through the early funding problems.

I had my original which was a main base simply from having been around since the beginning, usually another "main" base in the other hemisphere with a secondary team. And finally a third, out of the way base that was where I set up most of my manufacturing and storage. Only a small token defense team, and ideally nothing should ever fly out of it to lower chance of detection.

I'd always keep a decent stock of essentials at each main base, but most of my loot would go to the storage base, usually somewhere in Antarctica. Once I got Psi labs I'd also put those at the storage base and transfer troops there in shifts to get them sorted through.

The two bases with actual teams, one would tend to end up with most of my veterans, while the other would keep a couple of veterans and just take on the easier missions, mostly for training. The vets would end up being sent on the tougher stuff. battleships, terror missions, and base attacks.

Looking back on it, there were some problems with this strategy, but it seemed to work decently, and kept everything decentralized enough that losing any one of those bases was not a big deal at all. The manufacturing base could be a huge loss, but I always kept an eye out and if it looked like things were going down hill anywhere, I'd just liquidate things quickly, and transfer the important stuff. So, worst case, I have to rebuild some workshops and my income slows for a few months.

I'm going to be somewhat disappointed if they do dumb it down like it seems they are. But I'm still keeping an open mind. I'm already hesitant about them not using squares, but I guess I'm just being a stick in the mud there.

[Aqizzar]

Just to make sure I got something correct.

It was "confirmed" somewhere that you'll "start" with four soldiers?  I feel the need to point out that in the original X-COM, you start with eight soldiers.  And then you hire more.

[GlyphGryph]

It's semi-confirmed, by someone who claimed to play the current press demo, that you start with the ability to send only 4 soldiers on the demo mission. That's all we know for sure.

[Aqizzar]

It's semi-confirmed, by someone who claimed to play the current press demo, that you start with the ability to send only 4 soldiers on the demo mission. That's all we know for sure.

So a guy playing a demo-mission in a tech-demo had four soldiers to work with?  And this is somehow confirmation of something?

This game can't be released fast enough, just so people can stop arguing about shit.

[Cthulhu]

That will only be the beginning of the arguing.  This is just the preseason bitching.

[Grakelin]

Grognards will bitch about this game for decades after it's released no matter the quality. It doesn't even matter if they somehow make it exactly the same with prettier graphics. Grognards will still be upset.

[Aklyon]

So, everyone's being getting worked up about a goddamn press demo. Probably not even near finished, unless they've had this hidden for a year or two.

Eitherway, starting with half what you started with in x-com, with less bases, seems more of a 'Hey, lets make something even harder, but with a tutorial!' than an actual remake. Like if someone tried the Superhuman Antarctic Challenge, sold half their soldiers, watched someone else do the same thing, and then played the game from there.

[Cthulhu]

Honestly, I never had multiple bases.  I had "multiple bases" and by "multiple bases"  I mean radar stations scattered around with a firestorm on standby.  That was it.  Maybe six or seven rookies to phone in a base defense if they attacked.  I had a main base and that's where everything actually happened.

[Sirus]

So, everyone's being getting worked up about a goddamn press demo. Probably not even near finished, unless they've had this hidden for a year or two.

Of course! Anything that differs in any way from the game released 20 or so years ago will have at least one person screaming "RUINED FOREVAR!!!!!!!!11!!"