Print

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

[Neonivek]

I think UFO: Enemy Unknown captures that perfectly.

It really doesn't. For example it takes quite a bit of thinking to understand what Terror Missions actually are.

[Majestic7]

New XCom wins in GUI, but loses on content. I guess that is the trend nowadays. One thing all X-Coms fail is showing us you are not alone. Apocalypse does this to an extent, with the police hovercars helping against UFOs. However, down on the ground, there is never anyone around. It would be nice you'd get an option to order evacuation to avoid needless casualties, ask the local forces stay (whatever they might be) or even ask for reinforcements (not likely to come in time). Then the losses incurred (cops with pistols going against mutons, that is going to end well) would effect your public standing or the way X-Com is perceived at least.

[Sharp]

Or I dunno play OpenXCOM which fixes lots of bugs and issues in the old one and adds some nice features. Still WIP but still pretty damn good.

Also try Xenonauts if you want police fighting aliens.

[Leafsnail]

One good thing about this newer X-com than the older ones: The GUI is MUCH more newbie-friendly.

And experienced player friendly

[GlyphGryph]

And very bug friendly.

(The UI gets totally borked if you don't have a top-of-the-line computer, and it gets proggressively more borked the worse your computer gets, and is the cause of a great many of the describes bugs. So the better your computer, the less likely bugs are to occur.)

[Leafsnail]

Using a controller or console version removes basically all the UI bugs.

[Tarran]

(The UI gets totally borked if you don't have a top-of-the-line computer, and it gets proggressively more borked the worse your computer gets, and is the cause of a great many of the describes bugs. So the better your computer, the less likely bugs are to occur.)

My computer was likely top of the line... in 2007. And I don't notice anything wrong about the UI.

[Parsely]

^^^ Yeah. I don't think the amount of bugs you have are affected by the quality of your computer (aside from crashing, but thats not really a bug, though it can be caused by one). Aren't bugs programming errors?

Using a controller or console version removes basically all the UI bugs.

What if I don't like using a controller? Playing on the console is almost not worth having a healthy UI.

[Leafsnail]

The console version is identical other than the UI not being broken to hell, but if you really have an aversion to it you can use a controller on the PC.

[gogis]

Most modern games is simplified, but have much, much better UI. Do you actually played old XCOM, I mean recently. Gameplay is a chore, to say least. I was spitting and cursing playing it.

I have no idea, maybe thats my age, but I rate UI and game design above else now. Most older favorites was created for masochists and nigh unplayable nowadays. And I am know what I am talking about, I replayed many of these.

My latest favorites from design/UI standpoint was XCOM and Dragon Age 2, yes these games was pretty shallow and was infuriatingly short, but still fun and I rate em higher than most titles from 90s.

And yeah, I would prefer Distant Worlds to MOO2 any day, because I dont believe in stupid "These Old Days"

On the other hand we have stupid "indy" games like Dungeons of Dredmor which is regarded as user friendly gateway to roguelikes, but in reality is a garbage with no depth, very poorly designed game. Cmon, new XCOM is a very, very good stuff, I dont miss old one at all.

[Parsely]

Most modern games is simplified, but have much, much better UI. Do you actually played old XCOM, I mean recently. Gameplay is a chore, to say least. I was spitting and cursing playing it.

Yeah, I played it last night. ._.

And MOO2??! Really?! I agree with you about UI being shit in the 90's (though you really can't blame them; modern devs take for granted having two plus decades of games to look at in order to see how to make a game right) on nearly all accounts except THAT one! That game had absolutely astounding UI, probably the best of its generation! Especially compared to the first and third one! I could (and DID) play that game and play it WELL when I was in fucking middle school! Nor would I condemn ALL 90's DOS games. What about System Shock? Looking Glass (the developers of System Shock) practically INVENTED UI! *stomps out of thread*

[Neonivek]

I do weep though because along with vastly improved AIs has come... well... the removing of complexity.

There is this great push to handhold players and part of me almost wishes there could be a game like the really old ones (Like Albion and its speach system) with greater AIs.

Then there is the fact that even in RPGs is the story starting to be considered more and more secondary. I mean yeah... early RPGs were pretty much "go kill the monster" but even RPGs with heaps and heaps of story tend to keep it WAAAAY at the side so as to not interfere with what you are doing.

[EnigmaticHat]

Then there is the fact that even in RPGs is the story starting to be considered more and more secondary. I mean yeah... early RPGs were pretty much "go kill the monster" but even RPGs with heaps and heaps of story tend to keep it WAAAAY at the side so as to not interfere with what you are doing.

Games with a story that's emphasized at all seem to be more of a specialist thing nowadays, but they're out there.  Looking at my steam game list there's Arkham City, Bioshock, Mass Effect 2, Witcher 2, Assassin's Creed Revelations, Dues Ex: Human Revolution, and Saints Row 3.  I liked the story in most of those and I'm one of those people that still reads books.

Most of my games aren't like that though.  From what I've seen, game devs are increasingly either ignoring story, or trying to tell a different type of story.  Games are an interactive medium, and there are several methods that are emerging to take advantage of that.  One is the Xcom style "find out what happens to your virtual friends" story.

[Neonivek]

At the same time though I do have to say that more games have a story in the game then ever before.

There arn't many outright "The story blurb is here, have fun" games anymore. Even in fighting games.

[GlyphGryph]

^^^ Yeah. I don't think the amount of bugs you have are affected by the quality of your computer (aside from crashing, but thats not really a bug, though it can be caused by one). Aren't bugs programming errors?

A lot of the bugs are timing and syncing errors. Anything that causes game slowdown can seriously exacerbate these, since you can input commands before the game is ready for them and throw things off.

Clicking really fast has similar results, and yeah - playing with a controller would probably bypass most of those.