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X-Com: The hideous death of everything you ever loved. Also: New FPS!

chiasaur11chiasaur11 Never doubt a raccoon.Do you think it's trademarked?Registered User regular
edited June 2011 in Games and Technology
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The year is 1999. The "Hip cats" in Europe were "Boogieing Down" with the "Euro".

The "kids" were committing "cyber-crime" on their "Napsters" as Y2K loomed.

The Star Wars prequels debuted, crushing the dreams of millions.


Oh, and aliens invaded to hideously slaughter humanity, turning their victims into undead hosts of their hideous spawn. It was, all in all, something of a bad year.

Our only hope was X-Com, a multinational task force given a shoestring budget and cutting edge technology to destroy the invaders by any means necessary.
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It seldom went well. However, in the end, humanity triumphed, kicking the aliens back to Mars and exterminating them.

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And then the aliens kept attacking every forty years or so.


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Or other aliens did it.

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And now it turns out some other aliens attacked in the sixties.

Remember, humanity is a tiny, insignificant species, an island in the midst of a cruel and, from our prospective, evil universe that is full of creatures bent wholly on our destruction or subjugation.

Our only hope is X-Com. Remind your local government of that next time they're discussing funding cuts.

chiasaur11 on
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Posts

  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    One day I will get that genuine update to the original game I've always wanted.

    One day.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • DracoGriffinDracoGriffin Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Maybe change this to a XCOM thread instead of a X-Com thread?

    I believe there's an old dilapidated X-Com thread, maybe change OP to XCOM and add some screenshots/videos and spoiler the X-Com stuff so people know XCOM is >TRYING< to pay homage to X-Com?

    Hope that wasn't too confusing... :P

    DracoGriffin on
  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu PIGEON Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    XCOM, X-Com, potato, potato (read those last two words with a different pronunciation, otherwise it won't work).

    TychoCelchuuu on
  • DracoGriffinDracoGriffin Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Or just add an e to the end of one of the 'potatos'.

    Just like how XCOM is all caps with no hyphen and X-Com is hyphenated with X & C capitalized! :D

    DracoGriffin on
  • MechMantisMechMantis Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    53-xcom333.png

    Everyone get back in the Skyranger.

    Brazil can fend for itself.

    MechMantis on
  • Gene ParmesanGene Parmesan Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Well you cans till get your itch scratched by Xenonauts which is basically an indie sequel in everything but name to the classic X-COM games.

    I don't have a ton of love for the old games since they are hard to play and hate me but I'm glad they exist

    Gene Parmesan on
  • FairchildFairchild Rabbit used short words that were easy to understand, like "Hello Pooh, how about Lunch ?" Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    MechMantis wrote: »
    53-xcom333.png

    Everyone get back in the Skyranger.

    Brazil can fend for itself.
    Tactical Error #1: Landing at nite

    Tactical Error #2: Didn't send the tank down the ramp first

    Tactical Error #3: Holy Crap !

    Fairchild on
  • chiasaur11chiasaur11 Never doubt a raccoon. Do you think it's trademarked?Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Well you cans till get your itch scratched by Xenonauts which is basically an indie sequel in everything but name to the classic X-COM games.

    I don't have a ton of love for the old games since they are hard to play and hate me but I'm glad they exist

    Of course they hate you.

    The only logical action is to hate them right back. High explosives are good.

    It's of the era where you had to read the manual, but if you get past the initial hurdles, UFO defense and Apocalypse do things no other game does.

    chiasaur11 on
  • JaramrJaramr Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Just a bit of a hint, image leeching isnt that great. Especially from the LP archive which runs on donations. Don't worry, Ive made that mistakes on a OP of mine before :P

    On topic:

    It's a bitch and a half to get steam X-com running at the speed I want it to. Every time I install X-com its either too slow or too fast. As in plasma bolts passing over the head of my captain in .3 seconds fast. Or killing a rookie in exactly one second.

    Jaramr on
    steam_sig.png
  • AegeriAegeri Tiny wee bacteriums Plateau of LengRegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    In fairness, most rookies shouldn't be lasting more than 1 second unless they are the chosen ubermen.

    Aegeri on
    The Roleplayer's Guild: My blog for roleplaying games, advice and adventuring.
  • FairchildFairchild Rabbit used short words that were easy to understand, like "Hello Pooh, how about Lunch ?" Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I assume that you're running of the "slow down my processor" programs when trying to play X-COM ?

    Fairchild on
  • ForarForar #432 Toronto, Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    MechMantis wrote: »
    53-xcom333.png

    Everyone get back in the Skyranger.

    Brazil can fend for itself.

    I don't even... what the... did they let Chrysalids wreck civilians for 10 turns prior to that??

    "Dust off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."

    Forar on
    First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
  • Ninja Snarl PNinja Snarl P My helmet is my burden. Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Forar wrote: »
    MechMantis wrote: »
    53-xcom333.png

    Everyone get back in the Skyranger.

    Brazil can fend for itself.

    I don't even... what the... did they let Chrysalids wreck civilians for 10 turns prior to that??

    "Dust off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."

    A curious battle. The only winning move is not to play.
    And then pull out and nuke it from orbit.

    EDIT: Playing UFO Defense right this second.
    Severe tactical error #1: Deploying the Skyranger without making sure it has its complement of Redshirts.
    Severe tactical error #2: sending in the autocannon guy to clear the landed UFO using HE ammo. That last alien didn't even know what hit him, but neither did autocannon guy. I'd say he will be missed, but I can't remember his name.

    Ninja Snarl P on
  • lowlylowlycooklowlylowlycook Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    MechMantis wrote: »
    53-xcom333.png

    Everyone get back in the Skyranger.

    Brazil can fend for itself.

    It's the one behind you that does you in.

    lowlylowlycook on
    steam_sig.png
    (Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
  • JintorJintor Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Brazil has been nuked from orbit, withdraws funding from the project

    Jintor on
  • ForarForar #432 Toronto, Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Jintor wrote: »
    Brazil has been nuked from orbit, withdraws funding from the project

    It'd be worth it.

    By the time of detonation, there'd already be thousands of the damned things.

    Forar on
    First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
  • Ninja Snarl PNinja Snarl P My helmet is my burden. Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Jintor wrote: »
    Brazil has been nuked from orbit, withdraws funding from the project

    Player laughs at "retaliation", wishes Brazil well with their new xenomorph overlords.

    Ninja Snarl P on
  • DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Fairchild wrote: »
    I assume that you're running of the "slow down my processor" programs when trying to play X-COM ?

    Totally unnecessary. Just limit the emulated CPU cycles in the DOSbox config file or hit ctrl+F11 to do it while in game. ctrl+F12 will boost the emulated CPU cycles in case you get it too slow.

    Drake on
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    My attention to X-Com just went up when I saw that e3 trailer.

    Kadoken on
  • GuildNavigatorGuildNavigator Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    So that's pretty cool 2k is duct-taping on some strategic elements in between the 1960's Mass Effect scenarios.

    I wonder if some industrious modders will be able to isolate those elements and make an actual X-com game.

    GuildNavigator on
  • lostprophetlostprophet Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Well you cans till get your itch scratched by Xenonauts which is basically an indie sequel in everything but name to the classic X-COM games.

    I don't have a ton of love for the old games since they are hard to play and hate me but I'm glad they exist

    Have you pre-ordered it? I want to hear some thoughts on it before I do.

    lostprophet on
    Steam: macg1991
    wotuserbar01.jpg: macg1991
    Check out the Penny Arcade World of Tanks thread to join us in some fun times.
  • Gandalf_the_CrazedGandalf_the_Crazed Vigilo ConfidoRegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    To this day, Chrysalids scare me far more than Velociraptors.

    @screenshot: HOLY FUCKING D:

    Gandalf_the_Crazed on
    PEUsig_zps56da03ec.jpg
  • DrakeDrake Edgelord Trash Below the ecliptic plane.Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Yeah, I'd just have to toss a grenade before getting back in the Skyranger.

    Drake on
  • BlandlytastefulBlandlytasteful Gruelmaster The Dark LunchroomRegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Hmm... I bet those Xenonauts guys could have gotten all kinds of money from Kickstarter.

    Blandlytasteful on
    Steam: Blandlytasteful | XBL: Blandlytasteful | PSN: Blandlytasteful | 3DS: 3411-0354-2109
    steam_sig.png
  • InkyblotsInkyblots Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Speaking of XCOM clones are the UFO games any good?

    Inkyblots on
  • RoyceSraphimRoyceSraphim Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Don't Chryssalids refuse to walk up the ramp? In that case, your lone survivor could have walked up the ramp, and with a little luck, massacred a few and after the retreat, become Xena....actually, how many kills would you need to balance out the civilian deaths?

    RoyceSraphim on
  • KelorKelor Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Inkyblots wrote: »
    Speaking of XCOM clones are the UFO games any good?

    I remember them being clunky but okay.

    However the camera was fucking terrible and drove me into fits of rage on several occasions at it's lack of flexibility.


    Edit: What would be even more terrifying is that if you lifted out of that Chrysallid mission and they kept multiplying until one end of that continent the other is jam packed with them from one end to the other.

    Kinda like zombies except instead of the biting you get the bite and then have the pleasure of your skin splitting open as your hosting duties come to an end.

    Kelor on
  • lostprophetlostprophet Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Inkyblots wrote: »
    Speaking of XCOM clones are the UFO games any good?

    The UFO Extraterrestrials Gold on Steam is pretty good. It was terrible at launch but the gold version includes a lot of fixes (Mostly from a modder who worked to make it more faithful to the original X-Com).

    There's also the UFO Trilogy series with Aftershock, Aftermath, and Afterlight. Afterlight is the newest one but has many questionable design decisions. It's enjoyable but gets very repetitive and tedious since you only have one base. I've not played the other two but I hear that the second game (Aftermath?) is the best one.

    And then there's my favorite clone, which I feel is the best and most sincere. UFO: Alien Invasion. It doesn't really have much in the way of explaining how to play, but when you figure it out it is glorious. It's open-source freeware available on Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu (Also Android too now). It's incredibly fun and the people who work on it do it for free and their love of X-Com.

    lostprophet on
    Steam: macg1991
    wotuserbar01.jpg: macg1991
    Check out the Penny Arcade World of Tanks thread to join us in some fun times.
  • chiasaur11chiasaur11 Never doubt a raccoon. Do you think it's trademarked?Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Kelor wrote: »
    Inkyblots wrote: »
    Speaking of XCOM clones are the UFO games any good?

    I remember them being clunky but okay.

    However the camera was fucking terrible and drove me into fits of rage on several occasions at it's lack of flexibility.


    Edit: What would be even more terrifying is that if you lifted out of that Chrysallid mission and they kept multiplying until one end of that continent the other is jam packed with them from one end to the other.

    Kinda like zombies except instead of the biting you get the bite and then have the pleasure of your skin splitting open as your hosting duties come to an end.

    See, things like that are why X-Com can buy nukes easier than most people can get parking permits.

    chiasaur11 on
  • kaliyamakaliyama Left to find less-moderated fora Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    MechMantis wrote: »

    Everyone get back in the Skyranger.

    Brazil can fend for itself.

    I had debated reinstalling. now i'll just cower under my desk, thx.

    kaliyama on
    fwKS7.png?1
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Would everyone like the new X-Com to be less old timey Mass Effect and more Ghost Recon/Rainbow Six with aliens and X-Com bases?

    Edit: Or just a new tactical turn based game?

    Kadoken on
  • VelmeranVelmeran Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    The two indy projects that are Xcom related and I approve of:

    http://ufo2000.sourceforge.net/
    Rarely updated any more, but its multiplayer xcom, and its works fairly well.

    http://ufotts.ninex.info/
    Getting close to a 1.00 release. Whats that, you wanted a 2 player version of Xcom where one person is the aliens and the other is the humans, and base building and research matters? Okay, I guess you can has.

    Velmeran on
    Vechloran.png
  • jefe414jefe414 "My Other Drill Hole is a Teleporter" Mechagodzilla is Best GodzillaRegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Kadoken wrote: »
    Would everyone like the new X-Com to be less old timey Mass Effect and more Ghost Recon/Rainbow Six with aliens and X-Com bases?

    Edit: Or just a new tactical turn based game?

    If you are talking about the combat being like the original Ghost Recon, I'd be all over that (if I could get friends to drop in and play as the deployed squad, even better).

    jefe414 on
    Xbox Live: Jefe414
  • KadokenKadoken Giving Ends to my Friends and it Feels Stupendous Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    jefe414 wrote: »
    Kadoken wrote: »
    Would everyone like the new X-Com to be less old timey Mass Effect and more Ghost Recon/Rainbow Six with aliens and X-Com bases?

    Edit: Or just a new tactical turn based game?

    If you are talking about the combat being like the original Ghost Recon, I'd be all over that (if I could get friends to drop in and play as the deployed squad, even better).

    Yeah, the originals.

    Kadoken on
  • chiasaur11chiasaur11 Never doubt a raccoon. Do you think it's trademarked?Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Inkyblots wrote: »
    Speaking of XCOM clones are the UFO games any good?

    The UFO Extraterrestrials Gold on Steam is pretty good. It was terrible at launch but the gold version includes a lot of fixes (Mostly from a modder who worked to make it more faithful to the original X-Com).

    There's also the UFO Trilogy series with Aftershock, Aftermath, and Afterlight. Afterlight is the newest one but has many questionable design decisions. It's enjoyable but gets very repetitive and tedious since you only have one base. I've not played the other two but I hear that the second game (Aftermath?) is the best one.

    And then there's my favorite clone, which I feel is the best and most sincere. UFO: Alien Invasion. It doesn't really have much in the way of explaining how to play, but when you figure it out it is glorious. It's open-source freeware available on Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu (Also Android too now). It's incredibly fun and the people who work on it do it for free and their love of X-Com.

    Really, can AI be called an X-Com alike when you can't blow every single building between you and the aliens to hell?

    I posit it cannot.

    chiasaur11 on
  • bamjobamjo Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    chiasaur11 wrote:
    Really, can AI be called an X-Com alike when you can't blow every single building between you and the aliens to hell?

    I posit it cannot.

    Yes, this is the most faithful X-COM remake I've found, except for that one fatal flaw. The engine they chose for the game doesn't allow for terrain/building destruction. I don't follow its development that closely anymore, but I remember there being talk of a new engine, but I don't know the status on that. It always sounded a bit pie in the sky to me, they would basically be starting over. It took them how many years to get the current game?

    I'm putting my hopes on that new game... crap I forgot the name.

    Edit: I see Gene already linked it, Xenonauts
    Looks pretty rad. I like that they are going with a cold war setting rather than near future.

    bamjo on
  • chiasaur11chiasaur11 Never doubt a raccoon. Do you think it's trademarked?Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    bamjo wrote: »
    chiasaur11 wrote:
    Really, can AI be called an X-Com alike when you can't blow every single building between you and the aliens to hell?

    I posit it cannot.

    Yes, this is the most faithful X-COM remake I've found, except for that one fatal flaw. The engine they chose for the game doesn't allow for terrain/building destruction. I don't follow its development that closely anymore, but I remember there being talk of a new engine, but I don't know the status on that. It always sounded a bit pie in the sky to me, they would basically be starting over. It took them how many years to get the current game?

    I'm putting my hopes on that new game... crap I forgot the name.

    Edit: I see Gene already linked it, Xenonauts
    Looks pretty rad. I like that they are going with a cold war setting rather than near future.

    Yeah. It's interesting, in a way. The original X-Com had a kind of odd grit to it that definitely felt cold war Eastern Europe, even if it was a happy accident.

    Of course, that tends to make you miss the more impressive stuff from their tech. I mean, we all joke about how X-Com is scraping the bottom of the barrel at game start, but if you look what they've got?

    X-Com starts the game with stuff most modern governments would kill for.

    The piddly cannon for your interceptor? Punches through ten inches of steel. The planes are built like tanks. Avalanches are nuclear missiles. The rocket launchers reduce the front walls of warehouses to rubble. Man portable miniguns with high explosive shells.

    The science teams can go from first principles to field ready models inside a month. The engineers can build spacecraft from earth-native raw materials.

    Really, the field agents are the only weak link. Crazy team killing russian bastards. Lucky if one in ten is good. Upside is, even the cowards are brave to the point of psychosis.

    chiasaur11 on
  • GrimthwackerGrimthwacker Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    Kadoken wrote: »
    jefe414 wrote: »
    Kadoken wrote: »
    Would everyone like the new X-Com to be less old timey Mass Effect and more Ghost Recon/Rainbow Six with aliens and X-Com bases?

    Edit: Or just a new tactical turn based game?

    If you are talking about the combat being like the original Ghost Recon, I'd be all over that (if I could get friends to drop in and play as the deployed squad, even better).

    Yeah, the originals.

    Now, I've never played an X-COM game (not a huge strategy buff), but seeing the trailer for the new. . . "thing" and then seeing some LPs of the original games makes me wonder why, if 2K wanted to spice up the series with a little more action, they didn't follow the lead of games like Valkyria Chronicles and make the new one turn based with direct control of each unit when selected. Makes sense in theory, rather than "yet another FPS trying to cash in on a popular IP".

    Grimthwacker on
  • ZxerolZxerol for the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't do so i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered User regular
    edited June 2011
    How much did Valkyria Chronicles sell?

    Okay, now how much did Call of Duty?

    Alright, maybe that's a little unfair. Substitute in Bioshock 1 or 2.

    Point is, you're assuming that there was some sort of artistic vision involved when the parent 2K company told its Marin studio that their project was now going to use the X-Com license, when it was always all about the Benjamins, baby.

    In all fairness, at least they shucked their initial "Bioshock in the 50s" concept and are apparently crafting something more befitting the franchise, something less about pulling the trigger at everything and more cerebral, which I absolutely cannot fault them for. It's quite commendable. I'm looking forward to what they will show in the future.

    Zxerol on
  • DevoutlyApatheticDevoutlyApathetic Registered User regular
    edited June 2011
    I just feel sorry for them. They actually seemed to have an idea behind their first concept, that idea wasn't X-Com and that pissed me off, but they clearly had inspiration.

    Now? Now they have the whip crack of corporate response to fan uprising to motivate them.

    DevoutlyApathetic on
    Nod. Get treat. PSN: Quippish
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