Xenonauts - the updated game that closely mirrors the original X-Com, is getting close to completion.
You can read the latest developer release at: http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/7283-30-August-Development-Update-(V19-Stable)
I'm getting very excited about this. The Kickstarter funding and the Steam releases of builds have given the developers a massive database of playtesters. They have been making very steady progress developing the game. Having such a widespread testing base gives a much higher potential for having a finished product that has good AI, game balance and fun.
I wish them the best. They seem to be trying to have a final release that is not an advanced beta build.
I have it and have been playing it for several months and it has come a long ways..... I stopped playing X-Com EU because of it.
PE
Definately something to keep an eye on. I love the old school look of the game!
If the gameplay is good as well then it's something I am definately going to buy somewhere along the line, but I have too many games right now. :)
It's quite good, reminiscent of the old ones. I hope the final release only gets better. ;D
I like the look of the game, the 2D art and such. Good clean UI that lays out info as it should.
i.e., what The Bureau should have been (except in the 60s instead of 50s). ;)
Been playing the new v19 patch that was released last week. Its starting to feel like a real game now. They've done a major AI and balance overhaul.
Quote
This is a brief summary of the improvements made in V19 over V18:
Vastly improved game balance
Dramatically improved AI
Alien Base missions fully functional
All research descriptions written and edited
Various visual updates like a new world map, many more painted ground tiles, etc
Lots and lots of bugfixes
Full list of changes can be found here (second post): http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/7278-V19-Stable-Available! (http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/7278-V19-Stable-Available!)
I played a bit the other day, too. It's looking very polished. :D
Oh man, I'm feeling that old X-COM feeling with Xenonauts. This seems more spiritually connected to the original X-COM than the Firaxis X-COM remake does.
Feeling very nostalgic tonight playing this. :-*
I feel reasonably sure I'm going to pick this up soon, regardless of whether it's on sale. I've only been waiting for the game to shape up further.
On the other hand, I'll probably wait for a sale to pick up The Bureau, despite wanting badly for it to be good.
On the other hand, while I'm kind of interested in the new XCOM (Firaxis remake) updates, I have less than no interest re-buying the remake at basically full price to pick up the updates. I'll definitely wait for a strong sale on that one.
Had a bit of a play through last night for the first time in months, wow! It's beginning to feel like a polished game now. It's come a long way from the Evil Alien Shed. ;D
Can you pick it up now in beta?
Didn't see a point in a new thread for this question:
I never played the original x-com. I kind of intrigued here. I bought x-com(new one) but played it only for about 5 minutes and got bored...I need more than just tactical combat. This game looks like it has a lot of depth. So, should I try xenonauts seeing as how I couldn't get into x-com?
I'm kind of hoping to play a game with a lot of strategy involving research, deployment, base building, etc. Not just tactical fighting. If I can design a base and design weapons and such, I might give it a shot...basically, I'm looking for some strategy elements that are deep as opposed to simply supporting the tactical fights
Quote from: mikeck on November 28, 2013, 08:35:29 PM
I'm kind of hoping to play a game with a lot of strategy involving research, deployment, base building, etc. Not just tactical fighting. If I can design a base and design weapons and such, I might give it a shot...basically, I'm looking for some strategy elements that are deep as opposed to simply supporting the tactical fights
Base Building: base building is very similar to what it is in the XCom remake, except you have a 6x6 tiled grid rather then the vertical grid the XCom remake has. Nothing really special about construction itself, some module take up mroe then one grid space, etc. Been there done that. The big difference is that you can have multiple bases. Since your base is also the source of your radar coverage and your interceptors not having unlimited fuel range; one of your first goals is to get a second base up and running ASAP. My second base usually consists of a radar and some interceptor hangers for obvious reasons. I believe as the game progress the aliens will also start to attack your bases (which they don't do in the remake) but I've never made it that far in.
There is no weapon design. Just the typical research tree to unlock alien tech. You can hire more scientist like you do soldiers which allows you to shotgun multiple projects at one time, or you can assign them all to one project and get it done faster. Another difference to the remake is that your are not given a choice for your missions. Most of your early missions will be you going after UFO's you've either shot down or have landed all on their own. Later on you'll start getting terror and base assault missions. but you don;t get the three choices like you do in the remake
The tactical combat is a lot better then the remake IMO. There is cover, but going behind cover also limits your hit percentage. Cover is also scarcer and a lot of the time you don't have any choice but to march your troops through open field in order to reach your objectives.
The aliens do attack your base in the remake with the new Expansion. :)
From my fairly limited experience playing Xenonauts over the past week, it plays exactly like the original X-Com. Which is a good thing. :)
That being said, the original X-Com can be bought from Steam (among other places) fairly cheaply, and the OpenXCom project will update it with some extra bling for free (or a donation if you're so inclined). One of the (few) advantages to the old game is that the maps are randomly generated each time for the situation. The graphics are somewhat better, too, in some regards, than in Xenonauts, although this is partly due to XN providing a larger view of the combat field, which naturally reduces the amount of detail available for the figures per se.
Thanks Kushan
Quote from: Kushan on November 28, 2013, 10:25:36 PM
The tactical combat is a lot better then the remake IMO. There is cover, but going behind cover also limits your hit percentage. Cover is also scarcer and a lot of the time you don't have any choice but to march your troops through open field in order to reach your objectives.
Don't forget the Inventory Management side, too. That's something I sorely missed in the new X-Com remake. Xenonauts certainly has that, so it adds that extra dimension to each drop. Load up more ammo, grenades, and special equipment but suffer weight penalties if that specific character isn't beefy enough? I love it.
I've also really enjoyed the artwork in Xenonauts and most of the interface feels crisp and informative.
Since I have never played the original, I doubt that I can just jump in. Is there a tutorial or manual available with the beta if I pick it up through steam?
Quote from: mikeck on November 29, 2013, 11:36:44 PM
Since I have never played the original, I doubt that I can just jump in. Is there a tutorial or manual available with the beta if I pick it up through steam?
I've not played it in a couple months, and there have been some updates. I believe those updates have also pretty much finished what was missing from the interface before and that
may include some kind of tutorial or in-game instructions. I don't recall it having a tutorial before so I don't know if that is in now.
If you've played the new X-Com, then the general style of gameplay would be familiar. Sure, there are some more things to do but it's not difficult to figure out if you've played any similar turn-based tactical strategy or RPG (the inventory management I mentioned, for example). The most confusing part of playing Xenonauts, for me, was some parts of the Base Management interface but I fingered it out by click-exploring. Also some of the finer details on building specific rooms in your base, only because some of their descriptions weren't finished at the time.
I believe it has had more tooltips added in the latest updates too but someone else should confirm.
I don't recall there being a manual in-game; and there is no manual link at Steam. There are a number of community guides at Steam, however.
You only played the XCOM remake for five minutes before getting bored, Mike, so I don't know how much that experience will help. There's definitely a lot more to do in original X-Com, and thus in Xenonauts.
I've been playing this for a couple of days now and I'm really impressed. I've had to restart a couple of times because the game punishes poor tactics. I've been losing soldiers at about a 50% rate including a couple of 100% loss missions. No one has gotten above the rank of Sgt. In spite of the incredible loss rate I'm digging what they've done with this game.
Right now the only thing that detracts is the soldier's uniforms. They are plain awful. I'm really hoping someone mods them. I did see a mod that makes all of your soldiers Jarheads (USMC). The mod edits the rank structure and uniforms. It looks really nice but I don't want all of my troops coming from just one service. The other thing I don't like is the game takes place in the late 70's yet they have female soldiers from the U.S. with Special Forces experience. I didn't mind having female soldiers in the original XCOM because it took place in the future (1999?) but there were no women with Combat Arms experience in the 70's. But really it's no more than a minor detraction.
I'm really looking forward to the final version.
Just curious, besides the graphics, what major differences are there between this version and the XCOM version that was released?
Doesn't your soldiers' look change when you progressively put on body armor and such, on down the road?
IIRC, they end up looking more like an old SWAT team or something, with various pieces of black armor over their blue outfit. It isn't near as bad as the "janitor" uniform they start with.
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on March 08, 2014, 11:45:59 AM
Just curious, besides the graphics, what major differences are there between this version and the XCOM version that was released?
This one has the more classic style of X-Com play. Such as having actual inventory management, full attribute and 100pt AP system, some other stuff...
The mechanics are more detailed, in general. It may not sound like much but there's a noticeably different feel to it.
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on March 08, 2014, 11:45:59 AM
Just curious, besides the graphics, what major differences are there between this version and the XCOM version that was released?
I haven't gone more than 3 months yet but so far here's what I've noticed:
The Alien AI seems pretty solid. You get a larger variety of missions. You have "Local Forces" that sometimes show up to help. Better loadout screen. There's really enough difference to make it feel like a different game but enough similarity to pick it up and play if you have XCOM experience. So far it's been challenging enough to keep me restarting the game...not out of frustration, but out of motivation to fix mistakes that I made early in the game.
Quote from: Nefaro on March 08, 2014, 11:47:30 AM
Doesn't your soldiers' look change when you progressively put on body armor and such, on down the road?
IIRC, they end up looking more like an old SWAT team or something, with various pieces of black armor over their blue outfit. It isn't near as bad as the "janitor" uniform they start with.
So far I've only gotten far enough to use the Jackel Armor. It makes the soldier resemble an elite janitorial unit, the kind you'd call in when an ordinary plunger just won't do.
Thanks for the additional information....
Quote from: KyzBP on March 08, 2014, 12:00:34 PM
So far I've only gotten far enough to use the Jackel Armor. It makes the soldier resemble an elite janitorial unit, the kind you'd call in when an ordinary plunger just won't do.
Yes, as I recall, DeNiro's uniform in Brasil was rather blandish.
Quote from: KyzBP on March 08, 2014, 11:43:26 AM
I've been playing this for a couple of days now and I'm really impressed. I've had to restart a couple of times because the game punishes poor tactics. I've been losing soldiers at about a 50% rate including a couple of 100% loss missions. No one has gotten above the rank of Sgt. In spite of the incredible loss rate I'm digging what they've done with this game.
Right now the only thing that detracts is the soldier's uniforms. They are plain awful. I'm really hoping someone mods them. I did see a mod that makes all of your soldiers Jarheads (USMC). The mod edits the rank structure and uniforms. It looks really nice but I don't want all of my troops coming from just one service. The other thing I don't like is the game takes place in the late 70's yet they have female soldiers from the U.S. with Special Forces experience. I didn't mind having female soldiers in the original XCOM because it took place in the future (1999?) but there were no women with Combat Arms experience in the 70's. But really it's no more than a minor detraction.
I'm really looking forward to the final version.
There are a couple of uniform mods out there, look for the one by Jsleezy, Real Armors, I think it's called. You can also mod the females out, in gameconfig.xml there's a setting where you can increase or decrease the chance for females to be generated.
Quote from: Pinetree on March 08, 2014, 03:11:44 PM
Quote from: KyzBP on March 08, 2014, 11:43:26 AM
I've been playing this for a couple of days now and I'm really impressed. I've had to restart a couple of times because the game punishes poor tactics. I've been losing soldiers at about a 50% rate including a couple of 100% loss missions. No one has gotten above the rank of Sgt. In spite of the incredible loss rate I'm digging what they've done with this game.
Right now the only thing that detracts is the soldier's uniforms. They are plain awful. I'm really hoping someone mods them. I did see a mod that makes all of your soldiers Jarheads (USMC). The mod edits the rank structure and uniforms. It looks really nice but I don't want all of my troops coming from just one service. The other thing I don't like is the game takes place in the late 70's yet they have female soldiers from the U.S. with Special Forces experience. I didn't mind having female soldiers in the original XCOM because it took place in the future (1999?) but there were no women with Combat Arms experience in the 70's. But really it's no more than a minor detraction.
I'm really looking forward to the final version.
There are a couple of uniform mods out there, look for the one by Jsleezy, Real Armors, I think it's called. You can also mod the females out, in gameconfig.xml there's a setting where you can increase or decrease the chance for females to be generated.
Cool Pinetree! Thanks.
I just had to abort a mission. I had 7 of 8 troops at the door of a small Scout. One soldier had to hang back due to severe wounds but he kept an overwatch on the ship's entrance. My assault team forced their way in and were met by a hail of Plasma fire. Those troops that were still able to, returned fire. As the dust cleared they could see 3 lizard-like Aliens taking cover in the Command Center.
We had 2 down and one wounded but hit all three of the Aliens. Unfortunately none of the Aliens seemed too upset about being peppered by our NATO approved bullets. Our other problem was the bottleneck at the entrance. The first soldier of Wave 2 set off a nasty chain of events. As he maneuvered into firing position he was cut down by one of the Lizardmen. That was apparently the final straw in my unit's morale. One of the Wave 2 guys outside the ship went berserk and downed 2 of his fellow team members. The Lizardmen then finished off the soldier trapped in the ship. This caused further panic outside the ship. Berserk guy dropped his weapon and ran across the front entrance only to be turned into a bubbling puddle of goo by a Plasma barrage. The last remaining troop at the entrance embraced the inevitable and stepped weaponless in front of the three Lizardmen. He showed no fear, only acceptance, as a bloody, smoldering pile of cloth replaced what had once been Private Jones.
Now, by pure chance, the wounded Sgt. providing overwatch had a clear shot into the ship. He traded 5.56 rounds and got Plasma in return. He chose a good position though and was protected by a low wall. The Aliens couldn't come out to get him nor expose themselves too long for every 2nd or 3rd shot rang home and punctured another small hole in the Lizardmen's scaly skin. The Sergeant tried valiantly to snipe the remaining Lizardmen but an earlier firefight, the one that left him with a golf ball sized hole in his calf, had used up much of his ammo. The bolt of his M16 remained in the open position as he patted every part of his body. He did it more from muscle memory or perhaps training than with any real hope of finding a magazine he'd forgotten about. He knew the battle was over for him. There was no way the Aliens could get a good shot at him as he slowly limped back to Dropship Charlie-1. The Sergeant paused briefly to look at the empty seats that less than an hour ago held the backsides of his friends. He took a deep breath and slapped the Emergency Return button. The ship's engines fired up as the auto-pilot lifted the ship off the ground and began it's 3 hour journey back to The Boot.
hhhmmm...this is now starting to sound like a game I must give a try......
Before I get sucked into this game, how complete is it right now? Are there a lot of missions included? Is there a campaign that works? Is it a replayable game or pretty scripted?
Quote from: KyzBP on March 08, 2014, 05:00:37 PM
I just had to abort a mission. I had 7 of 8 troops at the door of a small Scout. One soldier had to hang back due to severe wounds but he kept an overwatch on the ship's entrance. My assault team forced their way in and were met by a hail of Plasma fire. Those troops that were still able to, returned fire. As the dust cleared they could see 3 lizard-like Aliens taking cover in the Command Center.
I still haven't found an effective way to breach the scout ships without getting my team shot up. Opening the door, then firing a few rockets works ok, but then you won;t get the ship intact.
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on March 09, 2014, 09:53:10 AM
Before I get sucked into this game, how complete is it right now? Are there a lot of missions included? Is there a campaign that works? Is it a replayable game or pretty scripted?
Disclaimer: Been a few months since I've played.
Its still a beta. Its feeling more and more complete each build, but there's still missing text and images, and the overall balancing still needs a few passes. Last I played loading times where still a bit long, but a lot better then they were when it was first released.
Missions types are similar to the X-Com remake, you have missions where the scout lands or is shot down, terror missions, etc. I haven't personally got to it, but I believe the aliens will attack your bases.
I find it really replayable. If not for the missions. I'm constantly restarting to try and do things a little better. You do have some campaign scripted missions; capture a alien ship, capture and alien, etc, but unlike the Firaxis remake it doesn't seem to force it down your throat. Not sure what effect (if any) not doing them timely will eventually have on the campaign progression.
Thanks for the additional detail...I'll have to think about this one, but does seem like it is heading down the right path.
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on March 09, 2014, 09:53:10 AM
Before I get sucked into this game, how complete is it right now? Are there a lot of missions included? Is there a campaign that works? Is it a replayable game or pretty scripted?
I've been playing most of the weekend and it feels more or less complete. There are still some placeholders and missing script but I'm cruising along, 3 game months in, and it doesn't feel anymore scripted than the original XCOM. There seems to be plenty of mission and tile set variety. I like the ability to form interceptor squadrons to take down the bigger ships. If you liked the old style XCOM then this is a must have. I don't think there's anything any closer.
Breaching the scout ships is an almost guaranteed suicide mission. Someone will die. So far you'd be better off getting attached to a character from Game of Thrones than any of your soldiers. That being said, the Sergeant from the above story is now a Lieutenant and has survived an additional 2 missions. He now has upgraded armor which seems to have greatly increased his survivability.
Quote from: KyzBP on March 09, 2014, 10:57:44 AM
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on March 09, 2014, 09:53:10 AM
Before I get sucked into this game, how complete is it right now? Are there a lot of missions included? Is there a campaign that works? Is it a replayable game or pretty scripted?
I've been playing most of the weekend and it feels more or less complete. There are still some placeholders and missing script but I'm cruising along, 3 game months in, and it doesn't feel anymore scripted than the original XCOM. There seems to be plenty of mission and tile set variety. I like the ability to form interceptor squadrons to take down the bigger ships. If you liked the old style XCOM then this is a must have. I don't think there's anything any closer.
Breaching the scout ships is an almost guaranteed suicide mission. Someone will die. So far you'd be better off getting attached to a character from Game of Thrones than any of your soldiers. That being said, the Sergeant from the above story is now a Lieutenant and has survived an additional 2 missions. He now has upgraded armor which seems to have greatly increased his survivability.
I know I am likely to get crushed, but I never played the original XCOM, only the newer one that came out:) Love the reference to GOT, that alone might get me to buy it:)
Quote from: Kushan on March 09, 2014, 10:07:36 AM
Disclaimer: Been a few months since I've played.
Its still a beta. Its feeling more and more complete each build, but there's still missing text and images, and the overall balancing still needs a few passes. Last I played loading times where still a bit long, but a lot better then they were when it was first released.
Missions types are similar to the X-Com remake, you have missions where the scout lands or is shot down, terror missions, etc. I haven't personally got to it, but I believe the aliens will attack your bases.
I find it really replayable. If not for the missions. I'm constantly restarting to try and do things a little better. You do have some campaign scripted missions; capture a alien ship, capture and alien, etc, but unlike the Firaxis remake it doesn't seem to force it down your throat. Not sure what effect (if any) not doing them timely will eventually have on the campaign progression.
I played it back before Xmas, after a few updates had came out, and it seemed like much of the missing description text had been filled in. At least the stuff in the beginning. They also had some nice updates to other stuff, all around.
It's been filled out more since you last played, methinks. I suspect it's probably nearing official release.
I'm starting to get better at breaching the ships. I've learned that grenades are you friend. A Sniper and MG'ner with a clear line of sight into the ships doesn't hurt either.
In it's current state it is definitely playable. ;D
I just had one of the craziest thing happen in an XCOM-like game. My dropship, with my most experienced team, landed at a terror site. The next thing I know the Aliens are rushing my ship ala a Tower Defense style game. We were able to drop two but they made their way into the ship. After that the slaughter was on. Everyone was killed and, as far as I know, the Aliens are now the proud owner of a used Dropship.
Now I've been playing XCOM type games for as long as they've been out and only ONCE have I seen anything like that. Back in the Terror From The Deep game I returned to my sub after having to abort a mission. Inside my sub was a very angry Lobsterman. I lost that mission as well.
I think the AI difference between Xenonauts and the original XCOM is tremendous. They've done an excellent job.
One of their recent updates, just before Xmas maybe, was an AI and difficulty adjustment. Some people were complaining that it was now too hard but that just means that it would be more enjoyable. There is little that would make me shelve a game faster than one being a cakewalk with no risk of losing your team. :D
Quote from: Nefaro on March 11, 2014, 07:09:28 AM
One of their recent updates, just before Xmas maybe, was an AI and difficulty adjustment. Some people were complaining that it was now too hard but that just means that it would be more enjoyable. There is little that would make me shelve a game faster than one being a cakewalk with no risk of losing your team. :D
And there in lies the joy of multiple difficulty settings...I for one find games that are 'too hard' far
less enjoyable. I want a challenge but I can't stand games that punish you until you figure out the trick solution (which often has nothing to do with good tactics) to beating the scenario. By having a range of difficulty settings from easy to extremely difficult can make a game more accessible to all.
I can assure you that this is NO cakewalk. Just when I thought I found a tactic that worked the Aliens would either do something different or they would throw a different type of Alien at me. It's not like XCOM where, after you get lasers and first level armor, you can complete most missions with minimal loses and have plenty of soldiers with 20+ missions. I think the longest any of my soldiers has survived is 8 missions. Kamikaze pilots have a better chance of coming home safely than most of my troops.
As for the difficulty settings, there are four different setting ranging from Easy to Insane. I've been playing on the Normal setting (one up from easy) and am being challenged regularly by a pretty good AI. There are still a few minor issues but I'm sure those are being worked out.
I've been playing this non-stop for about 5 days now and haven't gotten sick of it yet. It's already created some very memorable gaming moments. I haven't had a game do that in a very long time. I highly recommend adding the Jsleezy Uniform Mod (http://xeno-mods.com/mod/153/jsleezy-s-real-armors) or, if you're like me, you'll have a hard time getting past the soldier screen because the default uniforms are just plain hideous.
I've been trying to hold off buying Xenonauts until it's finished completely but KyzBP you're making that a lot more difficult. :P
Quote from: bbmike on March 11, 2014, 10:53:39 AM
I've been trying to hold off buying Xenonauts until it's finished completely but KyzBP you're making that a lot more difficult. :P
I pledged during the Kickstarter campaign so I had an access key but like you BBMike, I was just going to wait until it was finished before I bothered firing it up. Curiosity got the best of me last weekend though and I fired it up just to see where it was in terms of being finished and I haven't stopped playing since. If you're an old XCOM fan I wouldn't hesitate buying this now. It's more playable as a Beta than a lot of the "finished" games that have been released.
Quote from: KyzBP on March 11, 2014, 08:21:35 AM
I highly recommend adding the Jsleezy Uniform Mod (http://xeno-mods.com/mod/153/jsleezy-s-real-armors) or, if you're like me, you'll have a hard time getting past the soldier screen because the default uniforms are just plain hideous.
Thanks a lot for the mod link. These look great compared to the stock janitor uniforms. :D
I may have to fire up Xenonauts soon, too. Last time I played, it seemed like it was late beta so it
must be nearing completion, down to small bug smashing & such.
Quote from: KyzBP on March 11, 2014, 08:21:35 AM
I can assure you that this is NO cakewalk. Just when I thought I found a tactic that worked the Aliens would either do something different or they would throw a different type of Alien at me. It's not like XCOM where, after you get lasers and first level armor, you can complete most missions with minimal loses and have plenty of soldiers with 20+ missions. I think the longest any of my soldiers has survived is 8 missions. Kamikaze pilots have a better chance of coming home safely than most of my troops.
The tactical aspects of the game have been through a intense phase of re-balancing. I've been on the 'Experimental' Steam branch, and I've seen the 'Normal' difficulty level to oscillate wildly from 'Peanuts' to 'Crazy'. I haven't checked the last two builds, but looking into the patch notes, I see that they have reduced aliens accuracy significantly, which is a good thing. They were getting crazy perfect shots - and killing troopers like flies - in the tradition of the old X-COM, where the AI had the deck significantly stacked in its favour.
I also like the latests changes in the Time Units, allowing your units to do more stuff. For quite some time, I was left wondering what was all the fuss with X-COM system of 'two-moves' or 'move-and-do-action' turns, when Xenonauts TU costs pretty much allowed your units to do at most a 'long-move' or a 'move-and-aimed-shoot'/'move-and-use-medkit' during your turn :)
I have been 'testing' Xenonauts since the pre-Kickstarter days, and it's been quite a ride. I am happy with how things have turned out, in the end, yet there was a moment in early 2013 that I feared that the project wouldn't get through the finish line. Having said this, I'd not recommend the game unless you really want to support Chris and his team. And I also warn prospective buyers that this is a game where gameplay trumps presentation.
PS: The art style might look a bit of a shambles, but I reckon is totally coherent with Chris' vision, who's clearly a big 'classic Sci-Fi' fan who grew up watching pretty much the same movies and shows I did, and has dotted the game with little homages to quite iconic stuff. Hence your troops starting 'outfits' resemble so much those of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. troopers 'upgrading' to have a lovely S.W.A.T. TV Show kind of feel, and the 'starter-level' aliens are wearing redshirts :)
Bought it. My initial impressions are quite positive so far! Plays much like the original XCOM which is a very good thing IMO. As for the the graphics, it looks like they are fairly easy to mod. For now I'm okay with the stock graphics. It is supposed to be the 1970s after all. ;D
Gresham..stop posting people!!! Trying hard to resist.
Quote from: Bletchley_Geek on March 11, 2014, 06:20:38 PM
Quote from: KyzBP on March 11, 2014, 08:21:35 AM
I can assure you that this is NO cakewalk. Just when I thought I found a tactic that worked the Aliens would either do something different or they would throw a different type of Alien at me. It's not like XCOM where, after you get lasers and first level armor, you can complete most missions with minimal loses and have plenty of soldiers with 20+ missions. I think the longest any of my soldiers has survived is 8 missions. Kamikaze pilots have a better chance of coming home safely than most of my troops.
The tactical aspects of the game have been through a intense phase of re-balancing. I've been on the 'Experimental' Steam branch, and I've seen the 'Normal' difficulty level to oscillate wildly from 'Peanuts' to 'Crazy'. I haven't checked the last two builds, but looking into the patch notes, I see that they have reduced aliens accuracy significantly, which is a good thing. They were getting crazy perfect shots - and killing troopers like flies - in the tradition of the old X-COM, where the AI had the deck significantly stacked in its favour.
I also like the latests changes in the Time Units, allowing your units to do more stuff. For quite some time, I was left wondering what was all the fuss with X-COM system of 'two-moves' or 'move-and-do-action' turns, when Xenonauts TU costs pretty much allowed your units to do at most a 'long-move' or a 'move-and-aimed-shoot'/'move-and-use-medkit' during your turn :)
I have been 'testing' Xenonauts since the pre-Kickstarter days, and it's been quite a ride. I am happy with how things have turned out, in the end, yet there was a moment in early 2013 that I feared that the project wouldn't get through the finish line. Having said this, I'd not recommend the game unless you really want to support Chris and his team. And I also warn prospective buyers that this is a game where gameplay trumps presentation.
PS: The art style might look a bit of a shambles, but I reckon is totally coherent with Chris' vision, who's clearly a big 'classic Sci-Fi' fan who grew up watching pretty much the same movies and shows I did, and has dotted the game with little homages to quite iconic stuff. Hence your troops starting 'outfits' resemble so much those of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. troopers 'upgrading' to have a lovely S.W.A.T. TV Show kind of feel, and the 'starter-level' aliens are wearing redshirts :)
B-G: I'm not 100% sure what you're getting at. I can't tell whether you're praising or panning the game. What I can tell you, as someone with NO ties to the creators of the the game, is that it is a great game, even in it's Beta state. I'm having loads of fun right now. I'm getting my powder blue covered butt kicked all over the planet. I think it's great that in the beginning you have about a 30% survival rate, if you survive at all. That's how I imagine it would be. Eventually we'd figure it out and, hopefully, come out on top but not without a ton of losses. That's what I'm experiencing right now. Small gains.
As far as presentation goes I'd say it's well within what a Grog will tolerate. I think most of us are a function over fashion crew and those of us who happily lost months or more of our lives playing XCOM in the 90's will appreciate what the creators have done with this. This has more of the traditional XCOM feel than games recently released with XCOM in their title. My only complaint was the uniforms. I've already found a few mods that take care of that though so it's no big deal.
Thanks for all the time and probable input you've put into this games over the years. Those of us who place XCOM at the top of the Best Games of All Time list (will) appreciate what you guys have done. It's been too long since I've played a game where I've completely lost track of time but this one has that ability, even in it's Beta state.
Quote from: bbmike on March 11, 2014, 06:31:40 PM
Bought it. My initial impressions are quite positive so far! Plays much like the original XCOM which is a very good thing IMO. As for the the graphics, it looks like they are fairly easy to mod. For now I'm okay with the stock graphics. It is supposed to be the 1970s after all. ;D
;D
Quote from: KyzBP on March 11, 2014, 06:47:14 PM
B-G: I'm not 100% sure what you're getting at. I can't tell whether you're praising or panning the game. What I can tell you, as someone with NO ties to the creators of the the game, is that it is a great game, even in it's Beta state. I'm having loads of fun right now. I'm getting my powder blue covered butt kicked all over the planet. I think it's great that in the beginning you have about a 30% survival rate, if you survive at all. That's how I imagine it would be. Eventually we'd figure it out and, hopefully, come out on top but not without a ton of losses. That's what I'm experiencing right now. Small gains.
As far as presentation goes I'd say it's well within what a Grog will tolerate. I think most of us are a function over fashion crew and those of us who happily lost months or more of our lives playing XCOM in the 90's will appreciate what the creators have done with this. This has more of the traditional XCOM feel than games recently released with XCOM in their title. My only complaint was the uniforms. I've already found a few mods that take care of that though so it's no big deal.
Thanks for all the time and probable input you've put into this games over the years. Those of us who place XCOM at the top of the Best Games of All Time list (will) appreciate what you guys have done. It's been too long since I've played a game where I've completely lost track of time but this one has that ability, even in it's Beta state.
I can't really pan or give excessive praise to a game that isn't finished, Kyz, it's design and game play has been in flux for a very long time. I wouldn't say I have "tie" with Chris and his crew other than that of having put some money in their pockets and encouraged them when all they had on the table was a quite messy alpha build in February 2012 (the original programmer Chris had in his team basically sold him a lot of bullcrap, chose the worst engine ever for this kind of game and left the job unfinished and undocumented, which sucks at many levels). Indeed I do have an emotional "tie" with them as I have been hanging out on their forums for a long time, sending some bug reports and participating on their remote data collection scheme.
Regarding game play vs. presentation: I don't make any assumptions on that, mate. I also find difficult to recommend without reservations an Early Access game. Caveat emptor and all that :)
Played a little bit of this tonight while I was waiting for the Titanfall que. Playing on normal. Breezed through the first two missions with only 1 wounded in the first the one. Was feeling rather confident, and then I got to the 3rd mission. Got half my squad killed right at the start by two thin men types that spawned right outside my shuttle. Luckily I saved before I started making moves. I normally try and not reload when things go bad, but I'm going to reload and make another attempt at it tomorrow.
Love how this game can just yanked the carpet out from under you if your not careful.
Quote from: Bletchley_Geek on March 11, 2014, 11:06:06 PM
I can't really pan or give excessive praise to a game that isn't finished, Kyz, it's design and game play has been in flux for a very long time...
On that note I did read on their forums in this thread (http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/9197-Entering-Polishing-phase!) (that was posted yesterday!) that they are basically done with the base game. It's one of the reasons I decided to go ahead and get it.
Quote from: bbmike on March 12, 2014, 08:08:03 AM
Quote from: Bletchley_Geek on March 11, 2014, 11:06:06 PM
I can't really pan or give excessive praise to a game that isn't finished, Kyz, it's design and game play has been in flux for a very long time...
On that note I did read on their forums in this thread (http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/9197-Entering-Polishing-phase!) (that was posted yesterday!) that they are basically done with the base game. It's one of the reasons I decided to go ahead and get it.
Yeah, it's true they're polishing. Let's see how this final bug hunt goes, but I wouldn't be surprised that more rebalancing takes place. In any case, and just to further clarify my take on Xenonauts: it's shaping up to be perhaps the most satisfying crowd-funded revivals I have supported (Wasteland 2 is also looking pretty good to me).
You know with all the X-com clones, none have surpassed it, maybe some one should just update the original with new graphics?
Quote from: Bletchley_Geek on March 12, 2014, 08:53:22 AM
Quote from: bbmike on March 12, 2014, 08:08:03 AM
Quote from: Bletchley_Geek on March 11, 2014, 11:06:06 PM
I can't really pan or give excessive praise to a game that isn't finished, Kyz, it's design and game play has been in flux for a very long time...
On that note I did read on their forums in this thread (http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/9197-Entering-Polishing-phase!) (that was posted yesterday!) that they are basically done with the base game. It's one of the reasons I decided to go ahead and get it.
Yeah, it's true they're polishing. Let's see how this final bug hunt goes, but I wouldn't be surprised that more rebalancing takes place. In any case, and just to further clarify my take on Xenonauts: it's shaping up to be perhaps the most satisfying crowd-funded revivals I have supported (Wasteland 2 is also looking pretty good to me).
I agree completely. Wasteland 2 still has a bit of work in front of it but I like the direction it's headed.
Quote from: SgtRock on March 12, 2014, 02:58:59 PM
You know with all the X-com clones, none have surpassed it, maybe some one should just update the original with new graphics?
I've been saying the same thing for yearsssss. I think this game is as close as it's going to get though.
Just had a full team wipe during a small base assault mission. I might have established a second base in North America too early. Using it mainly for radar and for fighters. It seems to be working so far but upkeep costs might be too high for being only a few months in.
Noticed some weird behavior, most notable was some aliens just appearing out of nowhere. I'd be in a room with no enemies when I hit end turn, and then an alien will spawn in the middle of the room and shoot up half my squad. Also has anyone noticed aliens don't seem to open doors
Quote from: Kushan on March 19, 2014, 12:32:30 AM
Also has anyone noticed aliens don't seem to open doors
Trippy...must be the same guys from the movie Signs.
Quote from: Kushan on March 19, 2014, 12:32:30 AM
Just had a full team wipe during a small base assault mission. I might have established a second base in North America too early. Using it mainly for radar and for fighters. It seems to be working so far but upkeep costs might be too high for being only a few months in.
Noticed some weird behavior, most notable was some aliens just appearing out of nowhere. I'd be in a room with no enemies when I hit end turn, and then an alien will spawn in the middle of the room and shoot up half my squad. Also has anyone noticed aliens don't seem to open doors
Maybe they just teleport straight through doors and don't need to open them?
Any of you try out the big update that came out this weekend?
Says it breaks save games so you'll be starting a new one.
Quote from: Nefaro on March 23, 2014, 01:19:59 AM
Any of you try out the big update that came out this weekend?
Says it breaks save games so you'll be starting a new one.
I've been playing with the experimental build. Think I'm going to restart now that its an official patch. I've reached a rather large brick wall in my current campaign anyway. I can do the normal shot down UFO missions without taking too many casualties, usually, but the terror and base assault missions just rip my team apart. I've tried both several times with different team compositions and its a full team wipe every time. On one terror mission attempt I barely even make it off my transport before I got my team stuck in a viscous cross fire that ripped them apart.
Quote from: Kushan on March 23, 2014, 03:40:37 PM
Quote from: Nefaro on March 23, 2014, 01:19:59 AM
Any of you try out the big update that came out this weekend?
Says it breaks save games so you'll be starting a new one.
I've been playing with the experimental build. Think I'm going to restart now that its an official patch. I've reached a rather large brick wall in my current campaign anyway. I can do the normal shot down UFO missions without taking too many casualties, usually, but the terror and base assault missions just rip my team apart. I've tried both several times with different team compositions and its a full team wipe every time. On one terror mission attempt I barely even make it off my transport before I got my team stuck in a viscous cross fire that ripped them apart.
I stopped for the time being for exactly Kushan's reasons. I may have to start again.
Quote from: KyzBP on March 23, 2014, 03:45:09 PM
Quote from: Kushan on March 23, 2014, 03:40:37 PM
Quote from: Nefaro on March 23, 2014, 01:19:59 AM
Any of you try out the big update that came out this weekend?
Says it breaks save games so you'll be starting a new one.
I've been playing with the experimental build. Think I'm going to restart now that its an official patch. I've reached a rather large brick wall in my current campaign anyway. I can do the normal shot down UFO missions without taking too many casualties, usually, but the terror and base assault missions just rip my team apart. I've tried both several times with different team compositions and its a full team wipe every time. On one terror mission attempt I barely even make it off my transport before I got my team stuck in a viscous cross fire that ripped them apart.
I stopped for the time being for exactly Kushan's reasons. I may have to start again.
I'm not sure what to do. The base assault mission doesn't seem to be critical at the moment. At least I don't have the game saying go attack it. Not sure about the terror missions, can't really avoid them without a massive drop in reputation. I could try using the scout car, but taking 4 members out of my team to fit it in seems like a tactical disadvantage to me.
Anyone else having crash issues? I am stuck on a mission which continues to crash, so I am hesitant to start another game. Thinking of waiting until official release, but have enjoyed playing it lately.
PE
Quote from: PanzersEast on March 31, 2014, 08:17:52 AM
Anyone else having crash issues? I am stuck on a mission which continues to crash, so I am hesitant to start another game. Thinking of waiting until official release, but have enjoyed playing it lately.
PE
Because the new update wasn't saved game compatible I've put Xenonauts on hold for a bit. I don't feel like starting all over right now.
Quote from: KyzBP on March 31, 2014, 04:21:29 PM
Quote from: PanzersEast on March 31, 2014, 08:17:52 AM
Anyone else having crash issues? I am stuck on a mission which continues to crash, so I am hesitant to start another game. Thinking of waiting until official release, but have enjoyed playing it lately.
PE
Because the new update wasn't saved game compatible I've put Xenonauts on hold for a bit. I don't feel like starting all over right now.
So was it an update compatibility issue?
Quote from: Nefaro on March 31, 2014, 07:04:15 PM
Quote from: KyzBP on March 31, 2014, 04:21:29 PM
Quote from: PanzersEast on March 31, 2014, 08:17:52 AM
Anyone else having crash issues? I am stuck on a mission which continues to crash, so I am hesitant to start another game. Thinking of waiting until official release, but have enjoyed playing it lately.
PE
Because the new update wasn't saved game compatible I've put Xenonauts on hold for a bit. I don't feel like starting all over right now.
So was it an update compatibility issue?
I can confirm that it is. I thought I had disabled the experimental updates, however I had not. There was an update and it broke my saved game. I'm going to set back and wait until release, have to say it is very well done game and I am anxiously ready to play a full run through.
PE
The website says they plan the final release around mid-June.
See announcement at: http://www.xenonauts.com/category/news/
Really, really, really hope this works out.
Quote from: airboy on April 08, 2014, 12:21:17 PM
The website says they plan the final release around mid-June.
See announcement at: http://www.xenonauts.com/category/news/
Really, really, really hope this works out.
Why wouldn't it? Has been pretty solid when I've played it in the past half year.
Or do you hope they make the release date? I wouldn't be too concerned about that since we already have it. Release day doesn't really change anything these days since it's Early Access. There are always patches after early access games are released, too.
I think the biggest date to arrive with all these Early Access games is the Beta stage, which is when they are supposed to be feature complete. The feature complete part varies by developer though. I've seen some that are barely Alpha be called a "Beta". ???
I'll clarify.
I hope that the game is released complete and relatively bug free.
I hope the game has proper play balance.
I hope the game that is released is fun.
I don't do early releases for lots of reasons. I just hope the final product is fun and worthy of the name.
Quote from: airboy on April 08, 2014, 04:10:42 PM
I'll clarify.
I hope that the game is released complete and relatively bug free.
I hope the game has proper play balance.
I hope the game that is released is fun.
I don't do early releases for lots of reasons. I just hope the final product is fun and worthy of the name.
Ahh. I thought you already had it.
Looks like final release is upon us, at least for the final version....won't be official for a couple weeks but sounds like the latest update is the final version, minus any bug fixes and such.
http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/10219-Xenonauts-V1-0-Released
Ok, caved and bought this one too:) Like the look and feel of it after one battle...not going to play until the release version comes later tonight, but I can see this looks like a winner....tense tactical battle against a couple of aliens....the fog of war is a killer...trying to hunt and find them is nervous time when you have no idea where they are:)
I have been impressed with the AI and toughness so far.....tried again this morning and at a "small" crash site I just had my entire team wiped out! I thought it being a small site, likely only a couple of aliens running around....boy was I wrong. As I engaged the first alien, multiple other aliens flanked my entire team and my team was helpless. One after one, they all died...I was able to make it to the ship with my last surviving soldier...heaved a grenade at the alien I saw, but missed the 2nd alien that was hiding in the ship which promptly looked around their barricade and killed me.....
Even in a bloodbath like this it was a fun experience.....I was just really surprised how tough the 1st mission was.....great start.
So it's officially released now? Or they just announced that it will be soon?
Quote from: Nefaro on June 01, 2014, 10:22:27 AM
So it's officially released now? Or they just announced that it will be soon?
Officially unofficial.
It is now the released 1.0 version. The extra time for "official" announcement is for pr and review copies to be sent out.
PE
Yep, released and like Panzer said, the rest of the time is just for bug fixes and pr stuff....played last night and this morning, enjoying it so far. Should have bought long ago:)
i.e., previous buys have been upgraded to version 1 (mine upgraded automatically on Steam yesterday), and any new buys will be at version 1 or later (or possibly instant-updated on Steam after purchase, not quite sure how it handles the switch from beta to official.)
Congratulations to the Gold Hawk guys, and I hope they'll be (even more?) successful!
Played over the weekend and after my guys keep dying per usual in all the missions I couldn't help but then I could use some Space Marines to wipe out these xenomorph heretics.... Chainsword anyone?
PE
Has Xenonauts been part of the Steam Summer Sale yet? If not, think it might be?
Quote from: steve58 on June 25, 2014, 04:04:25 PM
Has Xenonauts been part of the Steam Summer Sale yet? If not, think it might be?
Doubt it, was just released couple weeks ago and at that time it was already on sale for $19. Could be wrong but think people who invested in it at that time would likely not be happy.
It is definitely at $25 this morning. Entirely reasonable that it wouldn't be in the Summer Sale, as they've had good sales on it recently and probably need the extra cash right now. Besides, $25 is quite reasonable in itself for an updated X-Com successor that isn't horribly buggy and/or cursed with a terrible interface.
(Note: excluding the official XCOM which is awesome and I love it to death but only about 70% an X-Com successor.)
Thx GR, Jason -- I'd like to pick it up, but will probably hold out for a sale.
I bought Xenonauts from the Humble Store (https://www.humblebundle.com/store/p/xenonauts_storefront). Both the Steam and DRM-Free versions are priced at $24.99 there.
Quote from: Greybriar on June 26, 2014, 10:03:01 AM
I bought Xenonauts from the Humble Store (https://www.humblebundle.com/store/p/xenonauts_storefront). Both the Steam and DRM-Free versions are priced at $24.99 there.
GOG also has it DRM-free.
Quote from: Nefaro on June 26, 2014, 10:04:07 AM
Quote from: Greybriar on June 26, 2014, 10:03:01 AM
I bought Xenonauts from the Humble Store (https://www.humblebundle.com/store/p/xenonauts_storefront). Both the Steam and DRM-Free versions are priced at $24.99 there.
GOG also has it DRM-free.
Thanks for mentioning that. I knew it was but failed to include that option in my post.
It wasn't available from GOG when I purchased it from the Humble Store. I would have bought it from GOG if it had been.
I'm having a great time with this game but seem unable to get additional bases operational before losing regions. I'm not sure where the balance lays between pushing resources into better gear for tactical and base development.
Quote from: Sparhawk on July 03, 2014, 06:41:49 PM
I'm having a great time with this game but seem unable to get additional bases operational before losing regions.
Unlike the Firaxis remake, I don't think you can completely lose regions funding in Xenonauts. I've hD regions in the poor category for awhile in my current game but their still supplying some funding, although it's significantly reduced.
I started an iron man game this afternoon. Was going pretty good until my base got attacked. First time I've made it this far in, not sure what to expect.
I'm playing on veteran using ironman rules without actually using ironman, as I'm getting the odd crash so this way I can save more often without having to exit the game. The only mods I'm using are the ultimate map pack and my xtended soldiers mod with a home- brew rank mod. No gameplay mods, so to speak.
I have two teams, one in North America and one in Europe. Both have been completely wiped out twice so far. I'd love to have some kind of memorial screen so I could see how many troops I've lost. It's been very brutal to say the least. ;D
I've researched lasers and hope to equip the teams with them as soon I've built some Migs. I'm encountering corvettes now and the Condors don't cut it against them. Hopefully I can upgrade armour as well. I need to get more engineers and and workshops but that's offset by maintenance costs and a diminishing income due to not being able to be everywhere. It's a very fine balancing act to get what you need.
Great stuff! ;D
I'd just rebuilt my European team, all of them X-0 rookies except one X-0 who had a gong for being wounded in her last and only mission (My ranking system is X-0 to X-7). I equipped a couple of guys with my only available laser rifles and sent them to a corvette crash site.
When we got there, we encountered a new alien that was lightning fast and had two big appendages that would turn it's victim into what looked like a bloated Christmas turkey on legs. Said victim would attack the nearest xenonaut in melee. If you shot the victim, another alien would explode out of the body. These must be the Xenonaut's version of the chrysalids. Gave me the creeps. ;D.
Anyway, that bastards wiped me out, I lost my new weapons and I need another team again...
Started a new game yesterday. My other game came to an abrupt end. I was successful in defending my primary base with only two loses. The next deployment was a terror site, and on the way my only dropship with my main team got shot down. Since I had neglected on alternating newbies in, that was pretty much the end that far into a game. Not making the same mistake this time. I've been running two team since I could manage it, but its delayed getting my second base in Central America up and running.
Anyone have any advice on secondary bases? Do you make them a full bases with research and manufacturing or simply some radars, hangers, and living quarters to launch strikes from?
Quote from: Kushan on July 06, 2014, 07:48:19 PM
Started a new game yesterday. My other game came to an abrupt end. I was successful in defending my primary base with only two loses. The next deployment was a terror site, and on the way my only dropship with my main team got shot down. Since I had neglected on alternating newbies in, that was pretty much the end that far into a game. Not making the same mistake this time. I've been running two team since I could manage it, but its delayed getting my second base in Central America up and running.
Anyone have any advice on secondary bases? Do you make them a full bases with research and manufacturing or simply some radars, hangers, and living quarters to launch strikes from?
I usually have just one full base and a 2 to 3 secondary bases with just hangers, troop quarters, hospital, alien containment, and storage.
My best game, before the full release, I had No primary base, 3 small bases, an interceptor only base, and an R&D/Manufacturing/Special Forces(RDMS) base. I would just ship anything the small bases needed from the RDMS base. All aliens and alien tech were transferred to the RDMS base for study. The Best of the Best were housed at this base. They received all the latest equipment first but were always sent on the toughest missions (terror sites, new alien ships, alien bases, etc...). The RDMS base wasn't built until about 9 months in if I remember right. It took that long before I had troops that could consistently survive contact.