Like the old X-Com Games

[Airhog]

Try this game out

http://ufoai.ninex.info/?page=About

[Marc Vaughan]

Nice timing - just got pipped on ebay for a copy of X-com (and 'from the deep') .. :D

[Honolulu_Blue]

I've been playing X-Com on GameTap recently. Still an great, great game. How there has yet to be a better turn-based squad-level game better than X-Com is baffling to me.

I'll check this one out.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Nice timing - just got pipped on ebay for a copy of X-com (and 'from the deep') .. :D

I'm going to need a translation for 'pipped'. I won't make any further comments until I get a definition.

[Coffee Warlord]

It's a helluva start, but it needs a few more features finished to be considered Uber Fun.

[Icy]

UFO is the best game ever for me. As Mizzou, i'm amazed that nobody has been able to beat it by now.

[spleen1015]

You can get the first 2 X-Coms at the underdogs. They are easy to get working with DOS-box.

[Atocep]

At this point I'd be happy with a remake of X-Com. I'm not talking about a flashy 3-D world remake where they completely redo the game. I'm just talking about making a version that works better on Windows.

[Icy]

You can get the first 2 X-Coms at the underdogs. They are easy to get working with DOS-box.

But can you run them in an acceptable speed? last time i tried an emulator, the clock ran so fast and everything was hyper accelerated.

[Pumpy Tudors]

At this point I'd be happy with a remake of X-Com. I'm not talking about a flashy 3-D world remake where they completely redo the game. I'm just talking about making a version that works better on Windows.
Yep, that would be nice. For now, I would think that the most stable version to play is on GameTap, but that would require the GameTap subscription. Personally, I recommend GameTap because there are so many games on it, but of course it's not for everybody.

[spleen1015]

But can you run them in an acceptable speed? last time i tried an emulator, the clock ran so fast and everything was hyper accelerated.

hxxp://www.xcomufo.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2989

[Honolulu_Blue]

Yep, that would be nice. For now, I would think that the most stable version to play is on GameTap, but that would require the GameTap subscription. Personally, I recommend GameTap because there are so many games on it, but of course it's not for everybody.

I second this recommendation. I've enjoyed Game Tap considerably. X-Com is sort of the cherry on top of the sundae for me.

I've never really had much success with running X-Com on more advanced PCs either. I have the problem Icy had with the speed and have never been able to get the sound to work.

I haven't had these problems at all with Game Tap. I have, however, had the game crash quite a bit, which is sad.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I haven't had these problems at all with Game Tap. I have, however, had the game crash quite a bit, which is sad.
Yikes. Well, crashing is a serious issue that I wouldn't have expected from a GameTap game. Sam & Max did crash on me one time, but I've had good experiences playing PC games on GameTap otherwise.

[Honolulu_Blue]

At this point I'd be happy with a remake of X-Com. I'm not talking about a flashy 3-D world remake where they completely redo the game. I'm just talking about making a version that works better on Windows.

I have this discussion with my friends at least once a year. How hard can it be to re-make this game?

I would love to see some updated graphics, a few game play tweaks here and there, and that's pretty much it.

[spleen1015]

Something else that may help in getting them to work with DOS Box.

hxxp://commanderx.xcomufo.com/downloads/important.html

I also used Dosbox to play Master of Orion. It was the first time I ever played that game with sound.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Yikes. Well, crashing is a serious issue that I wouldn't have expected from a GameTap game. Sam & Max did crash on me one time, but I've had good experiences playing PC games on GameTap otherwise.

I was pretty surprised too. I've never had any problems with a Game Tap game until X-Com. X-Com was always a bit unstable, but I was surprised when it happened.

A good friend of mine writes the summaries, tips, tactics, and what have you for Game Tap and he told me that they were having a lot of problems de-coding (I don't know what that means) X-Com and making it compatible with the Game Tap enging, much more so than any other game. I haven't played X-Com in a few weeks now, perhaps a recent update solved the problems.

[Greyroofoo]

i second dosbox, I get UFO Defense to run perfectly acceptable with good frame rates.


Now if I could only get X-Com apocalypse working for me.....

[Julio Riddols]

Rebelstar Tactical Command is a pretty good game on the gameboy advance, Similar to XCom as well.

[Yossarian]

Rebelstar (unlike the UFO game mentioned in initial post) is actually made by the Gollop brothers behind X-Com. It has a very VERY similar combat mode, but it's too fixed-story based for my liking and has no over-arching strategic element.

[Abe Sargent]

Anybody actually play the above game? (Alien Invasion) What are your thoughts?

[Airhog]

Finally able to sit down and play through it a bit. The game is similar to X-com. a bit simpler in some regards, for example I could not figure out how to face my guys in one direction without moving.

So far though this is a good knockoff of x-com. If you enjoyed that game, I think you will enjoy this one as well.

[Julio Riddols]

Rebelstar (unlike the UFO game mentioned in initial post) is actually made by the Gollop brothers behind X-Com. It has a very VERY similar combat mode, but it's too fixed-story based for my liking and has no over-arching strategic element.

Agreed.. It is the game that made me want to play XCom in the first place, but it doesn't feel nearly as "free" due to the set storyline. I keep hoping they come out with a sequel which is basically XCom on the GBA.. But I doubt that happens.

[Airhog]

Well, I played some more. Found out that the missions are not randomized, meaning there are only so many you do before the game ends. Quite a bummer.

[mckerney]

I could not figure out how to face my guys in one direction without moving.

Took me a while to figure this out as well, but if you hit control the selected unit will turn towards the cursor.

[Airhog]

figured that out right after I posted mckerny thanks

[Airhog]

so it looks like the storyline isn't implemented yet, still a work in progress there, I think thats the biggest turn off. I liked to open feel to the UFO series, evne if there was a storyline and an ending

[Vince]

I have this discussion with my friends at least once a year. How hard can it be to re-make this game?

I would love to see some updated graphics, a few game play tweaks here and there, and that's pretty much it.

For the most part I agree, but being able to assign your troops specific weapons so that you don't have to re-arrange everything for each mission would be nice.

[Groundhog]

For the most part I agree, but being able to assign your troops specific weapons so that you don't have to re-arrange everything for each mission would be nice.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, YES! That was easily the most annoying aspect of the game. I had to rename everyone to HEAVY GUNNER and SCOUT just so I'd remember which guys I had doing what.

[Honolulu_Blue]

For the most part I agree, but being able to assign your troops specific weapons so that you don't have to re-arrange everything for each mission would be nice.

Totally. That's always in the "Top 5" of recommended changes. We'd also like to see your soldiers be able to hop a fence, climb through a window, lie down on their stomachs, etc. Also the ability to handle promotions would be nice. The ability to train certain soldiers in certain areas. There's a host of others, but re-equipping everyone before the mission is a pain in the ass.

[Atocep]

I finally got around to getting a Gametap account and the first game I tried out was X-Com. I get audio, but a black screen. :mad:


I called tech support and they were at a loss to explain it. All my drivers are up to date and the games they had me try out all worked fine. Its frustrating...

[SirFozzie]

So tempted to link the X-Comish game someone sent me a link to the other day, but I like my account too much.

The game name is "Pretty Soldier Wars A.D. 2048", and as you probably guessed, its a Japanese game that combines the game style play of X-Com with.. um.. hardcore tentacle pr0n. Just... guh. My mind be broken

[spleen1015]

I finally got around to getting a Gametap account and the first game I tried out was X-Com. I get audio, but a black screen. :mad:


I called tech support and they were at a loss to explain it. All my drivers are up to date and the games they had me try out all worked fine. Its frustrating...

Is your monitor on?

[Atocep]

Is your monitor on?


Son of a....

[Eilim]

Thought some of you might be interested in this UFO:ET (http://www.matrixgames.com/news.asp?nid=394).. Supposed to be released tonight at midnight, although I'm hoping they release it sooner as I work third shift :( . Been waiting for this one for a while now.

[SirFozzie]

I've read over on another video game forum I read that your soldiers are immortal (IE, even if they die in battle, they'll be available in the next mission), which turns it into a big time NO-SALE for me.

[SirFozzie]

Ah, here it is:

http://gamepro.com/computer/pc/games/reviews/110731.shtml

But while it is executed well, the tactical system does have some significant flaws. The biggest is the fact that none of your infantry units can actually be killed in battle -- they are merely incapacitated, largely killing any sense of tension inherent in the battles themselves. Moreover, in the early game, players will be doing a lot of saving and reloading because Chaos Concept has bafflingly decided to eliminate the manual recruitment of new troops, choosing instead to bring them forth in a steady trickle. This increases the negative impact that an injured soldier can have on your planning tenfold and really handcuffs you in your efforts. It is only when you get more advanced medical facilities that these problems become less worrisome, but as is, the system really doesn't fit into the general scheme of things.

[Eilim]

At first that had me worried as well, but after reading this thread (http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1448533) along with a few others from people with hands on experience with the game, my worries faded a bit and I'm back to looking forward to getting my mits on it.

[moriarty]

At first that had me worried as well, but after reading this thread (http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1448533) along with a few others from people with hands on experience with the game, my worries faded a bit and I'm back to looking forward to getting my mits on it.

Isnt' that the same Erik that was defending Maximum Football or am I getting them confused.

[Eilim]

I believe so, but as I didn't purchase MF, and I've been nothing but happy with all my other matrix purchases.. I just act like the whole MF "incident" never happened. ;)

[Antmeister]

Isnt' that the same Erik that was defending Maximum Football or am I getting them confused.

He sure is. It would be hard for me to trust him based on his comments dealing with Maximum Football. If I get some trusted thorough reviews that come out positive, I wouldn't hesitate picking this up in the future.

Does anyone know how much this is going to cost? The last version of this game sell for $30, but knowing Matrix, I can see them selling this for $50+.

[Eilim]

In general, most of the bashing of the game I've read, while bringing up some valid points, are *mostly* people ranting that its not just the xcom game with updated graphics.

A few decent reads from people with gameplay time:

http://www.ufo-extraterrestrials.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1465

http://www.ufo-extraterrestrials.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1491

I'll be picking it up myself, even though I do feel its a bit overpriced, luckily videogames are my only somewhat pricey vice as of late so it doesn't trouble me too much to part with the cash.

[Axxon]

I've been playing X-Com on GameTap recently. Still an great, great game. How there has yet to be a better turn-based squad-level game better than X-Com is baffling to me.

I'll check this one out.

This game is in the top 3 but to me, Jagged Edge: Deadly Games is untouched as the best turn-based squad-level game ever. Nothing else even close. And it's the one game I absolutely loved multiplayer more than any other game.

I remember the excitement of playing against my brother ( a marine who simply would not be beaten and was a tough foe.

I remember the time we played and I was stuck on an island with one bridge. His squad was across the bridge and hidden in the woods and time was running out.

Fidel, my cuban marksman was a crack shot but tended to get tunnel vision once he had a target. Fidel was in the lead when he decided to stop halfway across the bridge and take out a scout he saw.

Well, he drops him but the scout is still moving so Fidel won't move. No one can get around him and he's not stopping until he offs the incapacitated guy. Meanwhile my crew is getting shot at en mass and has nowhere to run, literally. I watch two of my squad go down and victory is flowing away from me faster than the river around me.

I have no choice. I call for Ivan.

Ivan is my Russian assassin who is absolutely the greatest character ever in a tactical game. Quiet like a cat, an expert marksman, Ivan never has much to say but he gets his point across.

I look at Ivan and he looks at me. I nod. Ivan pulls his pistol and strolls up to the kneeling cuban.

"Hrahsha, hrasha" he says as he pulls the trigger sending brains across the bridge but clearing the way for us to finally cross the bridge while we still had the strength to manage a most satisfying victory over a stunned marine.

XCOM never managed that even though it's one of my favorite games ever and I miss it but I miss JA:DG so badly it hurts.

[Blade6119]

Terror from the deep is available on steam now, for $2.45 right now if any of you are interested.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Terror from the deep is available on steam now, for $2.45 right now if any of you are interested.

I am trying to think how much someone would have to pay me to play that game again. Man, it was awful. A friend of mine tried to actually play it through. It took him two DAYS to finish one base mission.

[SackAttack]

Yep, that would be nice. For now, I would think that the most stable version to play is on GameTap, but that would require the GameTap subscription. Personally, I recommend GameTap because there are so many games on it, but of course it's not for everybody.

GameTap is awesome.

They're going to be introducing a free (ad-supported) player later this month. Wonder if X-Com will make it to that.

[SunDevil]

In general, most of the bashing of the game I've read, while bringing up some valid points, are *mostly* people ranting that its not just the xcom game with updated graphics.

A few decent reads from people with gameplay time:

http://www.ufo-extraterrestrials.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1465

http://www.ufo-extraterrestrials.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1491

I'll be picking it up myself, even though I do feel its a bit overpriced, luckily videogames are my only somewhat pricey vice as of late so it doesn't trouble me too much to part with the cash.

This game sounds great, minus the potential memory leaks.

[SunDevil]

Found another post on the official forums, thought I would share it.

X-COM Light

Hello!

The first game I played of Julian Gollop was Laser Squad. It was the prequel for
X-Com - UFO Defence or UFO - Enemy Unknown. Ofcource I played it for hours and
hours and after X-Com was released I could cry for joy! It was possible to beat
a mega game like Laser Squad times 10??? X-Com did it!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Gollop

I now played UFO - Extraterrestrials and it is just like X-Com... only with less.

I called this topic X-Com Light because this is what I felt playing this game. So
many options not there. So many bugs and so unbalanced:

The shooting of your soldiers is just rediculess, they can't hit anything without
using the AP costly aiming. Even the weapon platform needed 3 aimed shots to hit (not kill)
an alien 3 squares in front of him.
At one point I dropped all shooting weapons and only went on mission with grenades!
You can pack a lot of nades in a soldier and because using the inventory cost no AP (!)
you can be like a little artillery piece. Every soldier can lob 3 grenades in one turn (!)
they rarely miss. I always walk around with groups of 4 soldiers. That is 12 grenades on
any alien the group encounters... grenades cannot be primed anymore, they explode with a
silent bang on impact.

- You do not have to buy ammo for weapon platforms and craft weapons.
(I liked managing this myself!)

- You can sell weapons and weapon platforms even as they are on a transport flying
outside the base (BUG!)

- The UFOPEDIA is poorly. I counted about 5 spelling errors and as you research the Scout UFO
they even talk about Earth.. although the game does take place on another planet.

- No autopsies anymore.

- You cannot buy soldiers, scientists or engineers anymore. You get 10 scientists/engineers
for every laboratory/workshop and soldiers arrive at your base every few month.

- Soldiers don't die! This takes all the tense out of all the encounters. The UFOPEDIA
says that the hospitals can even awake people from the dead at your base. If a soldier
is down he is just wounded for up to 30 days.

- Manufactoring takes for ever. You only see how many percent is done, but not how many days
it takes. I was manufacturing 6 laser rifles and 30 laser rifle clips. I hat to do 6
missions before they were ready. (after I already figured out that nades are better then guns)

- In 24+ hours I only encountered Scout or Fighter UFO's. No terrorsites, no base attacks.

A lot less weapons at the beginning of the game
- no Auto-Cannon
- no Heavy Cannon
- no Stun Rod
- no large or small HE-Rocket for Rocketlauncer (only HE and Stun)
- no incendiary weapons or ammo
- no demolition pack

- Soldiers get better everytime the gain a rank. I got a soldier with 120+ AP. He can throw
6 nades in one turn,.... at this point I did not even researched the laser rifle yet.

- After you stun aliens and win an encounter a message appairs that only commanders need
to be stunned. All other aliens are executed. (How do they now that the Aliens have
commanders in the larger UFO's?)

- There is no fast music in the game, all is a bit slow.

- Bullets fly in slowmotion trough the air.

- In almost all encounters there is a large building, but no small buildings.
I never went in because I never needed to... no aliens there. The building
has no windows to shoot through. They are so large they take aprox. one
fifth of the map. So boring!




I can go on and on... but I just want to say... do not buy this game for the full price.




Good things of the game!

- You have to arm your soldiers before you launch the transporter. This is beter than X-Com.

- I like the way the fighting between UFO's and Fighters is done.

- Aliens move a lot


And another post, that just confirms what the first quote says

Your totally missing the point, it's not it's own game....they took a great game and made it just ok...they should have added features and kept all the details instead of dumbing it down. For every "improvement" they made they took away 3 neat little things that X-Com did right. Touches that are the difference between a game that lasts for 12 years or a game that will be forgotten in a year.

No windows to shoot out of? - backward step

No damage to UFO's or Aliens when being shot down? - backwards step

No real morale where your soldiers panic and drop their weapons and run -backwards step.

No flares to light of fields and what not - backward step.

No Civies running around in panic - backwards step..

Add all of the above to these and many more that could be thought of.

They made a copy without all the heart or guts in it. What a shame. There is really no reason not to play X-Com, it's the complete game this should have been.

[Antmeister]

Found another post on the official forums, thought I would share it.

And another post, that just confirms what the first quote says

Great......this is just disappointing, but I am not surprised.

[Eilim]

While admit it could have been better, I am having fun with it. Would be probably insanely addicted to it if not for the recent North American release of Armed Assault pulling me back to playing that game all the time.

For me atleast, it does recapture the *feel* of X-com that I was missing from other games. I'd warn people off it only for the price/value ratio at this point. I see it as a great 20-25$ game.. Might even be able to give it the nod at 30$, but at what matrix is charging, I'd tell people to hold off for a bit and see what they change/fix/improve with the game first.

I'm really hoping they release an sdk of some sort, then I could see having a whole lot of fun with the program, even if it was only to open up the graphics end to changes.

[daedalus]

This game is in the top 3 but to me, Jagged Edge: Deadly Games is untouched as the best turn-based squad-level game ever. Nothing else even close. And it's the one game I absolutely loved multiplayer more than any other game.Jagged Alliance please. Don't hurt my feeling so. I highly recommend Jagged Alliance 2 with the updated fan-made patch. It's wonderific. Sadly, no MP, though.

Sir-Tech: Best Game Company Not Named SI . . . RIP.Ivan is my Russian assassin who is absolutely the greatest character ever in a tactical game. Quiet like a cat, an expert marksman, Ivan never has much to say but he gets his point across.Ivan is a studmonkey.

[Bee]

Sounds like the game is pretty easy to mod and some modders have been making impressive progress working on the game (UFO-Extraterrestrials). There might still be some hope that this game ends up being a pretty good remake of X-COM once it's patched and modded.

[Yossarian]

It's interesting to see people rag on this game for not being as good as X-COM.

Although there have been some recent attempts to re-develop x-com (UFO Aftermath and the ilk), the change in the tactical battle gameplay (to pausable real time) makes them feel like belonging in a different genre.

This is (in my opinion) the first true x-com style game we've seen since the franchise ended.

So after such a break I'm delighted to have a remake even if it isn't as good as the original. The original was / is one of the best games of all time. People still talk about it frequently and dig it out to give a whirl every couple of years (dos emulation permitting).

Why would you think this game would be as good as that? If you look at the dozens of FPS games, you don't say they all suck because they aren't as good as Half Life 2.

It must be because this is such a narrow genre / niche. If you differ from the X-COM design more than just a little, it feels like your outwith the genre (unlike FPS).

I've been playing this game for about 10 hours and it's a total blast.

The problems that most people have don't seem to be that big to me and in some cases improve upon the X-COM mould.

Take the soldiers issue re: healing.

In X-COM you treat new recruits like cannon fodder. You take in an army with 4 or 5 studs and the rest are newbies used to take the auto-fire from the aliens. If a stud dies, most people re-load a save.

IMO this is an unattractive gameplay mechanic. The lack of any concern for newbies is a negative and the insta-reload is a negative. UFO-ET makes it so that you are less likely to reload because you will get your guys back, but there is a huge disincentive to getting shot - your guys will be out for weeks!

I've had studs out for over 40 days (I saw that listed as the maximum somewhere). But I didn't reload the save. Had that been X-COM, as much as i'd like to think I wouldn't, odds are that I would have reloaded because you just need your studs later on in the game.

I do think there is something of an issue with soldier recruitment because at least at the start of the game, I frequently had no available combatants due to injury, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me, and it made me super-cautious in my battles, which added tension.

There are also many nice elements to the game that were missing in X-COM, it's much easier to ensure proper load out since you equip before you fly - the interface is MUCH cleaner (although there is some functional loss due to this) - you can move more than one soldier at a time (makes missions much faster).

I don't think this game is better or as good as x-com but it's a good game in its own right and the first game since x-com to recreate the global aspect of the game with a faithful recreation of the turn base mechanic.

I'm looking at it as a tentative re-entry of this sub-genre into the market. If these guys do well, hopefully they'll extend the gameplay with a sequel (much as the real-time UFO games have done).

[Bee]

I picked it up at gamersgate.com for $29.99. Saved $10 vs Matrix Games and avoided putting money in the pocket of the company that released Maximum Football, so win-win. :D

I'm having a blast with the game. It's not perfect but it's much better than any of the other X-COM remakes I've tried. There's a mod available that makes huge changes to the game (adding in perma-death, hotkeys, etc). I haven't tried the mod yet but the basic game is pretty solid IMO. I'm kind of waiting for them to balance things a little with the mod before I install it.

I think any X-COM fans should seriously consider this game. While it's not as good as the original game, it's probably as close as we're going to see anytime soon.

[Eilim]

Just got back into this game (too many good games have come out recently...) and came across this mod that I absolutely love. Nice thing about it is it lets you set everything individually the way you want it.

It's called Bman's mod, and you can grab it here: Mod link (http://www.ufo-extraterrestrials.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1691)

If you haven't done any modding to your game yet I suggest grabbing this little tool to make it a bit easier : Tool Link (http://www.ufo-extraterrestrials.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1746)

Just to give an idea of what the mod does:

http://www.uafasach.net/stuff/UFO_ET_1.jpg

http://www.uafasach.net/stuff/UFO_ET_2.jpg

[Atocep]

After reading up on Bman's mod (up to version 4.07 now) I went back and reinstalled this and I have to say its a nearly perfect update to X-Com now. The mod gives you tons of options to tweak things to your liking. Everything from adding the classic aliens, to changing how quickly your soliders heal, and adjusting the sight distance for both your troops and the aliens in both day and night.

It was a bit of a pain for me to get patched, moded, running properly, but its been well worth it. It does seem to have a small memory leak, but it will only affect long play sessions. I've only run across one other crash and it seems to be tied to the cyberdisks from the original game in missions. When they're moving within sight of your troops the game has a chance to lock up. I just make sure to save often and it hasn't really bothered me much.

Its worth giving a look if you're dying to play X-Com and see this cheap or if you bought it and gave up on it earlier.

[Groundhog]

I was playing UFO: Alien Invasion yesterday for seriously every spare second I had. Wow.

If you haven't tried it and you like X-COM, I suggest that you go here:

UFO: Alien Invasion (http://ufoai.sourceforge.net/)

[Blade6119]

I was playing UFO: Alien Invasion yesterday for seriously every spare second I had. Wow.

If you haven't tried it and you like X-COM, I suggest that you go here:

UFO: Alien Invasion (http://ufoai.sourceforge.net/)

Downloaded it and booted it up, and I am having a freaking blast..this is easily the best x-com like game ive played. And some of the things I wish x-com had, like equipment set-up not having to be re-done each mission, is a godsend. Really cant recommend this enough!

Oh, and its totally free!

[Groundhog]

Downloaded it and booted it up, and I am having a freaking blast..this is easily the best x-com like game ive played. And some of the things I wish x-com had, like equipment set-up not having to be re-done each mission, is a godsend. Really cant recommend this enough!

Oh, and its totally free!

Yeah it's pretty awesome. It sounds like the current developer's version adds a lot to it, but I got my game to the point where there were no more techs or nasty enemies to come across, so it got a bit stale after that. Looking forward to the next release though.