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Xenonauts, The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, A Final Review


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I'll be honest, I think the music in the OG is fantastic. At one point, I got into the habit of playing the geoscape music on loop while doing other stuff.

That's not to say that I have a problem with the music in Xenonauts, and I actually think it's a better fit overall. But I wouldn't say there's anything memorable about it.

Yaknow, I'm kinda surprised that someone with modding experiance hasnt made a mod or two to import the OG music. It's the kind of thing you see on other games. (For example: in Left 4 dead 2 there's dozens of diferent mods that change the Tank's theme.)

I personally love the dog fight music in the OG [video=youtube;WOdRt_c8nfY]

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Yaknow, I'm kinda surprised that someone with modding experiance hasnt made a mod or two to import the OG music. It's the kind of thing you see on other games. (For example: in Left 4 dead 2 there's dozens of diferent mods that change the Tank's theme.)

I personally love the dog fight music in the OG

If I knew anything about sound file conversion, I'd almost be tempted. But I don't (and I'd be wary of legal issues, too).

Although now I think about it, I could equally be tempted to mod in the Xenonauts night ground combat music as the default ground combat track. I love that, at its a shame you so seldom get to hear it.

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Curvatures on 2D map must be implemented :P And poles then must be shown too. Really. Agree about engine - is not a good choice, must to be rewriten too. Tactical mecanics is well: somthing is enhanced, but other things is still remain not finished (ex. shots from behind another sited soldiers etc).

Ok, theme of Cold War is good concept. Air interception is good thing too - I like it. Graphics and music is neutral, as attitude towards them. ;)

But, again - there is a lot of work to be made. Chris and his team, hope next time your games will be more close to reality or at least deep enough thought (remember what I say (in other thread) about definitions of the world and handlings with it in good books). Waiting for another projects. Good Luck!

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there is a lot of work to be made. Chris and his team

Agreed. Chris made some money and experience with this project (golden egg), and now just plans to drop it. What a noncence, from my experience. A have played uncounted times the very first UFO, and Xeno already played twice, normal and insane (with disabled psionics). DON'T they even guess i'll be playing Xeno again in 6-9 months? I guess ppl make money every month, so why play same sh.. when i can spend same money in 9-12 months to play NEW Xeno engine, animations, modified tech tree, first-person-aiming with beautiful dribbling cross on a stunning artwork? I agree with Chris, he must redraw aliens, to be more unhuman. Nice ork can be done with credibility+experience he has earned.

DAMN!

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Agreed. Chris made some money and experience with this project (golden egg), and now just plans to drop it. What a noncence, from my experience. A have played uncounted times the very first UFO, and Xeno already played twice, normal and insane (with disabled psionics). DON'T they even guess i'll be playing Xeno again in 6-9 months? I guess ppl make money every month, so why play same sh.. when i can spend same money in 9-12 months to play NEW Xeno engine, animations, modified tech tree, first-person-aiming with beautiful dribbling cross on a stunning artwork? I agree with Chris, he must redraw aliens, to be more unhuman. Nice ork can be done with credibility+experience he has earned.

DAMN!

Because he's been working on this for 5 years. If I've been working on a project for 5 years, I too would want a break from it.

You also have no idea how game development works. You know what, why don't you do what you said. Make us a feature-complete game in 9-12 months with your own money that has the same quality standards of Xenonauts. Come on, don't be shy. :rolleyes:

Edited by skaianDestiny
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Intentions of my post is only to draw attention to the mere fact we spend money updating things pretty often. Every year a new mobile (cheap), every 2 years an updated tablet, every something - shoes/clothes. Why would anyone supposedly tired of something drop it? Tell it to GAMELOFT with Asphalt, and it's mostly free. I wouldn't mention such a great gamedev firm if only Chris didn't plan to stay in gamedev. If someone small with success isn't working harder and constantly outsmart those big sharks - he'll end in unknown unplayed games eaten and robbed. Talents stayed with ufo franchise and worked for this guy bc they loved the project. Everybody talented will just go and work for money with bigger players. Chris can sustain and hold talents only if he stays with the ufo theme at least for now. Haven't you read his recent diary?

PS Community belongs to UFO->Xeno. Soo, his majesty is tired and wants to drop profitable game, developed community, talents joined to be part of ufo:recreation? Then he goes for 2 unknown games, called "big and small", no community, nothing, pure money to flush. C'mon, it doesn't make sense.

Edited by Tonysmith
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cant fault your review.....

legit1337

one thing i must add..........vehicles.....they cannot run over doors / barrels etc.... they are useless in alien bases cant move over obstacles ......i believe it was done on purpose.....well Chris..... it isnt funny....in 1990 ufo you could take vehicles 3 floors up an alien spaceship....here cant do the city run.....armored vehicles should be able to run through barrels .... brick walls etc....it isnt an inmersion feature ..it is an inmersion breaker sorry chris this is 2014 this is a very bad feature.

we can accept that an armored vehicle cant go to the end of a spaceship..........but a satellite a construction tube gas tanks....wood/brick walls.........a vehicle stops beinf usefull 1/3 of a city/ufo mission.......the demolition packs dont work on satellite tiles and many others.....

is it a game feature...or a bug????

bringing a tank to a ufo base and cant move it only less/1/3 is not fun..........and demolition packs....what for this isnt 3d..........is the whole buildin foing to collapse.

i dont get it

Edited by cyllan
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Where? The only place where I get anything close to "agressive" is in "The Engine" and "The Bugs" entries. Even then, both the devs and pretty much all of the players completely agree with me about the engine, and are even more vehement in it's criticism then I was in my first post.

In none of my arguments do I curse or insult anyone, I just give my honest thoughts on certain aspects of the game, and the examples I bring up to support my points are all FACTUAL. This review is for people who want an unbiased opinion about the strength and weaknesses of Xenonauts as a game, I don't sugar coat any of my views. If you have a different opinion to mine on any of the above points, feel free to post and elaborate.

what is the left's strategy?????

dont argue the issues smear the messenger.......happens to me all the time...ignore it

he cant argue the points you make so it calls you agressive..........

by the way i didnt see "sheer" amount of bugs...but you are right aliens never reload ....i dont know the cover system bug......i am pissed off at tanks not able to cross a farm / industry wall......./tube/cylinder/etc...... they could do that in 1914 chris......not happy/not inmersive at all

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Yaknow, I'm kinda surprised that someone with modding experiance hasnt made a mod or two to import the OG music. It's the kind of thing you see on other games. (For example: in Left 4 dead 2 there's dozens of diferent mods that change the Tank's theme.)

I personally love the dog fight music in the OG [video=youtube;WOdRt_c8nfY]

cool video/ cool music..........hehe!!!!

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Do we have any mods that can delete posts? We don't need people trying to revive other threads here (i.e. Ugliness of the Xenonauts) or starting yet another flame war because a player posted up his likes/dislikes. Or should this be expected as the norm for every general forum thread now?

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I didn't make Xenonauts with the primary goal of making money, I did it because I wanted to remake X-Com. I quit a well paid career in finance to go into game development and I can always go back there if things don't work out.

I'd much rather make a game I was interested in than continue endlessly remaking X-Com to collect a paycheque - no point in working this hard to set up your own business if you're still going to be bored all day.

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I didn't make Xenonauts with the primary goal of making money, I did it because I wanted to remake X-Com. I quit a well paid career in finance to go into game development and I can always go back there if things don't work out.

I'd much rather make a game I was interested in than continue endlessly remaking X-Com to collect a paycheque - no point in working this hard to set up your own business if you're still going to be bored all day.

That all is clearly stated in the diary. As to XCOM you wanted the same thing happen as other people who eventually helped you. Now when you say "i'd make a game" it reads as you will pay and nobody would join for free. No offense, let's talk clear&sheer.

If you get bored with Xeno, you get bored with existing Xeno, not the one you'd wish come to life in a couple of years. I'm sure there could be found ways to manage the project itself, maybe promote to a bigger studio, sell or franchise under your term. I mean a professional in gamedev can't just dump something developed and let people upset with no new stuff. A pro thinks and finds the question "why", not "how". There's another thing. As you are getting experience, ppl are watching closely. Would you end up working with someone for big if you know the guy is predetermined to get bored? No advice, just why ruin a starting career. You made it the perfect time and place and community and talents. No other project comes to my mind with this scenario. Enterpreneurs get right when they combine things to feed the existing market. And get it wrong when create illusions out of nothing, feeding nonexistent markets with goods made solely to feed an ego of an enterpreneur.

Sorry, I can talk endlessly on various topics as we talk about typical people's behaviour&psychology, not particular things or games at all.

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Whilst I appreciate you're trying to be helpful here, you're being rather patronising while doing so.

Are you a professional game developer? If you're not, you probably shouldn't be lecturing someone that is about what a "pro" thinks and does. You also shouldn't tell me how interested I am in my next project. How would you know that better than me? What credibility do you have?

My employees work for me because I pay them to work for me - I doubt Aaron, GJ or Giovanni would agree to work for free if our next game was an X-Com remake, but they're already happily working on the upcoming projects. Again, why would you know what they were thinking about the upcoming projects better than me when I speak to them on a daily basis?

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I honestly don't get why people get so hung up on this game being finished off and the team moving to another game.

I enjoy the game and I am really looking forward to what the community coders and modders can do with it but I don't expect a development team to stay on the project long after its release.

This is not a subscription based MMO where the team is paid by the subs or a developer churning out DLC after DLC and getting paid by those.

People are basically expecting Chris and the other members of Goldhawk to work for free constantly updating a game that is already done and dusted.

You get just as many, if not more, complaints about games that are constantly updated or have DLC released.

Just have a look at the Payday 2 forums for example and see how many people moan about new updates that change the way the game is played so old strategies are no longer valid or how releasing paid for DLC is ripping people off when it should have been part of the game originally.

The way I see it you will never please everyone at the same time so might as well go with what you want to do, in this case Goldhawk are concentrating on new projects.

It makes even more sense when you consider that Xenonauts was a first attempt at a game.

Why continue to spend huge amounts of time and effort trying to work around the huge limitations inherent in the game, like the engine and the variations in coding styles, when you can start from scratch with something that may prove to be even better and almost certainly easier to work with.

For what its worth if Goldhawk continue to fix bugs in the future and follow up on the idea of rolling community coding updates into official ones from time to time I will be more than happy to see development focused on something new.

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Damn, that throws my whole mind control theory out the window! :P

See, he's mind controlling you too.

You just now believe he is paying his people.

Look here, a definite proof of it:

...they're already happily working...

Chris = Beloved Leader

So who is the Leader (note: capital letter here) in Xenonauts? A Praetor, correct.

Hence, the alien invasion did happen in 1979 and we are ruled by them since. Mind control all over the place.

What is he doing to me then....ugh...have...to stop...typin

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All comments are pretty clear with the way the bearer thinks.

Just to sum it up: I would pay 30$ next autumn to play Xeno 2 (not 2.0, though absolutely the same scenario) with a new engine with rethought everything. No DLC, nothing irritating, pure fun, refreshed game. Who is going to do the same? You bet.

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