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To buy or not to buy


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Hi everyone, I'm interested to buy this game, but concerned about a couple of points - if someone could help me out here. Having played several XCOM parts I have no doubts about the game itself, but:

1. What are the specs needed/recommended for this game?

Currently I'm still sitting on an older Athlon X2 64/4GB RAM/Win 7 64pro system. My gfx card is not that old (Radeon HD6570 2GB), but it's by no means "hi-end". Is that ok for fluid gameplay? Couldn't find info on specs on the homepage...

2. Since I plan to get a new system later this year: once I dl-ed the game, can I backup the file(s) and install again on another machine, or does this require a new dl?

3. I saw there's quite a big modding forum, which is certainly nice, just wondering how much is possible in modding Xenonauts? For example, would it be doable to add new weapons (I guess yes), but also maybe other types of fighter or transport craft, or different types of aliens (ignoring the workload involved, or any possible balance issues for the moment)? Just curious about this, I can't even say whether I find the time for modding...

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Currently I'm still sitting on an older Athlon X2 64/4GB RAM/Win 7 64pro system. My gfx card is not that old (Radeon HD6570 2GB), but it's by no means "hi-end".

Should be absolutely fine. In the absence of 3D graphics, this game is not at all demanding on the video card. The first time you load ground combat in a gameplay session takes a bit of time, other than that, it's smooth. With your older CPU perhaps loading ground missions will take a bit more time, but it should be well acceptable.

Since I plan to get a new system later this year: once I dl-ed the game, can I backup the file(s) and install again on another machine, or does this require a new dl?

If you download through Steam, you can use Steam's backup feature. I assume the same should be possible with Humble Store and other methods, although I am not sure. Of course if another download turns out to be easier, you can always do that.

how much is possible in modding Xenonauts

There is good support for modding through XML files.

add new weapons

Certainly.

other types of fighter or transport craft

Yes.

different types of aliens

Also yes.

Consider taking a look in the completed mod subforum. You'll see weapons packs, large mods that add new alien races, and some other interesting stuff. Looking at what others have done is the best way to gauge the possibilities of the system.

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1. Don't know. Sounds like it would be reasonable, (I can get the game to run, albeit not very well, on an inferior machine to that), but I couldn't say for certain.

2. Yes, you can create backups without problems.

3. Yes to all those specific questions, although the work involved is very large in some instances (e.g. adding new aliens/armour sprites that aren't just colour-swaps). Also, while there's various things that can't be dealt with outside of the source code, the source code has been made available to some competent programmers who are working on the "community edition" mod which externalises variables otherwise unavailable and adds in additional modding features, so the things that can be done with mods are in the process of expanding too.

EDIT: Ninja'd

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FYI my spec:

Core2 Duo 6600 @ 2.45Ghz

Windows XP Pro with 4 GB RAM (means 3.25GB for XP Pro)

Graphics: Nvidia GTX 275.

Runs like a charm, like all 2D games.

Battlescape loading time is good, maybe a bit longer for those beautiful Skitso's maps :cool:

Alien/NPC turn is fast enough (up to landing ships and base defense, don't know about Battleship attack, not yet there).

My first game was UFO: Enemy Unknown, on Commodore Amiga 500. I was a hreavy smoker back then, and that was a curse and a blessing: alien turns took 10 minutes to finish, one cigarette. My gaming session would end with a pile of stubs in the ashtray and me heavily intoxicated by nicotine and caffeine :D

If you are in the X-COM lore, buy it! This one revamp is different, it's not just full eyes and empty soul revamp.

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If you like the original x-com, you should really enjoy Xenonauts.

I agree.

It annoys me to no end all that moaning about 'shoddy', 'outdated' graphics of the game. I am old enough to remember the '3D revolution' back in the 90's when everyone and his dog tried to churn out a 3D game, no matter if the gameplay was junk, the only thing that was 'selling' was that the game supported 3D graphics. The time of the 3Dfx Diamond Monster Voodoo graphic card. It was a mess. Gameplay, content and immersion were not important. The global quality of video games took a dive then.

I am fully aware that the X-com franchise has a very limited target 'niche'. Not everyone loves the genre.

The ones (we) that do, cannot be fooled with eyecandy galore, we want immersion, lore and the old X-com feel and playstyle. Xenonauts got it all. No fuss.

On my end, I would be eternally grateful if someone could 'remaster' the old X-com, with better (2D) graphics, higher resolutions and a bit improved UI. Attempts were made, none was satisfactory IMO. Then I discovered Xenonauts. After a couple weeks of playng, I can say I am content. The graphics are nice, clear, the UI too. Yes, there is still room for improvement, but we finally got a decent X-com successor. It has a pair of big boots to fill, but it is doing great, in my opinion.

The moddability and open, tinker-able .xml files is another boon.

I DO like games with gorgeous graphics, but gameplay and immersion is always paramount to me.

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I agree.

It annoys me to no end all that moaning about 'shoddy', 'outdated' graphics of the game. I am old enough to remember the '3D revolution' back in the 90's when everyone and his dog tried to churn out a 3D game, no matter if the gameplay was junk, the only thing that was 'selling' was that the game supported 3D graphics. The time of the 3Dfx Diamond Monster Voodoo graphic card. It was a mess. Gameplay, content and immersion were not important. The global quality of video games took a dive then.

Well, for most (like me), it's probably not so much a complaint as a statement of facts. All the things you mention are what are important about a game, and Xenonauts having that is the reason I'm here and playing it, but it does look pretty old. Is that a problem? No, not really. However, IMO, a perfect game should have all that in addition to looking good. If you can only have one or the other, you definitely drop the graphics, but having both is preferable.

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However, IMO, a perfect game should have all that in addition to looking good. If you can only have one or the other, you definitely drop the graphics, but having both is preferable.

I agree, Steave, of course. But I think we should always keep in mind that GH is not Blizzard Entertainment or Electronic Arts etc.

For such a small indie company, making such a valid game is quite an achievement. So I tend to turn the Blind Eye when I feel the need to. :)

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There is a demo you can download to check and see if it will run (think it is on the kickstarter page). It is cruder than the final game, just so you know.

That is what I did.

If you like the original x-com, you should really enjoy Xenonauts.

As long as you remember that the kickstarter demo is VERY old now. Some of the features that were in testing back then have been dropped and some others added or changed completely. That demo is a poor representation of the actual released game and may not be a very good representation of how well it will run. For example a new tile compression system and tile atlas system has been added since then which significantly affects loading times.

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Well, for most (like me), it's probably not so much a complaint as a statement of facts. All the things you mention are what are important about a game, and Xenonauts having that is the reason I'm here and playing it, but it does look pretty old. Is that a problem? No, not really. However, IMO, a perfect game should have all that in addition to looking good. If you can only have one or the other, you definitely drop the graphics, but having both is preferable.

Funny....I think it does look really good as is... (and of course for variety, there's the mods). Art style is very subjective of course.

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Good idea with the demo, but I've seen it would mean an extra 1GB to dl, so I decided to skip it, and go for the real thing soon.

Since I don't own the game yet I can't say much about the whole "look" debate, just purely from screenshots the art seemed good to me, not the best I've ever seen, but overall nice.

The only thing that I really find a bit irritating is one of the helmets in the equip screen - the one looking a bit like a soup bowl ;)

But I don't want to bash the art guys, overall I think (from what I've seen so far) they did well...

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Yeah the basic armour helmets do look a little odd. The majority of the artwork looks great though.

Yes the basic armor doesn't look as 'armor' at all, more like pyjamas.

OT: In my game I can't see the predator armour inthe equip screen. No armour, no soldier, just vanishes. Can equip/unequip stuff

and it it is visible in Battlescape and all, works OK but not visible in the base. Just researching the last tier armor, will see if that one is visible.

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Yes the basic armor doesn't look as 'armor' at all, more like pyjamas.

Actually that is even explained in the background story, it says that regular combat armour is known to do absolutely nothing against alien weapons, so the soldiers initially wear just a battledress with no armour.

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OT: In my game I can't see the predator armour inthe equip screen. No armour, no soldier, just vanishes. Can equip/unequip stuff

and it it is visible in Battlescape and all, works OK but not visible in the base. Just researching the last tier armor, will see if that one is visible.

Hi BULIGO. You should check \Xenonauts\assets\soldierimages\armour.predator is there. If not, just verify your game cache and steam should stick it back in there. Or you could put whatever picture you want it to look like in there...

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Got the game, did a quick launch for 1st impressions. The game runs fine, loading times are rather short. :)

Couldn't play much yet of course.

There's one thing I'm struggling with so far: the GUI text is IMO way too small. I tried in several screen resolutions between 1024*768 and 1280*1024, none was really satisfying. Is there some settings I can edit to have bigger text or does the GUI not allow for that? It did seem a bit bigger in 1024er res though, but also less clear then, so not more readable...

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Ok, I use this thread as "my dumb newbie questions thread" now:

1. How do you make screenshots? I thought pressing printscreen, then pasting into some gfx software/image viewer does it, but it always pastes a shot of my win desktop then? Any specific command, or do I need some screen capture tool?

2. Are probs with scrolling on the battlescape a common thing? Using the mouse it scrolls fine left/right, but up and downwards it's rather bad (actually thought my mouse is broken first). Strangely enough, in other parts of the game (geoscape, management screens) my mouse works just fine. Using keys to scroll works, but I'd prefer mouse scroll.

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1) Depends on what you're running it on. In Steam, f12 will take a screenshot. Otherwise, I don't know. I've been using bandicam (the free version) for screenshots recently as I've been running the game outside of Steam.

2) Yeah, mouse scrolling a bit broken (it's possible some resolutions fix this? The problem seems to be the letterboxing of the ground combat window).

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Thx for answers guys, love the game itself but I'm still struggling with some parts of the interface:

F12 either does not work in my (non-steam) edition, or if it does I'm unable to find the screenshots. Looked around in "my docs/Xenonauts" (only saves and config file there) and various game folders - found none. Pressing prtscr in windowed mode gave me the Win desktop again. Maybe I dig out some screen capture tool indeed....

A more annoying prob is that I can't seem to scroll down lists in some UI screens?

I mean specifically the one where you hire and assign soldiers (with the big guy having a beret on the left side).

It's very difficult to assign/reassign a specific guy when you can't scroll back/forth to see those that go over the (displayed) list. Mousewheel scroll does not seem to work there. I sometimes get the right names up by using the "name" (or other) tab to change order, but that may not be helpful in all cases.

Are those lists supposed to have no scroll bar? How do you get by then when the lists get longer?

Just wondering whether I'd run into the same probs once other lists (scientists, storage or else) get bigger.

Edited by UfoTubby
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