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Is the Xenonauts currently enjoyable to a complete X-Com noob?


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If you read the manual and invest ten minutes in looking at every screen in Geoscape mode, you should be fine. I was able to play the game after that procedure. A few details eluded me at first (like right-click changing the facing of your soldiers in Battlescape mode), but it's not difficult to get a general hang of the game.

However, mind that currently there isn't that much content in the game, and as of version V9.0, the enemy doesn't even have AI. So, the game is playable, but it isn't really representative of what is planned for final release.

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If my intel is accurate, the upcoming update to Build V9.1 (due any minute now!) should include interface enhancements and tooltips for added accessibility to newcomers.

Edited to add: my source is the penultimate paragraph of this post.

Edited by iamkyon
Let's be exact.
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tooltips...

are we really need those? or perhaps gamers nowadays has been severely spoon-feeded by the consolised-games which telling ya who to follow, when to open doors, what to pick up to shoot a tank.... etc.

in xcom, if you running out of rifle clips, go and buy; if living quarters are full, build another; lame detection, more radar; want faster research and manufacturing? hire more scientist and enginner! rule of thumb!

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Is the Xenonauts currently enjoyable to a complete X-Com noob?

I've tried to play the original X-Com two or three times and found it completely impenetrable. Is Xenonauts currently in a state where I could jump into it and actually understand what's going on, or should I wait until some sort of tutorial system has been implemented?

I like tooltips. It makes the game less taxing on your memory. Also, I believe tooltips have always been more of a PC thing, because consoles often don't have a cursor that can hover over anything.

Please do not take this as bashing or trolling or anything but constructive criticism. But i whole heartedly agree with with Sectoids Statement here.

or perhaps gamers nowadays has been severely spoon-feeded by the consolised-games which telling ya who to follow, when to open doors, what to pick up to shoot a tank.... etc.

X-Com while it is difficult and a little complicated doesn't make it impossible or impenetrable. A few minutes spent studying the manual, which you should do in any game regardless of a tutorial, will almost always put you in the direction you need to start learning the game. Since Xenonauts is in Alpha stages there is a learning curve you must get around, however, with that reading it's released manual should help you a great deal.

As for tool-tips being in the game i cannot agree with that at all. It takes away from the hidden difficulty the original X-Com brought to the table with not knowing exactly what anything did, however, the information was available if you looked it up in the UFOpedia.

With that all i am saying is do a little bit of leg work and you should be well rewarded with a delightful, yet buggy, alpha experience that is Xenonauts.

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tooltips...

are we really need those?

Yes.

Welcome to 2012! =)

Even games as ancient as Apocalypse had something like that. You hover over an item (at least in the inventory) and it's data is displayed!

Those damn console gamers of 1997 were so spoiled...

Intentionally making it hard to figure out what an item does (when it's not "mysterious" for story reasons) is simply bad game design.

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Tooltips will never stop someone from playing, especially not when they are optional.

They may however make the game more accessible to people who don't have an x-com background and make it more fun for them.

If a button has a big label on it then it needs no explanation.

If the buttons have a small icon on them then a tooltip can help.

There will be lots of people who will look at Xenonauts without ever playing x-com and want to try it because they have heard it is a good game.

Why push them away by making the game harder to pick up than is necessary?

I like a game to be a challenge because of the difficulty of the opponents and the level of skill required to win, not because I have to sit the manual in front of me to find out what the buttons do.

Basic functions should never be a mystery.

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I like a game to be a challenge because of the difficulty of the opponents and the level of skill required to win, not because I have to sit the manual in front of me to find out what the buttons do.

Basic functions should never be a mystery.

When this isn't the case it is poor design plain and simple - with the very FEW exceptions that are built to be in a more emergent style of gameplay such as Minecraft/Diablo recipes for instance.

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Well OP, Xenonauts is for the fans who loved the GOTY every years X-COM. You should try playing it again. Check out the UFOpaedia site for X-COM.

X-COM is amazing. The feeling you get getting owned in a Terror Mission and then the feeling you get after destroying an Alien Base with casualties is the best! Spending 30 minutes focused trying to clear out the alien base, trying not to put my soldiers in bad spots or else they get killed, and finally after so many turns, it's finally over... So rewarding xD I get up and do my victory dance to the bathroom.

Even after getting an understanding of every option in the game, you needed to stay on your toes because you get no help from the game at all. You were totally in-charge with no in-game tool-tips telling you the recommended path to go and whatnot. I agree, I don't wanna be spoon fed. I want everything X-COM gave me translated into Xenonauts >)

Tool-tips should obviously have an on and off switch if GoldHawk decides to add them. We'll all be happy this way.

Edited by Nightfire
pAedia
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Tooltips do currently have a toggle.

I am not sure why but a lot of people seem to be assuming that tooltips are some kind of guide to the game or that they give you instructions on how you should play.

They are a set of information pop ups, that let you know what a certain button does for example.

If you put your mouse over a button with an arrow on it the tooltip might say "Camera level up".

That is hardly spoon feeding or guiding you down a set path.

You get more of that from loading screen tips, on games that have those.

They are useful, especially for people who have never played x-com and won't have an idea what kind of abilities will be available.

They are not Big Brother watching over you and making sure you play the game how someone else thinks you should.

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Tooltips do currently have a toggle.

I am not sure why but a lot of people seem to be assuming that tooltips are some kind of guide to the game or that they give you instructions on how you should play.

They are a set of information pop ups, that let you know what a certain button does for example.

If you put your mouse over a button with an arrow on it the tooltip might say "Camera level up".

That is hardly spoon feeding or guiding you down a set path.

You get more of that from loading screen tips, on games that have those.

They are useful, especially for people who have never played x-com and won't have an idea what kind of abilities will be available.

They are not Big Brother watching over you and making sure you play the game how someone else thinks you should.

You're right ;)

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Tooltips do currently have a toggle.

I am not sure why but a lot of people seem to be assuming that tooltips are some kind of guide to the game or that they give you instructions on how you should play.

They are a set of information pop ups, that let you know what a certain button does for example.

If you put your mouse over a button with an arrow on it the tooltip might say "Camera level up".

That is hardly spoon feeding or guiding you down a set path.

You get more of that from loading screen tips, on games that have those.

They are useful, especially for people who have never played x-com and won't have an idea what kind of abilities will be available.

They are not Big Brother watching over you and making sure you play the game how someone else thinks you should.

agreed. tooltips like Microprose's Master of Orion 2 is very comprehensive and helpful. i like MoO2 simply because its tooltips. :o

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