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Learning how games like X-Com are exploted


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There's a lovely wiki for X-Com dubbed Ufopaedia.org. It's really good, is very in-depth and is my go-to source for all things X-Com. It has a page titled Tricks, Tips and Hints. Now after reading this page, it would probably have been better titled "what the developers didn't see coming", as the list of exploits on offer is quite impressive - everything from a very good way to boosting reaction stats quickly and effectively, to how to best mitigate problems with the bravery stat. I urge Chris to take a look at this page, as if Xenonauts gets anything like the following that X-Com does, some very clever people are going to spend quite a lot of time working out how best to work the systems he's developed to their best advantage. Not that's there's anything wrong with that, mind. It's just that knowing the kind of things people will do helps to understand how to match game mechanics to game vision.

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I love that website!! I especially love reading Miscellaneous Information section. I love it lol!

I think Chris will update the game when players find the exploits. I hope I find some too that means Ill have a new PC incoming!

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It's practically impossible to prevent exploits in all but the simplest of systems, simply due to the sheer number of minds involved.

The actual developers of the core system are always few in number (and having more does not always increase the system's resistance to exploitation).

The number of users will far, far outstrip the creators. Even during beta testing, expect to see lots of exploits discovered (and if they're bad for gameplay, addressed in some fashion). But how many beta testers do we really have? (and I don't mean people who just play their download - I mean serious bug reporters and exploit finders) Probably something in the dozens, or hundreds if we're lucky.

When the game's released, the user base can expand into the thousands or more (hopefully!) That's an order of magnitude or more people hitting the game's systems and looking for ways to get around them - and they'll be doing it over a period of years, not months. A game like Xenonauts is too complex to possibly prevent everything that could happen - but that's ok. An exploit or two does not ruin a game (X-Com being a great example).

That said, it's good to learn the lessons of the past and not repeat X-Com's exploits. Any such things in Xenonauts will be entirely new. :)

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