ooey

Chris - just tell everyone that it will be released when you think it should be, and not before. You can't win! If you release too early people will say the game is buggy and will be put off anyway. We can all play other games until you are ready to release. Some people don't realise just how complex xenonauts is/is becoming. We should think ourselves lucky we will have it at all!

I'd class it as an RPG too. So would most. That's why I didn't mention it. Looks a good game though, but I don't have it (if I did I'd never get any work done!).

You are making me think of Star Trek, the search for spock now (or was it the wrath of khann?)!

Oh dear, that makes me rather sad because I'm a Mormon, and find swearing very offensive because, well, it's meant to be isn't it? But that's another discussion. As for TBS revival (the original subject), various kickstarter projects other than xen have helped too. There are a good few that are well supported now. It looks like we've come full circle and are back to the Bedroom programmer ethos in a way - people making games in small teams that others (ok, minority groups) want to see, which is refreshing.

As you can see, there is usually nearly always a way around things if you want realism! Is realism important to me? Not really - if the world was in imminent danger of Alien invasion I would think governments would devote a lot more resources to stopping it than a small force called Xenonauts. Ya's gotta be given a licence to be a bit creative!

Oh HWP means the NEW xcom:EU - rrriigghhhttt! I was referring to the old one. Still, if the new one has some good mission types then why not adopt them too?

No! - steal ALL the mission ideas from EU but add more - variety is what made EU great!

What about one where one of your buddies is on vacation and gets caught up in an alien raid (without a gun) i.e. he's hiding or acts like a civilian during the mission. Your squad has to go in and rescue him (hes radioed you because he always carrys his brick-type mobile phone or something). I remember an interesting mission in Lazer Squad where you had to rescue 3 of your men from a prison dungeon. That might be good!

I'll proof read them for you if you want chris - I'm good at that!

Of course games like cod mw2 exist on the PC! It's just immature youngsters that are less likely to have one than a console. You will find, as I have, that MOST abuse comes from youngsters. Of course, there are some immature adults out there too! I don't mind being called a d-bag, its when the personel, bad language comes out that I start to get annoyed, and yes - most of the worst stuff comes out of the mouths of older people (because they know more swear words?!).

Hmm... Transits and Yugos don't really go together, do they?! Still, what is there is great, and remember that these are only suggestions. I like the way xcom refers to the 60s/70s occasionally - someone said they came across a radio message for Cmdr Straker during one of their missions, and there is a tribute to the Gollop Bros. towards the end of the game - a very nice touch, and something which I had hoped Chris would acknowledge in xen at some point (without them, there would be no xcom).

The "kiddie" mentality is only there because of the kids you find on games like COD that continually call you "douchebag" etc. Obviously it's easier for them to have a console because they are cheaper. Yes - screen being too small is one of the reasons I dont like hand-helds, but other than that I just don't see the point of them (for me anyway). Of course, they are a great source of gaming for those who commute to work etc. Hate/dislike, whatever you want to call it, I have never really felt the urge to buy one, but each to their own. Glad you like hichhikers guide lesserangel - but instead of the very disapointing film, have a watch of the original BBC TV series which is much more true to Douglas Adams' book (though being Americian, you might not understand some of its British quaintness ;-)). The cast is so much better too. He used to live near me in Islington, you know!

Personally, I hate hand-helds. I would only ever have got one for Advance Wars.

Well GGE - that's why I have a console too, as most of us do - for convienience! Actually, I programme mostly but when I do play, I play the old stuff over and over again (like the original UFO, Panzer General etc...). So maybe if this doesn't feel like a revival to anyone else, it does to me. All I'm really saying is that despite the fact I think xcom is half the game xen is going to be, I am so glad it is doing well because this will make many casual gamers realise that there is more out there, and THAT is what is needed to start a revival of a genre. Demand for watered-down TBS will grow, then maybe proper TBS. You want proof my friends? How about the number of new people that have been brought to this forum by the release of xcom? I think the most that have ever been here in any one day has been surpassed a number of days in a row recently. Have a look - it's heartening to see.

I'd like to see you try playing a game like xen using an old Atari joystick! They were stiff as hell. There is a simple answer of course, allow consoles to use mice! I think about 98% of us would use a mouse over a joypad with games like this. It's preference, not the fact it cannot be done. Actually, since the xbox has usb ports, does anyone know if you can plug a mouse into it to play certain games? Of course, the game would have to allow you the option to use one, and I guess thats the problem.

I'm not 'elitist' with regards to either the PC or console (X-box 360 as it happens). I have both, but it is blatantly obvious that the PC is better for games like Xenonauts because you can use a mouse (yes, of course you don't really need a KB if the interface is good enough). Actually I was a very long term Amiga fan, who had to come to terms with the fact that his machine just doesnt cut it anymore. I'm not saying such games can't be controlled by joystick, it's just more intuitive with a mouse. I played the demo of Xcom on the 360 and immediately thought it fiddly, and that it would be much better with a mouse (which is why I bought the PC version). I totally disagree with the fact there is no (admittedly mini) TBS revival going on and I hope for Xenonauts sake that I'm right. Have you seen the brilliant Frozen Synapse, for instance? With TBS having been in the doldrums for years, what is happening now DOES actually count as a revival, and if people like them (as they seem too with 'watered-down' TBS like xcom) then this will continue. I think companies are looking for where their next $$$ are coming from, because they seem to be starting to take the hint that we are bored with identikit FPS, dance games etc. As for consoles having more powerful processors - heh! The 360/Ps3 are rather old now, and the new xbox is touted as being about only 3x more powerful than the current one (I remember crying when they announced what gfx card they were going to use, one that costs about £50).

BA's van could make an apperance?! Starsky's Striped Tomato?! They would be a nice nod to the 70s/early 80s too.

There isn't much depth to console games compared with PC games - there can't be, simply because of the default control system. Not in terms of complex gameplay anyway. This is why xcom:eu is bound to be more simplistic than Xenonauts. This was expected since it is multi-format, so it was no big suprise. No turn-based revival? Well, thats what I was getting at when I said that players are getting bored of the same old type of gameplay. To them xcom is something new, and it may just get a good few of them to like it. As for Rebelstar - you really should try it via emulation or something. It really was a special game when it came out around 1986. Lazer Squad was great too - played it to death!

Oh I like Capris too, but the Granada... my dad used to drive a 2.0 and I remember pinning me into the seat when he took off from lights. He had a Capri too (which got stolen a lot). Personal preference really. Think Cortinas & Jack Reagan, Capri's & Bodie and Doyle!! "Sectoid, we're the Sweeney, and you're nicked son!"

In the past few days, it has become pretty clear to me that turn-based strategy games are back in-vogue thanks mainly to Xcom:EU. I'm not sure whether gamers are just crying out for something different from all the identi-kit shooters and racers that have plauged our PCs and consoles for the last 10-or-so years, or are rebelling against how modern games seem to have become very simplistic and easy in terms of their gameplay (when compared with turn-based strategy -most games these days don't seem to want you to figure out anything for yourself). If people had only looked, they never really went away (remember Advance Wars etc.); it's just that they were in the minority - but casual gamers never bother with such things. There is a great deal of love floating around for the new x-com game at the moment (just look at any games website), which can only be a good thing for Xenonauts and lovers of strategy games on the whole. Hopefully companies will see that as well as being fun whilst being complex, such games have very long shelf lives (the best £1.99 I ever spent was in buying Rebelstar for the spectrum, even though I didn't have a speccy at the time(!) - it STILL gets played today!). If all goes well during this critical time, hopefully we will see new Masters of Orions, Star Wars Supremacys and, of course, lots of Xenonaut updates (with Chris becoming rich enough to create his own Gollop Bros. dynasty!).

It's true though isn't it?! In the 70's about 80% of all cars on the road seemed to be Fords. How things have changed! Considering the lead is Chris, a fellow brit (and also a Londoner) why not have some Britishness imbedded into the game (yeah yeah - I know Ford is a US company, but I don't think they marketed the same models over there). There's just something I love about the squareness of the Ford Granada etc...

Surely no more so than the images of any other car. Who is going to notice if it's done in a mod anyway? It would give the game a more 70's feel. Nothing says 70s to me more than Granadas, Capris and Transit vans (we can't exactly put Disco and big hair into the game - maybe someone can find a way!).

I'd might be nice, considering the 70s setting, to have the lovely squareness of Ford Granadas, Capris & Transit vans on maps (a la The Professionals etc) :-)

Yes - the firaxis game does seem shallow in the ways you suggest. Thats why I'm looking forward much more to this. Not going to preorder though because I think this will spoil the suprise (I'm also keeping busy on my own project - that's the answer guys, keep busy until the game is finally released, but then I suppose there would be no bug reports...).

Yes vanattab - thats how I feel too. I think that xenonauts will be much better for the reasons you suggest. x-com is a good game in its own right though.