Dix

Which ones? UFO aka X-Com, UFO: ET, or UFO: After-x series? All good series, mind! UFO Aftershock/Afterlight were the only two that had a halfway decent reason for the aliens only arriving in small doses instead of just curb-stomping us

Battle Isle, wow - that goes back alright. Wonder what the oldest known strategy game is? I somehow think it would be simpler than chess, but I don't really know..

Mmm - physics allows for so much fun in games like this. My favorite is still collapsing an entire tower block owned by a hostile corp in Apocalypse to wipe out the aliens, but Silent Storm had it's moments. Enemy soldier hiding in the basement ready to pop the head of any trooper I send down? place charges and drop the ceiling on his head - simples!

Hmm, the bot reads more like Vietnamese. The greatest TBS? Tie between Civ 1 and Apocalypse, for me. This is a genre in which personal opinions are always going to weigh in, there are just too many good games: -Civillization series -Civ spinoffs like Alpha Centauri and Colonisation (heck, there was an official X-Com expansion for Civ 2!) - X-Com series - Silent Storm series - Jagged Alliance - Master Of Orion 1&2 - Galactic Civilizations - Space Empires series - sooo many console TBS games like FF Tactics, Tactics Ogre - Armageddon Empires and that is barely scratching the surface... it's so hard to choose! Don't make me choose just one!

Backed it just in time - the concept sounds intriguing. TrashMan: You could play it as a Xanatos gambit - the only way to preserve the world is to seize control of it from those too blind to understand that their petty short-sightedness is going to doom it down the road. If they unify and defeat you, you win since you have brought them together as one, if you win then hey, you now have the power to do what needs doing!

....is there a right answer to this question?

Agreed that Strategy Core is a good place to ask about the XCom games, and they have some mods as well - Karadoc's was quite a popular rebalance for Apoc, and they had some for the others as well: http://www.strategycore.co.uk/files/x-com-apocalypse/mods/ Apocalypse on harder levels could still wipe you out, due to some of the powers the enemies have (persistent area of effect weapons that bypass shields, and dissolve your soldiers kit even as it kills them), irreversible mind control of units, and units being remotely mind controlled and promptly suiciding with a grenade, grenades that actively chase after your units when they are thrown. As silencer said, the Tox gun could wipe out any alien if you get close enough, so just don't use it if you want a harder game.

Not sure what you mean by restore Apocalypse's balance, but it works fine for me in DosBox in win7 x64. You can also tweaked versions from steam or gog.com

if spinach = Gene Seeds, then it fits!

I became less ostracised once I realised I could say "that's what I was told" instead "the voice in my head told me".

"No Tongue! NO TONGUE!" ...at least, that's what I was told they were saying whenever a Chryssalid got close in the first game

Mmm - I love the smell of posts en flambe in the morning.

Base invasions will never be the same again. All you need to do is prep some cans by the air conditioning intakes.. and ductape the Commissar into a small cupboard somewhere in the basement for the duration, to stop him executing whoever is assigned to actually spray the stuff.

Haha - wonder why no one else took this one? Welcome to the forums, & glad you like the game!

Chris: I've always been a lurker rather than a cornerstone of the community, but as one of the way back early backers: "If you were one of the really early backers: I’m sorry that you had to wait so long." Don't be - it's been well worth it. You and your team took the time and our money, but you did the job, and then some. So: thank-you!

Hehe - sounds perfect! I've played AI war before - fun, & hectic

[video=youtube;0wfNjf1cWRs] The lament of the dying cowbo.. uh, i mean, Xenonaut.

Homeworld - that game had one of the most powerful openings it's been my privilege to witness - I brought the Collector's edition just for the music CD. [video=youtube;EDagBGdMtQ0] I didn't link them, as I wasn't sure if they would count, but Malukah's video game covers are also amazing.

...I'll be good.

It might be, yes . This thread could spawn the Xenonauts motto: Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum

Hah - as an unjustly judged former (maybe) loyal citizen, you can have your flickering ember of an Emperor. We heretics have our toasty warm English breakfast goods and molten caffeinated drinks of deepest sugary night. Plus, we get to wear funky leather & chrome outfits and sunglasses at night, and play with stolen illegal weapons like the legendary Flamwerfer prototypes created by Chris, before he banned them in fear of their power

Nice, OP - this is trolling done right Losing all your squad in X-Com in few turns was always an option. Especially when your rookie meatshield.. er, scout, takes a step out the door and finds three Chrysallids around the exit ramp.

mmm - but having been judged by the Commissar, I no longer bask in the glow of righteousness. Therefore I am in perfect position to send forth the flaming syrups of justice, and let slip the fearsome pancake toasters of war! (The Flaming Forks Of Justice brigades will follow up with the coup de grace. Coffee and crumpets to follow.)

Congratulations - looking forward to playing this game so much!

And lo, it came to pass that the 800 poster was feted in the manner of the peoples of the flame: glowing coals and ashes were cast about his feet, flaming gout's of phlogiston arcing betwixt heaven and earth while rivers of magma swirled with heart-stealing, unstoppable grandeur, laden with an irresistible intensity of purpose. Skirls of ash and smoking ruin spun and danced, briefly, before the never-ending heat devoured their delicate patterns. Yea, and verily all this was but a pallid and imperfect reflection of the promise of the flame in that dread poster's eye, his stentorian gaze searing the breath from any foolish enough to seek to match it, the sparks from furrowed brow promising an infernal essence of purest heat to all the many peoples of the wide world. Verily, the peoples of the fire beheld the fearsome and smouldering mien of the dread 800: rich with promises of immolation and pungent with the ashen debris of a thousand thousand lands it was, and so were the assembled masses stilled, silent, in awe and trembling. And so it came to be that the immortal words were uttered, quietly, yet with unwavering conviction. And the words went thusly: "Bugger - we've ended up with a right nutter here, lads. Let's chuck him in the old volcano, quick!"