Lure Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Hi, I preordered a couple of days ago and have only 4-5 play sessions under my belt but I thought I'd post my first impressions from plaing this game so far anyway. I played the original X-Com a lot back in the days and I also have spent a lot of time with more recent games in this genre: Jagged Alliance 2 and Silent Storm. I enjoyed both JA2 and S2 as they improved a lot upon the gameplay in X-Com. Summary: My overall impression is that Xenonauts looks promising but IMO it seems to be too much of a "clone" of X-Com and overlook improvements over X-Com found in later games in the same genre such as JA2 and S2. The Geoscape feels close to "done" but the tactical fighting game needs more features. Things I like: Geoscape: - Map-like geoscape is better then a globe as it gives you a better overview of all areas at the same time. - The overall menus are ok. Didn't take too long to find my way around. - I like that the research part is in with projects that you unlock and so on. - Aircraft combat minigame. This was a nice suprise. Combat: - Nice isometric tile based graphics! yay! No pointless 3D! - Can destroy buildings! Very important! - Support vehicles are fun! - Auto-sell of "loot" at the end of the mission is nice and timesaving. Overall I have not noticed any bugs or issues. Almost all features seems to work and it's mostly content that's missing like artwork. Main issues and areas that annoys me, missing features: Geoscape: - I'm kindorf missing a Economics screen... mayber there is one but I have not found it. Would be nice to get a more detailed look at incomes and expenses. - I'm somewhat confused regarding how my troops and aircraft rearms. Do they automatically buy ammo and missiles to rearm after missions. It seems like they do.... but in my last UFO interception one of my fighters did not have any missiles loaded. I have not find a "shopping" screen like in the original X-Com. Automatically re-stocking ammo is nice but I would actually like to manually purchase weapons and such for my soldiers. - The air-combat minigame is very easy. I always let my fighters fly in groups of at least two. The combat only plays out in two different ways each time: A. The UFO runs and It's just a matter of chasing it down before it reach edge of screen. It seems the only way a UFO can get away is if you forget to give the afterburner command to your fighters. B. The UFO attacks your first fighter. You simply do a 90 degree turn with the first fighter and let all other fighters attack. The UFO keeps going for the first fighter but can never get in range. The rest of your fighters engage the UFO until it runs and your first fighter can join in. The UFOs have never been able to get a shot of at any of my fighters. The only way I have lost a interception was in my first play session when I had not noticed the afterburner buttons and the UFO could escape. UFO AI need to improve. They should switch target if they can't chase down the current one and is under attack from other fighters. Combat: - No realtime when there are no enemies in sight. This is a big issue that all games I've played after X-Com improved on. You reduce downtime between alien encounters A LOT by allowing real-time movement when there is no enemies in sight. Not allowing this is a big step backwards and makes missions a real pain in the ass. Critical feature IMO. - No save during tactical combat? - Only one terrain type (city)? I assume this is just lack of artwork at this point. Every crash site is that urban setting no matter where the UFO crashed. - The reserve snap/auto shot feature resets each turn for all soldiers. I assume this is a bug. - Aliens don't seem to move around very much. They are mostly just waiting for you to find them. - I miss aiming for individual body-parts. - I miss prone positions for my soldiers. Especially for my machinegunners it feels weird not being able to go prone. - I miss gadgets and weapon upgrades / modifications. - I miss aliens reacting to combat. Gunfire on the other side of the building? Maybe the alien should head there to see if his buddy needs help. - View distance seems a little short during daytime given the range of the weapons. I often engage targets found by my front soldiers very successfully with soldiers in the rear of my squad. Pretty much 1,5 times view distance range. I think view distance could pretty much be doubled during daytime missions. In general the tactical combat part have a lot to learn from later games. I miss a lot of fidelity regarding soldier orders that you find in games like JA2 and S2. I'm sure most of these questions have been discussed earlier but I'm still writing them down here as they affect my overall impression of the game. I'm sorry if my impressions seems negative but I have HIGH expectations of a game in this genre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorlom Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Summary: My overall impression is that Xenonauts looks promising but IMO it seems to be too much of a "clone" of X-Com and overlook improvements over X-Com found in later games in the same genre such as JA2 and S2. The Geoscape feels close to "done" but the tactical fighting game needs more features. A lot of people have wanted to go back to something very close to the old game or simply a clone with updated graphics. That's why games like the Aftermath/shock/light series and to some extent UFO: Extraterrestrials have been such a dissapointment. They have tried to update some key features but hasven't managed to do it properly. Combat: - No realtime when there are no enemies in sight. This is a big issue that all games I've played after X-Com improved on. You reduce downtime between alien encounters A LOT by allowing real-time movement when there is no enemies in sight. Not allowing this is a big step backwards and makes missions a real pain in the ass. Critical feature IMO. It also completly changes the nature of the game since you would allways have full AP when engageing the alien(s). And wouldn't you as a player get the upper hand as well getting initiative? I never found baldurs gate that appealing. Although I do like fallout 1&2, but they are completly different genre imo.- No save during tactical combat? This is either a bugg or you are playing ironman mode.- Only one terrain type (city)? I assume this is just lack of artwork at this point. Every crash site is that urban setting no matter where the UFO crashed.- The reserve snap/auto shot feature resets each turn for all soldiers. I assume this is a bug. - Aliens don't seem to move around very much. They are mostly just waiting for you to find them. - I miss aliens reacting to combat. Gunfire on the other side of the building? Maybe the alien should head there to see if his buddy needs help. The game is still in ALPHA. Most of theese things will be remedeed as development continues into beta and final release. - I miss gadgets and weapon upgrades / modifications Not really sure what you mean by this. Would you mind elaborating? researching alien weaponry will allow access to first laser then plasma tech weapons. I think there will be a 4th tier as well but I dunno what tech it is based on. - I miss aiming for individual body-parts. An excellet suggestion. I like the idea but im unsure if there will be time to code such function. Seems to me to be a rather large modification that will involve more aspects then just the aiming and damage dealt.. - View distance seems a little short during daytime given the range of the weapons. I often engage targets found by my front soldiers very successfully with soldiers in the rear of my squad. Pretty much 1,5 times view distance range. I think view distance could pretty much be doubled during daytime missions. Balance issue that is up to debate in other threads. It would be interesting if you tried out several distances and reported your findings. And preferebly considered it from a balance point of view rather then "what seems reasonable or logical"In general the tactical combat part have a lot to learn from later games. I miss a lot of fidelity regarding soldier orders that you find in games like JA2 and S2. Such as? I'm not really that familiar with those games only played JA2 for one or 2 missions at a friends house a long time ago. could you give any examples? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lure Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 (edited) Gorlom, If you have not played Jagged Alliance 2 or Silent Storm you really should. IMO Jagged Alliance 2 is the current benchmark when it comes to these kind of games. Many hours of fun awaits there and you will see how the tactical combat can be taken to complete new levels compared to the old X-Com style combat. I too feel nostalgia but when it comes down to the actual turn-based combat the classic X-Com is very crude compared to later games like JA2 and Silent Storm. I admit those game lean a little more towards RPGs (but I don't know where you got Baldurs Gate from?!?!?) but that's only because they are more story driven. They still have the strategical "geoscape" part where you explore and equip and the tactical turnbased fighting scenarios where you clear out enemies. Like for instance the realtime parts: the player don't always get the first turn. It depends on who spots who first: If you run into a enemy waiting for you they will get to do their turn first... Frankly, If you're into these kind of game and have not yet had the pleasure of playing Jagged Alliance 2 you should pick it up from GOG or somewhere and educate/enjoy yourself. Edited February 8, 2012 by Lure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorlom Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 "Educate"? I hope you didn't mean anything by that and merely expressed yourself poorly. even with the smily that comes off as condensending to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anotherdevil Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Good on ya for putting the time in to make up this list, and good on ya for joining us on these forums and being brave enough to put your voice out there. Now a couple of things, Xenonauts is a re-imagining of X-COM, none of the other games (S2, S3, JA, etc.) so that's the game which Chris and co. have tried to recreate, adjusting things only as necessary. Now with that disclaimer out of the way, I'll try and answer some of your concerns (also if you make a list, could you make a list with numbers? It's easier to reply too). Geoscape:- Map-like geoscape is better then a globe as it gives you a better overview of all areas at the same time. - The overall menus are ok. Didn't take too long to find my way around. - I like that the research part is in with projects that you unlock and so on. - Aircraft combat minigame. This was a nice suprise. Glad you like them Combat: - Nice isometric tile based graphics! yay! No pointless 3D! - Can destroy buildings! Very important! - Support vehicles are fun! - Auto-sell of "loot" at the end of the mission is nice and timesaving. Glad you enjoy these too Geoscape: - I'm kindorf missing a Economics screen... mayber there is one but I have not found it. Would be nice to get a more detailed look at incomes and expenses. - I'm somewhat confused regarding how my troops and aircraft rearms. Do they automatically buy ammo and missiles to rearm after missions. It seems like they do.... but in my last UFO interception one of my fighters did not have any missiles loaded. I have not find a "shopping" screen like in the original X-Com. Automatically re-stocking ammo is nice but I would actually like to manually purchase weapons and such for my soldiers. 1. probably not in yet 2. the most basic weapons are infinite and free. You are part of the sole group responsible for defending the world, it makes sense that earth based weapons and ammo should be free for you. You'll still need to manufacture alien tech, and you still have to buy new interceptors and vehicles - The air-combat minigame is very easy. I always let my fighters fly in groups of at least two. The combat only plays out in two different ways each time: A. The UFO runs and It's just a matter of chasing it down before it reach edge of screen. It seems the only way a UFO can get away is if you forget to give the afterburner command to your fighters. B. The UFO attacks your first fighter. You simply do a 90 degree turn with the first fighter and let all other fighters attack. The UFO keeps going for the first fighter but can never get in range. The rest of your fighters engage the UFO until it runs and your first fighter can join in. The UFOs have never been able to get a shot of at any of my fighters. The only way I have lost a interception was in my first play session when I had not noticed the afterburner buttons and the UFO could escape. UFO AI need to improve. They should switch target if they can't chase down the current one and is under attack from other fighters. 3. just wait till you encounter corvettes with escorts =p Combat:- No realtime when there are no enemies in sight. This is a big issue that all games I've played after X-Com improved on. You reduce downtime between alien encounters A LOT by allowing real-time movement when there is no enemies in sight. Not allowing this is a big step backwards and makes missions a real pain in the ass. Critical feature IMO. - No save during tactical combat? - Only one terrain type (city)? I assume this is just lack of artwork at this point. Every crash site is that urban setting no matter where the UFO crashed. - The reserve snap/auto shot feature resets each turn for all soldiers. I assume this is a bug. - Aliens don't seem to move around very much. They are mostly just waiting for you to find them. - I miss aiming for individual body-parts. - I miss prone positions for my soldiers. Especially for my machinegunners it feels weird not being able to go prone. - I miss gadgets and weapon upgrades / modifications. - I miss aliens reacting to combat. Gunfire on the other side of the building? Maybe the alien should head there to see if his buddy needs help. - View distance seems a little short during daytime given the range of the weapons. I often engage targets found by my front soldiers very successfully with soldiers in the rear of my squad. Pretty much 1,5 times view distance range. I think view distance could pretty much be doubled during daytime missions. 4. may not be possible with the engine, and during the tactical missions you are supposed to be in combat for most of the mission 5. have you tried 'ESC'? 6. Still in ALPHA, at least one more will be in the next release 7. Still in ALPHA, is planned to be saveable 8. Still in ALPHA, AI is still being worked on 9. I don't think this is a big priority. It is nice, but is hardly necessary for a game like this 10. Again see above 11. Attachments for weapons are not going to be included. If you want a different weapon, you do the research. 12. Still in ALPHA, see 8 13. Still in ALPHA, see Gorlom's suggestion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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