Messages

1

Feature Requests / Re: First person view

« on: September 21, 2011, 08:33:06 pm »

This sort of thing was done in another game, Dungeon Keeper II.  The impetous was on building your own map, complete with bad guys, and 'stocking your dungeon.'  Then, when the invaders attacked ( the Heroes, or a rival Dungeon Keeper), one could 'possess' any of his minions, and play that minion on the map, IN FIRST PERSON!

It was hilarious, and fun.  What one needs to remember, though, is that the game was implemented from the start for just such an occasion, and optimized FPS maps, including ceilings, were not an issue.  With UFO: AI, maps are multilevel, with stairs, tables, chairs, stockpiles, and many many 3d objects.  Rendering those objects, along with the wall textures, and other moving characters could be a tremendous task, givin the high standards of graphical architecture already in place.

What intrigues me though, is the possiblility of developing a fully animated cutscene during the enemy turn.  That would not require real time support during the rendering process, and would make the game alot more exciting.

2

Feature Requests / Re: Autoresolve Mechanics - Use Statistics

« on: September 21, 2011, 08:16:52 pm »

Feature Ticket, hmm?

Okay, well, lemme ask some poignant questions directly, if I may...

What is the purpose of having autoresolve in the game, exactly?

When autoresolving, do I lose an opportunity to gain veterency for my soldiers?

Are kills assigned to my soldiers if I 'win the battle,' even thought I was never actually there?

Can I expect an unarmed, unarmored soldier to 'die with honor' on the battlefield, or must I actually put some thought into my assault team?

Does game engine use a calculation method based on my last encounter, with variables such as losses/vs/wins?

If I could get those questions answered, I could write a fairly serious proposal, and introduce it as a feature request.  Otherwise, please feel free to take my idea and run with it.  You have my blessing!

3

Discussion / Re: Nation Relations

« on: September 21, 2011, 08:03:13 pm »

Near as I can figure, selling a ufo to a 'content' country can up thier happiness, temporarily.  Everyone seems to want one.  What bothers me is who are they selling them to after they leave my possession.  Are they studying them for research, or just selling them back to the Aliens for advanced technology, like antimatter - matter power sources?

What truly disturbes me is that there is just no way of policing the world without building bases everywhere.  I finally had a country go 'neutral' on me, and it was a wake up call that I needed to be more proactive with hunting down and killing UFOs.  I knew it was commiing, because I was 'letting my clock run.'

This drama plays out in much the same way as it did in X-COM : UFO Defense.  The planet stops funding me, I can't build enough bases, even if I wanted to, and I will eventually lose the game.  My only choice would be to go to Mars and destroy thier home base before I lost all political support at home (according to my buddy, who's a veteren player ).

Perhaps a sort of periodical could be instituted in the game to replace the standard Terror site alert mechanism.  You know, something like Star Magazine, or Variety.  That way, one would have to determine the true from the false, and in the process, get more bases going earlier on in the campaign.

Just a thought. 

4

Discussion / Re: Spawnpoints

« on: September 21, 2011, 07:41:41 pm »

...and that's not easy, but at least it gives you line of sight on Tamans.  Whenever I get close to a civilian, I seem to be in a better pos to take out the snipers.  Once, I even got a Taman with a Krell Blade that way (of course it killed the poor lady doing her grocery shopping!).

5

Discussion / Re: Spawnpoints

« on: September 19, 2011, 10:43:55 pm »

Right, It's very much like Hamburger Hill.  Even in Viet Nam, they didn't land right next to the enemy's position.  If they had to, they would make a landing zone using explosives, so they could deploy men with relative safetey.

6

Feature Requests / Re: Autoresolve Mechanics - Use Statistics

« on: September 19, 2011, 10:36:51 pm »

I hate autoresolving!  Only I have to do it, because there are bugs in the system. At least, that's my excuse!

I know that I can win, but I seem to fall into a lapse of reason when I autoresolve.  It's not bordom!  Quite the opposite.  I'm usually just tired, I wanna play, but I've only got, like, two soldiers left.  I feel irresponsible letting those Taman Bastards just run the planet, so, sometimes, I autoresolve.  It's just to show the world that I am still in the game.

What might be fun is if there were some questions during the autoresolve:

'Do you wan't to risk your Sergeant's life saving Hostages, or just let them die as you cower from cover?'

'Will you be using your own weapons, or the ones that you find on the dead Alien bodies?

'Standard aproach, or land on the Alien's wrecked craft?'

Really though, it's just a game, and if you don't feel like playing, you should get some sleep.

 

7

Discussion / Re: General Feedback

« on: September 16, 2011, 10:21:45 am »

Yes. Thank you for that.

In the original game, you had the Geoscape. Clicked on Bases in the menu. Then, Equip Craft. Then, Skyranger.

So, that's:

BASES\EQUIP CRAFT\SELECT CRAFT\EQUIPMENT

or

BASES\EQUIP CRAFT\SELECT CRAFT\SOLDIERS

or

BASES\EQUIP CRAFT\SELECT CRAFT\ARMOR

These gave you limited options, and assumed that your soldiers would equip themselves.  Player could manage what went on the dropship, but any soldier could load up any equipment on the craft once the mission started.  This meant that your sniper might be carrying the only rocket launcher, or your medic had all of the grenades.

However, before the mission spawned your soldiers, a sort of LAST CHANCE TO EQUIP SOLDIERS screen would open up, and you had an opportunity to move around equipment, dropping stuff and picking it up with your veterens.  It made for an intense moment of long thought and planning, with the forthought that certain men were going to die instantly, and others might survive long enough ot get out of the ship, and light the terrain up with Electoflares, or Smoke Grenades.

IMO this made for a much more exiting and thoughtful deployment, than simply droping the soldiers ala DMZ on Hamburger Hill. 

Since UFO is more of a turn based game of chess, than a Goldeneye 'snipers run' through the Barracks, Time Units took on a very significant role.  It meant that you could, if you liked, play a game of stealth, and coordinated flanking manuvers, that would be represented by a sort of cutscene.  I remember when cutscene based games were the bomb, (yes, I'm really that old) and you had to wait until the computer had finished it's full calutaion to see if your hero lived or died.  It was really exciting.

Now that we can do everything in real time, it seems antiquated and foolish to overmix the different games styles.  Strategy games like Age of Mythology, or Galactic Battlegrounds would work just fine, but it diminishes the intensity of the gaming experience that one might see in a turn based game like Risk.

Perhaps I am overthinking the entire process, but still, I prefer to plan, plan, and plan some more, than just use 'P' for PLENTY. lol

I do belive that with todays incredible grafix and AI architectures, that UFO: AI could dazzle and amaze the spectator.  It's all about the Enemy Turn.  So, here's what I suggest:

After the player has moved, reserved TU's, and finished his turn, the game should go into a supercycle. A fully animated battle sequence, in which the Player gets to watch a movie of the Enemy Turn.  This could be done easily with the new routines developed by Maya, or other automated soldiers generator.  A very large battle could ensue, complete with sound effects, grafic explosions, blood splatters, and the occational disater.  Character developement could be enhanced with closeups,  using virtual actors, showing the actual facial expressions of each actor at just the right moment, to make things even more exiting.

Once the enemy turn was over, the Engine would simply go back into Battlescape Mode, and the player's next turn would begin.  Each turn would repeat in this manner, until the brave soldiers of Phalanx are wiped out, or, victorious.

Something to ponder, maybe?  Too much work??

Perhaps, but I do see the potential of a truly extraordinary gaming experience here. 

8

Discussion / Spawnpoints

« on: September 15, 2011, 11:10:04 am »

I think that spawnpoints play a significant role in any game with players expecting to deploy thier troops in an orderly fashion.  To elaborate...

In the old game, we had a Skyranger that had one opening in the rear, with a ramp.   It was bad enough trying to get cover then, but now, we have no choice in the matter whatsoever.

My first encounter was an open deployment bay similar to a Huey, and none of the soldiers were inside of the craft.  The Tamans had line of site from the moment the first turn began, and my men were not armed.  I had no idea that trained solders acted in such a fashion.  It was a slaughter.

I learned quickly to arm my soldiers in the Geoscape\Aircraft\Soldiers\Equip Soldiers screen, which I found only by accident.

Now, I know that the original game had many different screens to manipulate inventories, and research and such... But the bottom line is: Did you really have to make it so difficult for the new player?

Scarry! But then, Quake was a scarry game, too. 'Course, I never played it in the dark, on Halloween, either...

lol

9

Discussion / General Feedback

« on: September 15, 2011, 10:36:19 am »

Hi, everybody!

My best friend has been bugging me for years about X-COM, and I found the original game for him recently and we started playing it. He's a Veteren Player of the old game, and I'm still learning. Well...

Now I find you guys, and I'm totally blown away.  I can't tell you how excited I am to see that this classic game has been resurrected.  I'm sure that we will be playing it for years to come, that is, if the Earth is still in our possession.

Now I have some general feedback.

Wow! It's beautiful.  Breathtaking.  And, sad.  Very true to form.  Maybe a little too close to what's actually happening here on this planet.

I gotta tell ya, though, It was very elusive.  I had no clue that this project even existed until I found a Google search reply re: gameglitch of X-COM's Gravis Ultrasound Battlescape Hang.  I don't know If this is helpful, but I strongly recommend that this forum do some creative linking to your site.  It could help to find you some topnotch developers, I think.

We did have quite a time trying to use the Geoscape, until we turned off the excess shading/shadows/textures in the Video Menu.  I just don't think they should be set as a default, or, perhaps they should be accompanied by a video test mode, autoplayed from the installer.  Not my call.

Once we got the Geoscape moving, we started to have some fun.  The learning curve is really high.  The tutorial was a bit helpful, but fairly obvious.  I think that the tutorial could use alot of work.

It took me two days to figure out how to equip my soldiers.  I do hope that has been addressed.

I like to edit files, but my coding skills are ancient, by current day standards.  I don't really know how much help I can be.

In any case, wonderful work on bringing back a classic psx game from the grave.  It has brought me much joy!

May the Great Bird of the Galaxy watch over you.

Thanks.