Messages

1

Discussion / Re: UFO:AI Release cycle

« on: April 27, 2010, 07:21:17 am »

I object to the assumption that single-player games are all "play-and-forget":  I was addicted to Civilization II for years, and I never once played an MP game of it.  I'll still fire up some of my older games, too; it's a shame Valve doesn't run well on my laptop, or I'd probably be replaying HalfLife 2 every chance I get.

Sometimes, even when you've already exhausted the plot, there's still something to be said for trying something new.

(I also object to the assumption that you can't enjoy a movie or a book more than once, but that's a rant for a different time and place.)

2

Artwork / Re: various Visual Identities make a world convincing

« on: April 27, 2010, 07:14:02 am »

A burst of inspiration and a quick edit gave me this:

Simple, Large Globe

I've decided that I like this one much better than the other two.  For one, less clutter, and you could identify it more clearly from a distance.

Which reminds me--I really should get to work on an aircraft roundel mockup.  That ought to be pretty easy...

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Offtopic / Re: Birthday game

« on: April 26, 2010, 02:08:35 am »

It's just the nature of the beast that is Off-Topic, I suppose.

Incidentally, my personal favorite of the list is Alfred Nobel, since the prize is also awarded on that day.  No one famous actually died that year, though (according to Wiki).

Incidentally, Happy Malaria Awareness Day, everyone!

4

Artwork / Re: various Visual Identities make a world convincing

« on: April 25, 2010, 10:52:06 pm »

After reviewing some of the earlier conversations about the PHALANX logo, I decided to whip up a few "concept" mockups using a piece of clipart as a reference / base.  Since the images are rather large, I decided to upload them to my Photobucket account and then link to them here.  I'm not proposing that they be used in their current form per se, but they might be useful for someone else to work off of.

Elaborate
Simple

EDIT:  Graagh, I just realized that the globe on one of those is off-center... Meh, I'll fix it later.

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Tactics / Re: Beginner's guide

« on: April 07, 2010, 06:06:10 am »

And forget about grenades indoors, manly because your soldiers are worse throwers/shooters than guys with no arms. Out in the open their inaccuracy isn't as dangerous but indoors I've more than once ordered my troops to throw a grenade somewhere, only for it to end up in their legs.

Personally, I've wondered about the merits of frag grenades vs. flashbangs.  (Do the latter actually work like they're supposed to?  I know the smoke grenades don't work from searching the forums...)  I've been thinking of switching to a full-out flashbang load for my CQC soldiers as opposed to the half-and-half load of grenades my soldiers are currently carrying; any merit to that?

6

Discussion / Re: I love this game so much

« on: April 06, 2010, 05:09:53 am »

You should be able to find the latest precompiled installer in this thread.

7

Feature Requests / Re: Better Interface for the Transfer Screen

« on: April 01, 2010, 03:06:05 pm »

I was aware of that.  I just wanted to make the joke at the bottom of my post which, it seems, went over most people's heads :p

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Feature Requests / Re: Better Interface for the Transfer Screen

« on: March 31, 2010, 10:23:54 pm »

Thirding that sentiment.

Also, I just realized something:  With the current build, you really don't need to use the Transfer screen at all!  All you have to do is sell-rebuy / fire-rehire who/whatever you want to move, and it shows up instantly.

Guess in the near future, FedEx-Amazon-Time/Warner-Google can deliver stuff faster than a multinational airlift (at least until something a bit more "realistic" is implemented).

9

Offtopic / Other Free Games?

« on: March 31, 2010, 10:18:53 pm »

Figured I'd kick off a little discussion here...

So, besides UFO:  Alien Invasion, what other free (whether freeware, open-source, etc.) games does everyone enjoy?  I'll start off things by listing a few of my own:

Dwarf Fortress:  Odd city management / roguelike mashup that's insanely complex.  I've never actually played a "full" game as such, but I certainly appreciate the attention to detail that goes into the game.

Warning Forever:  Japanese arcade-style "bullet hell" shoot 'em up.  You fight an endless sequence of bosses that adapt to your strategy.

Oolite:  Open-source remake of the classic space sim Elite.  Has about a thousand expansion packs you can add to add new ships, missions, and even star systems.  Really friendly community, too.

Anybody else got any recommendations?

10

Feature Requests / Ability to Rotate Multiblock Buildings

« on: March 31, 2010, 09:57:57 pm »

Here's one that recently came to me:  When you're placing buildings that cover two blocks, you should have the option to choose whether you want to place them horizontally or vertically.  I was recently doing some base building, and I was a little annoyed that I technically still had plenty of space for a certain building, but I couldn't actually build it because the two blocks were oriented north-south, not east-west.

Again, as with most of my suggestions, it's not a critical thing, just a small change I'm sure a lot of people would appreciate.

11

Discussion / Re: A Bit of Free Advertising

« on: March 30, 2010, 12:36:10 pm »

Yeah, the first few videos are all a bit wonky, and there's really nothing I can do for them now.  I did eventually go back and raise my screen brightness; I found that adjusting the game's gamma was all but useless, since the program (CamStudio) was somehow only picking up my system's default settings.

Audio was a similar problem:  I thought I didn't have it loud enough for one vid, but I got a lot of complaints so I turned it back down.

12

Discussion / A Bit of Free Advertising

« on: March 30, 2010, 05:57:56 am »

Starting fairly recently (a few weeks ago), I've been doing a Let's Play of the v2.3 build on YouTube (the link to the first video can be found here).  The video has a link to the main site in the infobox.  I'm hoping that it'll draw some more attention to the project for you guys, particularly from people willing to contribute their own resources.

I'm not an expert coder, musician, or artist, but I want you guys to know that I'm doing my part in my own special way.  Plus I'd appreciate it if y'all could pop over and give it a look   (I'm open to critiques and suggestions for strategy / tactics.)

13

Artwork / Re: various Visual Identities make a world convincing

« on: March 21, 2010, 12:22:11 pm »

Yet another variation, based on the Iranian color arrangement.

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Artwork / Re: various Visual Identities make a world convincing

« on: March 21, 2010, 12:04:22 pm »

You're kind of right:  The flag is based on the Arab Liberation Flag, which was the inspiration for the current Iraqi, Syrian, Egyptian, Sudanese, and Yemeni flags, as well as the historical flags of these nations plus Libya and the short-lived United Arab Republic.  It also borrows the triangular hoist from the Arab Revolt Flag (scroll up a bit on that first link), which in turn inspired the flags of Palestine and Jordan.  (In general, the article I just linked to covers the subject pretty well.)

Actually, I'm starting to wonder if a design based more closely on the Arab Revolt Flag itself might be a bit more appropriate.  I've quickly flipped the colors around to match; see which one you like better.

P.S.:  Sorry for the infodump.  I tend to overthink these things sometimes

15

Offtopic / Re: After several *years*, finally purchased a couple of commercial games

« on: March 21, 2010, 11:13:13 am »

Funny Deus Ex should be mentioned around here--I've been watching a Let's Play of the game on YouTube, and I'm half-tempted to buy it when I can muster up the cash.  Does it run on Vista / Windows 7?