In the "I almost had a heart attack" department, ALTAR games just announced the sequel to UFO: Aftermath and UFO: Aftershock:



Spotted at Blue's News and thanks to Olivier

And I who hoped for an expansion pack...

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Before you make that Afterlight Altarians, give me a patch that fixes more than just the worst crashes/bugs!

Expansion pack? Why would you want that, when you can have a new and improved game? I agree on the patch however...

That's certainly good news. Hope they succeed and get even better ratings.

Martin and co. - that title's growing on me

I, for one, almost DID have a heart attack.

*Expansion pack? Why would you want that, when you can have a new and improved game?*

Because they had to leave out so much for AS. They could have implented it in a expension pack instead, as it would surely be to much for a patch.

Yeah, I guess so Stefan100. Personally I think the expansion pack would be more work than it is worth however. By the time it would have been done, everyone would know the storyline and so on. Therefore I don't think adding some of the features they had to cut (missions on ships and so on) would really sell much. New game with more features due to higher budgets and more experience is better in my opinion.

Hmm, you are right. Didn't think at it in that way... Anyway I hope that the pathces will include at least

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I will be active at the forums again during winter, no school then and much time to play AS. I have not been playing it much...

Glad to hear that Stefan . I'm getting close to the end of UFO: Aftershock, and it's a great game. Tactical missions get a little repetitive at times, and the AI isn't good enough, but all in all a good game.

Who is this "Altar Games"?
I thought it was "Altar Interactive"?

Can't they just make it a expansion pack instead? And why do they just keep using "after", it getting kind of lame.

That's a matter of opinion.
And if you don't like them, here's a couple of alternatives
UFO: Aftershave
UFO: Afterhours
You may choose the theme for the title that you think would suit it best

I just hope the spanish distributor releases Aftershock before ALTAR finish Afterlight. At the rate they're going it's going to be a photo finish.

In the words of Tim 'The Toolman' Taylor: 'HUh?!?!?'

Another game in the UFO A-series?

All I can say is: Let's get on with it....And get all of our feedback to the developers....

@Kret: Why don't you just order the English one Kret? You master English well enough, and the Spanish translations will probably suck

@bovine_cannibal: Yeah, I wondered about that too. I'll share if I find out anything.

AfterShave: Melee focused expansion pack. Smells like mint. Adds blood.
AfterHours: In order to eliminate all graphics slowdown, the sequel will take place in complete darkness. Alternatively, they come up with an ASCI Text version of Aftershock a la NetHack. Die, letter M! Shoot, C! Marketed at TI-83 calculators everywhere.

My own suggestions

AfterCubed? Its not X-Com. I said this before, its still not X-Com. When will you learn its not... Ah screw it!
AfterLife? Ever wonder what happened to those cultists you killed? Beware of the 72 virgin Morelmen.

Slaughter, if I had find out sooner the release date for the spanish localization then I probably would have, but in a couple of days I'll be going to visit some relatives during my x-mas vacations making the delivery in a bit of an ackward moment. Also, by the time I get back, the spanish release should be out. In the even that it's not the case, you can bet I'll be going for the english release.

Bovine_cannibla, I was thinking for UFO: Aftershave to be a merchandise gift with the next sequel of the game with it's main component being bio-mass.
UFO: Afterhours. You're an Old Grey managing a nightclub long before the event in Aftermath.

Man, what the wait for a game can do to ones braincells is disturbing.

If humanity is going to be colonising Mars, then I hope that Altar allow for the fact that Mars has a much lower gravity than Earth, which means that a soldier will be able to throw a grenade further than he could on Earth. He would also be able to carry much more than he could on Earth.

After soaking my brain in alcohol to get over the shocking news about UFO Afterlight my brain (what's left of of it) came up with these titles before the hangovers kicked in.

For the UFO A-series flight simulatior there is: UFO Afterburner.

For the educational side there is: UFO After School. Find out what people were doing in those schools/colleges you built in UFO Aftershock.

And for the facial cleaning series there is: UFO Afterward.

I couldn't come up with an idea for UFO After Effect. But it sounds like an idea for a MMORPG. (Biowares Mass Effect)

For the horror series there is: UFO After Dark. Or that is the name of the UFO nightclub.

"In the 'I almost had a heart attack!' department, ALTAR games just announced the sequel to UFO: Aftermath and UFO: Aftershock"

Simply fantastic news, Olav!

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Looking over the bulleted feature list one can already glimpse the growth that Afterlight will bring to the UFO_A saga. I regard it with great anticipation!

A few key issues I would ask the ALTAR team to keep at heart throughout the development:

- Do develop a set unique characters/soldiers (with identifiable facial traits, skills/abilities and voices) as it strenghtens player attachment and the credibility of the setting
- Implement an AI whose agents make effective use of cover (as this has a strong impact on the gameplay itself and affects the way in which enemy intelligence/adepteness is perceived by the player)
- Strive for distinctive, non-repetitive mission objectives and layouts (even if quantity has to take a back seat).
- To reinforce the previous topic you might want to take 'a day in the life' approach - what can be accomplished by the characters in a day's game time, deriving repercussions. (what people did or failed to do, with whom, after or before another relevant event, victory, failure, fatigue all playing a role in a day's, non-negligible, discrete time in the life of those involved)

and...

- UFO: Afterglow would prove an equally adequate candidate for the game's name, in my opinion

Best of luck with the project !