Praetoris

I had to bring the wiki in to this as well Perhaps not the best explanation but I agree with the above. Strategic games are "deeper" and more complex compared to tactical. A 4X-game like total war is a perfect example of a strategy game. A good example of a tactical game would be Ground Control or WIC. What category Warcraft and C&C fits into is a bit borderline, but I'd say that's tactical as well - agreeing with Voyager that these games aren't terribly deep and a good build order + clickspeed usually wins you the battle. No heavy strategy needed. The fact that there's also a genre called "Tactical-shooters" sums it all up pretty good to me. Rather than run-and-gun you have to run-via-cover-and-gun, and perhaps control a friendly squad of soldiers while you're at it. Not exactly what I'd call heavy strategies either ;P ---- While we're at it, If I may blatently throw in some commercials, there's a new cool 4x game being released today called Sins of a Solar Empire. (.com) I'm pretty sure the game is already covered by this site though and that most of you guys are probably waiting for the download, but I thought just in case EDIT: Hah, perhaps I should check the news a bit more often. It's on the bloody frontpage

Punch-line: "Colin Mcrae, saves your life on the road" I've also done the "where's my ctrl-z" bummer just like NKF. I sort of froze for a minute wondering what the hell I was doing trying to reach my not existing keyboard.

Fixed, seems I couldn't link viewing images on that site

I was passing by the cinema the other today when I saw a poster for a movie called Disturbia. Here's what it looked like: http://www.stuff.co.nz/images/291149.jpg ... My first thought was "oh god, not another crap movie based on a game!?" ... http://www.conquerfans.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/command-and-conquer.gif ... Hum ... maybe I should spend less time playing games!? Anyone else who keeps having these odd associations?

I don't enjoy coming out as a whining kind of guy , usually I'm even overenthusiastic about games like this, but this time I just can't hold it: Zarkov: "The graphics are great. Not from a technological point of view but from a design aspect." - I don't agree at all on this - the graphics aren't good in my opinion ... no whater what kind of aspect. Take me for it - I design stuff for a living and some of these designs are downright laughable. They do succeed fairly well with most of the aliens though (although I haven't seen too many of them yet). Sad thing is that I've seen a couple of the concepts from this game and I don't think the in-game assets give them justice. "Music: I also really like the game music, it's fairly simple eerie stuff. But it does get the job done when your scouting by your self." - To me it sounds like they copied the music from X-Com right off and added some similar tunes to it. Not much of an accomplishment in my opinion, but what worked back then still works now . Can I give credit to them for not breaking it? "Gameplay: The destructible terrain, coupled with the different weapons systems works pretty good. It opens a lot of tactical situations." - Nothing new from X-Com either. It's still nice though, although it looks quite awcard when a shot from your average rifle rips a solid wall apart in a second. "The bad: Sound: All sounds except music are fairly lackluster, laser and gun shots are fairly flat and aliens never really scream out as they fold into a pile. Animations: Animations are quite limited, When ever something gets shot it just sort of falls over on the spot. Also walking, shooting and crouching animations are simplistic at best, UI: No keyboard shortcuts, This is a big annoyance for me, every action requires multiple clicks to perform. Crouch= select soldier, hover 3 seconds on soldier, select crouch. Take a shot= select soldier, click weapont, click alien, select shot type." - Agreed "I'm giving the game an 8/10" - I'd given it a 4/10, mainly because it's value as a tribute. (god, I feel like a pessimist - just can't help it)

My quick and dirty opinion on the game so far: Being a X-Com veteran and enthusiast (as most of on this forum) I was delighted to hear about a new version coming out. However, as much as I'd like to, I'm finding it increasingly hard to actually like this game and to find any sort of appreciation for what the creators have done in the end. I'm not going to scream "rip-off" and rant about the horrendous visuals, there are plenty of threads and forums filled with that already anyway, but seriously - what's special and new about this game in the end? I'd say not much, borderline to nothing. The more I play it the more I just feel like firing up the original UFO', simply because it's done -right- and without that subtle kind of wannabe-feel to it. For comparison; I find Altar's "spiritual successor", the After-series, much more enjoyable and I can appreciate and like for what it is - something more unique. ET just feels broken and fails to entertain me in the long run. I'll see if my opinion changes any after I've played some more though but, sadly, I doubt that it will..

The two right pictures (assault rifle and quad) are both from the Total Rebalance Mod, and no we aren't in the competition.

Well, we're a step ahead of you in promoting good art it seems... - There goes Thorondor again, the living encyclopedia I've always wondered how you manage to keep track of all quotes, interviews, uploads etc etc.. Quick note - just as I was looking at the scene I noticed a little something that has to do with another respect, though: check out how the characters seem to be aiming the weapon at eye-level. Picture the spray-action for a second and think about how you'd imagine the wielder's stance. - I'm not sure I follow you on that one? If you're referring to the weapons being a little "out of line" when wielded by the models in game then that's an issue across the board with UFO:AL I'm afraid. Characters often hold and clip into many of the items and it can look really awcard at times. "I like both but at the same time I'm not entirely-and-nitpickingly satisfied with either of them" But that goes with the territory, doesn't it ? - Quite true.. ..and do post some further material for our viewing pleasure. - Well, since you're rather fast on the reply and hand me good feedback I might just upload some more as soon as tonight. It depends on how hard a NDA should be interpreted though, my employments can be far too hush-hush at times I'll get back when I know more..

LOVELY! Finally someone who can give feedback "Colored drawings such as those you've conceived (say, for the Laser Sniper rifle) often make me ponder what the result would be if a game engine was built to deliver just this kind of conceptual, grittier look, instead of the ever-shiny polished surfaces that are the norm." - I wouldn't say no to a position where I get to create "grungy" art, but sadly I haven't seen any offers for it "Rocket Launcher & Rocket Cell: no frills, sturdy feel. Thumbs up. (you might want to revise that trooper shouldering the launcher on his right shoulder, seeing where you've placed the scoping/target acquisition apparatus all throughout)" - Glad you liked it. Good point. "Sub-machine gun - feels a bit too much like scraps cobbled together. To make a long story short, it lacks an edge. It needs more personality. By all means let us see the thought process, don't let us see the H&K in the final drawing. 'Nuff said." - The H&K was only my starting point and reference, I wasn't intending to make something too similar to it in the end - which I didn't end up doing in my opinion. I can see what you mean by 'scraps cobbled together' though. "Laser Sniper Rifle & Flame Thrower: Laser S.R. - power and precision. It's gotta have quite a kick, though, for the sort of shoulder-mounted operation you envision..." - I'm not all that involved in how they work and operate - apparently they don't have much of a recoil so I'm satisfied as it is. The 'backpack' irks a little bit now that you mention it though.. "Flame thrower: I especially like what you've done with the back half of the weapon, but somehow I can't derive much satisfaction from the muzzle. I suppose it partly just feels too short for the pre-conceived idea of a flame-thrower." - I (or we?) liked the compact kind of look in the end and I don't think enlongating anything is the way to go. It's pretty 'fat' to make up for it though, I'll see if I can upload a render or in-game screenshot later on.. "Anti Materiel Rifle: I like it better without the holed appendage at the front. Other than that, solid design." - That was actually the last change before it was declared final. I'm a little cloven about it to be honest, I like both but at the same time I'm not entirely-and-nitpickingly satisfied with either of them "Oh, and nice going with the flaming ret motif " - I've made a couple of those just for laughs, but apparantly Rick likes them and they're in the final version as well "So, there; more than you probably needed to hear - and more than I wanted to type - but that already says something about what you've achieved in itself." Thanks a lot for the feedback mate, I appreciate it.

About time I updated something here; These are concepts and 3D-references of different weapons used in the Total Rebalance Mod for UFO:Afterlight. A lot of my time has been spent on simply making my own designs fit in with the rest, but if you haven't played the game yourself these items probably don't say a lot to you My main goal with these wasn't necessarily to create something very beautiful, which is why I settles for these rather crappy and plastic textures for my perspective drawings. At the moment it's more about finalizing ideas and creating reference for the 3D-models. - Feedback and critique is, as always, greatly appreciated. Hope you like it http://www.studio01.se/public/art_etc/mod-quad.jpg http://www.studio01.se/public/art_etc/mod-ar_and_smg.jpg http://www.studio01.se/public/art_etc/mod-lsr_and_flamer.jpg http://www.studio01.se/public/art_etc/mod-am_rifle.jpg

Positive feedback from my point of view! Regarding the performance: The demo certainly runs better than the BETA (as expected), but I'm still having some 'lagg' while I'm playing. Overall it's fine and it runs fairly smooth for most of the time, but sooner or later you'll probably hit the climax where you'll end up sending 200+ units across the map in a last attempt to whipe out the enemy. That's when the game turns into a slideshow. This happends despite the fact that I'm running the game with low settings and on a pretty decent rig. The other only thing that kind of ircs me a bit is that the controls feel a little..."primitive". The scale of the battles have indeed become very large, but it feels like the controls were left behind and haven't improved or been adapted for the setting. Sure, there are some neat solutions for queing(spelling?) up orders etc, but in a nutshell the game controls like an oversized version of command & conquer. Other than that, I really don't have anything to complain about - the game is excellent. Go buy it.

Just to add to that: So far I've only heard good things about DELL's warranty etc and they seem to offer excellent support as well. Where I live they even have some kind of "within-a-day-support" for anyone who buys a complete package from them. If you're ever in trouble and it's needed then mr. fix-it-all will knock on your door withing 24 hours - Apparently they have deals with the local computer shops in order to provide it. And yes, that's free of charge as well.

by the way, I kinda like how the two rocket launchers, one for the drone and one for diego, look like they're of the same kind, except for the visor and grip on diego's variant It's nice to see some consistency in a game like this

Just have a look at what "Preggie" is holding: http://www.ufo-afterlight.com/images/scr_24.jpg What is that, an enlarged cheese doodle?

Bloody hell matri. Cost? and I who thought I had a decent rig with my Core2Duo 6400(+), 2gig ddr2 and X1900 guess I'm put to shame then