jverne

I buried my hopes as soon as i saw the picture.

Pardon me? No i'm not trolling. As one already said...both methods have their good sides. I personally enjoy RT+pause, because in some fights it's nice to see the carnage and unexpected events that you have to use some reflexes. Make a plan and watch it all unfold. Truth be told i'd be even content with just slow time without pause. Part of being a tactician is to make good split second decisions. TB has it's pros, it's not really my intention to argue which is better. I'd love to see a tactical FPS like swat, but not watered down with geoscape and all that. That's why i'm quite disappointed in the upcoming "XCOM", personally i think it's just milking the cow. I bet it will be watered down and i totally dislike the time setting it's in. 1950 for Christ sakes...they didn't even have plastics back then let alone the means to oppose a superior alien race. A Swat 4 like Xcom was really my wet dream.

Why is everyone twisting their panties on turn based. Turn based is one of the later aspects of what x-com is about. X com is about: -Humans vs Aliens -Plot, not necessarily story -Strategic planning -Tactical combat (Interceptor swayed off a bit but there's still some tactics for a space sim) Turn based is just the method for combat used back then, it was the only one appropriate for that time and age.

that was really, really good...but it's kinda weird for being a music video

it was probably a small meteorite that didn't even reach the surface, but judging from the light emitted and explosion i'd say it was somewhere in the kilotons TNT of energy...as an early fission bomb. if that fell on a city it would raze it to the ground. just goes to prove that if some advanced aliens wanted us dead, they wouldn't even need to break a sweat.

guys guys...i feel like i'm repeating myself here. 1. aliens using us for food is downright silly, because they could make food themselves with their advanced technology and besides what did they eat before coming to earth? it's silly just like the story of The Matrix...using human bodies for power, like there aren't a million more efficient ways to do it. 2. Alien colony...for what? a colony is usually for resources it's not that those are lacking in space. 3. an experiment...that might be the only plausible reason. but the fact is that they could easily overpower us when we started to revolt. 4. the TFTD continuation is just uber silly. aliens hiding in the sea for that long and later having their asses handed to them by some humans. like they couldn't have some surveillance system if they were 65 million years old. these numbers are just exaggerated beyond any real possibility 5. again as for raw material fighting back...just look at cattle ranches, sure the cows might cause some trouble every now and then, but then the cavalry comes and nails their place back in line. 6. the superior aliens wouldn't need to persuade the governments, they would just come and take what they want. look i know every story has holes in it...but the original Xcom story has gaping holes. it feels to me that it really wasn't intended to be continued, that it was just some generic story to fit a game back then. the only plausible reason would be that the aliens were just bored and played with us. in real life the story of Xcom would not be possible, if the aliens wouldn't be from the start close to our level. maybe i'm being way too serious here, but i like a good well developed and detailed story. just watch "The andromeda strain". there was almost no part where i'd go "wait...what??? that just doesn't make any sense".

actually that make no sense whatsoever if it was real life. why would the aliens want to enslave the human race, or have them for food. the first might mean they are just sadistic and are doing it for fun because it's not that they needed the workforce at all. as food...well being so advanced i'm sure there are million better options than breeding humans for food. as for underestimating the difficulty...if earth wasn't before hand prepared for a fight they cripple us so fast we wouldn't even know what hit us. they'd just need to destroy our main industrial and living areas. i don't know if anyone noticed how long it took Germany to conquer Poland in WW2. One option would be that the Mars base was just a small research outpost and someone there decided to wage war against us. But even this would not explain the issue with interstellar travel, since they'd just call their friends back home "Mars base: hey i'm kinda having a bad situation right now, would you mind coming here and give me a hand? Home planet: well...i'm kinda busy finishing this proton gravity nullifier... Mars base: oh come on, it will just take you a couple of quiblips Home planet: but...dinner is almost ready... Mars base: if you do this favor for me i'll buy you pisza Home planet: hmm...ok this time, but don't ever ask me again before dinner, ok?! Mars base: thanks buddy Mars base: oh oh....i almost forgot...would you mind bringing a couple of those blaster launchers with ya? Home planet: well...ok...why? Mars base: uh oh...n.n.nn..nothing serious, just having a bug problem right now. Thanks dude, see ya in 10 quiblips! Home planet: *yells at cloning manager* WHERE ARE MY FLUCKING PANTS!?*

i like the idea of other ships being docked to the mothership. yes i agree that if the ship went FUBAR it would have no energy, but i was talking about aliens in general and not as part of my story. Like if aliens really visited us and wanted to destroy earth. In the case of my story, yes i agree with you that they wouldn't want to ram the earth. btw, in real life you don't really need that much energy stored in some reactor to seriously damage the planet. Let's presume that the ship was at least big enough as let's say on of the WTC towers (in reality it would probably be much bigger). You'd just need to accelerate the ship at some meteor speed and hit the earth. The impact would blow of our atmosphere, boil our oceans and make our planet a magma pit. You don't even need high tech stuff to do that, just accelerate a big ass piece of mass to a decent speed...for example the satelite Voyager 2 has a s peed of 70 000 km/h, if a small building would impact earth with that much energy probably half of the planet would be uninhabitable for decades. There is really no plausible reason why would aliens want to plunder earth for resources, since they are much more easily obtainable and in far greater quantities in space. Scenarios where aliens want to plunder earth are just silly in real life. As for the fear factor of sectoids, just look at the armor in the UFO series. And besides soldiers in armor look more menacing. http://www.grantsmilitaria.com/gall/pix/images/24.jpg http://www.downloadmunkey.net/images/peos-03.jpg http://www.natick.army.mil/about/pao/2006/FutureWarrior_med.jpg this is not just some fictional armor but a prototype concept of the Future warrior look of what the future might bring us also see no reason why wouldn't they equip each grunt with power armor. Having the technology they have it would be like giving armor to our modern soldiers...and we do equip all with it. I don't see this as a manufacturing problem. And besides the armor might provide some support for our gravitational pull, or against native organisms...like a hazard suit, not too comfortable but necessary. As for weapons...well since aggression is not their main trait they wouldn't be equipped with powerful assault weapons. And weapons are much more menacing than armor. To spice up the plot we could make it so that the aliens were just equipped with basic life sustaining armor that wasn't really meant for heavy war. This way we'd see aliens progress in technology as they regain strength. I really see no way how earth forces could compete with aggressive aliens in full strength. We need to bring aliens down to our level to fight them as depicted with the tank vs. caveman analogy. This story would also explain sporadic sightings, alien covert missions, small scale conflicts as shown in the original Xcom. The original games are as unrealistic as they get...but very enjoyable nonetheless. My idea would incorporate both concepts. Since i first took the Xcom games more seriously i was always bothered about how the story made no real sense. Actually those games didn't really have a proper story, but the plot was amazing and what drove the player forward.

1. at the time of of the release i was young and didn't really notice it 2. They sent those willing to risk it all, yes they were trained and good but probably not the best. Why would anyone send a critical scientists or best pilot they got on a mission that has a high probability of failure. I never said they sent some idiots, but subjects that were up to the task. But even if they sent the best they got it still doesn't mean they don't make mistakes. And you see it was not an invasion force, but just a experimental peace mission. Later the surviving crew decided to go war on our asses. 3. Well yes i haven't integrated the moon base too much in the story, but what you suggested could work. Maybe the moon base lured a substantial part of the fleet and then self destroyed taking the alien ships with them. Yes of course, the space elevator was probably the first to be destroyed since it's such a fragile target. 4. It's possible that it was like that. Some additional points i'd like to comment. By the moon base and space elevator i was implying that humans have harnessed the moons resources and so forth. Although i like your idea of being it a military base that confronted the arriving ships. Another very important point. You see we have to use some creative freedom otherwise in reality one alien ship could annihilate the whole earth if it wanted. We have to make the aliens more down to earth if we want to fight them otherwise we have no chance. Even if the aliens didn't invest much in weapon technology they certainly have some way of transmitting energy from one point to another. For quick interstellar travel you need massive amounts of energy...more energy than the earth ever produced. That means they'd just need to ram the earth and detonate one ship to wipe us out. If by some stupid chance they wanted earth intact they just engineer a DNA (retro i think it's named) virus that would kill all living beings. Do you really think the Sectoids would go ass naked in a fight where clearly they are inadequate. They surley developed some kind of power armor that was impenetrable to our weapons (shield or something). Actually interstellar travelers probably wouldn't even be biological but mechanical...which makes our weapons ineffective. Let's not even presume the existence of nanobots that would devour anything human before we'd even know what hit us (ever saw the Replicators from SG1 or The day the earth stood still). That's the whole point...to make aliens more vulnerable. In reality the aliens would be like a modern tank against a stone age warrior. The poor dude would have no chance unless the tank accidentally fell down a cliff. Hell, i think the difference would be even more dramatic.

hey no sweat, i don't mind criticism. actually in this case it's pretty welcomed. so...to respond 1. I thought the new xcom would be a remake and it would start from the beginning. To be honest i didn't really like the way the Xcom story went forward in the sequels. You see, i like more realistic scenarios and the Xcom's ones are somewhat more cartoonist. That doesn't mean i don't like them, they're my best games ever, but if we can start from the beginning why, i'd like it differently. 2. They haven't mastered light speed travel, they were just experimenting with it, that's why they ended up too far out and only in a small contingency. It was far from perfect. The fact that they screwed up with the other two experiments just shows that they aren't all powerful beings. You also have to take in consideration that they were under-equipped and also those sent weren't the best and brightest of their species since no one would risk the best minds in an experiment so dangerous. So it's quite plausible they screwed up. 3. Actually a moon base is not that impossible even with today's technology, you just need vast resources to build and sustain it. The space elevator i also not too high tech, in the real world it is planned to be build somewhere in the next 20 years. It's really not that advantageous. 4. Living in domes would be too demanding o resources/manpower to keep up for the desired rebirth of their race.

although i agree with your points i'd personally do the story differently. my idea is based on the fact that any civilization that had 65 million years of technological development would be virtually untouchable. my story would bring the aliens down to manageable levels. the UFO series did this better IMO. you don't need weapons to bring humans from 1999 to their knees. My story would go something like this: it's now 2010, humans have intercepted stray alien communications 20 years ago which after being deciphered showed that something alien is nearing and it will arrive by the end 2010. In secret a global military union has formed that focused on R&D and planing in the event the aliens might be hostile. The received almost unlimited resources to plan for a potential attack. The strategist realized a direct confrontation against a space faring civilization would probably be futile, so they focused on highly organized guerrilla warfare. The intense 20 year development led to remarkable breakthroughs so in secret the organization has access to state of the art earth based equipment, they established a well connected network of military bases and critical resource centers. They even established a secret base on the moon. By this time the space elevator has been built and some serious space surveillance and support equipment is established. The public was left in the dark about most of this in fear they might start panicking, but some vague info leaked. Most believed it was a warning of a potential meteorite strike, so a substantial part of the populous prepared for a possible natural catastrophe. By the end of this year the aliens reach Mars and establish their HQ there. A few moths later a smaller alien battle fleet attack earth and seriously damages all major world cities. The regular earth army is mostly destroyed in the defense of earth. Suddenly the fleet retreats and returns back to their HQ. As it later turned out most ships were made inoperable due to a glitch in the software after the aliens were attempting to reconfigure their computer to the new circumstances. Also an unknown virus kills off a substantial portion of the new visitors...as the story unfolds we learn they made it themselves in the attempt to engineer themselves to the new atmosphere and living conditions. So after these two major setbacks the aliens have to start almost from scratch. So they send smaller scout and research missions to earth. By this time earths population realizes what they are dealing with and also the secret military force is fully unleashed and renamed as the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit. Dealing with just sporadic ufo activity they manage to keep up and downing ufos and researching them. Despite the favorable circumstances they still struggle to compete with the much more advanced alien aggressors, they fight slowly but surely. As the XCOM gains better equipment and knowledge so the aliens on Mars recover, becoming more and more aggressive and sending more and more ships. After a long struggle XCOM manages to get the upper hand and attack their HQ. In an almost miraculous fight to the death they disable the enemies base and capture the remaining aliens. Finally the secret behind the aliens is partially revealed. It turns out they are about 2000 year older than our civilization and just started serious experiments in interstellar travel. The enemies fought were just an experimental convoy that was sent from their home solar system in the attempt to test their faster than light speed travel technology. The convoy was sent in this direction because the aliens discovered human civilization by the signals earth was emitting trough the 20th century. Primarily is was just a contact establishing mission and not an act of agression, although the technological difference made the aliens feel superior and less empathic. Since the experiment partially succeeded by transporting the welcoming convoy 20 years of slower than light travel from earth. After the jump the aliens lost all communication to their home solar system and all their warp speed technology was destroyed in the experiment. In fear they might never see their home they decided to use their superior technology to re-colonize the earth and establish a new home. Since they didn't think too highly of us the decided to go for the invasion option. Why didn't they just choose another planet to settle to? Because earth despite some differences was the most habitable in the whole solar system, otherwise they must live in domes on planets like mars. They share similar traits to humans but are biologically too different to allow mixing. It's either human biology or their kind, that's why they were additionally forced to the invasion option. The additional problem the aliens had was the light armament they were sent with. Although their race was not particularly militaristic back home they had decent weapons for self defense and light offense. The visiting aliens like previously said had to start from scratch and manufacture their weapons. The end. Hmm...should i copy-write it, lol anyways...with this story most things are covered. The aliens are not some uber god like beings, the story is much more real and plausible also the aliens aren't inherently evil as shown in Xcom games. It would also explain why they didn't use the most powerful weapons since the beginning, because they didn't have them. This would be the story i'd like in a new xcom game. Oh and guess what the next installment could be? Hint: before destruction the Martian aliens managed to send a SOS signal to their home planet...

hey hey wait. why so defensive? i'd love to have a fan made game. never said i wouldn't. i totally support you in your quest. but from my experience fan based non-profit games are mostly less complex games that can be made with a smaller team. you can't compare tetris and let's say...Half-life 2. that doesn't mean they can't be fun. amateur games take a looong time to develop and are often very buggy and partially made and if one miraculously succeeds then they usually want to make it profitable. complex amateur games are rare. as i've said...please do continue with your work, no reason why we can't have both. don't take it so personally.

comment: well i thank you for your replies, but there goes the organization. actually you mentioned some suggestions, maybe some day a dev might read them. it won't hurt to be a bit more organized, cause you never know, right? anyways...i just like to comment on non-profit game developers. i say, keep doing the good work. but sadly i doubt any non profit game dev could make a modern complex game in their free time with no pay. professional game developers spend 8-10 hours a day making the game. they are paid and have a strong manager. i just don't see how an amateur team could rival them. not to be insulting, but let's be real about it.

how peculiar...not even one reply. is it because nobody cares, or a poorly made thread, or to early?

Commentary: Moderators: I posted the same thread in the news section but apparently there's nowhere to be found...i'm guessing it didn't even post, so here's a duplicate. OK, first of all i have no idea if this is the right section to put this here, so feel free to move it somewhere more appropriate. I think there is not already a similar thread open. Yes it's really early to make one because we don't know squat about the upcoming game, but IMO this is the best time, before the devs come up with concrete plans that can't be changed. Once the game is further in development it's hard to change. I've seen this happen to one of my beloved series Fallout. This is not obligatory but PLEASE, PLEASE keep your ideas in a organized and readable fashion (paragraphs, short/er). It would also be great if you separate commentaries not connected to the game ideas (as can be seen from this post). That's because from all suggestion threads i've seen (of other games) all were completely cluttered and illegible, no way any dev would spend that much time to read all trough the ideas in that style. Let me start, well this is just the ideas i have right now in mind at 2:20 AM, so i'll be adding more as i go. Suggestion/ideas: Critical issues: -please don't water down the game, keep it serious, scary and real -don't trash micromanagement, but automatize it for beginner players. I guarantee you that once that newbie is half trough it he'll appreciate the added custom-ability. Add proper help tips easily accessible, even the average Xbox player will eventually learn it. -All i need is two or three difficulty modes...BEGINNER (for newcomers), HARD (for old fans) -don't make it too short, replayability! (more possible endings) -...that's all i can think of the critical issues right now Story/plot: -a complete restart. I think the x-com series went too far story wise, besides i love contemporary times mixed with high tech future equipment. I'd start it at 2010. -Even better if set in an after-war world (major cities destroyed,...), but not critical -I'd love it if the first half of the game you're more or less reliant on homegrown equipment. -If anyone watched "The andromeda strain" you'd realize that it kept you tense till the very end. Therefore try to keep the plot as mysterious till late in the game. This is basically the essence of x-com! Playing style: if 3D tactical shooter (no plane/base management...)-> -one word (and a number) SWAT 4. Of course many more tactical features. But the core should be tactical like the SWAT games, not some arcady sh**. if old school style-> -minimum everything Xcom1 had, plus elements of Apocalypse. -i'd like active pause more than turn based -3d view is the only logical decision. -please make graphics and physics count. Shadows for stealth and destructible environment for...hehe -make dogfights more interactive, i don't want a Flight sim, but at least let me choose fight attitudes, weapons, aircraft types, equipment (radars,...). basically an Xcom1 on steroids (apocalypse would be a bit un-fiesable for the whole geoscape) -base managment, meh...more or less like the first game Ideas from other games (UFO series specifically and fallout tactics): -give those games a look. -i like the added mission varieties -smaller but memorable squad -incapacitating enemies, soldiers a good idea (plus look hot fallout tactics handled medics) -i loved the larger arsenal of homegrown weapons -also the ability to distinguish handguns, rifles, heavy,... -MAJOR AWESOMENESS was the fact that enemies were more damage specific or resistant to certain attacks -the fact i could use earth weapons late in the game (major plus IMO) Random ideas: -it feels really gratifying if you can see the actual effect the weapon has on enemies (gibbing, blood, blows them away) -i'd make it so that you have to research and later develop your version of an alien weapon, not that you can just use what aliens drop off. (see District 9 for ideas) -as for tactics, take a look at modern low intensity warfare