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XCOMUFO & Xenocide

X-Com Remake Ideas (AGAIN)


Valken

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I've ran a search and looked at a lot of the remake threads. It is good to see activity in new upcoming commercial remakes (XCOM and UFO:ET2) and fan remakes like UFO:AI and others on newer 3D engines.

 

Apart of me love the old school turn base action and yet another part of me really likes the almost RTS nature of realtime play in Apocalypse.

 

So I looked into a bunch of 3D isometric type realtime games, not RTS per say, and found most them quite fun for a quick fix of alien extermination such as Alien Shooter, Alien Swarm (free on steam) and Alien Breed Impact (remake of Alien Breed). Yet all are mainly 1 person or multiplayer shooters in a freeform or isometric view.

 

The modern updates are quite mind blowing from a tech side - real 3d engine, 3d sound, hires textures, way cool lighting and physics effects, n robust networking for Alien Swarm (source engine) and Alien Breed Impact (UT3 engine). I know Alien Swarm was a mod for the UT2004 engine before but its a lot more polished on steam now.

 

Then it just dawned on me. It would be pretty cool if a mod could be made for the mention games to turn those action shooters into a turn based or semi-turn based game with squad control. Most of the elements are there and would need tweaking and addons such as the global management aspect.

 

If you guys have steam installed, you can checkout all the games I mentioned for free, at least in demo form.

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XCOM isn't a remake of any game from X-Com series.

 

Apart of me love the old school turn base action and yet another part of me really likes the almost RTS nature of realtime play in Apocalypse.

Apocalypse is a skirmish level adjustable RTSim (Real Time Simulation).

 

It's not RTS as it isn't on strategic level. RTS games are basically strategic level games that for some weird reason look like tactical/skirmish level games. And it's not pure RT as you can adjust the flow of time (pause, slow down and speed up)

 

Games that are a more realistic and more literal in their representation of war, like X-Com: Apocalypse, Firefight, Close Combat, Airborne Assault, etc. are Real Time Simulations. This name was used since 80s by people who developed that sort of wargames.

 

Anyway, I think that Apocalypse didn't really use the potential of Real Time. Being able to adjust the flow of time gives players to much control, IMHO.

UFO had enemy turn where the players could only helplessly watch as the Aliens do their things. It was a moment where players lose control.

In adjustble RT one can update orders of every soldier in a split second, which is completely unnatural.

 

I think that a tactical level system similar to the one in Close Combat or Firefight where the player gives orders to whole teams/squads in pure RT would fit the atmosphere of X-Com series much better than a skirmish level adjustable RT.

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