XCOM

[El Idiot]

I've found my old copy of the gold edition. Freaking awesomeness.
Flying power suits, blow holes in all the roofs, and drop explosives in each. Screw collateral. Forgetting the missile launcher and just throwing the missiles for fun. Chucking your empty gun at the aliens. Giving the armor-less newbie trooper a primed grenade to run inside a downed UFO with. Neutralized alien tanks that will randomly explode afterwards. Trying to survive off of what you can manufacture alone for income. Having 1 green trooper survive, who went berserk and killed 3+ aliens in one mad spraying of plasma. Having a guy go berserk and and shoot the rest in the back.

What remakes/sequels stuck most similar to the original?
I don't like the underwater theme of Terror From the Deep, though Lovecraft is awesome.

[Zoombie]

I too love X-Com, and I really...funnily enough, I really want to try Terror from the Deep Now.

[manored]

Already played it, but didnt liked much.

[El Idiot]

Already played it, but didnt liked much.

Any particular reason?
Most people that watch me play it in my spare time at work just go "Ewww... DOS."

I really, really want the original on DS. That would be... my hands would fuse with the DS.
EDIT:
WOO!

[manored]

Makes very long so its hard to remember clearly, but I think that it was because I didnt liked to have to design and build everthing I would need for a mission, found it too much boring stuff for little fun.

[Zpock]

I prefer the first x-com over terrror from the depths since I don't like the longer missions in the depths, like cruise ships and bases with tons of stages which is just a pain in the ass especially when there's hiding aliens that take ages to find...

Xcom is an awesome game... I can't think of a non-FPS game coming anywhere close in scaryness... and the tons of stuff you can equip and attributes of the guys is just amazing depth. It's just a totally badass game.

[yuritch]

I personally like TFTD more than the first XCOM, it just has more tactical opportunities and more challenge (like melee weapons that are still useful even on the last missions, and lack of 'full auto' mode on the more powerful guns, and insane stats Aliens get on Superhuman diff level when they have more that 100% hit probability even in Snap Shot mode). Still, once you get Molecular Control, it's game over - 5 guys with MC Disruptors who don't even leave your dropship during mission + 2 tanks for scouting + some Disruptor Pulse Launchers lying on the ground to blow up any Tentaculats = sure win (most of the times at least).
XCOM Apocalypse is a whole another story, and I like it as well. It has some of the old annoyances fixed (like the agents remembering the weapons you gave them on the last mission so you don't have to arm every one again), plus it's balance is different (Psionics, while still useful, don't rule nearly as much as before; the mini-tanks are gone from the missions; armors are customizable (a soldier can wear parts from different sets) plus flying armor isn't the best anymore (infact it's the weakest protection wise); there are unlimited amount of missions you can fight because you can attack other organisations at will and not only aliens; your squad isn't cannon fodder at any point in game (starting armor is quite good compared to what weapons aliens use early on, and later, when they bring better guns, you make better armors), etc.).

[[Krogoth86]]

Well my favorites are Ufo Defense and X-Com Apocalypse. Both have their unique pros. Apocalypse probably is very cool because of the real-time system and well the tactical gameplay in general with going prone, "hunting" Boomerang grenades and big evil aliens while Ufo Defense has this scary atmosphere and is really challenging although sometimes a bit annoying. TFTD also was good but just was an Ufo clone with some gameplay improvements but lack of atmosphere imo...

You all know of UFO Extraterrestrials? It's sort of a Ufo clone (and I'm not talking of that Aftermath & Co garbage) by a small unknown game forge. It's pretty nice and fun to play and imo is what's most close to an upgraded Ufo Defense. As they have no licence some things have different names but you'll recognize lots of stuff...

Here a screenie from the homepage:

[SwiftSpear]

Wow, that looks like fallout with a different HUD...

[rattle]

Which is a good thing. Definitely going to check it out. The other UFO remakes were utter failure and little fun indeed.

I personally like TFTD more than the first XCOM,...

Ditto but I just prefered the look of the underwater terrain.

[Aun]

Dammit, I just reinstalled and started playing X-COM after seeing this thread! My life is ruined again!

[Zpock]

It ruined mine too, I played both XCOM ufo defense and then the extraterrestrials game as well, which is good but maybe a bit too much like the original actually, it doesn't bring anything new xept shiny graphics altough maybe I should research further to know for sure. It lacks a lot of the subtler details and stuff and changes some things. Like instead of learning by doing you assign attributes like in diablo to your guys when they level up. And soldiers don't die, their suit keeps them alive but unconscious. Except when your transport gets freaking shot down, which I painfully learned when trying to assault a huge UFO that then lifted off and kicked my transports ass along with every fucking soldier I had.... and then the bastard assaulted my base so I had to defend with 3 crappy n00bs and a flamethrower guy... was cool, felt a bit like I was in an actual alien movie with the threat of loosing everything and the guys suits look like the marine suits in aliens.

Maybe if i research further up the tech tree there's exciting stuff hmm... must resist playing

I don't like the new graphics so much I think the shinier higher detail graphics actually make it less immersive then original gritty pixels.... and I think the effects of fireing could be better. And everything is too damn shiny, the old graphics in original xcom makes you fill in the details with your mind and the overall feel was awesome, while here it looks detailed but in the wrong way... they should have gone for more shadows, slime and stuff like that instead of sharp shiny and colorful aliens that dont look so scary but more dumblike...

[[Krogoth86]]

Well I in fact like things like your soldiers not being dead immediately. This was something that if you're honest sucked on the first two X-Com games - an Alien walks around the corner - piff paff - your wohoo leveled up for eternities character is dead...

So in the end all the tactical missions became load / save festivals. This isn't as annoying anymore and so I think this was a good change...

For the graphics - well they aren't totally top notch and it doesn't have as much comic style as the original games but a more cold shiny sci-fi look. Well it didn't bother me in any way...

[yuritch]

I kind of like the way they went in Apocalypse. There your soldiers are pretty hard to kill (almost nothing can kill an armored soldier in 1 hit and good armor is available right from the start), and so are the Aliens (at least some of them initially and almost all later on). Plus stat points are awarded for actually using them (to fire better, you need to fire more, to run faster, you need to run more, but also that means in order to get more health you need to get shot... which is nothing too bad there, a few days in a hospital and the soldier is back in the field, and he can even go to missions before complete recovery, that means less health for the battle though).
And there were ways to avoid insta-death to reaction fire in previous games, too. Grenades (and later those guided missiles) thrown into suspicious corners can do wonders, as well as moving your guys in small groups (and never alone) so that you have enough firepower to take out anything before it takes out you.

[[Krogoth86]]

as well as moving your guys in small groups (and never alone) so that you have enough firepower to take out anything before it takes out you.

Well imo especially in TFTD the problem was that even Aquatoids most likely have a higher viewdistance than your soldiers - worst case were scenarios at night were I always had the feeling of having a huge disadvantage in sight. And with about zero armor it's just about one lucky shot and you're dead...

[Aun]

It's ruined, ruined I say!

[El Idiot]

Nothing will ever do the original justice.

[Zpock]

The aliens kicked my ass... all my veterans where wounded and I only had 4 total n00bs guarding my base. They put up a valiant fight with plasma grenades but eventually the annoyingly accurate (beginner difficulty) one shotting fusion rifles that started appearing killed them all off combined with aliens getting really tough. Should get an armored company to guard the base I guess to be safe...

In X-com UFO I think it's cool that you can loose soldiers easily, their kind of disposable. You can recruit almost endless amount of guys, someone actually reaching legendary skills is more epic if they can die at any moment....

Like dwarf fortress...


I like the fact that I think they removed imba-mind control and the guided missiles, since those pretty much made the game ridiculously imbalanced and easy/hard (depending on who has them) at the end in x-com UFO tough.

Also you can still loose your soldiers all at once by loosing a mission or getting shot down... which hurts a ton since soldiers don't come easy and do take ages to level up, and really suck when unleveled.

[Saktoth]

So in the end all the tactical missions became load / save festivals. This isn't as annoying anymore and so I think this was a good change...

Whenever i play games these days, i dont save often, playing on an easier skill setting if i have to (Though in X-com, i dont have to, i play superhuman ). In X-com (Which i still play) i have a 'no save during the mission' rule, which also randomizes the map if i restart and ensures i cant cheat by knowing aliens positions. If i take losses i accept those losses and get more troops- its a part of the game. I only re-start the mission if i lose all my troops (which is the sort of catastrophic failure you cant recover from). On some terror missions, id complete them with 60-80% casualties. I once did a night terror mission vs floaters really early in the game with just rifles and 2-3 laser pistols. Took me a few tries and a lot of high explosive, but i survived with just a couple rookies left. Felt just like the old days.

If you want to minimize losses, hire a bunch of troops (you'll need replacements anyway) and put the troops at the bottom of the list in your transport first. Say you have 25 troops, put number 11-25 in the transport and leave number 1-10 in the base. Because troops exit the transport in the same sequence they appear in the troop list, this ensures whenever you replace a dead unit with a rookie, the rookie is in the front of the transport.

Use rookies as spotters, and keep your veteran troops as fire squads. When you spot an alien, use your fire squads to snipe it at long range (Though i use autoshots- for everything)- the aliens reflex fire is only triggered if you perform an action within its line of sight. Since the rookie only made 1 step into the aliens line of sight, it wont trigger a reflex shot. If you do need to shoot with the rookie move him back a step- out of the aliens line of sight.

In urban combat with more LoS obstruction, just ensure you never turn a corner without looking down it- always come to corners on the diagonal. Reflex fire is not triggered if you and the enemy spot eachother in the same moment. This is the 'surprise' rule, and means you get the first shot (Make it an autoshot, 3 is better than 1). However, if you just walk out of a corner facing fowards, you wont see any alien standing to the side of the corner and will get shot.

To minimize losses when exiting the Skyranger, arm your first unit with a smoke grenade. On the fist turn, prime it, toss it, and then just skip the turn. This not only gives you some cover but allows the aliens to walk around a bit- wasting their time units, when if you dont skip that turn they begin with full time units to shoot at you. Very good on terror missions.

Back to the saving thing though...

This really says something about how people play. I played Half Life the same way- i spent almost the whole game with 100 energy/100 health and max ammo. Id only waste ammo and energy/health if i knew i could get it back. I used to be terrified when playing Doom, i once sat outside a pitch black dark zone just staring into the blackness and listening to the different demons i knew were in there growling for ages. Then i realised you can just keep saving/loading and it takes away all challenge and excitement.

It just gets boring pretty fast. Its especially bad in games with a large random factor like x-com. You are often tempted to just reload 1 shot over and over and over and over until it hits.

This is why Alien vs Predator is one of the greatest and scariest games of all time- fuck them for caving in and giving a save patch.

[El Idiot]

Good advice Saktoth, I'll have to keep the smoke grenades in mind.

Anyone going to mod their DS for the XCOM home brew port? Mine's already got an R4.

someone actually reaching legendary skills is more epic if they can die at any moment....

Someone lasted more than 1 mission with the most expensive armor is epic. I swear, whoever has the most expensive gear is wearing a red shirt under that armor. I keep them out of the way and use the armor-less newbies as bullet shields too. The newbies take 2-3 plasma rounds before going down (beginner's luck?), and a single stray auto shot always kills my Juggernaut in one friggin hit. Gah.