FAQ

Introduction

This is the unofficial Aftermath FAQ written by PlacidDragon. By reading it you'll get a good understanding of what Aftermath is all about. It is also available in txt and doc.

AFTERMATH UNOFFICIAL FAQ

Version 3.4

Contents :

1: About the game
2: Strategic game
3: Soldiers
4: Tactical game
5: Technical details
6: Game Discussion


1: ABOUT THE GAME


1.1 What is the real name of the game?

The game is currently named "UFO: Aftermath" (note the space after the colon). It is usually abbreviated as UFO:AM (note the lack of the space after colon).

1.2 Who is developing UFO: Aftermath?

UFO: Aftermath is being developed by ALTAR Interactive, a Czech company located in Brno, Czech Republic.

1.3 Who is publishing UFO: Aftermath?

UFO: Aftermath was originally commissioned by the French company Titus Interactive. Titus Interactive decided to start concentrating on the next generation console market, and because UFO: Aftermath is for the PC, ALTAR decided to look for a publisher who focuses on the PC games market. ALTAR has now signed a worldwide publishing deal with Cenega Publishing. Tri Synergy will be distributing UFO: Aftermath in the United States, and Vidis will be distributing the game in Germany.

1.4 What kind of game is UFO: Aftermath?

UFO: Aftermath is a small squad based tactical game with RPG and strategic elements.

1.5 When will UFO: Aftermath be released?

The game went gold on September 11th, it should arrive in stores around the promised releasedate of September 26th. The game will be released in the UK first, followed shortly by a worldwide release.

1.6 Is UFO: Aftermath a sequel to the X-COM series of games?

UFO: Aftermath is not a sequel to the X-COM’s. However, UFO:AM also deals with fighting off an alien invasion.

1.7 I have heard that ALTAR took over the work previously done by Mythos on Dreamland Chronicles: Freedom Ridge.

ALTAR did take over the project formerly known as DC:FR, but could use very little of the code because of Mythos heavy reliance on middleware for graphics and sound.. DC:FR was not an official X-COM sequel; it was termed as the "spiritual successor to X-COM" as it was being developed by Mythos, the creators of X-COM. The X-COM brand is owned by Atari (formerly known as Infogrames).


2: STRATEGIC GAME


2.1 What does the strategic game look like in UFO: Aftermath?

You will see a geosphere, where you would be able to see your bases, flying UFOs and aircrafts, and outstanding missions. You will also see the spread of biomass. You can speed up and slow down the passing of time. You can also enter Research & Development and Training & Recruitment screens from here.

2.2 What will the campaign look like in UFO: Aftermath?

The campaign pits you as one of Earth's few survivors against a devastating alien attack. It will be up to these few brave men and women to resist the alien incursion in any way they can, and eventually push the alien menace back.

2.3 What kinds of missions will we get?

There will be many types of missions, including:
• Searching shot down UFO’s.
• Acquiring specific artifacts.
• Gaining new territory in the geosphere, and securing new bases.
• Protecting territory that you already possess from enemy incursion.

2.4 How linear will the game be?

The game will be fairly non-linear. You have a set goal in your campaign, but how you go about resolving that goal, is left to the players discretion.

2.5 What about replay value?

The game will sport randomly generated missions, with random generated maps from an almost infinite amount of possible combinations. As such, no game, nor mission, should be exactly the same.

2.6 How will research work?

There will be about 70 different technologies and advancements you can research/develop in the game. The speed of research will be dependant on how many bases you control, and how many of those are geared towards research.

2.7 What kinds of bases will there be ?

There will be four different kinds of bases you can convert to. These are :

• Millitary
• Research
• Manufacturing
• Biomass repulsion


3: SOLDIERS


3.1 How many soldiers will we have at our disposal?

You can bring a maximum number of 7 soldiers with you on a tactical mission. You will need a broad range of skills to succeed however, so you will probably end up having around 14 total. Should one feel the need to have more than 14 soldiers, it is not a problem as you can always recruit more.

3.2 What about soldier advancement?

You will need many types of soldiers to succeed, from snipers, to heavy weapon specialists, medical personnel, engineers, etc. As your troops are fighting, they will earn experience points that will enable them to go up in levels. When they gain a level, they will get one attribute point they can allocate, improving their skills in the department of your choice.

3.3 What skills can be improved ?

There will be 6 core statistics, from which the skill values derive. These statistics are ;
• Strength
• Agility
• Dexterity
• Willpower
• Intelligence
• Perception

Raising Willpower should for example make the soldier more resistant to PSI influence, raising his strength will make him able to carry more, etc.

3.4 Will there be any A.I. for our soldiers ?

Soldiers will not have pre-programmed or scripted reactions to events that occur during a mission, and will only do a task when specifically ordered to. For example, a soldier will not defend himself when he comes under fire, unless ordered to do so.


4: TACTICAL GAME


4.1 What will the gameplay be like in tactical missions in UFO: Aftermath?

UFO: Aftermath will be a top down isometric 3D game, with flexible controls for zooming and rotating the view. The game will be a form of combination of turn based and real time, where you issue orders to your soldiers in a pause mode, then see the implementation of these orders in real time. When something unexpected occurs, the game will pause, allowing you to revise your orders and react to the new situation. This pause setting will be configurable, as to leave the game as fluid as the player wants it. The player can pause the game any time he wishes to change or review orders, however the implementation of those orders will only occur once the game is unpaused, where everyone, both soldiers and enemies will move simultaneously.

4.2 What kind of enemies will we be facing?

There will be about 25 different kinds of enemies, both alien and mutations.

4.3 How many weapons will there be in UFO: Aftermath, and what kinds?

Presently there are 72 weapons in the game, out of which there are 38 human (present-day) weapons, 13 hybrid (i.e. human based on the alien technologies) and the rest are purely alien.

4.4 How will ammunition for the different weapons be handled ?

To make things easily understandable, an UZI will have an UZI magazine, a G3 rifle a G3 magazine, etc. There will not be an option to change bullets around between different guns, even of the same calibre.

4.5 Will there be any vehicles in the game ?

There will not be any vehicles in UFO: Aftermath.

4.6 Will weapons be available in an unlimited quantity ?

You have a very small selection of unlimited weapons -- a shotgun, a Colt pistol, hand grenades and that is about it. All other equipment must be either recovered from missions, found in bases or manufactured. Manufacturing works like you would expect it -- you ask your engineers to produce say a Laser Rifle and when the development is finished, one extra Laser Rifle appears in your stores.

It should be noted that the original alien weapons cannot be reproduced and there is limited supply (based on your spoils) of both weapons and ammunition.

4.7 How about different terrain, will that be a feature?

There will be different fauna depending on where you are on the planet, as well as different architecture of the buildings on the different continents. In addition to this come natural variables like time of day, environments like snow, desert, forest, etc.


5: TECHNICAL DETAILS


5.1 Will there be multiplayer support for UFO: Aftermath?

At this time, there are no plans for multiplayer support.

5.2 What will the system requirements for UFO: Aftermath be?

Currently, the game is developed with the current minimum requirements in mind :

Windows 98/2000/XP
Pentium III 500 MHz
128 MB RAM
GeForce 2 MX video card with minimum 32 MB onboard RAM
8 x speed CD-ROM
DirectX certified sound card
1.25 GB free HD space

Suggested system for optimum performance is :

Pentium III 1 GHz
256 MB RAM
GeForce 3 with 64 MB onboard RAM

5.3 What kinds of resolution will the game support ?

The default and only supported resolution in the game is 1024 x 768.

5.4 Will there be a demo of the game ?

The public demo of UFO: Aftermath is available for download on a variety of download servers, examples being : StrategyCore

Regular buyers of PC Gamer should get the demo on the coverdisc of the issue being released the 15th of October.

5.5 What about the movie I saw of the game?

ALTAR made a special demo that they presented at E3, to show their work and the game engine. This demo is pre-alpha, and not intended for the public.

The ALTAR E3 demo can be found at the Czech gaming site Bonusweb’s pages, at: BonusWeb.cz

The Aftermath E3 demo is presented on a Siemens notebook Pentium III 1 GHz with an ATI Radeon 32 MB video card.

The video also features ingame music.


6: GAME DISCUSSION


6.1 ALTAR Interactive website

The homepage of the developer of UFO: Aftermath, ALTAR Interactive, can be found here : ALTARinteractive.com

6.2 UFO: Aftermath website

The homepage of the game UFO: Aftermath can be found here : UFO-Aftermath.com

6.3 The Official Forum

This is where most of the discussions about the game takes place. It is a great place to ask ALTAR or one of the regular forum goers if there is anything about the game you are wondering about.

The official forum can be found at : Official Forum

6.4 Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

IRC is an internet based chatprogram that allows multiple participants to talk to eachother in real-time through typing.

To use IRC, you will first need a client, like for example mIRC. mIRC can be found at mIRC.com

Second, you will need to connect to the correct IRC server. There is a default option in mIRC that says "ChatSpike" that you can use if you are unsure of how to add a new server.

Once you are connected to the network, type :
/join #aftermath

If you do know how to add a new server, this is the ChatSpike server :

irc.chatspike.net

6.5 Fan Sites

Outside of the official forum, the primary site for news about the game, to ask questions about the game, etc, would be Pete’s Aftermath site, at StrategyCore.co.uk


A big thank you to the people of ALTAR Interactive for redesigning this document and for correcting errors the author had made, as well as adding important information.

This document is © 2002 by Øystein "PlacidDragon" Andersen. Any errors in this document are mine, and mine alone. This document can be distributed and linked to only upon the agreement of the author, and cannot be altered in any way. If you need to get in contact with the author, I can be reached at Jackson@dead-presidents.com