I've still never played it...

[DoomMunky]

So yeah, I know I'm a total bastard, but I still have never really played the O.G. X-Com. I got and played TFTD for about two dozen hours back when it came out, but it was too damn hard for me (and I was a wee sprout, too, and unused to games like it; I had just come off of TIE Fighter).

 

So now that I'm a Silent Storm and Sentinels fan, I wanna go back to the game that started it all...but it's hard! Coming from the beautiful graphics of the S2 series it's hard to get involved with the old-school graphics of EU...

 

Am I a superficial whore? Am I missing something? (I also feel quite lost in the beginning; there's so many things to keep track of, from bases to loadouts to hiring and firing engineers and medicos, etc.) Is there a particular mindset I should try to adopt before playing the game? I just started a new S3 campaign and am having a ball. My Main is a Scout for once, not a Sniper, and the difference in the gameplay is remarkable, as is what it does to my brain to be playing as a super-sneaky ninja thief with throwing knives and a freakin' silenced machine gun... Mindset is quite important, I think.

 

So word! Berate me, tell me what I'm missing, and just generally convince me to play this game I keep hearing so much about!

[Fishfins]

What? You haven't played the original X-Com yet? Hurry, go visit the bargain bin, before it's too late!

 

While bug-riddled and around 10 years old, the original X-Com has provided me years of entertainment. It's better than most of the dirge that comes out these days.

[Azrael Strife]

In my opinion, and I will possibly be lynched for it , you haven't missed a lot. The game is very good indeed, very original and quite unique, but despite several of my favourite games are very old (many from DOS), I just can't stand the obsolete and (IMHO) utterly annoying interface, the two hundred bugs that will eventually get you (one of the reasons I could never finish the damn game), the no-reload restriction on the battlescape (which I think was also present in TFTD, game I don't like either *dodges stone*), the restriction to Turn-Based only (this is particularly annoying to me, but it's not for those of you who do enjoy TB, I myself am a Real Time person ).

I know many will disagree, but if you want to play X-Com, Apocalypse is best (once you get to make it run on XP), but that is a personal choice, since it allows Real Time and I love that

Please don't hit me!

[Kratos]

Actually, ever since I started playing Ufo2000 more often...I got less and less into the xcom enemy unknown. I just don't like those pesky bugs that will never be fixed. I played it in dosbox for actual music (no music playing it in regular dos), but I don't play the dosbox because it seems to be too slow in geoscape mode (unless it is designed that way...). But when nothing comes around to do, I play it though (without dosbox which is without music, but proper speed for geoscape). Now, helping with the ufo2000 project, this situation doesn't come around often...

 

TFTD I haven't played much because the graphics just made my eyes bleed (except for weapon images) so I just stopped playing it due to bad impressions of game.

 

Apocolyse...haven't played it much, but when I first started, it was totally confusing to me. Also, the bad part about playing it was that I got this annoying music that was the same over and over for the cityscape and battlescape. Graphics was descent (except cityscape was awkward). Gameplay...I really thought it was a bit confusing with all the different organisations...and when the ufos came around, I thought I could load my units in crafts, but I didn't know how so I thought "ok, passenger module for ship, but no passengers...right...". I really think that cityscape was not as good as a good ol geoscape (I mean, they could of made a good graphic one...oh well).

 

But anyways...I think the best xcom game out of (xcom 1 - 3) is the good ol original xcom enemy unknown. I would classify TFTD as worst (bad graphics of map ruin battlescape...one of the main parts of the game). If Apocolypse would get a geoscape instead (which isn't going to happen), then I would think it is almost comparable to enemy unknown.

[Fishfins]

*throws rock at Azrael*

 

Personally, I don't like Apocalypse.

 

- The UFOs look stupid. What happened to the silver menaces from the originals? Apocalypse UFOs look like flying mud.

 

- The aliens are even worse. They looked like children made them with play-doh.

 

- Combat was boring. For the first missions, I was shooting little worms, headless aliens that sneezed when they got in range and fat crab-like creatures.

 

- Steep learning curve. It's so steep, people have to organize expeditions to scale it.

[Azrael Strife]

Heretic!

Oh come on, that's not fair.

- The UFOs look stupid. What happened to the silver menaces from the originals? Apocalypse UFOs look like flying mud.

That's kind of the point, they are living ships, being silver and all metallic wouldn't make a lot of sense, would it?

- The aliens are even worse. They looked like children made them with play-doh.

I kinda liked them, but that's just a matter of taste, I could argue that the Chryssalid looked like a mutant clown (I've always thought that it looked kinda stupid, like it was smiling) and the Muton someone in a green pajamas.

- Combat was boring. For the first missions, I was shooting little worms, headless aliens that sneezed when they got in range and fat crab-like creatures.

The little worms were actually quite dangerous, especially when they swarmed at you in packs along with other aliens, since when you killed them, four more smaller worms would quickly come within close range and start biting at you. And combat would get more "exciting", same as X-Com 1, with time you would get to Ethereals, here's the same. And I found Real Time combat to be way more exciting than boring TB combat, but again, that's a matter of taste

- Steep learning curve. It's so steep, people have to organize expeditions to scale it.

Hmm, I didn't really understood that, but I think the research tree in X-Com 3 was the best, leaving the rest of the game aside, in this game there was actually a purpose in researching all Aliens dead and Alive, getting the Toxin C and Alien Gas, in X-Com there were way too many research topics that were absolutely useless (not that there are none in Apoc, but many many less).

[NKF]

Best game? No such thing. Do what I do. Play them all, and have a great love-hate relationship with all of them, equally.

 

I think the best mindset to get into when playing UFO and TFTD is to just accept the fact that you will get slaughtered your first few tries. Play a campaign or two on the easiest level and let yourself lose, but make use of that time to see what you did wrong so that you can learn how to overcome them.

 

Trust me, the end-game missions aren't all that great. The most fun is to be had is at the beginning and the actual playing of the game to the point you are allowed to launch the end-game mission. This applies to Apocalypse as well. They've all got a sort of - "eh, was that it?" quality to them.

 

By the time you're slaughtering hordes of aliens with rubbish weapons on the hardest difficulty level, you'll be quite satisfied indeed.

 

 

- NKF

 

P.S: The reload restriction in the battlescape has a workaround. Abort the mission, then reload from the Geoscape. Easy peasy.

[Pete]

Not that we're sure it's legal, but you can get the original UFO at Fileplanet.com (and we're fairly almost certain that they wouldn't upload something there without permission ).

 

It's the collector's edition too. Slap the most up to date version of f0dder's loader and you're good to go.

 

DM - it really is worth playing despite it's quirks, lack of realistic physics and so on. It's nice sometimes just to go all old-skool even if it does hurt your eyes to look at it

 

To be honest, were the maps much bigger in UFO, the turn based would have annoyed me, but sice I never had Apoc to copare it to for four years, I didn't know what real-time was. I love Apoc though as well - it's quirky new and inexplicable aliens, the funny UFO's, the new technologies.

 

Pity it all ended there for that type of X-COM game really...

[FullAuto]

It's the Godfather of TB strategy games. I love EU, hardly a day goes by when I don't load it up, if only for a little dabble. The range of terrain and the random map generator keeps things fresh on the battlefield, the changing goals throughout the game, the various types of UFOs and missions, the variety of weaponry and equipment....you can play through it however you like, not many games give you that freedom these days.

You can sort out your own tactics and strategies, you can use whatever weapons you like (the game doesn't 'force' you to use certain guns in order to complete it), basically, it's all up to you.

Apocalypse is good, but it's a little messy. EU is a hearkening back to simpler times, when gaming was good and pure.

 

I could argue that the Chryssalid looked like a mutant clown (I've always thought that it looked kinda stupid, like it was smiling)

 

Two points:

 

1) If there's anything scarier than a mutant clown, I don't know about it.

2) Their smile was scary. Not only would they impregnate you with squirming alien sperm, they would laugh as they did it.

[Azrael Strife]

Two points:

 

1)  If there's anything scarier than a mutant clown, I don't know about it.

2)  Their smile was scary.  Not only would they impregnate you with squirming alien sperm, they would laugh as they did it.

True But spitters were scary too, I mean, they had no heads and they were pink! :mad:

[FullAuto]

Good point. I think EU played on the traditional image of aliens, making the most of already-existing archetypes, whereas Apoc went for weird and perhaps went a bit too far.

[Pete]

Hehe, they had 256 colours to play with in apoc, unfortunately, 253 went on the map artwork and some of the more sensible coloured aliens. This left sky blue for Anthropods and Poppers, bright yellow for Skeletoids and luminous pink for Spitters, all of which look like they've had a fight invloving several tins of paint

[Zombie]

Am I a superficial whore? Am I missing something? (I also feel quite lost in the beginning; there's so many things to keep track of, from bases to loadouts to hiring and firing engineers and medicos, etc.) Is there a particular mindset I should try to adopt before playing the game? Mindset is quite important, I think.

The nice thing about this game is that there really isn't much to do in the beginning part of the game. With the meager funds you start with, you can't (and shouldn't) build a second base until you upgrade base#1's facilities and get more cash. After starting construction on an Alien Containment, Living Quarters, General Stores and Large Radar, there is not much left to build for a while. As for personnel, many people hire a few more scientists and that's it. You only have a few research options to start with so there isn't much choice here either. The main thing is to get some more cash ASAP in order to build/purchase/hire things you need.

 

How do you get cash? In short, you have to visit UFO crash/landing sites. Selling corpses, weapons and surplus alien hardware is very profitable, both in terms of money and research opportunities.

 

Some people may disagree here, but the main focus in the start of the game (for newbies) should be missions and mission strategy, not bases and base strategy. Hone your skills in the Battlescape first. Learn about and experiment with the different weapons/ammunitions until you are somewhat comfortable using them. Be observant during missions. Watch what the aliens do and how they act/react to the changing battle conditions. Your primary goal is to train some soldiers for the requisite terror mission at the end of the first month. Terror missions are a true test of your skill. If you do badly, go back and brush-up on your strategy on easier missions.

 

As a new player, try not to limit yourself to one particular approach. Keep your mind open to other things and try them out. If you find a strategy that seems to work (Battlescape or Geoscape), adopt it. But be prepared to drop strategies if they don't pan out.

 

What makes X-COM interesting (and addicting) is certainly not its graphics but its randomness. Every campaign is different, every mission is different and your original 8 soldiers are different too. There is a myriad of possible combinations to see. Go out there and witness some first-hand. That is the only way to appreciate X-COM's full potential.

 

- Zombie

[DoomMunky]

Zombie, thanks. That's EXACTLY what I was looking for: concrete examples of how I should think about this game.

 

I'm really looking forward to playing and loving this game as much as the rest of you crazy bastids.

 

I just have to fall out of love with Silent Storm first! (which won't be a problem, if the past is any kind of example: three more weeks and I'll never want to play it again...tho Hammer and Sickle is coming soon...)

 

Thanks, guys!