Games Informer reveals XCOM... made by Firaxis Games

[Drake Sigar]

Just thinking having to "tab" through your squad is sorta crazy, why can't I click on the squad member I want to control?

You can, can't you? Just left click.

[Stevo]

Ill have to try it again. Game wasn't very apparent when switching chars

[Drake Sigar]

I think there's some arrows on the left side to click on so you can cycle through your squad too. It's a bit easier than searching for them first, though personally I'd rather zoom out and waste time doing it manually.

Is it even possible to zoom out?

[frightlever]

Firaxis needs to sell XCOM to a few generations of players who never touched the original, especially console players. Hence, demo.

I'd guesstimate there are about 20x as many people playing PC games now, compared to when X-Com was first released.

[Makariel]

Except you cant.

What can't you? So far I found a button to mouseclick on for everything.

[Sunjumper]

I think there's some arrows on the left side to click on so you can cycle through your squad too. It's a bit easier than searching for them first, though personally I'd rather zoom out and waste time doing it manually.

Is it even possible to zoom out?

Did I mention that the controls are rather strange?

You zoom in and out by holding the third mouse button and then dragging the mouse forward or backward.

And of course you can select soldiers by clicking on them. Just like Drake Sigar said this is accomplished simply by left clicking them, or pressing one of the UI arrows (which works pretty much like the originals 'select next active soldier button' as does pressing TAB and Shift-TAB).

[Kadayi]

I refused to buy Dragon Age 2 solely based on the demo and it's combat, even though the combat is arguably the worst aspect in every Bioware game...

But turns out it sucked overall anyway, so maybe that's not a good example.

You passed on a story heavy RPG over it's combat system?

*chortles*

[Wizardry]

You passed on a story heavy RPG over it's combat system?

*chortles*

*chortles*

[Zephro]

I always used the "select next active soldier" button on the original anyway. Though with the controls and UI I'm not sure that this demo is going to be entirely indicative, lots of demos lock down controls or don't let you rotate etc. I mean the amount of FPS demos I've played where I've been baffled by not being able to crouch except when the tutorial tells you to...

But left or right clicking things seems to have worked for everything in this demo.

As for gameplay, the demo makes sense in the context of recruiting new players who didn't play a particular game 15 years ago when the game community was teenie tiny.

I felt that the display of information is really nice and clean though, the move/shoot and move/move system works well and I'm generally very optimistic.

Demos for Civilisation games always struggle to give an impression of the length and depth of the game they're trying to teach.

[Rauten]

Well I'm one of those "never played the original, shame upon thee" people, and the demo has certainly picked my interest. I'm not willing to pay 50 moolas for it, but I'll keep an eye out on interesting offers/sales.

[AlexClockwork]

Well I'm one of those "never played the original, shame upon thee" people, and the demo has certainly picked my interest. I'm not willing to pay 50 moolas for it, but I'll keep an eye out on interesting offers/sales.

Same here, really liked it.

[Faldrath]

Yeah, I'm really astounded at why most people are complaining about the demo, since the demo is so blatantly clearly *not* for people who already know X-Com, but for people who not only do not know X-Com but probably have never played a TBS game in their lives. And for that audience, I think it works very well.

That being said, the interface does feel a bit weird, but, then again, so did the original when I first learned it. So now it's simply a matter of learning it again, it's not so bad that it keeps you from doing things you want to do.

[Drake Sigar]

Did I mention that the controls are rather strange?

You zoom in and out by holding the third mouse button and then dragging the mouse forward or backward

Bah that's no good, I like to zoom out between every soldier action like I've just forgotten the placement of everyone on the battlefield, probably because I've just forgotten the placement of everyone on the battlefield.

You passed on a story heavy RPG over it's combat system?
*chortles*

I know, right? Vampire Bloodlines, Planescape Torment, Arcanum, the combat is usually the weakest part of an RPG anyway. I would do myself a disservice if I didn't expand on my short statement and mention it was more a combination of little things in the demo which led to me not buying DA2. The bland sterile graphics, dialogue tree lifted from Mass Effect, console interface, lack of inventory customization, and ridiculous Final Fantasy combat animations (I guess I'd rather focus on the flying cartwheels than the Darkspawn doing an impression of a Putty Patrol) convinced me this franchise was heading in a direction I didn't want to experience. It didn't feel PC anymore.

[Kadayi]

It didn't feel PC anymore.

It's a game. Take a moment and think about how utterly absurd that statement is, and then try not to repeat it in future.

[soldant]

Ill have to try it again. Game wasn't very apparent when switching chars

It works. I've found that the controls the game flashes on screen aren't the only way to do something - it seems to fail to mention some alternatives.

I felt that the display of information is really nice and clean though, the move/shoot and move/move system works well and I'm generally very optimistic.

Actually I kind of like that change too. Turn units often felt a bit arbitrary, particularly since the original wouldn't even tell you how many TUs you'd use moving to a particular spot. The ability to move and shoot or rush and hope for the best offers a decent mix of risk v reward while removing a bit of the frustration from the original.

[coldvvvave]

What can't you? So far I found a button to mouseclick on for everything.

Camera rotaion.


...it's a big deal for me as my small hobby is taking screenshots.

Scrolling does nothing, pressing it controls zoom, pretty weird choice I think.

[Squirly]

It's a game. Take a moment and think about how utterly absurd that statement is, and then try not to repeat it in future.

At the risk of turning this into a "WAH WAH DA2" thread, there are lots of games out there that still deserve the criticism. DA:O scratched a certain itch. DA2 gave up on scratching that itch and scratched.... something else. A scab, is what it felt like to me. Drake Sigar makes a valid point about something we all hope not to see in XCOM.

[Sunjumper]

Camera rotaion.


...it's a big deal for me as my small hobby is taking screenshots.

Scrolling does nothing, pressing it controls zoom, pretty weird choice I think.

So far you can rotate the camera in 90° increments using the 'Q' and 'E' buttons. If there is free camera rotation I have not found it yet. Was there nay official statement regarding this?

At the risk of turning this into a "WAH WAH DA2" thread, there are lots of games out there that still deserve the criticism. DA:O scratched a certain itch. DA2 gave up on scratching that itch and scratched.... something else. A scab, is what it felt like to me. Drake Sigar makes a valid point about something we all hope not to see in XCOM.

I am pretty sure that Kadayi meant hat saying something isn't 'PC' anymore is a rather strange thing to say.
Not being happy with the mechanics of a new game is a perfectly valid opinion. I think we can all agree with that.
Saying something isn't 'Platform X' anymore is not quite the same and carries the risk of distracting from the main issue and dragging things down to the usual mud flinging between the tribes of fans of the hardware formats.

[Squirly]

Yeah, I get that, and while I am very much a PC Gamer it doesn't change the fact that I see the good aspects of most other platforms. But he's not really saying that from a butthurt PC-fanboy perspective, in my eyes. He's pointing out a valid complaint in that the game mechanics got changed radically to suit a different platform. You don't have to be a supporter of one or the other to see that, or to be worried that it might happen to other franchises (like this one).

[Drake Sigar]

Saying 'it ain't PC' allows me to vaguely point in the direction of the mechanics common to the PC without actually mentioning what those mechanics are. I have no wish to further explain one of my throwaway popcorn comments and contribute to derailing yet another thread because of DA 2. Moving on!

I like how the squad works as a squad. You need to spread out and avoid getting flanked or blown up, but spread too far and your squad won't be able to cover each other. There's basic tactics like suppression which pretty much requires at least two men/aliens working together. I can imagine someone saying "well fucking duh" right now. Keep in mind that in the other X-Coms each squaddie acts like a completely independent piece.