KickStarter Phoenix Point - the new game from X-COM creator Julian Gollop

[Alienman]

Bros, are the story ebooks released so far available to read/download somewhere? Can't find them on the Phoenix Point website.

https://phoenixpoint.info/archives/

Also the site will pop a "download the Briefing" which is also lore

Is there a volume 2 out?

Edit:

Nevermind, missed the link from PanteraNera

 

[Alienman]

One thing that I got me thinking after watching the EGX Rezzed video... does all the shots the soldier takes have potential for damage, or are those extra shots just a visual thing?

 

[UnstableVoltage]

One thing that I got me thinking after watching the EGX Rezzed video... does all the shots the soldier takes have potential for damage, or are those extra shots just a visual thing?

Every individual bullet has the potential to hit, miss and do damage.

 

[PanteraNera]

To shoot the APC you must have two soldiers in it or just a driver? Or just one that will fill both roles swapping positions?

If I remember correctly there was lore explanation about AI that allowed those vehicles to operate independently.

Well what you are referring to is the Scarab which is a Phoenix Project vehicle.

Development on the Scarab began in 2025 with the objective of providing secure all-terrain transport for crews heading to remote Phoenix bases scattered around the world. The fuel cell powered vehicle would be fully automated with a contained atmosphere capable of accommodating eight personnel for a week without exposure to the outside. Radiation proofing and graphene mesh armour promised amazing levels of protection. The first units were produced in 2027, as Phoenix Command struggled to secure the secrecy and integrity of remaining bases after seizures by state actors in 2023, and the failed organisation wide activation of 2025. Due to the world crisis leading up to World War Three, only a small number were actually produced. In 2032 Scarabs were released to AI control to defend themselves, and as of March 2047 the whereabouts of most of them are still unknown.

source: dev update

If the New Jericho vehicle (Armadillo) is controlled by AI as well is not known at this point.

 

[PanteraNera]

Because the more soldiers there are in a mission, the bigger the APC must be.

Why would you assume that all soldiers must fit in it?

Probably because of this:

The team have already started to create 3D models for some of the vehicles which will be usable in tactical combat. They serve both as combat units and troop transports. Below is a render of the New Jericho APC.

source: dev update

Some answers on discord regarding that matter:

 

[Grotesque]

To shoot the APC you must have two soldiers in it or just a driver? Or just one that will fill both roles swapping positions?

If I remember correctly there was lore explanation about AI that allowed those vehicles to operate independently.

Well what you are referring to is the Scarab which is a Phoenix Project vehicle.

Development on the Scarab began in 2025 with the objective of providing secure all-terrain transport for crews heading to remote Phoenix bases scattered around the world. The fuel cell powered vehicle would be fully automated with a contained atmosphere capable of accommodating eight personnel for a week without exposure to the outside. Radiation proofing and graphene mesh armour promised amazing levels of protection. The first units were produced in 2027, as Phoenix Command struggled to secure the secrecy and integrity of remaining bases after seizures by state actors in 2023, and the failed organisation wide activation of 2025. Due to the world crisis leading up to World War Three, only a small number were actually produced. In 2032 Scarabs were released to AI control to defend themselves, and as of March 2047 the whereabouts of most of them are still unknown.

source: dev update

If the New Jericho vehicle (Armadillo) is controlled by AI as well is not known at this point.

They should make the possibility to have an AI to operate the APC a research project.
This way the player would feel a meaningful progression in tech and multiply his firepower in missionsa where in the past he had to sacrifice the presence of a soldier on the battlefield to operate/shoot the APC.

I hope this shit doesn't make it into the game. It looks like it was designed with "the rule of cool and nothing else" in mind

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Perhaps that "troop transport" capability is only tactical in nature; not strategic.
Meaning that there won't be geo-space travel on those things.

Which reminds me:
Is anything known about dropships and how units will be deployed from those?
Will deployment happen with player pre-set order like in Xenonauts or will there be deployment phase before every battle?
Will dropships actually be on battlescape (with aliens not shooting at those things like in X-com & Xenonauts ) or will those be represented as evac-zone squares as in nu-XCOM?

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.pcgamesn.com/phoenix-point/phoenix-point-combat-mutations

Phoenix Point's mutation of XCOM shows the tactics revolution is still to come

Phoenix Point, the current brainchild of X-COM creator Julian Gollop, is going to be a real highlight of 2018. While I’ve only played (and failed) a single mission at the recent EGX Rezzed convention, I can already already see its promise, largely because it’s simply more of the alien defense tactics and strategy that I’ve come to love during Firaxis’s tenure as XCOM custodian. It’s brilliant and you should be paying attention.

In action, Phoenix Point’s tactical battles play out similarly - almost identically, in fact - to the modern XCOM games. Blue and yellow HUD elements guide your way across a grid-based battlefield, the camera swings down into action as your troops unload magazines into hideous creatures, and the words ALIEN ACTIVITY flash as the enemy make their moves. But, underneath the familiar polish of Firaxis’s incarnation, the blood of the original X-COM is most certainly in Phoenix Point.

“We have more flexibility in the tactical systems,” Julian Gollop, founder of Snapshot Games, says. “We also have more inventory management, multiclassing characters, and a lot more flexibility in the loadouts of your characters. It has elements of the old X-COM and the new XCOM, and I think I would say it's definitely an evolution. It's a mutation.”

The first indication of this mutation is the chunky, Aliens-like troop carrier positioned at the very start of the demonstration mission. I’m unable to use it here, but Gollop promises I can get behind the wheel in the final game. “Vehicles give you alternative ways for deploying troops,” he explains. “You can load up your squad, the vehicle will move very quickly across the battlefield, and safely deploy troops into cover. Some vehicles are armed, and some of them can be used to ram terrain and clear a way through areas.”

That last point links into another new element Phoenix Point introduces: completely destructible cover. Everything you see can be reduced to rubble, be that by a vehicle smashing into it, or one of the game’s colossal creatures tearing it down. “It poses a challenge to players in the fact that you cannot entirely rely on cover because it might not be there,” Gollop laughs. “At the same time, you have to use the cover to hide from some of the ranged combat enemies that you'll face. So it's a question of balance, deciding where you can reliably stay for a short period of time.”

This makes combat much less comfortable than that seen in XCOM. The sentiment applies to much more than reliable cover, though. Your weapons fire projectiles with more maths underpinning them. For example, a 67% chance to hit doesn’t apply to the whole shot, but to each of the individual bullets fired in a burst. Small adjustments like these make the Phoenix Point experience feel much more on a knife point than XCOM’s; there are so many variables that could see you toppling into failure, but so much scope for inventive tactics and enhanced soldier development.

You’ll want to spend plenty of time configuring your loadouts and considering every action, too, since your enemies are as ferocious as they are nightmarish. Created by the Pandoravirus - a concept that’s only half fiction - they are bred for battle. “The oceans of planet Earth are full of viruses and we know very little about them,” Gollop explains. “Some of them are enormous viruses with huge genomes, so we speculate that these genomes could be partially alien.”

“They're dormant on planet Earth and get revealed by melting permafrost,” he adds. “They've been here millions of years, and there have been past outbreaks of this Pandoravirus. Part of the Lovecraftian aspect of the game is the idea of what is alien is hideously alien, but this idea that it can merge with humanity and create something horrific.”

It’s that last point that’s most disturbing: Phoenix Point’s enemies are a grotesque fusion of human and alien. Where Firaxis’s XCOM goes the route of classic sci-fi with its Gray-like Sectoids and X-Files-esque Thin Men, Snapshot have opted for something much more H.R. Giger. “The mutations combine sea creatures and human creatures,” Gollop explains. “Later on in the game there will be different kinds of mutations which will involve elements of different animals you might find in various parts of the planet. There are lots of possibilities as to the types of aliens and mutations you will actually discover.”

Such variations include your favourite sea pals with a humanoid head and a rusty heavy machinegun fused into its flesh. “They've specifically mutated themselves into highly specialised gunners,” Gollop says. “So they are using Earth-based technology, they are intelligent and sentient beings. At this stage of the game, anyway. They are capable of using technology but they are also capable of building these vast organic structures for which purpose you don't know at the start of the game.”

Gollop does hint, however, that their purpose could be for the production of Behemoths. “These are like giant harvesters, which gather massive amounts of organic matter in order to continue construction,” he says. “They're very dangerous, because if they reach a Haven they will literally just stamp on it and kill it.”

The process of bringing down a behemoth sounds exciting. “You need to deploy a squad on top and literally drill through their carapace. They're highly resistant to most explosive weapons. You'll basically be fighting tactical battles on the tops of these creatures in order to try and take them down.”

It is elements like these that will set Phoenix Point’s combat apart from XCOM’s. But while Behemoth battles will only occur once in a while, the aliens’ terrifying ability to mutate will be present in every battle. This system proves to be Phoenix Point’s real draw.

“What [the aliens] do is a trial and error system,” Gollop explains. “So if they find a particular mutation is not performing well in battle because you've learnt how to deal with it, they'll mutate it and try to come up with something different. And if a mutation starts performing well they will deploy more of them. It does mean that if you do try different strategies and tactics from one game to another you will inevitably face different kinds of opponents.”

This is certainly an intriguing prospect, but one that also introduces some difficult decisions. Should you invest in a powerful technology if there’s a chance your enemy will turn it against you? The idea is a smart twist on XCOM, which lets you power yourself up with alien technology, but without any fear of repercussion.

If you’d like to strike back at the Pandoravirus with their own tactics, you will have the opportunity to experiment with mutation yourself, provided you forge an alliance with Phoenix Point’s weirdest faction.

“[The Disciples of Anu] are an extreme religious cult who believe that an alien god is coming to rescue humanity,” Gollop explains. “They have religious rituals that involve mutation. They can control the mutations, so they're constantly trying to mutate humans into better soldiers or better human beings as their main objective.”

“You will be able to gain access to it, and you can use it on your own soldiers,” he adds. “You can also recruit some of their soldiers and they will have various mutations, including the Mutock Handlers. These guys have telepathic control of special mutant creatures.”

In just a short mission and conversation, it has become clear how many new and different ideas Phoenix Point has, despite fundamentally looking and feeling like XCOM. While XCOM 2 felt like the perfect sequel at the time, Phoenix Point looks to be the real successor to Firaxis’s rejuvenation of Gollop’s original formula. Tactical planetary defence is returning home in serious style.

 

[udm]

UnstableVoltage Is there any way we can convince Julien to implement limited field of vision? I can't remember a tactical game where I actually thought "Hey 360-degree FOV works better than limited FOV!". Jagged Alliance, Silent Storm, X-COM, these were made all the better because you had to consider whatever you couldn't see behind you (and which was why you always had to consider bringing along at least one buddy).

 

[Shog-goth]

The first indication of this mutation is the chunky, Aliens-like troop carrier positioned at the very start of the demonstration mission.

Of course. Same exact thing.

 

[Israfael]

Yeah, implementing something akin to TUs and retaining 360 vision (necessary for 2 phase system) is kind of strange, hopefully they'll realize that. Also, I wonder, are there any individual stats for each squad member and are they changeable in any way?

 

[ArchAngel]

Yeah, implementing something akin to TUs and retaining 360 vision (necessary for 2 phase system) is kind of strange, hopefully they'll realize that. Also, I wonder, are there any individual stats for each squad member and are they changeable in any way?

I don't mind 360 vision but I do mind 360 overwatch vision.
It should not be that hard to implement overwatch direction like in Wasteland 2.

 

[ArchAngel]

One thing that I got me thinking after watching the EGX Rezzed video... does all the shots the soldier takes have potential for damage, or are those extra shots just a visual thing?

Every individual bullet has the potential to hit, miss and do damage.

In that case how does armor work? I would guess it is not a flat reduction per bullet as they would all do 0 damage, so how does it work exactly?

 

[UnstableVoltage]

One thing that I got me thinking after watching the EGX Rezzed video... does all the shots the soldier takes have potential for damage, or are those extra shots just a visual thing?

Every individual bullet has the potential to hit, miss and do damage.

In that case how does armor work? I would guess it is not a flat reduction per bullet as they would all do 0 damage, so how does it work exactly?

Armour is a flat reduction per bullet. This is why it is important to shred armour or find an angle that hits an unarmored part of the enemy. The Assault Rifle rounds currently hit for 1-3 damage. The crabmen mostly have 2 armour, which means each bullet would hit for 0-1 damage. They do have unarmoured parts though. Explosives have 100% chance to shred armour, the heavy's LMG has a 20% chance per bullet. The Sniper ignores armour completely. Of course, all of these figures are subject to change in balancing.

 

[ArchAngel]

One thing that I got me thinking after watching the EGX Rezzed video... does all the shots the soldier takes have potential for damage, or are those extra shots just a visual thing?

Every individual bullet has the potential to hit, miss and do damage.

In that case how does armor work? I would guess it is not a flat reduction per bullet as they would all do 0 damage, so how does it work exactly?

Armour is a flat reduction per bullet. This is why it is important to shred armour or find an angle that hits an unarmored part of the enemy. The Assault Rifle rounds currently hit for 1-3 damage. The crabmen mostly have 2 armour, which means each bullet would hit for 0-1 damage. They do have unarmoured parts though. Explosives have 100% chance to shred armour, the heavy's LMG has a 20% chance per bullet. The Sniper ignores armour completely. Of course, all of these figures are subject to change in balancing.

Hmm that is interesting.. that makes is so that if you get "out-teched" by aliens you will start losing badly.
Is armor value same for all body parts of smaller aliens like crabmen or is it that only big ones like Queens get variable armor values for different body parts?

 

[UnstableVoltage]

One thing that I got me thinking after watching the EGX Rezzed video... does all the shots the soldier takes have potential for damage, or are those extra shots just a visual thing?

Every individual bullet has the potential to hit, miss and do damage.

In that case how does armor work? I would guess it is not a flat reduction per bullet as they would all do 0 damage, so how does it work exactly?

Armour is a flat reduction per bullet. This is why it is important to shred armour or find an angle that hits an unarmored part of the enemy. The Assault Rifle rounds currently hit for 1-3 damage. The crabmen mostly have 2 armour, which means each bullet would hit for 0-1 damage. They do have unarmoured parts though. Explosives have 100% chance to shred armour, the heavy's LMG has a 20% chance per bullet. The Sniper ignores armour completely. Of course, all of these figures are subject to change in balancing.

Hmm that is interesting.. that makes is so that if you get "out-teched" by aliens you will start losing badly.
Is armor value same for all body parts of smaller aliens like crabmen or is it that only big ones like Queens get variable armor values for different body parts?

Body parts have different amour values. Using the Crabman Brawler as an example. The head and legs have 1 armour, as does the arm holding the shield. The claw/pincer arm and torso have 2, the carapace is 3 and shield is 4.

 

[Grotesque]

"cohesive design" yeah....

"limited by control scheme"

"pucker up!"

someone hand me a lemon. it's disgusting

 

[Alienman]

Confusing mouse-driven buttons? Wut?

 

[Mustawd]

Confusing mouse-driven buttons? Wut?

He might mean:

1. Go to inventory
2. Switch pistol in hand with grenade
3. Exit inventory
4. Click on grenade
5. Prime grenade
6. Click on grenade again
7. Select throw
8. Place mouse cursor over where you want it to land
9. Click to confirm


I always found it fine, but for cnosoletards that kind of stuff breaks their brains or something.

 

[Viata]

Tbh, interface in computer games is dead because of devs thinking in release the game in consoles.

 

[Shog-goth]

Tbh, interface in computer games is dead because of devs thinking in release the game in consoles.

FTFY, sadly.

 

[Latelistener]

So far my only problem with PP was the lack of time units, but now it's confirmed that they are there (although not without some questions regarding multiple shots).
However, that first-person shooting mode is another reason for concern. Bullet collision meshes have to be extremely detailed, just like in first-person shooters.

But in Valkyria Chronicles it was like that sometimes (which caused a lot of trouble for me personally, as well as it was a thing that could be easily exploited against AI):

Spoiler

 

[PanteraNera]

This is not from today, in fact I posted this two weeks ago link, also it is out of context.

UnstableVoltage was referring to the discussion I brought up regarding the radial menu and that Julian Gollop said they focus on a PC release and not on console, that is even older news as this was two months ago link.

And also to be fair it was a personal rant from UnstableVoltage and I had criticized him heavily for that, and still think it is bad PR to post personal opinions on an official channel while being also the Community Manager of said channel.

 

[PanteraNera]