UFO Aftermath survey

[Vault Dweller]

There is a survey on the official site asking questions like:

Did you feel you can use tactics in the missions, or did you feel it is more an action game?
A - Tactics helped a lot
B - Tactics helped occasionally
C - Tactics was of limited use
D - It was a slugfest

Do you remember that interview where the lead moron said that:

Other thing we decided to break away from was traditional turn-based combat. While this is almost a synonym for "tactical" (as apposed to "real-time clickfest"), in fact, it is very unrealistic. It is a throwback to old war games that obviously had to be played in turns

So now you have a chance to tell them what you think about all that crap.

 

[Markman]

Combat engine in UFO Aftermath fucking sucked.
Instead of playing the game, most of the time was spent in pausing and un-pausing the fucking game. Very very annoying. grrr

 

[EEVIAC]

Their game kind of deserved to be shit-canned. TB or RT is a developer's decision, its not something they should be asking fans about, they should be asking programmers and designers what they can do best. Most of the reviews I've read haven't been critical of the game being RT, its that the RT system was shit. (I guess you could argue that if they'd gone TB, they could have avoided a lot of the problems they encountered with their RT system.) I don't know why they're putting a poll up, they should already know.

Where to now for Altar? The UFO:AI guys just released an SDK - they could contribute content to a really good strategic, sci-fi game.

 

[fnordcircle]

Did you feel you can use tactics in the missions, or did you feel it is more an action game?
A - Tactics helped a lot
B - Tactics helped occasionally
C - Tactics was of limited use
D - It was a slugfest

A.

I used some tactics pretty successfully. The game didn't force you to, however. If everyone had medic and rifle skills and everyone had laser rifles, you could pretty much win every scenario, just it got a little bloody.

However, I liked to employ some simple tactics, and had a lot of fun. A dude with Heroic Speed, Observation and Stealth could do a lot of scouting and then lead the aliens on a chase back to a room with the rest of the squad ready to gun the alien down.

Room clearing before hand with AOE weapons helped a lot too, but is a borderline tactic.

A lot of toss a nade run around a corner type stuff as well.

In the end it was one of those games I just really enjoyed and I probably am lucky to have not listened to all the people complaining about it beforehand as it might have soured me on the whole affair.

 

[Dark Elf]

My favourite tactic is a simple one - hold your group formation tight, then rush about and give them a concentrated burst of hot lead. Nothing is as satisfactory as having seven soldiers blast a poor alien into bolognese with violent bursts of SMG fire!

On more open maps, I like to equip at least two guys with launcher weapons and have them mow down every tiny little bit of resistance before they even get in close.

I fucking love that game.

 

[Eelusion]

My most successful tactic was to uninstall and sell it to someone innocent. :twisted:

 

[Circuitbreaker]

My favourite tactic is a simple one - hold your group formation tight, then rush about and give them a concentrated burst of hot lead. Nothing is as satisfactory as having seven soldiers blast a poor alien into bolognese with violent bursts of SMG fire!

On more open maps, I like to equip at least two guys with launcher weapons and have them mow down every tiny little bit of resistance before they even get in close.

I fucking love that game.

That won't be of much help in those crammed UFO's where the aliens will happily use rocket launchers even that means suicide. It seems you're fighting terrorists not intelligent aliens.

I cannot agree with your stance on the game. I really miss something of a guard/overwatch option, especially in UFO fights. For the rest the engine makes for faster gameplay then a TB game and does work quite well. Most of the equipment you get/find/invent is not worth the effort except for the Warp stuff near the end (also the only weapons that work against the end bosses). I equipped my squad with all sniper rifles (Accuracy Int.) for long range fights and Neosteads or SMG's (MP7, FN P90) in up close battles (UFO's). Grenades always have some use and psionic weapons (implemented in a far better way then in X-Com) make the UFO battles bearable.

The sudden leaps in difficulty, after the initial weak mutants, when the real aliens show up are annoying. Entering UFO's remains a pain until you have Psionic gear. Things get repetitive at the end with these constant hard battles (bases, UFO's etc.). Squad members will inevitably wind up in the hospital at some point in time.

It's one of those many games that could have been much better. The graphics are great and immersive, the storyline is nice as well with the area 51 stuff blended in and there's more good stuff found in the game. Gameplay and designwise there are some annoying glitches and mistakes though.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Other thing we decided to break away from was traditional turn-based combat. While this is almost a synonym for "tactical" (as apposed to "real-time clickfest"), in fact, it is very unrealistic. It is a throwback to old war games that obviously had to be played in turns.

People still use that "turn based combat is not realistic" excuse?

Oh, that was back in March...

People still used that "turn based combat is not realistic" excuse back in March?

Look, if they're that stupid then a survey's not going to help them.

 

[Sol Invictus]

I dont understand the excuse, either. I think it's pretty dumb.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

What I don't get about it is you're in a game, which has got elves or something. You're running around in your underwear carrying something called "The Shirosun Blade" and fighting off hoardes of skeleton demons from some place with a name like "Under Dark". Then you've got a guy who says "TB NOT REAL OMGOMG11!".

... and what? The elves are? Oh wait! Perhaps the sword is real?

 

[Ortchel]

That's all explained by relative logic though, that's not a good argument.

Anyway. I tried playing Aftermath, but found that I couldn't increase the resolution, and then that my ATI Radeon (per usual) encountered massive graphical errors since the game wasn't made by Id or Valve.

Besides that, it seemed a lot like Soldiers of Anarchy, but I didn't play it long enough to hate it accurately.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

That's all explained by relative logic though, that's not a good argument.

Relative to who's logic? Considering the alternative isn't real either, I don't see how reality can be the basis of any argument for a combat system.

 

[Ortchel]

The logic relative to the game's universe.

What I don't get about it is you're in a game, which has got elves or something. You're running around in your underwear carrying something called "The Shirosun Blade" and fighting off hoardes of skeleton demons from some place with a name like "Under Dark". Then you've got a guy who says "TB NOT REAL OMGOMG11!" ... and what? The elves are? Oh wait! Perhaps the sword is real?

It's not an explanation for a game system. It's an explanation for the skeletons, Elves, swords and Underdark. All of these 'unreal' entities are logically explainable within the context of the game. Which is why your argument isn't a good comparison, since taking turns in combat would be just as abstract to a Mindflayer as to a 21st century human. Our systems of time are identical.

Follow me now?

Not to say that I support RT combat in RPGs, mind you.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

I follow you. I understand it's relative to the logic of the game world in that "this world has elves" etc... but not to the logic that "you're playing a game". Monopoly is a game about real estate. You play with fake little houses and an iron. To say taking turns is unrealistic defies the logic that "it's a game" and that in order to play it you need sit in front of a board, move tokens around it and "take turns".

What I'm trying to argue is that people are willing to accept the game world but not the fact that in order to participate in that world, they need to do things that aren't covered by the story. They have to open up a character sheet (something that in and of itself is very unrealistic), they have to navigate a menu with options like "load" and "save" or "new game". Hell, they even have to fire up their computer and sit in front of a keyboard and use a mouse in order to participate in this world. Yet when it comes to the combat, turn-based "isn't realistic". If that's the case, then it isn't realistic to reload when you die as that's a game mechanic often not covered in the story.

 

[Ortchel]

True, in that case I agree.