|
|
| Page 1 of 11 |
|
|
 Posted: Fri, 19th Jan 2007 03:34 Post subject: UFO_Afterlight_CLONEDVD-PROCYON |
|
 |
UFO_Afterlight_CLONEDVD-PROCYON
- Official web page: LINK
- Publisher: Cenega
- Developer: ALTAR Games
- Genre: Turn/Squad Based Strategy
- Release date: February 9 (US / North America) and February 23 (Europe) 2007
- Story/Description:
| Quote: | UFO: Afterlight is a mixture of squad based tactical action and global strategy with the gamer controlling the actions of elite ground troops, and the running and construction of an intricate network of interlinking bases while collecting resources.
UFO: Afterlight takes us to Mars, where a human colony has been built with the help of the Reticulans not long before the events of UFO: Aftershock took place. Mars base is self-sustainable and provides all the necessities for survival of humans on a foreign planet, mainly breathable air, water and food. Although the people inhabiting this colony have the technologies and knowledge required for their further development, basic survival is their major concern. Their only activity is the research of a nearby excavation site, which proves the existence of an ancient intelligent and highly developed alien civilization.
The player will enter the game when the research drastically affects all Mars inhabitants. New and unexpected enemies appear in the form of robots, built centuries ago by the unknown aliens for their protection, whose purpose is to eliminate any traces of other civilizations on Mars.
Humans on Mars now have a good reason for their own development, even though not knowing yet that the planetary self-defense mechanism might not be the worst awaiting them, and that their unintentional opening of hyperspace gates will bring an even bigger enemy right to their door. After all attempts to contact the Earth Laputa fail, the colonists are left with no other choice than to fight the enemies with their own means, or be annihilated. |
- Features:
| Quote: | * Combination of global strategy and tactical missions
* New strategic game with resource management and the possibility of terraforming in later stages of the game
* Advanced tactical portion of the game with the possibility to enter buildings, different heights, destructible environment, thermo visions and more
* Even stronger RPG elements, all of your subjects are known by name, complex training system, special equipment and more
* Completely new story building on the events from UFO: Aftershock
* Large number of new technologies, weapons and equipment to develop
* Completely new environments on a different planet to Earth
* More complex diplomacy option which affects the story
* Aliens, drones and robots in your team
* New enemies and new alien races with variable weapons and battle tactics |
- Demo: Here
| Quote: | The demo allows you to test all features of the final game for whole 10 game days. You will be able to go through all options in the strategic part and experience tactical action in approximately 5 randomly generated missions.
|
- Preview: PRO-G
- Review: Softpedia, 8.9/10
- Interview :RPG Vault
- Screenshots: Jucaushii
- Trailers: Gametrailers
Last edited by JiGSaW on Fri, 9th Feb 2007 19:42; edited 2 times in total
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
WaldoJ
VIP Member
Posts: 32672
|
| Posted: Fri, 19th Jan 2007 03:39 Post subject: |
|
|
Sounds cool 
| Sin317 wrote: | | I win, you lose. Or Go fuck yourself. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Fri, 19th Jan 2007 04:37 Post subject: |
|
|
Sounds unbelievably cool but I've been disappointed with past installments in this franchise.
Why has nobody topped X-Com ? Graphics get better but that's it.
I do not hail Caesar
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
crossmr
Posts: 2965
Location: South Korea
|
| Posted: Fri, 19th Jan 2007 06:23 Post subject: |
|
|
Camera controls are really damn sketchy. Even the slightest movement can cause the camera to jump massively as it doesn't maintain a constant height and changes its height relative to the ground.
Intel i5 6500 3.2Ghz, Geforce 970GTX 2GB, 16 GB Ram, Windows 7
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Fri, 19th Jan 2007 06:54 Post subject: |
|
|
The screenshots look almost IDENTICAL to the 2 previous releases. Looks like an expansion pack really.
Still waiting for a real modern version of X-COM. These Cenega games are pale imitations.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Fri, 19th Jan 2007 07:22 Post subject: |
|
|
Yup, the camera contols are irritating. And no, the gfx are different with that cheap "plastic" normal-mapped look and feel. Uninstalled.
"Only one country can destroy NATO in 40 minutes - it's Russia"
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ady5
Posts: 263
Location: A planet near you
|
| Posted: Fri, 19th Jan 2007 08:17 Post subject: |
|
|
the graphics on this game reminds me a bit of LBA/LBA2, only without the shininess. I loved those kind of graphics.
But i still don't like this game, you need twich tactics to be successfull, who presses the button first wins.
I'm waiting for UFO Extraterrestrials myself.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Fri, 19th Jan 2007 12:34 Post subject: |
|
|
UFO Extraterrestrials?
From what i've seen, UFO:ET is just a cheap XCOM clone. "Whats the problem with that" you could ask?
Let's see
- Clones (not the cd/dvd image clones, but game clones) are cheap and lame. Show that the creator lacks the creativity and motivation to try something new.
- I wouldnt buy a game that is identical in every aspect to another game i already have, no matter how much it has been improved graphically. I doubt graphics should be a concern for any serious XCOM fan.
- XCOM was a nice game, but tactically it is simply old, and there are system out there offering a lot more in terms of tactics. (Fallout, JA, Silent Storm.. hell even UFO: Aftershock/ligh/whatever has more tactics than the XCOM series had)
So for me, UFO:ET is just another game to ignore.
Remember: innovation & creativity > copy & paste
Edit:
let's be honest, the only and really THE ONLY weakness of the UFO:AfterXYZ series comapred to the XCOM one was the lack of proper base management. With Afterlight, they hopefully fix that. Of course that is if you can live with the pauseable real time world - which i can, as its much more realistic than the turn based, whoever spots the opponent first gets a chance to kill him style.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ady5
Posts: 263
Location: A planet near you
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Fri, 19th Jan 2007 16:09 Post subject: |
|
|
| ady5 wrote: | 
yeah, and a (very) limited number of tactical maps. And real time combat. And wierd mechanics(for a 200x game). And the games got boring after the middle part. And the support for the games sucked big time(i stayed on the Afterlight forums for 4 months after the release, watching what was going on). The devs promised moding tools. they didn't deliver(you can only clone weapons, you can't design graphics for them, although the devs made moding posssible, they screwed up the game engine so bad when they made the game that it wasn't actually possible to import any new graphics). The devs promised fixes for grave bugs( doors always open, ragdolls in enough numbers fucks up the PC, the game loads like it's calculating the time since Big Bang).
As i said, i'm expecting UFO:ET |
And i bet you expect all these bugs to turn up for UFO:Afterlight as well. After all, its nothing more than a big mod to UFO:Aftershock they make to get some more money.
- As for the limited number of tactical maps: As if XCOM would have more... It uses the same 'blocks' combined in different patterns. Once you played some, you knew them all, and also knew which 'blocks' can have enemies, and on which you'll find none.
Hell i managed to finish some XCOM maps by blindly firing blaster missiles off to spots i knew will have a high concentration of enemies. After that it was a simple mopup of the remaining 1-2 scattered (and panicked) aliens.
- Real time combat: no serious fan of strategy would complain about that. I mean how stupid is it, that the enemies don't act while i do? That they can't toss a grenade under my troops while im doing the same to them? The Simultaneous system has all the power of turn based mode with its configurable auto-pause options and the always available manual pause button, but at the same time it makes combat feel more realistic and living.
Plus the game had a nice, although sometimes a bit slow storyline. Sure there were bugs, but lot less than in the first UFO game. If the trend continues - which it seems to do -, we might end up with a nicely polished, and more or less bugfree game, that is a worthy match for the xcom series.
As for modding: UFO:AS had more modding possibilities right form the start, than most other games. There are some pretty decent mods out there, that both enhance and change the gameplay to be more challenging and fun. To my knowledge, the model format converter is out already, although it took them definitely longer than first promised.
All in one, UFO:AS (and AL) are games with ambitious goals, from which most are put into reality more or less bug free. UFO:ET on the other hand is nothing more than a cheap money making attempt by making a clone of the original XCOM:UFO, putting it onto an imaginary "earth". If i want to play XCOM:UFO, then thanks.. i do play the original from time to time anyway. I definitely don't need some greedy bastards to make a copy of it that they can then sell to me, as if it would be something they created.
Remember:
Ingeniuity & Creativity > Copy & Paste
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Fri, 19th Jan 2007 16:20 Post subject: |
|
|
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ady5
Posts: 263
Location: A planet near you
|
| Posted: Fri, 19th Jan 2007 16:51 Post subject: |
|
|
Have it your way csebal.
We'll ignore the Aftershock graphical and gameplay bugs, we'll ignore the limited tactical options on the dozen or so maps( limited because you can't control as effectively a 6 man troop in RT like in TBS, because the CPU will always be faster in reflexes than you, and i played AS only on the slow time with pauses, or else the actions will get out of control). We'll also ignore the brain dead AI(you basicaly put your soldiers in an echelon formation at the begining, fire 1 shot then watch the aliens come to you.
Also, ask ShadoWarior on the AS forums about the "great" modability of the game. He created hundreds of new items for the game, but he can only clone the graphics from the existing items, he couldn't implement new images, or animations, or anything. He could just edit the text database. Great modability...
We'll forget all that, because this is a new game. I really hope all those things will be fixed/improved, because every XCOM like game is a step froward in the strategy genre.
But i personally don't have high expectations for it.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Epsilon
Dr. Strangelove
Posts: 9240
Location: War Room
|
| Posted: Fri, 19th Jan 2007 18:10 Post subject: |
|
|
| ady5 wrote: |
Also, ask ShadoWarior on the AS forums about the "great" modability of the game. He created hundreds of new items for the game, but he can only clone the graphics from the existing items, he couldn't implement new images, or animations, or anything. He could just edit the text database. |
For your information, Csebal was the first to figure out how to inject new weapons into the game, and it's because of his efforts theres so many mods today, just go back on the forums and you'll see his name popping up.
So dont go lecture people who you believe to know nothing when they know more than you. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Fri, 19th Jan 2007 19:51 Post subject: |
|
|
| Epsilon wrote: | | ady5 wrote: |
Also, ask ShadoWarior on the AS forums about the "great" modability of the game. He created hundreds of new items for the game, but he can only clone the graphics from the existing items, he couldn't implement new images, or animations, or anything. He could just edit the text database. |
For your information, Csebal was the first to figure out how to inject new weapons into the game, and it's because of his efforts theres so many mods today, just go back on the forums and you'll see his name popping up.
So dont go lecture people who you believe to know nothing when they know more than you. |
Uhm.. dont give me credit for things not done by me  Actually, yeah i did figure out how to put new weapons into the game, and that definitely gave ShadowWarrior a great kick in expanding his mod to what it is today, but thats all of it. I haven't inspired any mods out there, just happened to be the one figuring out how to add new items to the game.
I do know for a fact however, that he *could* add new models now, but since he isnt a 3d artist, he just does not have the skills to do the modelling himself, and to be honest the model format was only figured out 'recently' compared to when the game was released. So much of the attention around that mod shifted towards the sequel and/or other games.
Ady:
What you said about the AI behavior might have been true for the vanilla game, but i doubt you tried any of the alien assult mods seriously, as
1) with the extra ammount of enemies, you would have died painfully by doing what you described
2) as far i can remember, some of the ai behavior was tweaked to an extent as well. OFC you can't mod a completely new AI into the game, but you can affect its behavior through various parameters.
So the vanilla game might be way too easy, but if thats your only problem, then just install advanced alien assault + the weapon rebalancer mod, and you'll be in for a really bumpy and difficult ride.
About expectations: i learned to keep mine low after the moo3 fiasco, but if i want to be honest with ya, the only problem preventing me from playing UFO:AS is the crapforce protection on it, which i refuse to install onto my pc again. Otherwise i would still be playin that game, as it is one of the best tactical/strategy games out there atm and the only one with the ufo/alien theme.
With that said, im optimistic in looking forward to UFO:AL, and hell i will surely try UFO:ET as well, even though i think its nothing but a cheap ripoff clone of the original.
one final note: the moddability of UFO:AS might not have been perfect, but even that way, it had infinitely more moddability than most other craptastic games out there.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ady5
Posts: 263
Location: A planet near you
|
| Posted: Fri, 19th Jan 2007 22:18 Post subject: |
|
|
lol, ok, sorry about the modability thing, i didn't check the forums for quite some time now, but in the time that i stayed there, until recently (1-2 months ago) i didn't see any new graphic importing tools posted(maybe a link would be usefull for the models). I stayed on the forums because i knew the game had promise, with all the options in it, but the vanilla was bad, and my only hope were the mods. I also tried the assault mod, wich just throws more enemies at you, it doesen't improve the AI(it's hardcoded AFAIK). As i said, my reflexes are not that good anymore in strategy games, so killing 20-50 aliens per encounter was not my thing(also the ragdolls were funky to say the least, i prayed that my nades won't hit a large number of aliens, or the game would become a slide show, no matter my PC).
Well, enough ranting. AL is due to release in 3 weeks. We'll see if this game will be the mother of all UFO games
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Fri, 19th Jan 2007 22:22 Post subject: |
|
|
Forget graphics and bugs for a moment.
These UFO games by Altar completely miss the boat in terms of gameplay. Xcom was an awesome game because of the RPG elements. Sure we want a modern version with better graphics but we also want a game that replicates the "feeling" of Xcom. It is a fine line between hollow clone that tries to cash in on a great game and a "faithful" sequel that is well balanced.
These fall into the hollow clone category. The developers just don't understand what made Xcom great.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Fri, 19th Jan 2007 22:42 Post subject: |
|
|
| KnightRider2006 wrote: | Forget graphics and bugs for a moment.
These UFO games by Altar completely miss the boat in terms of gameplay. Xcom was an awesome game because of the RPG elements. Sure we want a modern version with better graphics but we also want a game that replicates the "feeling" of Xcom. It is a fine line between hollow clone that tries to cash in on a great game and a "faithful" sequel that is well balanced.
These fall into the hollow clone category. The developers just don't understand what made Xcom great. |
Substitute we with 'I' and you might get closer to the truth. If anything, then the UFO series are not clones. They might have the same theme, but are so far off from XCOM as they can get. They made it clear on multiple occasions, that they don't intend it to be a sequel.
As for RPG elements. What RPG elements were there exactly? Your soldiers had a multitude of stats, but you had absolutely no influence on them. You might have grown attached to your soldiers, but if you played the game on any serious difficulty, they died like flies anyway, so unless you kept reloading after every loss, you just had a big army or rotating names with randomized stats.
Thats RPG at its finest..
If you think that UFO: Aftershock does not replicate the things that made XCOM great, then please tell me which parts is it missing. To make your task easier, i summarize which points it already has:
- The ability to plan you advance, research and manage your assets in an overland strategy layer
- The fact that every game plays out differently with only some key missions being the 'same'
- That your soldiers can learn new skills, have various different stats, that (contrary to XCOM) you actually have an effect on your soldiers training
- That you fight against the enemies through a sophisticated tactical layer, which is one of the best in terms of tactical possibilities it offers
- That you have a big tree of weapon, armor and miscellaneous technologies at your disposal to utilize in said tactical layer
If you ask me, those were the things that made XCOM great, and they were not only included, but in many cases even improved compared to xcom.
So let's cut the 'it has key elements missing, i just don't know which ones' bullshit, and if you are so sure that it is missing something, then start naming it, instead of just dancing around and hinting at 'something that is surely wrong'
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CaptainCox
VIP Member
Posts: 6823
Location: A Swede in Germany (FaM)
|
| Posted: Fri, 19th Jan 2007 22:43 Post subject: |
|
|
Its just a game for crying out loud!...give the man some slack will ya!
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Fri, 19th Jan 2007 22:54 Post subject: |
|
|
| csebal wrote: | | So let's cut the 'it has key elements missing, i just don't know which ones' bullshit |
Okay we get it already. You like their crappy games.
Just because we don't agree with you doesn't make it "bullshit"
Ever consider why you want to make mods for the game if it is so great? The answer is because the developers missed the mark.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Sat, 20th Jan 2007 01:33 Post subject: |
|
|
| KnightRider2006 wrote: | | csebal wrote: | | So let's cut the 'it has key elements missing, i just don't know which ones' bullshit |
Okay we get it already. You like their crappy games.
Just because we don't agree with you doesn't make it "bullshit"
Ever consider why you want to make mods for the game if it is so great? The answer is because the developers missed the mark. |
You dodged my question nicely. Grats. You know what? I really like that game, and - though you might have missed it - this thread is about it's demo, and not about how *YOU HATE* the developers or their previous games.
Either stay objective and put some hard reasoning behind your claims, or just take your bitching elsewhere. please.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Sat, 20th Jan 2007 05:30 Post subject: |
|
|
You had a question? All I saw was you getting your panties in a bunch because not everyone likes poo games.
So tell me princess, why do you feel an urge to mod the game? Could it be because you played the games and thought you could improve on what the developers did wrong?
I have a right to an opinion about the game just as much as you do. Live with it.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Sat, 20th Jan 2007 11:44 Post subject: |
|
|
Modding has always been part of the PC thats one of the main things that set the PC apart from the consoles. Look at all the game that have been modded, Halflife, UT, C&C, Total War, Civ etc etc. Doesn't mean the original game is bad, just that people always like to see extra features added or changed with isn't always possible once games have been released either due to developers not having enough time to implement or just plain decided against.Can't please all the people all of the time I suppose. Back on topic though, bit dissapointed with the demo so far, albeit I haven't played it much. Then again I prefer the Silent Storm games. Still waiting for a truly next gen TBS/RTS sci-fi game to come along with polish, impressive graphics and gameplay... probably never will be one though.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Sat, 20th Jan 2007 14:28 Post subject: |
|
|
lol all games are cloned... 1st RPG, 1st FPS,... 1 TRS... all are the same... but few different things made them playable like graphic OR better GAMEPLAY!
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Sat, 20th Jan 2007 15:09 Post subject: |
|
|
| KnightRider2006 wrote: | You had a question? All I saw was you getting your panties in a bunch because not everyone likes poo games.
So tell me princess, why do you feel an urge to mod the game? Could it be because you played the games and thought you could improve on what the developers did wrong?
I have a right to an opinion about the game just as much as you do. Live with it. |
Yes, and you also have a right to shut the fuck up and call your sister a princess if she likes it, but im not your sister bro, so watch your words.
Yes, i did specifically ask you to tell me what you did find missing from - say UFO:AS - that you think made XCOM great. Instead of that, you just resorted to pity personal insults.
About modding: i do mod games, because i love to fiddle around with them. I do it, because i always think that things can be better. I did some modding for almost every game i had that was moddable to and extent, and that includes hex editing some of the XCOM weapon stats even. So just because modding for you is something you download from the net if you find the vanilla game is not to your liking, others might do modding just for fun.
Ironically enough, most other modders do modding for the very same reasons, not because they don't like the game, but quite the contrary.. because they do like it, and want to make it even better, or just different.
So i ask for for the last time - though i really don't know why i bother - either name your reasons for what you posted earlier - im really curious what you find missing there - or just STFU and go make the people of the UFO:ET thread happy with your bitching around.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Sat, 20th Jan 2007 18:00 Post subject: |
|
|
WOW they made pure shit this time , Ufo1 and ufo2 was great but this UFo:aftershit is so stupid ...
| Seron wrote: | | i have the same problem..been harassing a 15 yr old chick on my msn now, getting boored. |
| sTo0z wrote: | | Seriously I almost banned you for touching his fish. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Baleur
Posts: 2343
Location: South Sweden
|
| Posted: Sun, 21st Jan 2007 16:22 Post subject: |
|
|
Hahah same here, i wish it would work on vista. But i actually loved Altar's previous 2 UFO games, its just too bad that they were so buggy, or they could have been instant keepers (never-uninstall).
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 RAM: 4gb Kingmax DDR2 800mhz Video: Asus GeForce 250GTS 1gb Sound: Asus Xonar.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Page 1 of 11 |
All times are GMT + 1 Hour |
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB 2.0.8 © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
|
|
 |
|
