Xcom 2 Reveal

leggy

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Better start playing XCOM EU and EW then. Jesus, I thought I had another year at least.
 

old.Tohtori

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*throws money at screen*

Why is this not working!

Best play xcom after summer again, need to get those impossible ironman skills back in check :D

The style/world looks really promising too.
 

Raven

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Yeah, fancy another play through too.
 

BloodOmen

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*throws money at screen*

Why is this not working!

Best play xcom after summer again, need to get those impossible ironman skills back in check :D

The style/world looks really promising too.

Aye, it looks like a mash up between Futurish Cyberpunk and XCOM, can't wait really.
 

ECA

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My main problem with xcom was the way enemies were triggered by your movement onto certain tiles on the map, rather than them existing individually and moving individually, it made a big difference to replayability imo.
Hope they fix it for 2.
 

SilverHood

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I finished XCOM twice, but the expansion crushes me every time. My most recent play through, 10 hours in, and I get that stupid Harbor / Chrysalis mission and get wiped.... and realise I hadn't saved once. Fudge.

Will still be buying this though.
 

BloodOmen

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Focusing exclusively on PC right out of the gate means XCOM 2 will be better tailored to a keyboard-and-mouse control scheme and interface. (Controller support is planned for post-launch.) And knowing that players are likely to be sitting closer to their screen than they would be on consoles, Firaxis is free to provide more information. This is said to include things like the reasoning for your hit-chance going up or down.

If you're still clinging to the hope that you'll be able to play XCOM 2 on Xbox One or PS4, it sounds like it's possible, but you'll be waiting longer than PC gamers. "We're certainly not opposed to that," Solomon said, "but I can assure that's something we're not even discussing yet."

XCOM 2 is set for release on PC in November.
 

BloodOmen

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Taken from IGN

XCOM 2'S EXCITING MODDING POTENTIAL -- IGN FIRST
Share.
Firaxis plans to fully embrace and support the mod community.DAN STAPLETON“We're going all-out with modding on XCOM 2,” declared Creative Director Jake Solomon. One of his and Lead Producer Garth DeAngelis’ chief regrets about XCOM: Enemy Unknown is its lack of significant mod support, and it’s a missed opportunity they don’t intend to repeat. And so they laid out their plans: Either day-and-date with XCOM 2’s November launch or soon thereafter, Firaxis intends to release a full suite of modding tools – an Unreal Development Kit (UDK) and the editor the developers use to create content – that will enable modders to run wild with XCOM 2. “It's yours now; do with it what you want.”

XCOM 2 Reveal Trailer - Rewind Theater
19:51



“People will see the gameplay source, all the scripting,” he promised. “This is the code that makes the game what the game is. Here's the editor and all the assets that went into this game.”

That’s all music to the ears of modders and fans of modding alike – especially since XCOM 2 will have Steam Workshop integration to make browsing, downloading, and installing the mods talented people create a one-click process. Sadly, we seldom see this level of support and open access to a game’s inner workings these days, so it’s terrifically refreshing to hear developers express such enthusiasm for embracing the mod community.




We want our players to play our games forever.

Solomon wisely sees supporting modding as a win-win situation for both Firaxis and gamers. “Because we're a Firaxis game, we're committed to this idea of player value. We want our players to play our games forever, and so we want to have this sort of vibrant community around the game,” he said. “We want people to talk, to communicate with us, and for our games to have this really long life cycle, because that increases the value of our games.”

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Concept art of XCOM's new mobile base, the Avenger.


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Despite being on the run, XCOM soldiers will still have access to advanced hair-care technology.


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Advent Troopers dig in against an XCOM assault.


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Advent Captains are stronger versions that can buff nearby troopers.


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An XCOM Ranger prepares to ambush an Advent Captain and Soldier.


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The terrifying evolved version of the Sectoid. Nice teeth!




It’s no coincidence that many of the games that stay on top of the Steam charts for extended periods (outside of free-to-play and/or eSport games like Dota 2 and Counter-Strike) are popular playgrounds for modders: GTA 5 (which is still new), Firaxis’ own Civilization 5, Skyrim, Team Fortress 2, and ARMA 3 are all played by tens of thousands of PC gamers every single day, even years after their original release. That’s thanks in large part to the work of modders who make games feel new again by changing their look and their gameplay in interesting ways. Firaxis would like nothing more than to have two games high on that list.




When people can replay a game again and again, then they want the ability to change the way it plays. And that's why mods are huge.

XCOM 2 is the right kind of game for it, said Solomon. “Games that are systems-based, games that people can replay again and again – like Skyrim and GTA – they're rooted in systems. And when people can replay a game again and again, then they want the ability to change the way it plays. And that's why mods are huge on all of those. Obviously, games like Civ and XCOM are rooted in systems.”

“The whole modding component is very exciting to me,” said DeAngelis, who fondly recalls his own early days of downloading mods for Doom. “After you feel like you've exhausted what we've designed what we've built for you, you're going to see a lot more from the community now.”

XCOM 2 Reveal Trailer - IGN First
03:03

The proof of the potential is in The Long War mod for XCOM: Enemy Unknown and Enemy Within. Even without official modding tools from Firaxis, a team of modders took XCOM to a new level by revamping the balance, doubling the number of classes, adding new equipment, and of course lengthening the campaign. At least a good chunk of the longevity Enemy Unknown has enjoyed on Steam (it still has thousands of daily players) is thanks to those determined modders, and the XCOM dev team is in legitimate awe.

“It's unbelievable what they did,” said DeAngelis. “The Long War was my go-to recommendation when our hardcore fans would come up to us at shows and would say, ‘I beat Impossible Iron Man three times. I want more.’ There's absolutely an awesome challenge there for you.”




Enemy Unknown is basically a 20-hour tutorial for The Long War, and that's okay.

“We're basically a 20-hour tutorial for The Long War, and that's okay,” admitted Solomon. “I think Long War was cool, because I think that there is – especially in strategy games – there's always this desire to see more. They did this awesome job of adding a lot more. People will be sharing stories of XCOM and I'll be like ‘I don't even know what they're talking about, this game has changed so much!’ And that, to me, is cool."

“And that's like, the ultimate mutual respect,” added DeAngelis. “Again, we missed that on Enemy Unknown. It was the most rewarding thing to hear from the community how much they liked it, and for us to now say we respect that and appreciate that so much, here: go and do something we can love and play in return, and you guys can share with each other. I just think it's a really valuable relationship that we have.”

When asked what kind of XCOM 2 mods they expect to see, the team had a few ideas:

“We don’t have free-aiming. That will be one of the first mods, and that certainly will be fine,” said Solomon. “Maybe somebody will bring back time units,” he mused. “I'd be fine with that.”

Art Director Greg Foertsch had some words of encouragement for map makers: “If you want to make a completely static level, you can. If you want to make a basically completely procedural level - which is basically what our levels are in the game right now, that's 100% doable. It could be narrow; it could be square. It could be super big. And, again, it's super flexible. There's really no limit – you can do whatever you want. You could literally make an Enemy Unknown map.”



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For my part? I’ll just leave you prospective modders with far more artistic talent than I have with the above gallery of images for inspiration, and commend Firaxis for its exemplary attitude toward modding and working with the community to enhance the value of its games.
 

old.Tohtori

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Concept art of XCOM's new mobile base, the Avenger.

Heh, how fitting :p

Though i have to say, see you back in this thread in november since i'm going to start a spoilerblock of the game. Just to get a better experience ;)
 

Adari

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It seems x-com is 75% off this weekend on steam, worth a pick up if I enjoyed the jagged alliance games back in zee day?
 

Scouse

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164. Seems thats about enough before you get bored :)
 

Adari

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Guys, really enjoying it so far although I havent played much of it yet (about 5 hours). I saw that the expansion can be played from the start and it seems like a good thing to restart with it enabled to make it more interesting. Would you recommend normal or easy difficulty? I'd like to turn on ironman mode as well, to get more invested in the soldiers. Or is that a really bad idea? :) Great game!
 

Raven

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Yeah, restart with the extra content. Its pretty much the same game with some extra missions and later on extra abilities, equipment and aliens.
 

Raven

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I didn't do Ironman myself
 

SilverHood

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Cool. =] WHat about Ironman?

Ironman is fun. Do easy + Ironman mode for an enjoyable playthrough.

Ironman at harder difficulties isn't so much fun, especially when you're still learning about new enemies, and some of the enemies can literally kill your entire squad with a few lucky crits.
 

Scouse

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I liked Ironman on Normal but never managed to finish on Hard. Just seemed unfair some of the time.
 

Raven

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Out this Friday. £34.99 on Steam, bought and pre-loaded.
 

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