[CP5670]

Yeah, self-destructing Devastators was the only good thing you could do with them, but you still had to do it quickly. The units always turned hostile again after moving several squares, or if they ever got hit by anything.

[Mika]

I thought to write something down here also.

Next I would like to remind the older forumites of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdfIfC9BHwQ

Archon. While looking like chess, it proved out to be a lot more different. And much more fun than the occasional chess with set rules. I recall I never got the hang of the units like the guy does here. But I do remember getting my ass kicked by the basilisk just like the AI does in the Youtube clip. Despite inevitably losing the game, you still had to play it - maybe you get lucky this time...

Probably one of the better friendship ruining games released. Good memories, though.

[Goober5000]

Is that Trogdor I see on the game board?

[Flipside]

I used to love Archon, the trick was to ensure that battles happened on the correct coloured square, Evil pieces were stronger when they entered battle on a Black square, and vice-versa.

Of course, that wasn't helped by the fact the board used to have a 'day/night' phase where the squares slowly swapped colours :/

[Scotty]

...

I really feel like bringing up StarCraft, but I don't know if that would count as a 'blast from the past.'

[General Battuta]

Starcraft rules.

[NGTM-1R]

Going another round with both of the turn-based X-COM games right now...

[redsniper]

TFTD!!?!!? ARE YOU MAD!?!?!

[NGTM-1R]

TFTD!!?!!? ARE YOU MAD!?!?!

I had the ending to TFTD in my reach once. I could have done it, but I never realized the thing about launching my Levi to T'Leth.

IT WILL BE AGAIN.

Colony assault underway, Lobsterman Commander and Navigator both unconcious, playing "hunt the alien" now.

[redsniper]

Are you save-scumming or are you iron manning it?

[NGTM-1R]

Are you save-scumming or are you iron manning it?

I suppose iron manning it is the most accurate description. I'm saving it, but not very often; once every sixty turns or so. (Should have done it more, I've got a guy stuck on top of the now-gone control device.)

I miss colony assaults on Enemy Unknown. They were so much easier to find the aliens in.

[NGTM-1R]

I swear there's a bug on TFTD colony assaults so they don't end.

But it doesn't matter!

I BEAT THE ****ING GAME.

[Goober5000]

I swear there's a bug on TFTD colony assaults so they don't end.

Nah, it's just the Lobstermen.  It's incredibly hard to outright kill them without stunning them, and the battles last for so long that they often wake up and go wandering through areas you've already combed over.  It's often necessary to station one guard over each stunned Lobsterman, but even that isn't foolproof in the case of grenades stunning Lobstermen you can't see.

I BEAT THE ****ING GAME.

Congrats!  I couldn't beat it the one time I played it because of the research tree bug.  I need to play it again.

[redsniper]

Iron-manning is where you just keep going whatever happens. If you lose a man, you lose a man. If you lose a Skyranger, you buy a new one, etc. Basically, you don't go back and reload a save when something bad happens, you just deal.

[BloodEagle]

A new game to add to the list, even though it's not very old.

Uplink: Elite Hacker. 

[Mika]

Your talk of UFO and XCOM reminded me of something little bit earlier: Laser Squad (1988).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-G9Z9mJRLM&videos=WeEK9-3mi-o&playnext_from=TL&playnext=1

The video is taken from Commodore 64 version of the game, I played the Spectrum ZX version of it. I don't remember anymore which of the Laser Squads we had on tape. By browsing through these old titles, it is amazing to note that the gaming itself hasn't evolved much from the situation 20 years ago.

Graphics, sounds and save&load possibilities have been added, but quite a lot of core gameplay mechanics have remained the same. As can be seen, the opportunity fire is quite old concept. The bodies are still left on the ground here, and it is possible to loot equipment from them. I think they added possibilites of units being standing (fast movement, poor aim), crouched (moderate movement, moderate aim) and prone (slow movement, good aim) later on some of the game in this series. There is also destructible objects in the environment even in this game, and they could be utilized to the demise of AI!

The morale of the units had quite an effect on everything they do: if they witnessed the death of their team mate, it was certain to affect their actions in the next turn. If somebody carried heavier equipment, they couldn't move fast and had less action points. And so on. Back then I didn't have that much of concept of tactics (being something like 5 years old), but I do remember this game by getting constantly my arse kicked by the AI and wondering what did I do wrong this time?

This is probably one of the oldest turn-based tactical shooting games I recall. By browsing through Wikipedia on Laser Squad, it is actually mentioned that it is also one of the major factors behind UFO, and even working with Space Hulk, which itself is probably a classic, too bad I never got to see it - the only and the best game reviewing magazine in Finland by that time was raving about the game and it being tense as hell.

Mika

[NGTM-1R]

Nah, it's just the Lobstermen.  It's incredibly hard to outright kill them without stunning them, and the battles last for so long that they often wake up and go wandering through areas you've already combed over.  It's often necessary to station one guard over each stunned Lobsterman, but even that isn't foolproof in the case of grenades stunning Lobstermen you can't see.

I actually grenaded every Lobsterman corpse (or not-corpse) out of existence just because of this (God I wish you could shoot downed aliens, I hear that's possible in the UFO After*blank* series...), and I eliminated at least 12 aliens on the upper level as well as stunning into infinity the navigator/commander bunch in the control room. (It was six stun bombs.)The lower levels were apparently empty. I swept each level twice, but I only found one more Tenteculat. Partway through the third sweep of the upper level, I just gave up and hauled my prisoners back home.

Currently looking for the X-COM spiritual successors, the UFO Aftermath/Aftershock/Afterlight.

[Flaser]

You should try Incubation.

Granted it's more a tactical than a strategy game, but it was still fun.
...and if you bet the original game and want a *real* challenge, play the Wilderness Missions.

[NGTM-1R]

Well, I found Aftermath. It's good...but damn, the second Dreamland mission is kicking my ass.

Also, their F-18s look almost indistingushable from their MiG-29s...