[TrashMan]

* UPDATED*

Xenonauts is now on Steam.
1.85 version

There has been a few changes... a bit of streamlinign (read: dumbing down), but overall still far "harder" than XCOM 2012.


Looks like soon it will be time for another Let's Play. 



Be warned - the game is brutally difficult

Vae


...Victis




Also, here's some nightmare fuel for ya!

[Scourge of Ages]

I need to qualify that statement by saying that beta, to us, means this: you can now play the game from start to finish, and we've shifted our focus from adding new features to fixing up bugs, balance and generally improving the user experience of the game. It's NOT a beta in the AAA sense of the word, where it's basically a finished project being given an extended public demo.

Therefore if you want a polished experience, you'll still have to wait a little longer. The current game does still have bugs and crashes in it, it doesn't have great balance and there is still some placeholder art and research descriptions. We're working hard on fixing all of these up, but that will only be complete at the end of the beta.

Might I suggest that you wait for the conclusion of beta or release before LPing it? It'll probably work and look better by then.

[Lorric]

Hey, what's wrong with that? It's nice to see aliens embracing human culture. Makes a change from them trying to slaughter us! 

[Dragon]

How's it compared to UFO:AI? I'm interested, but IIRC, it's commercial, so I'd like to know if it's worth spending money on.

[TrashMan]

Well, judging from the Alpha, it's a true sucessor to the the original XCOM spirit.

Alas, the engine they used is so poorly supported by the makers that Chris (the lead dev) had to drop a few advanced features and lost a lot of hair in the process. The sequel will be 3D if there is one.

But even with this, the graphics are purdy. Aliens are hard as f*** to kill.
Oh, humans get no psionics because Chris wants you to always lag behind the aliens and feel dread.

If I had to chose a better game I'd probably go with UFO:AI, but I'm probably biased there. Not only is it 3D (so more easily moddable) but I also worked on it.
But trust me, it's close. Xenonauts does a great job with the atmosphere and "oh frak!" moments.

Might I suggest that you wait for the conclusion of beta or release before LPing it? It'll probably work and look better by then.

Ya, by the time it hits Steam all the biggest issues should be taken care of....I hope.

[Polpolion]

I'll probably wait until I know for sure what the game entails to get it, I'm still annoyed that XCOM Enemy Unknown was so 'eh'.

[TrashMan]

There's already LP's out there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qftd3yLA5x0


One big bug is happening - aliens shootign trough walls. Will be fixed in the next update in a few days. Looks OK otherwise.

[SpardaSon21]

If he's trying to make a spiritual successor to XCOM, why make us humans constantly suck?  Isn't part of the point of XCOM that you start off with armorless, expendable cannon fodder with near-useless weapons and through brutal effort and casualty lists you end up kicking down the doors of the alien base with the toughest bastards in the galactic arm?  The end-game mission in Xenonauts is going to be extremely tough if our tech is far behind theirs.  I heard even basic laser weapons are very hard to acquire in Xenonauts so unless basic assault rifles can actually hurt these aliens for significant portions of the game I don't see the player having enough toughened badass veterans with which to win the game.

[TrashMan]

You will get veterans and late game tech is great. Tier 4 in particual (MAG weaponry) rocks.
But progression is hard and the whole point of that difficulty is to not trivialize the aliens.
They are supposed to be a threat trought the game. The last mission is supposed to feel like last ditch, Hail Mary effort.

In XCOM, once you got psionics and Blaster Launcher the game turned into a turkey shoot. That's why you can't get them.


And speaking of tougness...You do start without proper armor. And while the game is still being balanced, currently even alien redshirts (non-combat personel like pilots) take at least 2 M-16 shots to bring down.

[SpardaSon21]

Bah.  I guess I'm just one of those guys who likes to see humanity come back from having to fight tooth and nail to avoid extinction and we end up walking around blowing the crap out of aliens with a team of hardened badasses with armor and weapons at least as good as what the aliens have, if not far better in the case of Flying Suits.

[TrashMan]

We'll see how the final balance will be.
But honestly, there is a difference between leveling the playing field and the aliens becoming a joke.

AFAIK,
the lower difficulties will be for the hack and slash 'HAHAHA! DIE PUNY MORTALS!' ego trippin'
and the higher difficulties will be for "ohsh**ohsh*tohsh*t" feeling.

[Goober5000]

In XCOM, once you got psionics and Blaster Launcher the game turned into a turkey shoot. That's why you can't get them.

But the turkey shoot was your reward for clawing your way all the way up from peashooters to tactical antimatter bombs.  Either way you have to spend a good part of the game hanging on by dint of raw perseverance and tactical intrepidity.

I'm in SpardaSon21's camp.

[TrashMan]

I personally don't consider the game becoming a cakewalk a "reward"...nor do I feel the need that the game has to "reward" me to begin with.


Humans mastering and surpassing aliens in a matter of months?
I find that odd, especially considering how many people complained in the ME threads about how humans were "too awesome" in there.

[Akalabeth Angel]

I never liked the blaster bombs in Xcom either. They trivialized the game big time.
You can still plow through aliens without like, getting it that easy.

[Scotty]

In a stunning turnabout, I think I'm with TrashMan on this one.  Having the game still be tense for the entire duration, instead of what amounts to point-click-boom-win at the end of the game is a mighty attractive offer.

[TrashMan]

It's now out on Steam. Very stable and working.
Considering a new Let's Play.

1.19 should be out soon and it will fix hte final mission (which sint' workign currenlty)