XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Strategy Game - Developed by Firaxis

I think the US silent Storm release was the only one that ended up with 'name that is not spoken' DRM. That DRM scheme definitely had issues with Win 7.

I have the 'Gold' bundle version from the UK, which was just a re-release of Silent Storm and its Sentinels expansion together. I had confirmed it has different DRM ages ago. I was thinking of reinstalling because of this thread (displaced XCOM anticipation I guess). Hopefully, Win 7 64 plays it as well as XP did.. but I guess I'll soon find out.

Let me know if you get it to work on Win 7 x64. This thread has me jonsing for this or the new Jagged Alliance game. While I've never played JA before and the new one doesn't have destructible environments, I think it would be a nice filler to play in the mean time. I really with a game of this genre/style was made with Frostbyte 2.

Tamren wrote:

Isometric can be done without a fixed camera. But is it possible for something to be isometric without also being grid-based?

Sure, isometric is just a viewing angle. Grids just help to regular movement and range. There are a slew of games that are isometric but players are few to move anywhere; Zaxxon, Syndicate, Diablo, and Marble Madness are some classic examples of iso games that do not use a fixed grid for player movement.
--
TAZ

Edwin wrote:

Let me know if you get it to work on Win 7 x64. This thread has me jonsing for this or the new Jagged Alliance game. While I've never played JA before and the new one doesn't have destructible environments, I think it would be a nice filler to play in the mean time. I really with a game of this genre/style was made with Frostbyte 2.

JA2 with the community-made 1.13 and either the Alpha Item Mod or the Instruments of Violence mod is still the best turn-based tactical squad game you can get. It takes a bit of fiddling to get it to work, but the base game is only $6.

Malor wrote:
Irongut wrote:

Silent Storm did isometric 3D very well. It was such a great engine I'm surprised it didnt end up with more total conversions etc.

Yeah, I've thought the same thing on more than one occasion. But apparently the copy protection on that title was so supremely nasty that it became unstable. It's apparently very, very difficult (if not impossible) to get it running on Vista or Win7, if you can even find a copy.

Ran great on Vista for me but I don't recall if I got it run on Win7.

Edwin wrote:

Let me know if you get it to work on Win 7 x64.

Ok since last night, I couldnt resist. I've got Silent Storm and its expansion up and running on Win 7 64 now.

I think I need to stress that I have the UK Gold package version again, which means they have Securom DRM. I think the US release had Starforce, so that could possibly have different issues.

After installing Silent Storm there was an immediate showstopper with an error upon load saying "Unsupported videocard" that would drop it back to the desktop. Technology may have moved ahead too far.

Initially searching, there were some more involved ways to fix/get around it, which had me thinking maybe it wasnt worth it. I was really sad tbh and took a break before doing anything.

BUT then, I searched some more and in a community support forum dedicated to this series of games and engines, there was a very very very easy fix posted as of October of 2011, which involves adding a d3d.dll file to the main folder of the game. That fix is listed here.

Nothing else was necessary. Placed the supplied file in the main game directory for each and now the game seems to acknowledge my nvidia 570. Both games booted up successfully in Win 7 64 with no other changes. So far, I have only changed game options, selected my character, launched a campaign in Silent Storm and Sentinels, and landed on the first maps. (Didnt get to play too far, I was so thrilled it is working.) The fix also makes the third game Hammer and Sickle work too (but I don't have that one.)

Engine-wise I think Silent Storm was such an excellent TBS game. It took many of the TBS features folks loved about XCOM, modernized them and extended them. Off the top of my head, it had features like random encounters on the campaign map, fully destructible environments with environmental damage modelling down to each bullet as it passes through wood/brick walls n floors, there was bleeding damage for DOT until a medic patches a person up, good ragdoll physics, etc. Soldiers could stand, crouch, go prone, run walk and crawl. You had different shot options to invest different amounts of AP points and you could target specific areas of the enemy body. You could carry and hide the bodies of enemy soldiers. More, more more.

If I had a version of it with Starforce, maybe I would've run into other issues. Not sure.

It makes me sad to see I had to research a fix, but relieved I found one that so easily restored these games to me. Time marches on unfortunately and this publisher was notorious for dropping support. Luckily maybe the devs made it robust / stable enough that it can still be around for a while with some community fixes. For now I'm happy.

UPDATE: Actually, my copy of Silent Storm all patched up to version 1.2 works perfectly (w d3d fix). Frustratingly enough, Sentinels.. the standalone expansion loads / works perfectly as v1.0 (with the d3d fix), but the Publishers own 1.1 patch introduces what is surely DRM incompatibilty into a Windows 7 system. So Sentinels works/loads fine v1.0, but not patched to v1.1 on my Windows 7 System. This should not be a surprise, because generally Jowood has always sucked as far as supporting their releases. Granted this is an older game but its par for their course. The good news.. Silent Storm was always the better game, so thats cool. The bad news, is just that I had never played Sentinels and would've liked the chance.

I decided to submit feedback to GoG. It being an XCOM TBS year, I bet they would do some good TBS sales of this product line if they applied their GoG magic to it.

Ok, enough about Silent Storm from me.. back to XCOM I just wanted to make sure I followed up.

Now if we can convince Firaxis to make Alpha Centauri and then get the rights to remake Masters of Orion I can die a happy man.

Tykl you have a lot of work to do!

I'm praying that this is the beginning of a new strategy era. These games are perfect for touchscreen interface so I hope there are plans to port XCOM to iPad and Android.

Just give me a preorder button already. I'm ready to buy.

Kommissar wrote:

Now if we can convince Firaxis to make Alpha Centauri and then get the rights to remake Masters of Orion I can die a happy man.

Tykl you have a lot of work to do!

I'm praying that this is the beginning of a new strategy era. These games are perfect for touchscreen interface so I hope there are plans to port XCOM to iPad and Android.

While we're dreaming, let's get them to pick up the Star Control license as well

Tanglebones wrote:
Kommissar wrote:

Now if we can convince Firaxis to make Alpha Centauri and then get the rights to remake Masters of Orion I can die a happy man.

Tykl you have a lot of work to do!

I'm praying that this is the beginning of a new strategy era. These games are perfect for touchscreen interface so I hope there are plans to port XCOM to iPad and Android.

While we're dreaming, let's get them to pick up the Star Control license as well :)

I like the way you think!

Tanglebones wrote:

While we're dreaming, let's get them to pick up the Star Control license as well :)

SPAZ fed that fix for me recently. Fun game!
--
TAZ

IMAGE(https://img.skitch.com/20120124-enj9ahcqqyasya45hru64wakmp.jpg)

One screenshot from the video interview that caught my eye, given the discussion of health levels upthread.

Still no word on whether I can create a blaster launcher that menaces with spikes of snakeman leather, though.

While we're waiting for the new X-Com I'd like the original to get an "HD" reskin. I love that game but it gets very hard to deal with the interface sometimes.

PyromanFO wrote:

While we're waiting for the new X-Com I'd like the original to get an "HD" reskin. I love that game but it gets very hard to deal with the interface sometimes.

That's all I really want, too.

cheesycrouton wrote:
PyromanFO wrote:

While we're waiting for the new X-Com I'd like the original to get an "HD" reskin. I love that game but it gets very hard to deal with the interface sometimes.

That's all I really want, too.

If you haven't heard of it, Xenonauts is looking to be exactly that. I've pre-ordered that game, and so have been able to play some of the Alpha builds. So far it's shaping up to be a near identical HD remake of the original. Unfortunately, it looks like they still have a while before the game will actually be released.

Tkyl wrote:
cheesycrouton wrote:
PyromanFO wrote:

While we're waiting for the new X-Com I'd like the original to get an "HD" reskin. I love that game but it gets very hard to deal with the interface sometimes.

That's all I really want, too.

If you haven't heard of it, Xenonauts is looking to be exactly that. I've pre-ordered that game, and so have been able to play some of the Alpha builds. So far it's shaping up to be a near identical HD remake of the original. Unfortunately, it looks like they still have a while before the game will actually be released.

Wasnt there some sort of blow up over the funding of xenonauts? Didnt they get blocked by paypal or something?

mcdonis wrote:
Tkyl wrote:
cheesycrouton wrote:
PyromanFO wrote:

While we're waiting for the new X-Com I'd like the original to get an "HD" reskin. I love that game but it gets very hard to deal with the interface sometimes.

That's all I really want, too.

If you haven't heard of it, Xenonauts is looking to be exactly that. I've pre-ordered that game, and so have been able to play some of the Alpha builds. So far it's shaping up to be a near identical HD remake of the original. Unfortunately, it looks like they still have a while before the game will actually be released.

Wasnt there some sort of blow up over the funding of xenonauts? Didnt they get blocked by paypal or something?

Yes, they did. Paypal doesn't really work well with preorders. They are now using Desura. (Think Steam for indie games.)

Irongut wrote:

silent storm stuff

Thanks for the info! I'm gonna see if I can find my disc ( I'm not sure what version I had) Silent Storm was so good.

zircher wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:

While we're dreaming, let's get them to pick up the Star Control license as well :)

SPAZ fed that fix for me recently. Fun game!
--
TAZ

Wait, does SPAZ have an exploration/diplomacy part to it too? (SC2 is what I'm thinking of.) I took an (admittedly) brief look at it and I thought it was more of a shooter.

Feegle wrote:
zircher wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:

While we're dreaming, let's get them to pick up the Star Control license as well :)

SPAZ fed that fix for me recently. Fun game!
--
TAZ

Wait, does SPAZ have an exploration/diplomacy part to it too? (SC2 is what I'm thinking of.) I took an (admittedly) brief look at it and I thought it was more of a shooter.

I got SPAZ in the last Steam Sale - haven't really played it yet, though.

Is it out yet? No? *sigh* Dammit.

Does it have a release date yet?

Tkyl wrote:
mcdonis wrote:
Tkyl wrote:
cheesycrouton wrote:
PyromanFO wrote:

While we're waiting for the new X-Com I'd like the original to get an "HD" reskin. I love that game but it gets very hard to deal with the interface sometimes.

That's all I really want, too.

If you haven't heard of it, Xenonauts is looking to be exactly that. I've pre-ordered that game, and so have been able to play some of the Alpha builds. So far it's shaping up to be a near identical HD remake of the original. Unfortunately, it looks like they still have a while before the game will actually be released.

Wasnt there some sort of blow up over the funding of xenonauts? Didnt they get blocked by paypal or something?

Yes, they did. Paypal doesn't really work well with preorders. They are now using Desura. (Think Steam for indie games.)

Dam where is my credit card. I think tonight I am going to pre-order that

So, I've yet to see *the* debate yet: console or PC? I'm torn:

PC:
+ mods (1993 HD)
+ mouse
- my Steam friends list is almost empty
- my laptop is good but not ideal for games

X360/PS3:
- mods
? gamepad
+ my Friend list is huge (stupid MS....let me have more than 100! Bastards!)
+ X360 plus 1080P video projector

How are you guys leaning?

- - - - -

On the debate of how well it will contain every little detail or not, and whether that means the game fails or not, my take on that is based on Civilization Revolutions. I tried Civ IV when it came out but the micromanagement bored me to tears. "Workers! Workers everwhere! Got to make every road and farm!" So I didn't play more than a couple of games of Civ IV. Awhile later, when CivRev popped up on iPad, I was completely inseparable from it for a couple of weeks. It was great actually playing the GAME and not feel like the perpetual president of an empire needs to stoop to the level of indicating that maybe it would be a good idea to build roads.

Through my love of Dark Souls, I know how tempting it can be to want every bit of pain in a game so it feels all the better to do well at it. But I'm confident that Firaxis can find a good balance for XCom just as they did for Civ to keep the focus where it should be: paranoia and tactics.

Now to a couple of responses:

Quintin_Stone wrote:

One thing that XCom relied on heavily was line of sight and sight distance. Oddly, your soldiers could accurately shoot farther than they could see. So with a standard rifle they could shoot at and hit a target that they could't see but a teammate could. I always found it very counter-intuitive. It would make sense if you were talking about an indirect fire weapon like a grenade launcher, mortar, or artillery. Automatic rifle, not so much.

Just pretend that it's always night, that only the soldiers in front have NVGs, and the firers have aiming lights.

LtWarhound wrote:

Me, I didn't waste troops as 'cannon fodder', that's just a failure of leadership. I used the troops for supporting fire&movement elements. Two groups, each one with a scout, heavy, rifle and medic. Scout moved forward to spot the aliens, reserving time to pull back to cover, heavy laid down fire on anything the scout spotted and opened holes in terrain. Rifle moves up enough to cover the scout and heavy and reserves TU for reaction fire and the medic played free safety. The two elements worked to support each other, either flanking on both sides to lay down a cross fire, or one element acted as an 'anvil' while the other flanked to flush the aliens. Short of just amazingly bad luck, I didn't suffer wipeouts.

And they expect me to be happy that I only have 4 people to do this with now?

Having one fireteam is L4D. Its not X-Com. There are certain things that make X-Com, such as destructible terrain, research, interceptions, terror missions, night missions, fog of war, assigning gear, reaction fire, time units (so you can customize your soldier's action based on the needs of the mission and the moment), and finally, a squad that feels like a squad and not a four man fireteam. If its missing those, then its not X-Com.

From what they are showing and saying, its a very pretty game that looks like a lot of fun, but that isn't X-Com.

It's so nice seeing other folks use military jargon in their gaming. So precise, so much brevity. I actually very much employing it in L4D versus.

Feegle wrote:
zircher wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:

While we're dreaming, let's get them to pick up the Star Control license as well :)

SPAZ fed that fix for me recently. Fun game!
--
TAZ

Wait, does SPAZ have an exploration/diplomacy part to it too? (SC2 is what I'm thinking of.) I took an (admittedly) brief look at it and I thought it was more of a shooter.

No, not really. There's some exploration. There's some "diplomacy". Neither on the scale of SC2. But the combat itself is rather similar.

This is painful to watch.

(Skip to 22 minutes in)

I have started playing again and this game is so great, it is really like the proverbial bicycle: once you get the hang of it, you will never forget it. The first month has been a success: I have some live aliens captured, two or three landed UFOs recovered and one terror site successfully de-terrorized. All this with mild losses (ironically, Tkyl was the very first casualty, but he was avenged with a rocket that buried a reaper and two floaters under a ton of rubble from a gas station). I got nice raises from most of the financing countries and started to build more bases. I am hooked again!

wanderingtaoist wrote:

ironically, Tkyl was the very first casualty

Umm... I feel like I should be taking offense from this...

Nope!

Spoiler:

I'm just going to go back to playing the new XCOM! :P

Tkyl wrote:
wanderingtaoist wrote:

ironically, Tkyl was the very first casualty

Umm... I feel like I should be taking offense from this...

Nope!

Spoiler:

I'm just going to go back to playing the new XCOM! :P

There are words to describe what I feel about you right now...none of them are nice.