GeekNights 070320 - X-Com: UFO Defense and Star Control 2

Rym

Tonight on GeekNights, we have a blast from the past with reviews of two classic PC games: X-Com: UFO Defense (download) and Star Control 2. In the news, Devil May Cry 4 becomes Sony May Cry, and boot discs are back.

Scott's Thing - Welcome to the Internet
Rym's Thing - Super Mario Doom

rhinocero

I was born in the year the first Commander Keen game came out and I still know what it is. That said, I don't really think it's reasonable for someone else my age to know about it. I mean, honestly, why should we? This is a game that we have never played and will never play. It was something that was at least 6-8 years old at the time when we first could be reasonably expected to play. Why should we know about something like that?

omegafinal

Ah yes, Commander Keen. I remember the first game I've play was the fourth episode, which was a bundled with the first episode of Wolfenstein 3D, which came from either Sound Blaster speakers or a 2-button gamepad. I forgot which.

Apreche

You should know about Commander Keen for the same reason you should know that Nintendo used to make playing cards. Id software is one of the most important companies in the gaming business, and Commander Keen was how they got their start.

Cremlian

Star Control 2 Best game EVER! *runs off to work*

Erwin

I thought you can get Zelda Twilight Princes also for the Gamecube.

And awesome a Peruvian did a thing of the day. Somehow I feel proud of my country now

Hank

Star Control 2 Best game EVER! *runs off to work*

I remember being seriously addicted to SC2 when I was an intern at Los Alamos in the spring of 1994. I was living in my own place for the first time, and would pretty much play SC2 from the time I got home from work until I fell asleep at the wee hours. I also had a very healthy diet: cherry 7-up and dill pickles. Empty 2-liter bottles and gallon pickle jars lined the wall of my place. I would play until my old 386 locked up, and felt a strange emptyness when I finally beat it, and had to back to Civilization (one).

Ah, memories. On the rare occasions when I have a cherry 7-up, I can take a bite of a pickle and it all comes back.

And I did play a fair bit of Keen (weren't there a few of those?). And MOO, and Railroad Tycoon, and Wing Commander, and...

Katsu

X-COM is still one of my favorite games, even after all these years. Few things can compare to fighting a terror mission at night, your squad armed with only conventional weapons, then seeing a Chryssalid run out of the shadows straight for your squad.

Rym

I have fucking War Stories when it comes to X-Com. God, I love that game.

Hasbro

The tactical combat side of X-Com reminds me of a great tactical squad-based game from more recent years called Silent Storm. It has a similar turn-based combat system to X-Com. During combat, all actions are relegated to costs in action points which recharge in each round. Similarly to X-Com, characters (both under your control and the computer's) have the ability to interrupt the other side's turn at certain points. In addition, all of the member' of the player's squad gain experience and level up over the course of the game depending on the extent of their use. This combined with fully destructible environments, an effective stealth component (which involves being able to hear the movements of nearby opponents), and very intelligent AI that never uses the same strategy twice makes for a very fun game. Every mission has countless ways to achieve completion, whether from subterfuge, outright tactical strategy, or my personal favorite, whipping out that grenadier and cutting a fiery swath of carnage straight to the heart of the problem. A caveat though, the voice acting is absolutely atrocious, probably because of the small studio that produced it and the fact that it was originally made in Germany.

Apreche

I know about Silent Storm. There were other similar games as well. It is however, a very troubled game. Not only did it have crappy copy protection, but it's only half the game X-Com is. Two games in one is the key!

Corbin

OMG nostalgia! Commander Keen, I remember when that was THE PC game. I used to play that when I went to my godparent's for family gatherings. *tear*

Rym

All right! X-Com works under Wine.

It has a few problems, though. First, you have to run it in a Windows desktop. Second, said windows desktop won't scale to fill your screen...

Still, it's a start. I'll poke at it when I get some free time.

Andrew

WTF is up with that DL site you have for X-Com? It's such a little bitch. It is impossible to download from that place.

Rym

It's trivial. Just click on download, enter the captcha, and you're done. I've never had a problem.

The site is shady and full of shady ads, very reminiscent of the "warez" sites of old, but it's perfectly functional.

Jason

I had the same X-Com experience as Scott when I tried it many a moon ago. There was nothing indicating what I should do. It was all experiential, and worst of all, there was nothing that allowed me to figure out whether the moves I was making were good ones or bad ones. I also died very quickly on all of the combat missions and figured I was boned.

Now, Commander Keen -- there is a true classic. I spent many an evening sitting hunched over those terrific cyan and magenta CGA levels pogo-sticking myself to high scores. In my book, episode IV is as important to PC gaming as Mario is to console gaming.

If you're a punk kid who hasn't played CK, it's like being an adult who's never played Pac-Man. Or Asteroids. Or Missile Command. It's a must-play. It's a rite of initiation. Wanna play HalfLife? Fuck you. Go stun me some slugs first, and then we'll see about who's allowed to play newer games. You've got to earn that gamer cred, kiddies.

Andrew

t's trivial. Just click on download, enter the captcha, and you're done. I've never had a problem.

Did that. Still didn't work. It comes up with some error page and kept referring to it's anti-link stealing script. >:o

Rym

The deal with X-Com is that you're faced with an unknown and extremely deadly enemy. You have to be clever and careful. When a strategy kills half of your team, you have to think about why it killed half of your team, and come up with a way to mitigate it.

Here's a sample of the kind of progression I experienced playing the combat portion of this game.

Bum rush the crashed and heavily damaged UFO.
Surviving aliens killed with minimal casualties.

Bum rush the crashed but not as damaged UFO.
Aliens hold out, killing many of my troops with their superior weapons.

Carefully plan a concentrated assault on the crashed but not badly damaged UFO.
Aliens killed easily with minimal casualties.

Carefully plan a concentrated assault on the LANDED (not crashed) UFO.
Aliens dispersed around map snipe off/ambush my party, killing most of them.

Carefully plan deployment from Skyranger onward, instead of just UFO assault.
Massed troops moving slowly kill all aliens with little trouble.

Use same careful plan.
Aliens stage ambush at Skyranger entrance, pick off units immediately as they disembark.

Use smoke grenades and tanks to cover deployment.
Alien ambushes foiled.

And so forth...

Rym

Did that. Still didn't work. It comes up with some error page and kept referring to it's anti-link stealing script.

You're using Firefox, right? Without any special downloader thingies? You solved the CAPTCHA perfectly? You're sure?

Andrew

The only add-on I have is Download Status Bar. I got the CAPTCHA correct, I'm sure of it. It keeps saying that I have no referrer set.

Rym

Some important tactical and strategic problem/solution examples.

My units are killed in one shot, yet, take several rounds to kill hostiles!
Research alien weapons, which are far more effective than conventional ones.

Medikits are useless: my men just die immediately!
Medical treatment is useless with extremely severe wounds: focus on getting ahold of some sort of armour to lessen the extent of the damage.

Aliens always get the jump on my men!
Whenever sending soldiers forward, provide cover from the rear.

Aliens come at me from behind!
Secure a defensive perimeter wherever you go. If you enter a building, do not leave it until you have proven it is clear. If you have cleared a building, mine it to ensure that the aliens cannot reoccupy it.

Aliens have an ambush set up in a building! I can't enter without massive casualties!
You have heavy explosives at your disposal. Use them.

My forward scouts are slow and always die!
Augment your scouting troops with tanks.

My men get isolated, overwhelmed, and killed!
Send soldiers out in squads of 2-4. A lone man is easily picked off, and you have no chance to retaliate. A small squad can mount a counter-attack or at least secure a perimeter to keep the threat contained.

Rym

It keeps saying that I have no referrer set.

Then, obviously, you don't have a referrer set. Re-enable referrers, and the download will work.

Jason

So it sounds like X-Com is counter-intuitive, in that we're playing a video game and expecting to have to use video game logic. Rym's lesson: Use real-world logic and it will work? Neato.

Andrew

Then, obviously, you don't have a referrer set. Re-enable referrers, and the download will work.

Alright. I couldn't figure how to do that in the options menu of firefox so I downloaded the RefControl add-on. Still no dice. I'm just going to give up.

Corbin

If you want to lol then go to that nerdy punk kid's website ^_^

The funniest thing? He says it has improved within the last year :-p

Katsu

Some additional tips for X-COM:

Medikits
Without armor, nearly useless as alien weapons cause far more damage than conventional weaponry. But it still has its uses. The stimulants can be used to re-energize a soldier who is exhausted or is suffering from alien stun weapons.

Chain of Command
It goes without saying that more experienced soldiers are more difficult to panic. But actual officers can provide support to the rest of the squad. Just don't let them get killed, though, because the death of a commanding officer is more traumatic than that of another soldier. They can provide support via radio, so a high-ranking officer can stay safe within the Skyranger and still give morale bonuses to the other soldiers, giving a literal example of REMF.

Sail

If you want to lol then go to that nerdy punk kid'swebsite^_^

I'm ashamed that I added a hit to his counter.

Jason

I've been trying to get a handle on X-Com for the past two hours, and it's just not working. I must be the retard in the room. As soon as I engage in combat, within three turns all of my soldiers panic or berserk or throw down their damned weapons. I've tried six missions, and there is a total lack of control. If I could manage the troops, that would be one thing....

Apreche

I've been trying to get a handle on X-Com for the past two hours, and it's just not working. I must be the retard in the room. As soon as I engage in combat, within three turns all of my soldiers panic or berserk or throw down their damned weapons. I've tried six missions, and there is a total lack of control. If I could manage the troops, that would be one thing....

I feel your pain.

Katsu

There are a myriad of different variables that must be taken into account:

First, what difficulty level did you set the game?

Second, what kind of mission was it?

Third, what actions are you taking when the mission starts? Are you leaving the Skyranger in an orderly manner and setting up a defensive perimeter before engaging in patrols?

Churba

I'd always leave one Soldier in the Skyranger, so that even if The rest of of squad got FUBAR'ed, I could still take the jet home.