NationStates Jolt Archive

Is there anybody of you who still remembers this gem from 1993 either called "X-COM: UFO Defense" (or as I got to know it in Europe "UFO: Enemy Unknown")? I mean X-COM I.

I stumbled across my old CD version and played a round or two and realized that on the "planet-screen" (as shown below),

http://www.xcomufo.com/pics/xcom5sm.jpg

there's a little jingle that repeatedly plays in the background. It's "Space" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9A-PZffJEo) by Sheila & B. Devotion (1979/1980).

(Most younger people might know the melody from "Crying at the Discotheque")

Took me some time to figure that one out, but once I did and took a look at the lyrics, oh boy - I'd say dead-on. And pretty funny once you put 1 and 1 together.

He's a spacer
A star chaser
A spacer

He's a ladies man
Always greets with a kiss on the hand
He protects us all
At the ready to answer our call
In his own special way he is gentle and kind
Oppression he hates
Love in his eyes
My heart skips a beat when I'm by his side

In our galaxy
You can't trust everyone that you meet
I'm so lucky
He's the only on I'll ever need
He will blast off tonight
He puts his life on the line every time he's in flight
A man you can trace
But our love will last beyond time and space



How very fitting to the overall theme of the game!

Do you happen to know any other build-in gimmicks like this one? Along the lines "Play Maniac Mansion within Day of the Tentacle"?

I'd be happy to know. So share! :tongue:

(P.S.: It did not take me 15 years to figure this one out; didn't have a soundcard back then. This happened last week!)

Yeah, it's an outstandingly sweet game, and the best of the series.

Remember X-COM? I still play it regularly.

Same. (fuckin 6 characters BS)

the lyrics remided me of ''Cosmic Gall''

NEUTRINOS, they are very small.
They have no charge and have no mass
And do not interact at all.
The earth is just a silly ball
To them, through which they simply pass,
Like dustmaids down a drafty hall
Or photons through a sheet of glass.
They snub the most exquisite gas,
Ignore the most substantial wall,
Cold shoulder steel and sounding brass,
Insult the stallion in his stall,
And scorning barriers of class,
Infiltrate you and me! Like tall
and painless guillotines, they fall
Down through our heads into the grass.
At night, they enter at Nepal
and pierce the lover and his lass
From underneath the bed-you call
It wonderful; I call it crass.

Yeah, it's an outstandingly sweet game, and the best of the series.
It is. Never understood why the others sucked so bad. I mean, I do understand how they came to be, but I guess it was just hard to improve on pretty perfect.
Remember X-COM? I still play it regularly.
Yay! :):):)
Same. (fuckin 6 characters BS)
Nice. (What exactly do you mean? My teams consist of 10 people each?!?)

the lyrics remided me of ''Cosmic Gall''
That's a funny poem.

That's a funny poem.

yeah,first read it from''Hyperspace'' by Michio Kaku

X Com is one of the all time great games,its up there with Dune the battle for Arrakis ( The Spice must flow )

Is there anybody of you who still remembers this gem from 1993 either called "X-COM: UFO Defense" (or as I got to know it in Europe "UFO: Enemy Unknown")? I mean X-COM I.

Played it a lot in 1994-1996, finished 1.5 times - first I loaded a save that came with the game (I got it from a friend, heavily modified) and finished, then got the game proper (games didn't cost 60 bucks back then), ran through from the beginning.
Then played Terror From The Deep in 1996, IDK, it was objectively better, but the whole underwater thing just gets a little bit tiresome.

In 1997, ran through the first part again, using hex editor to modify the game somewhat - not cheat, on the contrary, made it harder, adjusted the costs for more realism (say, so that medkits weren't as profitable anymore). BTW, I didn't even had any docs then, had to figure out everything on my own, which byte meant what, in the process learned all decimal<->hexadecimal conversions by heart.

Not that it wasn't great initially, but I have this habit of tinkering with games if I think they could be made better by a few tweaks. [In action games, for instance, I always increase both player and enemy weapon damage 2-3 times, so that the gameplay feels sharper.]
Heck, and these days I barely use even conventional editing tools, let alone hex editors... But well, times change.

It is. Never understood why the others sucked so bad. I mean, I do understand how they came to be, but I guess it was just hard to improve on pretty perfect.
TFTD was blue and largely underwater, something I cannot personally identify with, and also something which isn't all that varied. It was also far too difficult. Gauss weapons having clips, rather than being like lasers in UFO : EU was a particularly sad move. Also it had bugs up the arse. And half of your weapons would only fire in reactive fire if you fought in cities or a base.

Apoc was just generally pish. It looked tacky, the aliens looked piss poor and the weapons and such were pretty lame. Also the missions in sports stadiums were an abso fucking ballache due to having to clear every...single...layer of seats. Also the interface was dreadful. Liked the reputation with different factions thing, and being able to get robots and mutants was a nice idea, mind.

And aye, not sure how they managed it.

Is there anybody of you who still remembers this gem from 1993 either called "X-COM: UFO Defense" (or as I got to know it in Europe "UFO: Enemy Unknown")? I mean X-COM I.[/SIZE]

Loved it. On the old Amiga 1200 (I think) no less.

X Com is one of the all time great games,its up there with Dune the battle for Arrakis ( The Spice must flow )

Dune was a great game as well. Start of the whole series of RTS games by Westwood.

And for more old game nostalgia, what about Sensible Soccer? Lemmings? Flashback? World of Legend?

It got about 96% in the 5th issue of UK PC Gamer lol.

It got about 96% in the 5th issue of UK PC Gamer lol.
If you play it, you'll find out why :D

TFTD was blue and largely underwater, something I cannot personally identify with, and also something which isn't all that varied. It was also far too difficult. Gauss weapons having clips, rather than being like lasers in UFO : EU was a particularly sad move. Also it had bugs up the arse. And half of your weapons would only fire in reactive fire if you fought in cities or a base.
Basically, it was much more difficult, and that's it. It's just a more hardcore game, so to say.

Yes, blue landscape kinda gets boring, especially when you have to do twice more missions, and each is more difficult. I think it would be better if they didn't go all that far with this underwater theme, and rather had it mixed with action around the coastline, et cetera. Just keep some of the old X-Com's landscapes.


And for more old game nostalgia, what about Sensible Soccer? Lemmings? Flashback? World of Legend?
Flashback was a great one. I remember it only vaguely, but recall it was a game ahead of time in terms of gameplay.
Lemmings, cool thing, quirky.

BTW, I somewhat like how the game industry goes in three echelons - PC, console, cell phone. Lets younger people to have a go at old games too, just on a simpler platform.

X-COM was rated as the 3rd BEST GAME EVER by PC Gamer.

Only beat out by Civilization and Half-life.

I can see why.

Destroyable scenery (Disc launchers and gas stations= XD) , Elements of a RPG game, a strategy game, and a economic game.

Cool weapons.

I love it.

Any of you encounter this or its sequels?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFO:_Aftermath

I think it would probably appeal to a fan of the original X Com. Some of the mutants were seriously cool. The car crab, for instance, was a kind of huge hermit crab which would use a car as its shell, scuttling around with only its legs showing through the wrecked bodywork. And if you got too near, it would shoot lightning bolts at you. It rocked.

Any of you encounter this or its sequels?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFO:_Aftermath

I think it would probably appeal to a fan of the original X Com. Some of the mutants were seriously cool. The car crab, for instance, was a kind of huge hermit crab which would use a car as its shell, scuttling around with only its legs showing through the wrecked bodywork. And if you got too near, it would shoot lightning bolts at you. It rocked.

That game is nothing compared to X-Com, or it's much more insane sequel Terror From the Deep, in anyway. :p

I actually run a fulltime site dedicated to it ^^. Not much work done on it, but I host the games:

xcomhaven.com

If your interested.

I've never heard of X-COM.

I've never heard of X-COM.
You've got to be kidding me!

You've got to be kidding me!

These young'uns.

These young'uns.
I feel kinda bad for the younglings. They missed so much good stuff from the old days!

I feel kinda bad for the younglings. They missed so much good stuff from the old days!
I feel more sorry for us gray beards who have to suffer from the contentedness of the young ones: When fancy graphics and mindless action is enough for the target audience...there's litte hope for more complex mainstream games.

I feel more sorry for us gray beards who have to suffer from the contentedness of the young ones: When fancy graphics and mindless action is enough for the target audience...there's litte hope for more complex mainstream games.

Quoted For Truth.

I´ll take the good old gameplay, originality and variation over the shiny new graphics and repeats any day.

It'd help if X-Com wasn't bugged as all fuck.

I feel more sorry for us gray beards who have to suffer from the contentedness of the young ones: When fancy graphics and mindless action is enough for the target audience...there's litte hope for more complex mainstream games.
But we still have the good stuff to fall back on. Lousy graphics maybe, but great gameplay that guarantees fun for hours.

The youglings... they only see the graphics compared to the new stuff and that's that...
Quoted For Truth.

I´ll take the good old gameplay, originality and variation over the shiny new graphics and repeats any day.
True. Oh so true!
It'd help if X-Com wasn't bugged as all fuck.
Don't get me started on how the internet "allowed" game companies to put games on the marked that needed bugfixes every two days.

As for the old games, yes, some were buggy. But most ain't. And those who are - well, there's still the internet and said bugfixes.

X-Com I runs very smooth. Hadn't have it crash or make anything stupid whenever I ran it...

The big bug for X-Com is the difficulty one. It's impossible to actually play any difficulty other than easy unless you never save or use Xcomutil.

There are a couple other bugs involving seeing through walls, soldiers not dying properly, and height errors, but the difficulty one is the big one.

Not that it wasn't great initially, but I have this habit of tinkering with games if I think they could be made better by a few tweaks. [In action games, for instance, I always increase both player and enemy weapon damage 2-3 times, so that the gameplay feels sharper.]

I've always preferred to add content rather than tweaks alone. Especially content that completely opens up new possibilities. I used to add new content to freelancer in the form of player controlled original design capital ships with various roles, while in BF1942, I had converted the T-34 into a precursor to the ZSU. The nightmare kubelwagen was a laugh and a half to use though.

A conventional kubelwagen, with a pair of rotors attached to it in the center turning it into a helicopter. A pair of Kayusha rocket racks on either side. A tail mounted ball gun turret, passenger seats on the rocket racks, and all the stability of a drunkard with several bottles of tequila.

TFTD was blue and largely underwater, something I cannot personally identify with, and also something which isn't all that varied. It was also far too difficult. Gauss weapons having clips, rather than being like lasers in UFO : EU was a particularly sad move. Also it had bugs up the arse. And half of your weapons would only fire in reactive fire if you fought in cities or a base.

Apoc was just generally pish. It looked tacky, the aliens looked piss poor and the weapons and such were pretty lame. Also the missions in sports stadiums were an abso fucking ballache due to having to clear every...single...layer of seats. Also the interface was dreadful. Liked the reputation with different factions thing, and being able to get robots and mutants was a nice idea, mind.

And aye, not sure how they managed it.

What do you think of the sequels though? Aftermath, Aftershock and Afterlight?

I like playing the Exile\Avernum series by Spiderwebsoftware.
(I like the exile series more though)
Very simple graphics but very good gameplay.

What do you think of the sequels though? Aftermath, Aftershock and Afterlight?

They weren't really sequels to X-COM. The last actual sequel to X-COM in production was X-COM Genesis, which was canceled when Hasbro ate Microprose.

I thought the games were ok, but just lacked that certain something that UFO Defense had.

Well ... I'm playing it right now. ^__^

I was rather disappointed by its sequels. I felt they went missed the key points. They should have added more realism (but it was all right in the original), more missions (i.e. the President has been abducted / the aliens have taken hostages etc), less predictable research (i.e. the whole "pistol -> rifle -> heavy -> tank -> cannon" routine).

Also I would have added a night visor tech (the motion sensor is not enough), a middle armour between "personal armour" and the "power suit", a source of Elerium-115 and I would have increased the difficulty in the second half (after you get the power suit) because with the power suit and the "mind blaster" it's really hard to lose.

Ah, I love it. :D

Any of you encounter this or its sequels?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFO:_Aftermath

I think it would probably appeal to a fan of the original X Com. Some of the mutants were seriously cool. The car crab, for instance, was a kind of huge hermit crab which would use a car as its shell, scuttling around with only its legs showing through the wrecked bodywork. And if you got too near, it would shoot lightning bolts at you. It rocked.
It was slightly more pish than UFO : EU.

I've never heard of X-COM.

even i've heard of X-COM!
but,if you don't care about flashy graphics,check out Defcon:http://www.introversion.co.uk/defcon/

even i've heard of X-COM!
PFFT.
but,if you don't care about flashy graphics,check out Defcon:http://www.introversion.co.uk/defcon/
Aye shame it has basically no depth and gets boring after the first 10 or so games.

Aye shame it has basically no depth and gets boring after the first 10 or so games.
You should try playing it against others. Nuke your friends, they'll love it!

Super Power 2 is a good game with nukes.

Super Power 2 is a good game with nukes.

yeah,played the demo and got fed up with peace and attecked norway.then NATO HIT ME HARD.

Has anyone played Superpower 1? Apparently it's really buggy.

Ah, X-Com. Wonderful game. I'm still hoping for a remake that only alters the graphics engine and leaves pretty much everything else the way it was.

UFO: Alien Invasion (http://ufoai.sourceforge.net/?page=About) does an ok job, but it's still in development.

TFTD was blue and largely underwater, something I cannot personally identify with, and also something which isn't all that varied. It was also far too difficult. Gauss weapons having clips, rather than being like lasers in UFO : EU was a particularly sad move. Also it had bugs up the arse. And half of your weapons would only fire in reactive fire if you fought in cities or a base.
My flatmate swears TFTD was the best in the series...

Perhaps you just haven't got the skills? :p

So to take the memories up one notch, let's go further back in time: C64.

Never owned one myself, but had enough friends who did.

Which games do you hold particularly dear?

For me, it's 1942*, M.U.L.E., Frogger, Ghostbusters*, The Great Gianna Sisters*, Boulder Dash, Maniac Mansion, Summer Games, Winter Games, World Games, Ski or Die, Skate or Die, Ghosts'n Goblins*, Paperboy, Commando*, International Karate*, Archon Ultra, Bruce Lee, The Last Ninja*...

I'm sure I forgot to mention many others - what are your favorites?

* games belong on the list alone for their fantastic soundtrack!!!

I feel more sorry for us gray beards who have to suffer from the contentedness of the young ones: When fancy graphics and mindless action is enough for the target audience...there's litte hope for more complex mainstream games.

How large is X-Com? 10 MB? 20? I'm not at my home computer, so I can't check.

I've got Rome: Total War. It's over 2 GB. Does it really need to be 2 GB large? I don't think so. That's the problem with modern games. The coding isn't elegant anymore. In the old days, you had to fit everything onto tiny harddrives, so your code had to be simple and elegant. Now, they re-write code to fix the code they wrote to fix the code from the Beta that was originally written to fix the code the drunk programmer wrote at 3 in the morning after an all night bender.

Bah! Dammit, you MMORPGs! Get off my HD! No! You can't have your Sword of Resplendent Truth back! I'm keeping it!

[/oldgamer rant]

How large is X-Com? 10 MB? 20? I'm not at my home computer, so I can't check.

I've got Rome: Total War. It's over 2 GB. Does it really need to be 2 GB large? I don't think so. That's the problem with modern games. The coding isn't elegant anymore. In the old days, you had to fit everything onto tiny harddrives, so your code had to be simple and elegant. Now, they re-write code to fix the code they wrote to fix the code from the Beta that was originally written to fix the code the drunk programmer wrote at 3 in the morning after an all night bender.

Bah! Dammit, you MMORPGs! Get off my HD! No! You can't have your Sword of Resplendent Truth back! I'm keeping it!

[/oldgamer rant]

man...you sound so SO old....

You need to understand how complex is to have real-time battles with millions of polygons on the screen, like Rome Total War.

Sure, there are some games now that just about the graphics... but there also some very good games with great playability too. You are just bitter.

How large is X-Com? 10 MB? 20? I'm not at my home computer, so I can't check.
Tenish. Little less, I think.

I've got Rome: Total War. It's over 2 GB. Does it really need to be 2 GB large? I don't think so. That's the problem with modern games. The coding isn't elegant anymore. In the old days, you had to fit everything onto tiny harddrives, so your code had to be simple and elegant. Now, they re-write code to fix the code they wrote to fix the code from the Beta that was originally written to fix the code the drunk programmer wrote at 3 in the morning after an all night bender.

Bah! Dammit, you MMORPGs! Get off my HD! No! You can't have your Sword of Resplendent Truth back! I'm keeping it!

[/oldgamer rant]
Oh so true. When you compare how much they managed to fit on those 5.25" and 3.5" (Low Density!) discs, let alone the stuff they managed to create for computers like the C64 or early day PCs - it's a shame to see how much space they waste nowadays for games which give you less gaming pleasure traded in for monster graphics.

Plus, the soundtracks of "modern" games suck big time!

Gimme SoMI I&II any day. Scumm!

Tenish. Little less, I think.


Oh so true. When you compare how much they managed to fit on those 5.25" and 3.5" (Low Density!) discs, let alone the stuff they managed to create for computers like the C64 or early day PCs - it's a shame to see how much space they waste nowadays for games which give you less gaming pleasure traded in for monster graphics.

Plus, the soundtracks of "modern" games suck big time!

Gimme SoMI I&II any day. Scumm!

It was impressive the music they were able to put in those old games. The tunes of 8 bit games like Zelda are amazing... but lets get serious.

Sound tracks like Ice Wind Dale, Mass Effect, Final Fantasy X and even Halo are AWESOME...

stop the G.O.D. rant!!!

It was impressive the music they were able to put in those old games. The tunes of 8 bit games like Zelda are amazing...
They are!

but lets get serious.
Let's try. ;)

Sound tracks like Ice Wind Dale, Mass Effect, Final Fantasy X and even Halo are AWESOME...
stop the G.O.D. rant!!!
Ah, that is where the talk about the G.O.D. has to continue, I'm 'fraid... Before the B.N.W. can get started here, I need a new computer first.

And until I can get my hands on some serious amount of cash to build a new machine, I can neither agree nor disagree with you there. Let's call it Limbo.

They are!


Let's try. ;)


Ah, that is where the talk about the G.O.D. has to continue, I'm 'fraid... Before the B.N.W. can get started here, I need a new computer first.

And until I can get my hands on some serious amount of cash to build a new machine, I can neither agree nor disagree with you there. Let's call it Limbo.

I feel your pain.... :(

and laugh at you :p

I can run Crysis :p :p :p :p :p

Tenish. Little less, I think.
3mb at Abandonia.

I feel your pain.... :(

and laugh at you :p

I can run Crysis :p [...]
:eek2: :mad: :headbang: :soap:

You cannot run fast enough,

You will feel pain,

And then I laugh at you... :tongue: ;) :D

I'm really looking forward for the day to come when I own a new computer. Fusion-powered, if possible.
3mb at Abandonia.
... in a .zip
Installed w/out SGs it's a little less than 10MB.

:eek2: :mad: :headbang: :soap:

You cannot run fast enough,

You will feel pain,

And then I laugh at you... :tongue: ;) :D

I'm really looking forward for the day to come when I own a new computer. Fusion-powered, if possible.

... in a .zip
Installed w/out SGs it's a little less than 10MB.

I bet that by the time computers are fusion powered they will be obsolete after three seconds.

I bet that by the time computers are fusion powered they will be obsolete after three seconds.
But what three seconds of fantastic gaming time that would be, eh?

Maybe they just need to be fusion powered to provide enough energy for my holodeck...

Holodecks are really overrated.

3mb at Abandonia.
Two floppies. That sounds about right.

I've got Rome: Total War. It's over 2 GB. Does it really need to be 2 GB large?
It's the art. The art files are enormous because the textures are so detailed.

X-Com, in my opinion, is one of the five best games ever made.

X-Com
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Baldur's Gate
Ultima IV
Ultima Underworld

Of course, I hate shooters. Shooters aren't games, they're tech demos. So they're not on my list.

And I recognise that the newest games on my list were released in 1998 (both BG and SMAC), so I'm implicitly asserting that the last 10 years have been a gaming wasteland.

Ooh! Wasteland! That game was awesome! I might have expand the list.

it's a shame to see how much space they waste nowadays for games which give you less gaming pleasure traded in for monster graphics.

Procedural generation are the way to get a lot of stuff on a tiny package these days, and likely the next evolution of gaming graphics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.kkrieger

Holodecks are really overrated.
No way! Just think about the possibilities... From historic reenactment to Orion slaves girls - it's all there at the push of a button. Well, not even that. Just say the word!
Two floppies. That sounds about right.
Yup!
It's the art. The art files are enormous because the textures are so detailed.

X-Com, in my opinion, is one of the five best games ever made.

X-Com
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Baldur's Gate
Ultima IV
Ultima Underworld

Of course, I hate shooters. Shooters aren't games, they're tech demos. So they're not on my list.

And I recognise that the newest games on my list were released in 1998 (both BG and SMAC), so I'm implicitly asserting that the last 10 years have been a gaming wasteland.

Ooh! Wasteland! That game was awesome! I might have expand the list.
Loom
SoMI I&II
Indy 3&4
Sim Ant
Sim City
North and South
Civilization
Panzer General (1 only)
Steel Panthers 1&2
X-Com
Wing Commander I&II plus SM1&2 and SO1
Privateer
Ultima VI (The only one I've played)
Battle Isle 1&2 plus extras
Aces of the Pacific
Aces over Europe
Red Baron

Those are the games I play(ed) a lot.
Procedural generation are the way to get a lot of stuff on a tiny package these days, and likely the next evolution of gaming graphics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.kkrieger
Wow. Just wow. (Too bad it needs lots of juice to run instead of HD)

Ultima VI (The only one I've played)
Ultima IV and V stand head and shoulders above the rest of the series. Were it not for them, I'd say that Ultima VIII and Serpent Isle (7.5) stand head and shoulders above the rest of the series.

But Ultima VI is still very good.

Back in the days I simply never got my hands on IV and V.

It's the art. The art files are enormous because the textures are so detailed.

You're right but ... have you ever played at Monkey Island 2?

Wonderful graphic, splendid music and a fantastic story in 8.9 MB.

To this day I'm still amazed at what can be done with a fistfull of pixels and a bit of creativity.

Wow. Just wow. (Too bad it needs lots of juice to run instead of HD)

Spore is another example of procedural content creation. User created creature body type, skin, behavior, features, the whole kaboodle, all in a PNG file no bigger than 30Kb. Install's hefty though.

Two floppies. That sounds about right.

I have the original x-com game in its box and it came on, from memory, five floppy disks.

man...you sound so SO old....

You need to understand how complex is to have real-time battles with millions of polygons on the screen, like Rome Total War.
Yes, but the game itself isn't complex - or difficult - just the graphics and the engine behind it.

In terms of challenge and complexity, X-Com & TFTD are completely in a different league from Rome:TW which itself is one of the better recent games....while becoming mindbogglingly repetitive and dull after first 3-4 hours or so, especially the much touted RT combat part: Use fodder to lure opponents, use cavalry to mow them down - Rinse & repeat.


Perhaps the most drastic devolution, however, has come about in Role Playing Games....The current games are simply so damn simple and easy with little text to flesh out the story - due to expensive voice overs - that they're hardly any fun to play. Just compare the masterpiece that was Betrayal at Krondor to eg. Morrowind (and presumably Oblivion).

edit:
As for miracles of engineering...

Elite 2: Galaxy in one 720 kilobyte floppy disk (Amiga version).
Captive: Thousands of landable planets with individual layout...2 HD floppies.


edit 2:
I have the original x-com game in its box and it came on, from memory, five floppy disks.
At the time it was released, X-Com 1 was megalomaniac in size taking well over 10 megabytes and having over 1,000 files (anyone recall thing called 'cluster size'?)

No way! Just think about the possibilities... From historic reenactment to Orion slaves girls - it's all there at the push of a button. Well, not even that. Just say the word!

Yeah, but they frequently malfunction, send holo-people on rampages, and are often occupied by robots asking existential questions.