Julian Gollop's "Phoenix Point"

[SagaDC]

Any news on paypal support?

Nothing yet, unfortunately. But there are still twenty-six more days on the campaign, so we might see it offered later on.

I'll definitely mention it here if I see any official announcements.

[Godfather101]

Okay, thanks Saga.
Then i'll check here from time to time to look if paypal support is added.

[Remo]

They made their first stretch goal.

[SagaDC]

They made their first stretch goal.

Oh, they did! Guess I missed that.

Looks like they just announced a third stretch goal as well, which will add underwater combat.

https://www.fig.co/campaigns/phoenix-po ... 77#updates

[Woolfe]

Backed... I almost forgot about it... 11 days left...

[Remo]

Btw they have some nice background stories on the official website, and rather active reddit with additional details on the game.

[SagaDC]

Okay, thanks Saga.
Then i'll check here from time to time to look if paypal support is added.

I haven't seen outright confirmation of PayPal support, but I did notice that some of the developers recently started confirming that they'll be accepting late pledges after the main campaign ends. In my experience, that usually means using services like CrowdOx or something similar, most of which go through PayPal.

[Godfather101]

okay, thanks for the info Saga.
Then i'll wait for the end of the campaign and hope that we will get paypal support than.

[Remo]

Looks like a early demo video should be landing any day now.

I haven't seen outright confirmation of PayPal support, but I did notice that some of the developers recently started confirming that they'll be accepting late pledges after the main campaign ends. In my experience, that usually means using services like CrowdOx or something similar, most of which go through PayPal.

I think its standard practice by now to offer that ( Who gonna say no to that ) but devs avoid advertising until after the campaign is over because that can really hurt them.

[SagaDC]

Just a quick update. Snapshot Games released a short eight-minute video showing off a prototype build of the game. It looks pretty solid so far, given that it's still in pre-Alpha.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/06/05/ ... aled?watch

Down to the last 48 hours of the campaign!

[Woolfe]

Fuck me that looks good already!

If they can match the overworld gameplay to the quality here, I will be a happy happy man....

[sear]

Looks cool!

[SagaDC]

Looks like a Youtuber got to play with the demo build for a couple of hours. It gives a much more extensive look at the prototype than the sneak-peek on IGN.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5OGAqrRfX4

[Remo]

@SagaDC thanks for the second vid by @UnstableVoltage, it really shows more nuances of the game and how they added and improved upon on Xcom2 mechanics.

It is apparent that they have a lot of experience with new/old Xcoms and games of this genre, even at this stage you can see tiny usability improvements over XCOM2 that should help with positioning and battle awareness, and mechanics that attempt to address common issues with xcom2 for people who played on more than casual.

I absolutely love their creature design! I love the mechanics they brought back and how they fit within the game e.g. targeting individual body parts synergy with their creature design should offer more tactical verity, and bullet path trajectories should allow for friendly fire and work well with destructible environments. And little things like conditions and directional shield.

The only thing I am not sure about is their new willpower mechanic. I need to see more before I can comment on that, but it feels like in attempt to address the concern about timers they are created a huge balance issue with their abilities, at least I am struggling to think of ways they can balance a large and varied ability tree with gameplay.

Edit:
Also beards !

[Woolfe]

They definitely have the experience. I reckon Old Julian was a bit upset like a lot of were at the travesty of new Xcom, so he thought fuck it, I'll beat em at their own game.

From the Fig Site.

Snapshot Games Inc. was established in 2013 by Julian Gollop, veteran designer of the original X-COM games, and David Kaye, the founder of Gaming Insiders. In 2014 we raised $210k on Kickstarter for our first project, Chaos Reborn, and we set up a studio in Sofia, Bulgaria, where Julian has been living for 11 years. Snapshot Games Sofia is a team of 9 talented developers with many years experience, including veterans for Ubisoft Sofia, Crytek Black Sea and other Bulgarian studios.

Also
Composer John Broomhall composed the music for the original X-COM series, and he is going to work his magic for Phoenix Point.

Writer Jonas Kyratzes recently co-wrote Croteam’s The Talos Principle and Road to Gehenna. He is currently working on Serious Sam 4.

Writer Allen Stroud has previously worked on Elite Dangerous world building and novelisation, and was the lead writer on Snapshot’s Chaos Reborn.

[Remo]

They definitely have the experience. I reckon Old Julian was a bit upset like a lot of were at the travesty of new Xcom, so he thought fuck it, I'll beat em at their own game.

Comon it is a little beneath us.. I have many pet peeves with the new Xcom, but I can't turn a blind eye to the fact that Firaxis vastly succeed in what they tried to achieve and brought fresh wind into the genre. In comparison Assassin's Creed III which Julian directed didn't do so well, and often ranked the worst of the franchise..

Anyway, I love what he and his team have been doing with Phoenix Point, they are striking all the right cords with me. And to be honest it would feel good if they can beat Firaxis in their own game

[Crosmando]

I watched one trailer of the nu-XCOM for like a minute and I knew I wasn't going to like it, as soon as I saw that movement with the cinematic cam I was out.

[Remo]

Isn't inxile planing to implement XCOM-style cinematic camera in WL3 ?

Edit:

"we’re also going to break from the isometric in other areas where we think we can dial up the drama. XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a good example, where you can zoom in on something and cut to the creature shattering through a window and then go back isometric." (link)

Edit2:

In either case, the main complaint about the camera was that it wasted time on these animations, which wasn't an issue for me once I realized that you could easily skip most animation sequences by using a keyboard shortcut to jump to the next soldier, and iirc people can turn it off completely using a mod.

[Woolfe]

They definitely have the experience. I reckon Old Julian was a bit upset like a lot of were at the travesty of new Xcom, so he thought fuck it, I'll beat em at their own game.

Comon it is a little beneath us.. I have many pet peeves with the new Xcom, but I can't turn a blind eye to the fact that Firaxis vastly succeed in what they tried to achieve and brought fresh wind into the genre. In comparison Assassin's Creed III which Julian directed didn't do so well, and often ranked the worst of the franchise..

Anyway, I love what he and his team have been doing with Phoenix Point, they are striking all the right cords with me. And to be honest it would feel good if they can beat Firaxis in their own game

New Xcom was almost a good game.
It had all these great elements, and each section looked good, then you dug a little and started comparing to the original, and the gloss started to come off.

Bases were pointless. No base combat wtf. Base combat was one of the joys of the original. I got to the point that it was rare they would find my bases, but I used to enjoy it, so I would often let them find a secondary base just so I could do those fights.

Satellites were ridiculous, 1 for Uk or 1 for Russia!!!! Original Radar stations were ground based and made sense, a nice simple circle to cover an area. You had to think a little on placement to ensure good coverage.

Economy was pretty much non-existent in New. The originals was broken, in that you would just sell shedloads of stuff on the blackmarket, but that was only an issue because it was a bit tedious. Until you got to that point it was a key element and extremely important.

Mission choice in New Xcom was reduced to pick a path. Original Xcom you had to manage it. You could easily reach point 1, but if something happened at point 2, you had to weigh up whether to go in with your team straight after point one, low on ammo and having taken damage, or if you had a secondary team you could launch them, or choose to ignore it.

Ammunition. Because you could no longer do the above, ammunition was removed from the game altogether. no more resource management. Just shooty lots. Some of my most vivid memories of original xcom were the desperate scrapes whereby you were literally scavenging the gear of dead comrades to get ammo or usable weapons against the last few aliens.

Which is another thing. At no point did I ever feel like the aliens were a threat. With a 4 man squad you could wipe the floor with the aliens even in the early game. In the original you would take your full team of 12 or 14, I can't remember exactly, and until you researched armour, you did not get attached to them. Cause they were probably going to die. But because you had such a large team, you could take the casualties. Then later as tech and skills improve, you didn't need a large team.

Maps... Yeah how pathetic were they, they didn't even bother having different start points on them. Original had sections that were the same, but then they were randomised to give maps a similar, but always different feel.

Skills and soldier paths. They are cool, but I preferred the more organic. You have a good shot, then make him a sniper. Big strong guy, heavy. Etc Certainly there was a better way of implementing additional skills.

Extra gear. Nope... Can't do it. You cannot carry anything more than is designated. I hope you don't need a bunch of grenades, cause you can't have them. etc etc. I understand the original loadout part was a chore. But that could have been tweaked with templates etc.

Destructible terrain. Awesome, except you can only use grenades. A flimsy fence, and you with a plasma rifle. Nope sorry you can only destroy that fence if you miss a guy in front of it. I remember in the original, wasting ammo knocking down barn walls to reveal the last bloody sectoid. It worked well, and it again drew importance to ammo. Because doing that early was risky as you may not have the ammo to kill all the badguys.

Scientists and Engineers. Reduced to Rooms. I don't hire and fire anymore, I build a room. They could have added so much to the mechanic. Had you get infiltrated by alien sympathisers using the scientists and engineers, adding a new threat as they set back your efforts, or even sneak attack killing your highly trained science teams.

And that is just off the top of my head. The game had so much potential, and they squandered it. It was almost a good game.

What is worse, is that after the fact, I read that they actually built the new game almost the same as the old, then ripped it all out and put in the bullshit.

I can't comment on the Assassin's Creed games, as I have never played them. But as they are a big name owned franchise, I am sure it wasn't just him that ruined it.

[Drool]

No base combat wtf. Base combat was one of the joys of the original.

Eh. I didn't miss it at all. Never cared for it in the originals.