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This is Great- if Sid would just do the same for `X-Com`...

B

blueparrot1966

Landlubber
I've been having a blast with SMP, partly nostalgia, and partly enjoyment over the new look and new features.

I read the "Sid, What did you do?" thread with interest. I agree that it looks a little "Disneyfied", but overall, I don't share the complaints. I'm GLAD they didn't mess with success, and were careful and limited about adding and changing things. Think about it.

`X-Com` was a classic, but to greater or lesser degrees, they bungled and/or mangled every subsequent game in the series by screwing around with what had been a winning formula. For years, I've been saying I'd pay good money for a basically unaltered, technologically updated, release of `X-Com`.

Let the modders do the experimenting, or let the developers release a sequel. First order of business, DON'T SCREW UP THE GAME.

The changes and improvements to SMP may be modest, but before you holler about it, think of all of the totally hosed sequels and remakes that litter the gaming landscape, victims of the developers biting off more than they can chew, and ultimately delivering a piss poor product.
 
I totally agree as well, look at Mechwarrior 4, it's utter sh i te when compared to 3 & 2, which were an improvement over Mechwarrior 1.
 
The original `X-Com` is one of the greatest `turn-based` strategy games ever made, in my opinion. While I would love to see an upgrade of it, I also would love not too simply because whoever did it would probably screw the pooch and make it realtime or do some other stupid thing to mess it up. The second game in the series was great, but it was basically just the first game in different environments. The third game was definitely innovative in it's originality and the ONLY thing that messed it up was the realtime/`turn-based` combat. It totally bunked the AI up and that was enough to ruin the game.

I still play the original `X-Com` to this day and enjoy it just as much as I did when it first came out. Truly another classic just like Pirates!

<img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/onya.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":onya" border="0" alt="onya.gif" />
 
That's exactly my point, Otaku- with SMP, they did some tweaking here and there. For example, the land battle is much improved, and the pirate and other smaller settlements add a lot to the old game.

But basically, they gave it a huge tech upgrade, but LEFT THE GAME DYNAMICS ALONE. They didn't try to futz with "Pirates MMORPG", and if they took that same philosophy to `X-Com`, they wouldn't futz with the turn based vs. real time.

I got `X-Com` running on a modern system not too long ago myself, and replayed it. The Graphics made my eyes bleed, but the game was every bit as fun as it had been new, on my old 386.

I bring this up because what they've done with SMP is EXACTLY what I've been wishing someone would do with `X-Com` for years, and because I read somewhere that Sid was looking into buying the rights to some old classics and blowing the dust off of them-

And `X-Com` was on that list of prospects!!!
 
I wouldn't argue. There are a couple of fanmade projects trying to bring `X-Com` into the 3D realm. I can look them up if you wish and post links. The problem is, one has been discontinued, and the other one was like nutso hard and still had a long ways to go because it was waaaaay glitchy. T'would definitely be music to my ears if Sid got the rights to `X-Com` and redid it. I don't care about graphics myself. I just want good gameplay. I would LOVE to see more strategy in the combat. Maybe something like Jagged Alliance 2 or take it yet even further with combat as deep as Temple Of Elemental Evil's combat style.

Alas, that's just the geek in me dreaming. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/william.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":will" border="0" alt="william.gif" />
 
I know of two such projects, Project Xenocide and UFO Alien Invasion. I've got them bookmarked, and my hat's off to anyone who wants to tackle a project like that. But there's a REASON why it takes years and costs buckets of money to do up a real four star game.

I wish 'em all the best, but I'm not holding my breath on seeing either one, soon or ever. Help us, Sid. You're our last, best hope! <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheeky" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />
 
I bet you know this, but Julian Gollop did `X-com`, not Sid Meier.

Anyway, Gollop DID attempt to `re-create` `X-com` for a modern machine, but the publishers thought it was too ambitious and taking too long, so they shut him down (well, it was more complicated than that, I think, but that was the result).

Nowdays, he's got his own company and has made a `semi-modern` update for the game he did before `X-com`, namely Laser Squadron. I haven't played the game in a while, but unless his plans have changed, quite a lot of `X-com` features will be introduced into it in the future (the Geoscape, for example).

You should try LSN at <a href="http://www.lasersquadnemesis.com/" target="_blank">http://www.lasersquadnemesis.com/</a> as it is very good (though I'd suggest to get a friend to download it too, because the forums and match making services suck, which is the reason I stopped playing).
 
Yes, I do know about Julian Gollop. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/yes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":yes" border="0" alt="yes.gif" />

Lasersquad is all good and stuff, but it doesn't mix things up like `X-Com` did. No research or training the troops. It's just straight out combat. Now, if they could do a new `X-Com` with the LSN combat engine, that would be worthy of a look.

<img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/onya.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":onya" border="0" alt="onya.gif" />
 
Sure I know `X-Com`'s not a Sid game. But like I said, I read somewhere a few months back that he was investigating maybe buying and redoing several loved old classics, and `X-Com` was one of them.

Laser squad is just head to head, too, right? No story, no AI, no single player. I hear it's great, but it's just not my cuppa.

What they've done here with SMP is exactly what I've been wishing for for `X-Com` for years now.
 
They added an SP campaign to Laser Squad. It's actually a really awesome game if you like `X-Com`. But it's just not `X-Com` in the end because of the lack of research and things like that. Still, you might wanna check it out.
 
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