So we added concealment, squad-based concealment which is really cool and is a different mechanic. A lot of that again is from user feedback where every time you stumbled on the aliens, they got the jump on you, so we wanted to turn that around on them a bit and address it. There’s also hacking, there’s loot, and there’s all sorts of cool stuff added. On top of that, we tried to take all the characters, whether they’re enemies or soldiers, and really push them apart. We didn’t feel like they were different enough in Enemy Unknown. We wanted to create separation and contrast between all the different elements of the game. That’s sort of how we approach the art side, too, with all the different environments, we really pushed them as far apart from them as we could to offer different experiences, so they’re dramatically different spaces. That’s kind of our approach, both on the design side and the art side.
Then we got this procedural system that, again, we really wanted to make something flexible that also modders could go through. So, you can make these levels as static or procedural as you want them to be. They can be 30% static or 70% procedural, or vice versa. You could stitch it together if you insisted on doing that. So all of our levels are procedural and it’s not just a visual thing so the mission objectives are procedural, as well. Depending on what mission you pull, and the level that loads, it’s a completely different experience. It’s pretty robust. We wanted to make sure that the game was super replayable. Those were pretty big things for us.
As with most games, however, the answers didn't appear overnight. Constant iteration throughout development is why XCOM: Enemy Unknown and XCOM 2 are such great games. Even the original XCOM titles such as X-Com: Apocalypse went through quite a chaotic development cycle. Here are 10 facts about the XCOM franchise's development most don't know about. This list is in no particular or
While not a major development fact, the XCOM franchise was the first IP Firaxis worked on that did not have Sid Meier associated with it. Sid Meier is the Director of Creative Development at Firaxis Games and responsible for many of the games developed by Firaxis, such as Civilization and titles from MicroPro
It's the kind of tense, story-driven stakes that have kept couch-based players on the edge of their seats, and thankfully, the controls have been adapted to a gamepad with as streamlined and intutitive a control scheme as could be hoped for. The controls will be second nature by the second mission or so, maintaining the tactical-over-twitch sensations. The only real cost of conversion to consoles is nagging framerate drops and flickering during cutscenes, specifically. They're noticable, and a shame; but if the game adapts the feel of playing the SLG game rankings, it's a worthy trade-off (especially with the troubled history of trying to make complex strategy games "work" away from a mouse and keyboa
There was a time when the revival of the science fiction franchise XCOM by Firaxis Games was seen as simply a small-scale, back-up title to the main event. But long before the squad-based shooter disappointed many, the traditional, turn-based strategy XCOM: Enemy Unknown had been launched to near universal acclaim, not only doing the brand justice, but reinvigorating the genre as a whole. The expansion Enemy Within doubled down on the fiction and gameplay - but it was **XCOM 2 ** that had the anticipation in its fa
XCOM 2 , upon its initial release, was met with high praise and was regarded as a step up from its predecessor, a successful reboot of a long-dormant franchise. Not content to just release a good sequel, Firaxis stepped up to the plate and hit another home run with the massive War of the Chosen expansion, which has been regarded as, essentially, XCOM 2.5. They also released a spinoff, XCOM: Chimera Squad, last y
A lot of that stuff we’re working through, but with the Avenger, it’s a smaller, compressed space, and it’s named after The Avenger in the original game. UFO Defense, not The Avengers. laughs It’s like I have to point that out. All the people who haven’t played the original game don’t know it’s from the original XCOM. But, the whole strategy side is really cool and something we’re ironing out and going to talk about that a lot later.
The truth is, XCOM still exists, though it's become a shadow of its former self after world leaders and bases either surrendered or were destroyed. Reduced to a covert guerilla military operating in cells around the globe, this new "Resistance" has more than the standard aliens of the original game to contend with. Those monsters are back and scarier than ever, along with entirely new creatures - but it's the humans who serve the aliens - known as the ADVENT - that pose the most insidious threat. The odds seem insurmountable, and fight failing until resistance intelligence locates, then extracts their secret weapon: the Command
