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[Nocebo]

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/featu...en-match-for-its-creator.aspx?PostPageIndex=2



QA and some 2k guy. No devs. (eh, I guess if you consider QA part of the whole dev "team", then sure)

Well at our company QA is part of the R&D department. If you consider development to be only programming then no, obviously QA doesn't do that. But development isn't just programming. QA not only tests if something works properly but also suggests how it could be better amongst other things, both factors are very important to the development process in my opinion.

At any rate, impossible doesn't sound challenging in a fun way. Classic ironman it is for me!

 

[Rentahamster]

Well at our company QA is part of the R&D department. If you consider development to be only programming then no, obviously QA doesn't do that. But development isn't just programming. QA not only tests if something works properly but also suggests how it could be better amongst other things, both factors are very important to the development process in my opinion.

Yeah I was just viewing it through a narrow lens of design only.

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

The GMG 25% code led to a moment of weakness, and now I've got this and Dishonored pre-ordered.

And I've got two major essays due the week after. What have I done?

 

[haikira]

The GMG 25% code led to a moment of weakness, and now I've got this and Dishonored pre-ordered.

And I've got two major essays due the week after. What have I done?

What had to be done.

 

[Clevinger]

scaring me bro

What have you gotten us into, commander?!

 

[Darkone]

What is the Ironman difficulty exactly?

 

[red731]

What is the Ironman difficulty exactly?

It saves after every move.
Kill alien? Save. Alien kills your squad member? Save. XCOM MOTHERFUCKER

ed: I start to lean to play it on classic ironman even tho this is my first xcom game.

 

[derFeef]

What is the Ironman difficulty exactly?

Every move it set in stone, no going back.
e: beaten

 

[Orgun]

What is the Ironman difficulty exactly?

It's not really a difficulty setting. It just means that you have ONE save and you cannot quit and reload, it's auto saving after every move.

The difficulty settings are

Easy
Normal
Classic
Impossible

 

[Clevinger]

What is the Ironman difficulty exactly?

The game saves automatically, and you can't reload a save if something goes wrong. You can use it with every difficulty, I believe.

edit: triple beaten, damn

 

[Corky]

So embargo is up in 3h I think. Going to be interesting to see what the mainstream sites think of the game.

 

[Nocebo]

I don't see how it's any different to Civ, two civilisations with a joint agenda but separately controlled, time passes at the same rate for both civilisations.

So Xcom 2x bases, both with a joint agenda to protect the earth but controlled separately, so as described as objectives, each player can attack a UFO and play apart the client (as we all no it'll be p2p) just reports back the result of the mission, losses/kills etc when the mission is over.

I assume your complaint is over the time elapsed in the base/geoscape? In the original the clock stopped in mission which would mean the times between players would get out of sync? that's a simple case of the client/server recording the geoscape time when the mission starts, the server/client can then query the other party to see who is further on in time at the end of the mission and bringing them up to that date, increasing their research/etc accordingly sure it's not perfect, but if time in the geoscape is set as a constant ie 5min intervals it's not really going to hurt anyone.

The technical aspects are not the problem. Yes, my complaint is about the real time elapsed during base/geoscape. And everything that is dependent on that part of the game. People would just keep getting out of sync with the time-line. Facilities would get built, other events would happen.
You think setting the geoscape to 5min intervals would fix this? That's pretty naive. Since there is no way of knowing how long it would take for player 2 to finish his objective. Either you would have player 1 sitting around doing nothing for possibly 15+ minutes or the whole game progression would get messed up.
Progression is directly related to what happens on the geoscape scale (base building research etc.) If a player is viewing the base, normally time will stop. Will it stop for both players? Even though the other is not viewing the base? etc. Having a macro and a micro level and different time scales for each, just poses too many problems for a multiplayer game gameplay-wise.

You admit yourself that your sollution isn't perfect. A game needs to have a good flow though, I don't know how you can justify a half-assed sollution for a game release... a mod sure, but not an official release.

The only reason Civ works with multiplayer is because there are only turns and not a "real time" component. Every player begins their turn at the same time and "technically" ends their turn at the same time (the game waits for all players to finish their turns). Also game progression is more emergent in Civ while the state of the game is influenced in a more profound way by player actions in XCom.

 

[Xater]

I am thinking about making my first playthrough on normal just to get aclimated to the game, but I'll activate Ironman. That seems like a good compromise to me for the first time. After that it's classic all the way.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

See, now I'm thinking of having two saves: my normal one, and an Iron Man one.

 

[tetrisgrammaton]

I'm not totally sure about this game. I think its kind of mundane. i definitely like the Fire Emblem on Wii better. and there are tons of ipad board games that do the strategy better without the bs

 

[Jintor]

The BS is the strategy bro. You're confusing it with the tactics

 

[Nocebo]

I'm not totally sure about this game. I think its kind of mundane. i definitely like the Fire Emblem on Wii better. and there are tons of ipad board games that do the strategy better without the bs

What do you think is mundane and bs about it?

 

[Dakota47]

I am thinking about making my first playthrough on normal just to get aclimated to the game, but I'll activate Ironman. That seems like a good compromise to me for the first time. After that it's classic all the way.

Yeah, same here. I still want some challenge during my first playthrough but I also want to get to know the game.

 

[tetrisgrammaton]

What do you think is mundane and bs about it?

all the in between mission stuff is kind of like busy-work (the bs), and i'm not having very much fun with the tactics anymore either. maybe i should try to go above normal. i'm not getting much tension from it

plus it would be nice to know a little more info about (enemy) unit types, if they are going to hit me (their range), what percentage chance they have of hitting me. i shouldn't have to be experienced with the game to know that. because chances are i'm going to be done with this by next week

 

[-tetsuo-]

scaring me bro

You haven't started classic yet? Shit is brutal.

 

[Jintor]

You haven't started classic yet? Shit is brutal.

I got a few hours in and needed a break for a while, so I stopped until launch

 

[fanboi]

Anyway possible to unlock the game early (aka NA time)... and what service to buy from?

In Eurozone...

 

[Glass Rebel]

all the in between mission stuff is kind of like busy-work (the bs), and i'm not having very much fun with the tactics anymore either. maybe i should try to go above normal. i'm not getting much tension from it

plus it would be nice to know a little more info about (enemy) unit types, if they are going to hit me (their range), what percentage chance they have of hitting me. i shouldn't have to be experienced with the game to know that. because chances are i'm going to be done with this by next week

That would kinda defeat the purpose of a game called Enemy Unknown, wouldn't it?

 

[ekim]

Reviews go up in 150 minutes, right?

 

[tetrisgrammaton]

That would kinda defeat the purpose of a game called Enemy Unknown, wouldn't it?

maybe but i don't care what the game is called because strategy usually works best (imo) when all the variables are known and you are left grappling with how they (it, your pieces) fit on the board

 

[derFeef]

all the in between mission stuff is kind of like busy-work (the bs), and i'm not having very much fun with the tactics anymore either. maybe i should try to go above normal. i'm not getting much tension from it

plus it would be nice to know a little more info about (enemy) unit types, if they are going to hit me (their range), what percentage chance they have of hitting me. i shouldn't have to be experienced with the game to know that. because chances are i'm going to be done with this by next week

You will get to know them.... after your soldiers die horrible deaths :/

 

[Jintor]

maybe but i don't care what the game is called because strategy usually works best (imo) when all the variables are known and you are left grappling with how they (it, your pieces) fit on the board

but

what about fog of war

there is a way to bring up the 'this enemy has these traits etc' on enemies (although you need to research them first), i've done it by accident before, but I can't remember what the controller buttons to do so are

/edit I kind of want to see a game of stealth chess now

 

[Castor Krieg]

Anyway possible to unlock the game early (aka NA time)... and what service to buy from?

In Eurozone...

Pre-load for Europe is up? When done use VPN to unlock and go into Offline Mode till Friday.

 

[tetrisgrammaton]

but

what about fog of war

i don't have a problem with fog of war.

 

[Nocebo]

all the in between mission stuff is kind of like busy-work (the bs), and i'm not having very much fun with the tactics anymore either. maybe i should try to go above normal. i'm not getting much tension from it

plus it would be nice to know a little more info about (enemy) unit types, if they are going to hit me (their range), what percentage chance they have of hitting me. i shouldn't have to be experienced with the game to know that. because chances are i'm going to be done with this by next week

Eh? Are you playing the game already or are you playing the old games? Anyway yeah I can see if you don't like the base management stuff that you won't enjoy this game. I'd pass it up if I were you. The base management will become an even bigger factor if you go above normal.

Most of the other things you mention can be found out by playing the game but they aren't exact no.

 

[mr_toa]

Well at our company QA is part of the R&D department. If you consider development to be only programming then no, obviously QA doesn't do that. But development isn't just programming. QA not only tests if something works properly but also suggests how it could be better amongst other things, both factors are very important to the development process in my opinion.

At any rate, impossible doesn't sound challenging in a fun way. Classic ironman it is for me!

Over in my end QA is 100% integral to our software products success. They participate and contribute from start to finish. Initial QA details are specified and agreed as part of the software stories as the remainder of the software capabilities. So from our perspective QA is very much part of the dev team.

 

[red731]

Pre-load for Europe is up? When done use VPN to unlock and go into Offline Mode till Friday.

vadernooo.jpg

I think I will wait until Friday.

 

[fanboi]

Pre-load for Europe is up? When done use VPN to unlock and go into Offline Mode till Friday.

not sure if it is...

Scared about using in on steam since they can say "ef off" and all games are gone... :|

 

[Jintor]

i don't have a problem with fog of war.

but what about all those unknown variables

 

[Glass Rebel]

maybe but i don't care what the game is called because strategy usually works best (imo) when all the variables are known and you are left grappling with how they (it, your pieces) fit on the board

It's just what makes the game more interesting.

Strategy might work best when you know everything but this isn't a pure strategy game; the "horror" aspect is equally important.

 

[tetrisgrammaton]

but what about all those unknown variables

fog of war is fine. not knowing the percentage i have of being shot, when i know the percentage chance of hitting a target is weird.

 

[tetrisgrammaton]

It's just what makes the game more interesting.

Strategy might work best when you know everything but this isn't a pure strategy game; the "horror" aspect is equally important.

what? come on

 

[Corky]

vadernooo.jpg

I think I will wait until Friday.

You and me buddy. Until the end of time... or this week.

what? come on

? The horror-part? It's a very tense game, especially if you play ironman.

 

[Jintor]

I don't really understand why knowing the percentage chance would make any difference, except for your own curiousity. If you get shot in high cover it was a low chance to hit but you rolled badly, what's more to know?

Even in something like fire emblem (where for half the series the RNG cheated like a mofo) you can't see what percentage chance the enemy has to hit you

 

[McNum]

I don't really understand why knowing the percentage chance would make any difference, except for your own curiousity. If you get shot in high cover it was a low chance to hit but you rolled badly, what's more to know?

Even in something like fire emblem (where for half the series the RNG cheated like a mofo) you can't see what percentage chance the enemy has to hit you

Doesn't the FE RNG cheat in favor of the player, though? Since the player is more likely to use 80+% hit chances, and those are massively boosted to way over 80%?

 

[Ikuu]

Pre-load for Europe is up? When done use VPN to unlock and go into Offline Mode till Friday.

No, just use http://www.spotflux.com/ and log in with it when you want to play, no need to go Offline.

 

[red731]

You and me buddy. Until the end of time... or this week.



? The horror-part? It's a very tense game, especially if you play ironman.

We both know that it we be the end of time, end of time, end of time...infinity until another xcom.

And yea, the game is pretty tense. I don't know about others here, but everytime I play something, I am just immersed.

 

[michaelius]

all the in between mission stuff is kind of like busy-work (the bs), and i'm not having very much fun with the tactics anymore either. maybe i should try to go above normal. i'm not getting much tension from it

plus it would be nice to know a little more info about (enemy) unit types, if they are going to hit me (their range), what percentage chance they have of hitting me. i shouldn't have to be experienced with the game to know that. because chances are i'm going to be done with this by next week

Erm if we were atacked by alien lifeforms do you think we would get info on weapons they use in first contact ?

 

[Rentahamster]

Game design-wise, how do you think random elements like chance to hit and chance to crit compare with other strategy games like Advance Wars where the damage is almost always as advertised?

 

[Jintor]

AWars has an additional 'the more damaged your unit, the less powerful they are' thing that dramatically changes the way the game plays.

Also a lot of AWars tends to descend into blocking off access to your units or blocking choke points just due to the way attacks work in that game.

 

[Castor Krieg]

No, just use http://www.spotflux.com/ and log in with it when you want to play, no need to go Offline.

First time I hear about it, looks great. Does it work for Steam region restriction/in general?

 

[Nocebo]

Over in my end QA is 100% integral to our software products success. They participate and contribute from start to finish. Initial QA details are specified and agreed as part of the software stories as the remainder of the software capabilities. So from our perspective QA is very much part of the dev team.

Agreed. We're moving into that model with our new project, especially since we're now making use of unit tests (our flagship product is written in vb6... lol but we're rewriting in C# .Net) and a automated test platform of our own devising. The QA guys create test scenarios with expected in and out put etc. So we need to take that into account when designing our code.

 

[Gattsu25]

I'm getting this for my brother's birthday gift but won't get a copy for myself until a few weeks from now (impending business trip).

 

[patapuf]

maybe but i don't care what the game is called because strategy usually works best (imo) when all the variables are known and you are left grappling with how they (it, your pieces) fit on the board

while i agree somewhat the enemy unknown part is important.

Part of the premise of the game is that you don't know your enemy and have to learn about him. It requires a different kind of tactical approach

 

[MJLord]

Hey guys/gals UK over here, anyone know any good vpn's I can use so I can get this unlocked tomorrow ? thanks a bunch.