UFO: This Time We Get To Finish It! announced

Incendiary Lemon · Post by **Incendiary Lemon** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 1:43 pm

UFO: Afterlight (working title) is sequel to UFO: Aftermath and UFO: Aftershock series, which brings you completely new insight to story of Aftershock, this time from lonely human inhabitants on Mars.

Game play highlights

* combination of global strategy and tactical missions
* new strategic game with resources management and terraforming possible in later stage of the game
* advanced tactical portion of the game with possibility to enter buildings, different heights, destructible environment, thermo visions and more
* even stronger RPG elements, all your subjects are known by name, complex training system, special equipment and more
* completely new story building on the events from UFO: Aftershock
* large number of new technologies, weapons and equipment to develop
* completely new environments on a planet different from Earth
* more complex diplomacy option affecting the story
* aliens, drons and robots in your team
* new enemies and new alien races with variable weapons and battle tactics

Link

pad152 · Post by **pad152** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 3:08 pm

They shipped Aftershock unfinished and buggy as hell. What are they going to re-add all of the removed content and expect us to buy it again?

They didn't even finshed Aftershock, released Oct 25 UK, and only released one patch!

This is a no go, they sold and shipped a beta product (Aftershock) and now want us to buy the finished product.

Afterlight = AfterCrap

Samurai · Post by **Samurai** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 3:36 pm

They used starforce too.

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 3:54 pm

In their eagerness to get into 3 D they took a big step backwards with Aftershock in my opinion.(I prefer 2D sprite games)Both in graphics and gameplay. The next one will probably be a first person shooter like the Xcom game they were going to make.I don't think they ever released it it they?

Incendiary Lemon · Post by **Incendiary Lemon** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 6:14 pm

dbt1949 wrote:I don't think they ever released it it they?

Wow, I remember the previews for that one.. never released.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 8:32 pm

dbt1949 wrote:The next one will probably be a first person shooter like the Xcom game they were going to make.I don't think they ever released it it they?

"They" didn't make that game, MP was responsible for that effort - and no, it was never released.

Incendiary Lemon · Post by **Incendiary Lemon** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:25 pm

I believe "they" in that statement refers to the powers that be rather than Altar.

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 9:52 pm

"They" refered to whoever in the hell was making it at the time.

Actually it looked pretty cool from the screenshots they were releasing.

razgon · Post by **razgon** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 6:32 am

dbt1949 wrote:"They" refered to whoever in the hell was making it at the time. Actually it looked pretty cool from the screenshots they were releasing.

I agree - I wonder if something could make like a thief in the night, and steal the project?

Damn I would have loved to play this game...

Edit: X-com alliance was its name...

Quitch · Post by **Quitch** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:26 am

dbt1949 wrote:"They" refered to whoever in the hell was making it at the time. Actually it looked pretty cool from the screenshots they were releasing.

It looked like it was going to be X-Com Space Hulk. I was rather looking forward to it.

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 6:38 pm

Ah yes, X-Com alliance. Everything I read about it sounded good. I think it was the best out of genre adaptation of the X-Com series, on paper anyway. Enforcer was a travesty.

Don't forget that there was an X-Com Genesis. Which basically was supposed to be X-Com reborn, albiet it used a real-time with adjusteable speed and pausing, just like Apocalypse.

Then there's Dreamland, which was supposed to be the spiritual successor to X-Com, but never got off the ground due to way too lofty goals.

Big Jake · Post by **Big Jake** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:56 pm

Unless I'm mistaken, Dreamland Chronicles:Freedom Ridge was the project that crashed and burned...and was picked by Altar Interactive and was name changed to UFO:Aftermath. Can someone correct or confirm me on that?

If I am remembering rightly, then this thread has come full circle.

UFO:Afterlight->X-Com Alliance->Xcom Enforcer->Xcom Genesis->Ufo Aftermath

(ANd what, no Xcom: Interceptor?)

baron calamity · Post by **baron calamity** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 8:20 am

The story I heard on X-com: Alliance. It was to be a first person shooter using the Unreal engine. The game was hopelessly stalled in AI development. They wanted to have team mates to help you, similar to the Rainbow Six stuff. About a year before the release date, the lead programmer at Hunt Valley was arrested by the Maryland state police and dragged off. Which was the last time anyone ever saw him. So, a producer at Microprose Hunt Valley (Martin de Riso, really cool guy BTW) said (or was told) he could assemble a team and get the game out in six months. They just took what assets from Alliance they could use and quickly cobbled together Enforcer.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 9:01 am

What was the scoop behind Dreamland? I mean, wasn't that the ideal setup, the creators of XCom making the unofficial successor? Surely they knew how to make the game and give us what we wanted. What happened there to yield such a failure?

razgon · Post by **razgon** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 1:04 pm

Grifman wrote:What was the scoop behind Dreamland? I mean, wasn't that the ideal setup, the creators of XCom making the unofficial successor? Surely they knew how to make the game and give us what we wanted. What happened there to yield such a failure?

Mythos began work on the 'Dreamland Chronicles: Freedom Ridge', which was essentially a remake of the first X-Com with 3D graphics. VIE was taken over by Titus Interactive, who stopped funding development of the 'Dreamland chronicles', and Mythos was liquidated. In 2001, Julian, Nick and Steve (an ex-Mythos employee) began work on 'Laser Squad Nemesis'.

From this site...

Also, read this press release which is kinda interesting... At leat I didnt know this particular info...

(Brno, December 1, 2001): ALTAR interactive, s.r.o. is pleased to announce that it will be developing the game The Dreamland Chronicles: Freedom Ridge for the UK publisher Virgin Interactive Entertainment. The game was originally developed by Mythos Games.

ALTAR interactive would like to stress that it values highly the work of Mythos Games and will be working closely with designer Julian Gollop to ensure the consistency of vision of the game.

At the same time, ALTAR will be making many changes and improvements to the original project. While the atmosphere is important, the main objective is to concentrate on the pure gameplay; to build up on the successful elements of similar games in the past and to creatively evolve them in an up-to-date computer game.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 1:06 pm

Yeah, I was aware of all that, but that doesn't sound like the full story to me. I was wondering what really happened . . .

Quitch · Post by **Quitch** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 1:11 pm

Is there anywhere that details the history of the X-Com games; which the original team worked on, what happened to them, etc.?

moss_icon · Post by **moss_icon** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 6:01 pm

i never quite get the XCOM furore, with people spitting teeth and blood that games attempting to emulate it somehow fall short. XCOM was a decent enough game but never as good as rebelstar or chaos (the two prime 8 bit games that the Gollops worked on in the mid 80s).

Quitch · Post by **Quitch** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 3:43 am

What made them superior?

Dogstar · Post by **Dogstar** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 10:42 am

Imagine if you got to add the personalities feature of JA2 with regular X-Com....

Quitch · Post by **Quitch** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 11:34 am

Any reason to rank X-Com as a superior game to them?

JonathanStrange · Post by **JonathanStrange** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 2:18 pm

moss_icon wrote:i never quite get the XCOM furore, with people spitting teeth and blood that games attempting to emulate it somehow fall short. XCOM was a decent enough game but never as good as rebelstar or chaos (the two prime 8 bit games that the Gollops worked on in the mid 80s).

The 80s!! Records from that era are spotty at best. What was Rebelstar? Or Chaos? Why were they better than X-Com? For my part, X-Com was my first computer game and one that nearly ruined my freshmen year of high school. However, I'll always remember our final assault on Cydonia. Lost many good men there.

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 6:03 pm

Rebelstar Raiders was basically the precursor to X-Com, I'm not sure if the original Laser squad was before or after it. I think it also used an isometric viewpoint, but I'm also not sure of that. I do know that there was one game before X-Com that the team made that had an isometric viewpoint.

There was no overworld map, though.

Quitch · Post by **Quitch** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 6:44 am

Laser Squad was overhead and released in 1989 IIRC.

Peacedog · Post by **Peacedog** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 10:51 am

JonathanStrange wrote:Records from that era are spotty at best.

Mobygames.com. Book mark it. Learn to love it.

X-com ruled. It goes without saying.

Incendiary Lemon · Post by **Incendiary Lemon** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 3:06 am

IGN wrote:UFO: Afterlight to Shine Next Year
Altar plans another chapter in its combination of tactical action and strategy.
by David Adams

March 1, 2006 - Developer Altar Games today announced UFO: Afterlight, the latest in its series of sci-fi strategy titles. Cenega Publishing has signed on to release the new game early in 2007.

Like earlier titles UFO: Aftermath and UFO: Aftershock, Afterlight will combine squad-based tactics with higher-level resource management and construction. The new title takes place on Mars, where a human colony is threatened by robots built by an ancient alien civilization. In addition to the new story, Afterlight adds new technology, weapons, and equipment; new enemies and alien races; more-sophisticated diplomacy; and stronger RPG elements.

IGN

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 3:46 am

In other words. "Hey, let's add a bunch of new features that will never get done on time anyway!"

Samurai · Post by **Samurai** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 3:49 am

Uh... fool me three times....

CSL · Post by **CSL** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 4:30 am

Samurai wrote:Uh... fool me three times....

As long as I don't review it.

JonathanStrange · Post by **JonathanStrange** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 11:59 am

I actually enjoyed UFO Aftermath and UFO Aftershock even as flawed as they were. I realize others were frustrated by the game's instabilities - though for me only UFO Aftershock had any CTDs - my disappointment was mostly in the feeling that these finished games lacked inspiration. For example, UFO Aftermath has these intricate abandoned city streets, with abandoned cars, dead bodies, burning apartments, flickering lights, etc. which really set the mood, but then had such lacklustre sound effects and no compelling reason to believe these missions mattered.

It became a matter of "oh no, another mission," time to recruit some more squaddies to replace whatshisname and whosthat. I don't see that they're on the track to adding enough real and big changes to justify my time in playing the third game.

They'd have to really amplify some intriguing storyline or seriously upgrade the tactical combat's AI or something along that line, otherwise it would be just another 200 nearly identical missions with only background settings changed. I wouldn't mind some stronger RPG elements with squaddies possibly earning ranks, being discharged because of battle wounds, rosters with their fates, etc. I know their list of game features includes some of this stuff but, as we've seen before with the earlier titles, not everything makes the final product.

I'm not particularly anticipating a third game and I liked the first two. So I can only imagine what players who didn't like the first two would think. However, they wouldn't be reading this since why would they waste their time on a game they're not interested in anyway? That'd be crazy.