![]() Geoscape mode deals with base management and strategy. Like the original X-COM games, UFO:AI has two main modes of play: Geoscape mode and Tactical (also known as Battlescape) mode. The game aims to combine military realism with hard science-fiction and the weirdness of an alien invasion and the turn-based system is supposed to give the player pin-point control of the squad while maintaining a sense of pace and danger. However, it is neither a sequel nor a remake of any X-COM or other commercial title: "What we as a team wanted to make is a brand new experience that tries to surpass the quality of games from 1992, rather than simply recreate them with flashier graphics." UFO: Alien Invasion is a squad-based tactical strategy game in the tradition of the classic X-COM series of games (the player controls a secret organization charged with defending Earth from a brutal alien enemy). You always know which soldier has the best armor (because its shiny and flowing, or possibly making him invisible) and which guy has the best gun (it glows green for plasma.The game takes inspiration from the X-COM series by Mythos Games and MicroProse. Once we had our viewpoints, we could design assets like armor and weapons that could communicate key information about the gameplay. Early on we made some fundamental decisions about the combat cameras and how our designs would need to look in order to look their best from the isometric combat camera and the up-close cinematic cameras. Our design has always been there to support the gameplay of XCOM. We could be humble about what had come before in X-com, while still having the courage to push the design in some new ways. A lot of times we would look at what was done in the original game, then iterate on a new design, and end up with something very close to the original because many of the artistic decisions they made were what was best for their game. GF: We drew a lot of inspiration from the original X-com itself, and that game was very much a product of the UFO culture of the '90s, from Roswell conspiracy theories to the X-Files. GR: Have there been any unorthodox inspirations outside of media or pop culture for the designs? ![]() Thats one of those great points of game development that makes both the artists and the engineers happy. Our designers figured out how to implement them really well within the game itself, so we ended up with round UFOs that still work well with the underlying geometry of our game. We did have some technical constraints that we were operating under for XCOM: EU, and the rounded shapes of the UFOs were a bit tricky to implement in the game. If you see a UFO out there, then thats probably a bad sign for humans. Just think of all the movies where flying saucers are the alien ships from The Day the Earth Stood Still up through Mars Attacks or Independence Day and you can see that a lot of creative people know how to tap into that. We can use what people already know from the pop culture to help them understand parts of our game.įlying saucers have been in a ton of science fiction movies and books and shows. The little gray alien is supposed to be kind of weedy, but maybe psychically dangerous, and the bug-like alien is always bad news if it gets too close. Thats good! It gives people a starting point to understand what youre showing them. GF: Were borrowing pretty heavily from UFO culture in general, and I think a lot of movies come to that material to draw inspiration. GR: We get a Starship Troopers vibe from some of the designs, and a District 9 feel from others.
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