Phoenix Point and X-COM

4 PARALLEL WORLDS Julian Gollop Thanks to: Angus McNicholl Design: Sample fileInterview B he’s here totellusallaboutPhoenixPoint . Now, Julian isbackwithanew game,beingreleased thismonth –and which firstintroduced ustotheX-COM franchise. Chaos, Rebelstar, Laser Squad,Lords of Chao s orUFO: Enemy Unknown, you grew upinthe80sor90s,it’s likely you’ll have played orheard of regarded asbeingthebestturn-basedstrategy gamesever created. If game industrysince the1980s.Someofgameshemadeare ritish gamedesignerJulianGollophasbeen working inthecomputer Phoenix Point Point Phoenix Phoenix and Creator of X-COM X-COM I am really inspired by indie games such as Darkest Dungeon, Slay the Spire and Into the Breach.

Hi Julian, thanks for dropping in to talk to Phoenix Point is a strategy game in the tradition of X-COM, with a rich strategic layer, turn- Parallel WorldsSample. We’re really excited to chat based battles, squad development, and research. There is afile strong Lovecraftian element with you! I know you’ve got Phoenix Point in the nature of the mutant alien threat, but drawing on modern scientific concerns about coming out this month and lots of our readers genetic modification, artificial intelligence and global warming. The cause of the alien WORLDS PARALLEL are already hyped. But for those that don’t threat is something called the Pandoravirus – a virus so complex that it can cause multiple know, can you tell us a little bit about it? mutations in any living organism.

5 You were the original creator of the X-COM as the Pandoravirus mutates them. This games, which have been reimagined by Firaxis I play both ‘AAA’ and means that the player is facing a constantly in the last few years. Is Phoenix Point a changing threat. The three human factions return to that genre of science fiction horror? indie titles to get a are very interesting, and they provide three If so, what are the prevailing themes of that different possible endings for the player. genre that appeal to you as a designer? good sense of trends in New Jericho represents a more conventional military approach, with a military strong- Phoenix Point is very much a return to game design and player man leader with an obsession about science fiction horror set on earth in the cleansing humanity from mutation. The near future. The original X-COM played on audiences. Disciples of Anu are a religious cult, led by a themes current in UFO lore, such as alien mutated woman known as the Exalted, who abductions, cattle mutilations, men in black, has found a way to control the Pandoravirus and government conspiracies. Interestingly, mutation for her own purposes. Finally, just a month or so before we finished the rather than just taking over with ray guns, Synedrion are an ecological anarchist group game, one of the QA guys excitedly burst is appealing to me. with advanced technology, but continuous into our room talking about some US TV internal debates about how to deal with the show which had all the stuff from our What are the aspects of Phoenix Point that alien threat. In terms of the combat system, I game. The show was The X-Files, and indeed stand out for you? really like our ‘free aim’ mode that immerses X-COM and The X-Files both reflected the the player in the targeting of every shot, and zeitgeist. Phoenix Point has a very different The alien mutation system is very cool, how the tactics of disabling certain alien setting, but the idea that the alien threat is where basic creature archetypes evolve body parts are a key part of the game. transforming and merging with humanity, different appendages and body forms

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6 There’s been extensive backer build feedback When I first started programming on my If you could choose to play only one game for which has been hugely positive. Have there 48k ZX Spectrum it was a great feeling the rest of your life, what would it be? been any design changes you’ve incorporated – a sense of creative power with a new from that process? and exciting medium. In those days I did Sounds like a fate worse than death! If I had almost everything on my own, including to pick, I would go back to D&D. Not specifically, no – although it has helped graphics and sound. Mostly I learned by us to focus on certain areas over others. experimentation and iteration. The board What are you reading at the moment? We can’t possibly incorporate all the game influence was very much there, feedback we get, but it can help as a guide. though. Things have changed dramatically, Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno- In some cases there are contradictions; of course, with a lot more specialisation Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American for example, between players of the within the game development field. There Conversation by Andrew Marantz. original X-COM games who want a more are a lot more ways to finance games detailed simulation approach, and players and collect metrics on how players are Desert Island Games! You’re trapped on a of the Firaxis XCOMs, who appreciate interacting with them. So many games now desert island. Which three games would you the accessible UI and great presentation. have online and social components which have with you (assume you have people to It’s not possible to satisfy both groups interact seamlessly with single-player play them with)? completely, but we feel that we have a experiences. It is a much bigger, much more good balance of old and new. complex and diverse industry. Arkham Horror: The Card Game, Keyforge (another card game), and Slay the Spire. You’ve been cited as an inspiration for many Are you still ‘hands on’ in the programming game designers and other creative artists and and creative process? We’re really keen to try Phoenix Point. What’s writers working in a variety of different fields. your top tactical tip for first time players? What inspired you to start and what inspires I haven’t actually done any programming you now? since Chaos Reborn, a few years ago now. I Pick a faction you like and build an alliance am still very much hands on with the whole as soon as possible, while stealing as much My first gaming passion was for board game design process, even though we have tech and resources from the other factions games and roleplaying games. I loved a team of very good game designers here as you can. Also, don’t let your soldiers get historical games as much as the fantasy at Snapshot Games. killed (too much). Load up on the medkits, games. In fact I would say Avalon Hill’s and retreat when you need to. Squad Leader and SPI’s Sniper games were We know you’re a great player of games too. directly inspirational for many of my games, Does that help when you’re designing a new Phoenix Point, by Snapshot Games, is including X-COM. Dungeons & Dragons game? available from the Epic Games Store for was also a favourite during 1979–1981. £31.99. Nowadays I am really inspired by indie Yes, it does. I consciously play games in games such as Darkest Dungeon, Slay the different genres, both ‘AAA’ and indie Spire and Into the Breach – but I still play titles, to get a good sense of trends in board games.Sample game design and player audiences. Often it file helps to incorporate ideas from drastically What was it like starting out as a game different games and genres in the design WORLDS PARALLEL designer and programmer? How have things process – but without trying to slavishly changed? follow a fashion or a trend.

7 Why aren’t aliens in video games more… Thinkpiece

Words: Louis Calvert

Design: Angus McNicholl

Art: Sample file grandfailure, PARALLEL WORLDS PARALLEL Stanislav

8 liens are a staple of sci-fi and seem like they’ve always been a Acornerstone of our fiction. Chances are, if you were asked to make a Samplelist of all the aliens from popular media that you can thinkfile of right now, your list is going to feature quite a few that look or act pretty much like PARALLEL WORLDS PARALLEL a human. There are a lot of good reasons why this is the case, especially because most of our well-known aliens come from TV and film. But what

about video games? 9 Video games are our newest vehicle of fiction. Developers now have the tools In the deepest to create near-real environments and allow players to interactively experience sense the search anything imaginable. Consumers have the purchasing power to bring video games for extraterrestrial into their homes and experience them whenever they like, for as long as they like, intelligence is a search and virtual reality has the potential to drive immersion even further. Today, the gaming for ourselves. industry is worth more than either the film or music industries worldwide and games – Carl Sagan, are more accessible now than ever before. American astronomer We’re in an unprecedented era of choice and creativity.

Over the years, important topics like violence, representation, and gambling in games have been discussed extensively. Depictions of aliens in games is a trivial consideration by comparison, but thinking about why we depict humanoid aliens in games, and how they’re used, is a small part of a larger ongoing discussion of how any media reflects and reinforces our thinking.

On the origin of extraterrestrial species

Of the many millions of separate species Imagine you’ve placed all the aliens ever We’re interested in the more humanoid end on Earth, only humans look and behave created in a line, with the most exotic at of the spectrum for this article. Fortunately, like humans. Our closest relatives, apes, one end, and the most human-like on the the majority of our pop culture aliens can are more dissimilar to us than many of the other. If you’re charting Star Trek aliens, you be found here, so there’s no lack of choice. humanoid aliens in popular sci-fi, yet they might put the ‘dikironium cloud creature’ Star Wars’ beloved meme-fodder Admiral evolved right alongside us from common (TOS S2 Ep13) at one end: it’s a sentient Ackbar is a great example: a squid-fish- ancestors. Most scientists, biologists, and gas cloud that can travel faster than light, man who is not only humanoid, but is an thinkers on the subject of extraterrestrials sucks iron from blood, and exists in a state Admiral – which implies that he’s able agree thatSample aliens – if they exist – are between matter and energy. You might to communicate file and share ideas and very unlikely to be something you’d feel put the Betazoids (like Lwaxana Troi, TNG) tactics with humans, manage people, PARALLEL WORLDS PARALLEL comfortable inviting to meet your parents. at the other end, as they’re essentially and lead effectively. In short, Ackbar is an telepathic humans with dark eyes. aspirational human character who just happens to be an alien.

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