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XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Media Reviews ries in 1994 already established the thematic parameters that were kept alive throughout most of its installments XCOM: Enemy Unknown [game] and that can also be found in its latest, 2012/13 install- ment that loosely functions as a reboot of the series after Lars Schmeink more than ten years break since 20011: a group of hostile and extremely violent aliens attack Earth. Earth’s leaders XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Dev. Firaxis Games. Pub. 2K gather in a secret meeting and establish the Extraterres- Games. Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360: 2012 / Mac trial Combat-unit called X-COM in order to fight back. OSX, iOS: 2013. At first in secret, later in an all-out planetary war, the player needs to direct his troops in a turn-based tacti- Order option(s): PC | Mac | PS3 | Xbox 360 cal game against alien invaders while at the same time formulating a long-time strategy to enhance human “It was the beginning of the rout of civilization, the mas- technology, hinder enemy movement and gather intel- sacre of humanity.” ligence on the aliens and their ultimate goal. —The War of the Worlds, 1953, Dir. Byron Haskin The 2012 installment, XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a reboot, “recreat[ing] X-COM with our unique creative vision…true to the elements that made X-COM such a EVER SINCE H.G. WELL’S NOVEL The War of the revered game while delivering an entirely new story,” as Worlds (1898) the alien invasion has been a staple of Steve Martin, president of developer Firaxis Games said science fiction. -
Patterns, Dungeons and Generators
Patterns, Dungeons and Generators Steve Dahlskog Staffan Björk Julian Togelius Malmö University Göteborg University New York University Faculty of Technology and Department of Applied Department of Computer Society Information Technology Science and Engineering Malmö, Sweden Göteborg, Sweden New York, NY, U.S.A [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT This paper addresses the domain of dungeons, the type of This paper analyses dungeons, of the varieties commonly levels with a spatial puzzle quality first introduced in Dun- found in role-playing games, into several sets of design pat- geons & Dragons [31] and typically found in \roguelikes" terns at different levels of abstraction. The analysis fo- such as Rogue [59], Moria [40], and Hack [24], and com- cuses on mechanical patterns that could be either straight- puter role-playing games (RPGs) such as Bard's Tale [37] forwardly instantiated or recognized by a well-defined pro- and Ultima [28]. We identify a relatively large set of de- cess. At the most concrete level a set of fundamental com- sign patterns at different sizes and levels of abstraction { ponents were identified, followed by a long list of micro- micro-, meso- and macro-patterns. The motivation for car- patterns which can be directly instantiated. Shorter lists rying out this analysis is to find patterns that can be used of meso- and macro-patterns, which can be identified me- for pattern-based or search-based dungeon generation and chanically, are also identified. The direct motivation for for this reason the granularity is finer and the level of de- this analysis is to find building blocks and objectives for tail of the pattern collection is higher than what is typical a search-based procedural dungeon generator, however we for pattern collections. -
From the XCOM Archive
60 spring/summer 2016 From the XCOM How to defeat Archive: the Aliens and Stay Sane Tomasz Z. Majkowski An aphorism from English science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke flashes in the darkness: “Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” The tremulous blue letters resemble a hologram displayed in the night sky, cut across by a falling star. Surrounded by a ring of fire, it falls into the centre of a European city, and curious passersby begin to congregate around the crater. From the falling smoke, there slowly emerges the metallic shape of the probe, apparently of extraterrestrial origin. Sud- denly, a green gas begins to escape from the holes in its hull, thickening into a kind of spider’s web, which grabs the nearest onlookers and begins to pull them in the direction of the cap- sule. At that point, panic breaks out. The sequence described above, which opens the video game entitled XCOM: Enemy Unknown,1 references a classic topos of science fiction: an unprovoked and undeserved invasion from outer space. It repeats almost word for word the scene of the first encounter with a strange civilization from H. G. Wells’s classic War of the Worlds:2 the curious crowd gathered around the meteorite crater only to fall victim to sudden and incomprehensible aggression. It is true that the scale is much smaller, and the cylinder that falls from the stars does not blaze with deadly heat or carry passengers, but the analogy still seems quite apparent. -
Enemy Unknown Using Gameplay Design Patterns to Understand Game Remakes
X-COM: UFO Defense vs. XCOM: Enemy Unknown Using Gameplay Design Patterns to Understand Game Remakes Alessandro Canossa Staffan Björk Mark J. Nelson PLAIT Lab Dept. of Applied IT Ctr. for Computer Games Research Northeastern University Gothenburg University IT University of Copenhagen Boston, USA Gothenburg, Sweden Copenhagen, Denmark [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT remakes have been positively received; they retained much of the We analyze X-COM: UFO Defense and its successful remake original gameplay and were developed by the same company. XCOM: Enemy Unknown to understand how remakes can re- This is not always the case. While the 2008 remake of the game propose a concept across decades, updating most mechanics, and Bionic Commando received favorable reviews (high 80s from metacritic1), the re-imagined 3D version released a year later was yet retain the dynamic and aesthetic values that defined the 2 original experience. We use gameplay design patterns along with reviewed more poorly (averaging 70 on metacritic ). Another the MDA framework to understand the changes, identifying an example comes from the successful Syndicate series from the unchanged core among a multitude of differences. We argue that 1990s; it was re-imagined as a first-person shooter in 2012 whose aggregated metacritic rating dropped to the low 70s (69, 74, and two forces polarize the context within which the new game was 3 designed, simultaneously guaranteeing a sameness of experience 75 for PC, Xbox, and PS3 respectively) . The distributor of the across the two games and at the same time pushing for radical new version, EA, agreed, admitting: “Syndicate was something changes. -
1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die
1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die G = Completed B = Played R = Not played bold = in collection 1971-1980 (1 st GENERATION) 1. The Oregon Trail Multi-platform MECC 1971 2. Pong Multi-platform Atari 1972 1976-1992 (2 nd GENERATION) 3. Breakout Multi-platform Atari 1976 4. Boot Hill Arcade Midway 1977 5. Combat Atari 2600 Atari 1977 6. Space Invaders Arcade Taito 1978 7. Adventure Atari 2600 Atari 1979 8. Asteroids Arcade Atari 1979 9. Galaxian Arcade Namco 1979 10. Lunar Lander Arcade Atari 1979 11. Battle Zone Arcade Atari 1980 12. Defender Arcade Williams 1980 13. Eamon Apple II D. Brown 1980 14. Missile Command Arcade Atari 1980 15. Rogue Multi-platform M. Toy, G. Wichman, K. Arnold 1980 16. Tempest Arcade Atari 1980 17. MUD Multi-platform R. Trubshaw, R. Bartle 1980 18. Pac-Man Arcade Namco 1980 19. Phoenix Arcade Amstar Electronics 1980 20. Zork I Multi-platform Infocom 1980 21. Warlords Arcade / Atari 2600 Atari 1980 22. Centipede Arcade Atari 1980 23. Galaga Arcade Namco 1981 24. Donkey Kong Arcade Nintendo 1981 25. Qix Arcade R. Pfeiffer, S. Pfeiffer 1981 26. Scramble Arcade Konami 1981 27. Stargate Arcade Vid Kidz 1981 28. Venture Multi-platform Exidy 1981 29. Ms. Pac-Man Arcade Midway 1981 30. Frogger Arcade Konami 1981 31. Gorf Arcade Midway 1981 32. Ultima Multi-platform Origin Systems 1981 33. Gravitar Arcade Atari 1982 34. Joust Arcade Williams 1982 35. The Hobbit Multi-platform Beam Software 1982 36. Choplifter Multi-platform Brøderbund 1982 37. Robotron 2084 Arcade Williams 1982 38. -
The UN-Official Strategy Guide
XCOM2: Terror from the Deep The UN-official Strategy Guide and Answers to Frequently Asked Questions Updated September 25, 1995 Edited / Maintained by Kuo-Sheng (Kasey) Chang 0. READ ME FIRST 0.1 Introduction Thanks for the tremendous response for XCOM:USG and XCOM2:USG! I've received feedback all over the world and I thank you all. This is the fourth revision of the XCOM2:USG. Undoubtably lots of things are missing despite plenty of feedback since the first version, but with your help details will be filled... This latest revision has more information than ever! Updated information such as new XCOM Webpages have been added, slightly expanded section on movement, and various other small enhancements... This is probably one of the longest FAQs out there! (With exception of the Official DOOM FAQ, of course...) I am still taking your suggestions for XCOM3, though I felt obligated to mention that MicroProse is ALWAYS taking your suggestions as well. Send your suggestions to "[email protected]", with "XCOM3 Suggestions" as the topic. Any way, I still have indirect contact with Mr.Gollop and I can pass on your suggestions. I already have most of the common ones like robot/cyborg units, construction kits for weapons and tanks, reorder troops, fix the 80-item limit, etc. etc. Think of some UNIQUE ones and send them! 0.2 Purpose of this guide USG was written to help fellow players survive and succeed in the universe of XCOM/XCOM2. While it tries to do that, and it lists many tactics, only YOU, the player, can implement those tactics. -
Section Pages P L/La 1B/1C AMENDMENT and Update SERVICE MEMBERS' PACK No 28
AMENDMENT AND upDATE SERVICE MEMBERS' PACK No 28 - JULY 1994 section Pages Description C 131/132 In The Cauldron, latest news from the 133/134 adventuring world. 135/136 D 293/294 Reviews of Perseus, Meltdown, Arena, 295/296 Golden Figures of Death, Pagan, Campaign 2, 297/298 The Chameleon Key, Award Winners Gold 299/300 Edition, Genesia, Ravenloft, UFO - Enemy 301/302 Unknown, Revenge of the Space Pirates, 303/304 Police Quest 4, Ambush at Sorinor 305/306 I 29/30 CD-ROM Games by Wayne Roberts of Cheet Sheets. 31/32 J 13/14 Book Review: PC Games Hints, Tips, Cheats & Adventure Solutions P l/la Index to Help sections 1b/1c Q 25/26 serialised Solution: Part 2 of Gabriel Knight. S 61/62 Notice Board for July. T 43/44 Playing Guide to Ravenloft 45/46 Playing Guide to Aura-Scope 47/48 Part 1 of Playing Guide to civilization U 47/48 Brief Encounters: Aura-Scope, Syndicate Data Disk - American Revolt, The Gods of War, Crusaders of the Dark Savant. X 89/90 Hints 'n' Tips. 91/92 93/94 Y 31/32 Maps and hints for Beneath a Steel Sky. JULy 1994 ********* * INFOGRAMES will release ALONE IN TUE DARK II for the CD-ROM in September. The CD-ROM version will be easier to play than its PC counterpart and enhancements include an extra half hour of gameplay and clues along the way. At the end of June, INFOGRAMES will release PLANET FOOTBALL, a simulation of management and strategy in which you can play any team including those that are not in the World Cup. -
Patterns and Procedural Content Generation in Digital Games
STEVE DAHLSKOG STEVE DISSERTATION DOCTORAL 2, NO SCIENCE COMPUTER IN STUDIES STEVE DAHLSKOG PATTERNS AND PROCEDURAL CONTENT GENERATION IN DIGITAL GAMES PATTERNS AND PROCEDURAL CONTENT GENERATION IN DIGITAL GAMES DIGITAL IN GENERATION CONTENT PROCEDURAL AND PATTERNS Automatic Level Generation for Digital Games Using Game Design Patterns MALMÖ UNIVERSITY2016 MALMÖ PATTERNS AND PROCEDURAL CONTENT GENERATION IN DIGITAL GAMES Studies in Computer Science No 2 © Steve Dahlskog, 2016 ISBN 978-91-7104-684-0 (print) ISBN 978-91-7104-685-7 (pdf) Holmbergs, Malmö 2016 STEVE DAHLSKOG PATTERNS AND PROCEDURAL CONTENT GENERATION IN DIGITAL GAMES Automatic Level Generation for Digital Games Using Game Design Patterns Department of Computer Science Faculty of Technology and Society Malmö University, 2016 The publication is also electronically available at: http://dspace.mah.se/handle/2043/20371 Dedicated to my family and to the loving memory of Elfride Åkesson, Stig Åkesson, Majken Nilsson and Karl-Erik Nilsson. ABSTRACT The development of content in digital games, such as game worlds, quests, levels, 3D-models, and textures, is costly and time consuming. To address this, different approaches to automate the process of creating game con- tent, often referred to as procedural content generation (PCG), has been suggested. However, PCG is a complex task and include challenges such as creating content with variation, coherent style, speed, and correctness. The research in the thesis is concerned with generating game content with the aid of game design patterns, both by establishing models and exploring different methods to generate actual game content for different games. The methods include implementations of evolutionary computation, i.e. -
Phoenix Point 25 Years On, X-COM’S Creator Hopes to Evolve the Genre Further
H Y P E PHOENIX POINT 25 years on, X-COM’s creator hopes to evolve the genre further Developer/publisher Snapshot Games Format PC, Xbox One Origin Bulgaria Release 2019 ulian Gollop’s latest game is facing a of the camera as it slides from soldier to rather unusual challenge: existing within soldier, each rattling off overwatch shots. J two separate legacies, and needing to At first glance, it might be too close – the satisfy both at once. There’s the one that goes visual style, interface and even the majority back a quarter of a century, to 1994’s UFO: of keyboard shortcuts will be immediately Enemy Unknown (commonly known as X-COM, familiar to anyone who has played the Firaxis its US title), and the much more recent lineage games. But prod Phoenix Point’s systems a spawned by Firaxis’ 2012 XCOM: Enemy little more firmly, and the divergence from Unknown. The two might share a name, but that formula starts to become apparent. The Julian Gollop, they have distinct audiences, each with their headline feature is the ability to zoom in co-founder of own demands – as Gollop, whose Snapshot with the mouse wheel when firing, targeting Snapshot Games Games has funded Phoenix Point’s production individual body parts. Damage a gunner’s arm through a mix of crowdfunding and early- and it might be unable to fire a weapon or toss access preorders, is all too aware. “There are a grenade. Blow a leg off that Crabman basically two groups in our backers. There are advancing on your soldiers, pincers snapping, those who want something more like the and its charge will be reduced to a hobble. -
Alignments & Alliances
Alignments & Alliances: Associations of value Kristine Ask and Mark Chen Avatars are not alone. While avatars invite players to experience the world through (usually) a single digital embodiment, this body is only meaningful because it is situated in specific historical, social, and material contexts. They are constructed through associations between players, games, and stories, and between people, technologies, and fantasies. Through these associations, the digital representation of self is rendered into a subject with values and positions, with histories and futures, with friends and enemies. In this chapter, we will further investigate the avatar’s relationship to other actors, features, and symbols in and outside the game (see Bowman, this volume), and how they construct a preferred way of playing by unpacking the social components of alignments (the relative values held by the avatar as a character) and alliances (the formal associations held by the player and/or avatar). Drawing on actor network theory (Latour, 2005), avatars may be understood as distributed through networks, or assemblages, as the avatars engage in different alliances to position themselves as encoded / enacted constructs. This approach highlights the relational; how phenomena come to be through associations between different actors (both human and non-human), and how such associations produce avatars with specific values and worldviews. Our investigation looks at four ways the avatar’s alignments are created through alliances: alignment through systems, alignment through factions, alignment through players, and alignment through technologies. In each section, we will discuss how different values are inscribed (Akrich 1992) in the game, and how these scripts are enacted. -
Science Fiction Video Games Focuses on Games That Are Part of the Science Fiction Genre, Rather Than Set in Magical Milieux Or Exaggerated Versions of Our Own World
SCIENCE FICTION Science Fiction Video Games focuses on games that are part of the science fiction genre, rather than set in magical milieux or exaggerated versions of our own world. Unlike many existing books and websites that cover some of the same material, this video games book emphasizes critical analysis, especially the analysis of narrative. The author analyzes narrative via an original categorization of story forms in games. He also discusses video games as works of science fiction, including their characteristic themes and the links between them and other forms of science fiction. Neal Tringham The beginning chapters explore game design and the history of science-fictional video games. The majority of the text deals with individual science-fictional games and the histories and natures of their various forms, such as the puzzle-based adventure and the more exploratory and immediate computer role-playing game (RPG). Features • Focuses exclusively on video games from the science fiction genre—the first book to do so • Provides critical descriptions and encyclopedic overviews of a wide range of the most important science fiction video games • Explores the connections between science fiction video games and other science fiction forms, such as tabletop RPGs, film, and television • Explains the themes that define science fiction video games • Presents a well-researched account of the history of science fiction games About the Author Neal Tringham is a videogame developer, a former astrophysicist, and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. He is also a contributing editor of and contributor to the third edition of the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, winner of the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Related Work. -
UFO Defense Vs. XCOM: Enemy Unknown Using Gameplay Design Patterns to Understand Game Remakes
X-COM: UFO Defense vs. XCOM: Enemy Unknown Using Gameplay Design Patterns to Understand Game Remakes Alessandro Canossa Staffan Björk Mark J. Nelson PLAIT Lab Dept. of Applied IT Ctr. for Computer Games Research Northeastern University Gothenburg University IT University of Copenhagen Boston, USA Gothenburg, Sweden Copenhagen, Denmark [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT remakes have been positively received; they retained much of the We analyze X-COM: UFO Defense and its successful remake original gameplay and were developed by the same company. XCOM: Enemy Unknown to understand how remakes can re- This is not always the case. While the 2008 remake of the game propose a concept across decades, updating most mechanics, and Bionic Commando received favorable reviews (high 80s from metacritic1), the re-imagined 3D version released a year later was yet retain the dynamic and aesthetic values that defined the 2 original experience. We use gameplay design patterns along with reviewed more poorly (averaging 70 on metacritic ). Another the MDA framework to understand the changes, identifying an example comes from the successful Syndicate series from the unchanged core among a multitude of differences. We argue that 1990s; it was re-imagined as a first-person shooter in 2012 whose aggregated metacritic rating dropped to the low 70s (69, 74, and two forces polarize the context within which the new game was 3 designed, simultaneously guaranteeing a sameness of experience 75 for PC, Xbox, and PS3 respectively) . The distributor of the across the two games and at the same time pushing for radical new version, EA, agreed, admitting: “Syndicate was something changes.