News Room Contributor  Posts: 8058 Joined: 12 Nov 2002     | |
Press Junketeer  Posts: 449 Joined: 10 Jun 2008     | I am so having a 'nerdgasm' right now. The original X-COM is one of my all time favorite games....and I can't believe how many hours I spent on it 15 years ago!! Thank God some one had the same love for such a classic turn based tactical game to bring it back...and for $4.99!!!! OH...it gets no better. Now if someone could port it to XBLA.... |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 2768 Joined: 18 Sep 2007    | X-com is one of the best computer games in history. If you at all like tactical games, give it a try if you haven't already. And at $5 (or $15 for the set) it's a steal. -- Steve |
Press Junketeer  Posts: 406 Joined: 29 Nov 2007    | In the words of my friend (a sentiment I share): "unf unf unf unf" In case you're confused, that's a good thing. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 4297 Joined: 20 Dec 2007    | GOD DAMNIT! OK, it's just a bad time for this to come out, it's 15 bucks but right now I gotta save every penny, BUT GOD DAMNIT X-FUCKING-COM ON STEAM! |
Beat Writer  Posts: 206 Joined: 11 Apr 2008   | I'm rubbing my little nerdy hands in anticipation. I figured when these surfaced we'd be seeing them on GOG. Steam works for me, though. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 1051 Joined: 3 Dec 2007    |
I would actually prefer them on GOG. I prefer no DRM and (presumably) no other required software, which GOG offers. Still, can't deny this is a sweet deal. |
Press Junketeer  Posts: 409 Joined: 12 Aug 2008    | Anyone on here purchased this yet? If so is the game speed running at a good level? I ask because I have both xcom 1 and 2, the problem is I managed to find a user made patch to bring the speed to a normal playable level for the first but theres no such thing for the second game. |
On the Record  Posts: 6100 Joined: 25 Jan 2008   | Question. Are these copies of XCom modded to run in Windows, or do we still have to dosbox them to run, use slowdown apps so they aren't mach speed, and then try to trick our computers into thinking they have XMS/EMS memory? If that's the case, I still have my original CD and manual for XCom. But if they're Windowzised then hot damn. |
Beat Writer Posts: 206 Joined: 11 Apr 2008 |
Pulled off of the info page for the original x-com: System Requirements Looks like 2K games modded it to work on modern systems. |
Paperboy  Posts: 47 Joined: 20 Mar 2008   | I bought Terror from the deep on Steam ages ago and it doesn't need dosBox. It does suffer from the occasional crash to desktop though. I presume these all work through windows as well. Guess i'm going to have a 2 hour lunch today. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 1540 Joined: 6 Apr 2008     | Yay :D I've tried for ages to get my copy of Apocalypse working on XP! Ufo, and Terror from the Deep I'm not so plused about, mainly because I've been playing them anyway, but it's nice to see old classics back in the market. Speaking of which...who get's paid from the profits made from putting these old games on Steam? Is it the original publishers or developers? Or whoever holds the IP? |
On the Record Posts: 6100 Joined: 25 Jan 2008 | XCom for Windows, HURRAY! /Happydance |
Press Junketeer  Posts: 405 Joined: 28 Apr 2008   | ahhm, ahhm, let me clear my throat for this: YEEEEES, SWEET MOTHER OF GOD, YESSSS! ahem, yes... So, for me, a working updated supported version of this game is some of the best gameing news I heard in months. |
Beat Writer Posts: 206 Joined: 11 Apr 2008 | The IP is held by 2K at the moment. They were listed as a "developer" along with Microprose on Steam, so at the moment I believe it all goes to them. |
Paperboy Posts: 25 Joined: 22 Jul 2008  | Buying it now! I had it working on Dosbox at one time but I lost my disk. :( X-Com was an amazing game I could do with another fix. I just hope no one is put off buying from having played by that wanna be garbage: the UFO series. Gift. |
News Room Contributor Posts: 8058 Joined: 12 Nov 2002 | Hey, the UFO games weren't bad. Obviously they weren't up to the level of X-COM, but that's hardly a fair comparison, and for people who wanted an X-COM-style fix over the past few years, it fit the bill nicely. Of course, now that you can have the real deal (for FIVE FRIKKIN' BUCKS!) there's just no reason to be messing around with reasonable facsimiles. |
On the Record Posts: 6100 Joined: 25 Jan 2008 | UFO: Extraterrestrials was in many ways better than X-Com UFO Defense. It had its flaws, but it's 300% longer than XCom, with a tech tree five or six times as long. If the AI wasn't so predictable, the aliens so unfrightening, and the levels unvaried, it would have leveled the genre. Instead, it's passable. |
Paperboy Posts: 25 Joined: 22 Jul 2008 |
Well maybe, I just felt terribly let down by them (Khell nails the reasons), to say nothing of the bugs. So I've a bit of an axe to grind, don't mind me, sorry ;) Gift. |
Anonymous Source Posts: 5 Joined: 18 Dec 2007 | If memory serves, there was a DOS version and a Windows version of the original XCom - the later games (Terror from the Deep et. al.) all ran fine under Windows, I think. The sticking point was that, when they released XCom for Windows, they replaced all the sweet sampled 16-bit music with this lame MIDI crap. I mean, I guess it wasn't horrible, but I didn't like it... maybe it's just because I played so many hours under the DOS version that changing something as simple as the ever-present background music was jarring. So I can only hope that the music is old-school FM sampled - has anyone bought it yet? Can anyone confirm? Still - it's awesome to see an effort to revive this game for both crabby oldsters and the youngins who never had to mess with EMS and freeing up space in the HMA. I can only hope more super classic abandonware ends up getting released like this... so much of it never makes it into open source like, say, Star Control 2 did. |
On the Record Posts: 6100 Joined: 25 Jan 2008 |
I believe the windows-friendly versions of the XCom games were when they packaged UFO-Def, TFTD, and Apoc all on a two-CD set. I have said discs, but they were defective and never worked :' ( , but the original CD of XCom UFO was definitely windows-hating and knowing how TFTD was just a mod/reskin, I'd be certain it wasn't any more windows friendly either. As to XCom going open-source... Hasbro owns the XCom license, and Hasbro is only ever interested in games that they can merch to hell and back, and are never interested in games that are simply games. But even when they kill a franchise, they never let go of it. Prime example, Rollercoaster Tycoon. The creator of RCT1-3 had ha falling out with Hasbro, and is banned from making more of the series without their consent, but likewise Hasbro can't make more without him, so we will never see more Coaster Tycoon because Hasbro is a bunch of unreasonable dicks. |
Time Lord  Posts: 10005 Joined: 13 Feb 2008     | Bought it, loved it, might even review them soon. |
BANNED  Posts: 4378 Joined: 21 Aug 2008   | I love Steam soooo much. User was banned for: Microsoft and the World Domination of Gaming&Communication. (Permanent) |
Copy Clerk Posts: 58 Joined: 6 Nov 2007    | Bought it ASAP. It's like the last 15 years never happened! :) |
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X-COM Comes To Steam
Retro gamers rejoice! Valve has announced that five games from the classic X-COM series are now available on Steam.
X-COM: UFO Defense, X-COM: Terror From the Deep, X-COM: Apocalypse, X-COM: Interceptor and X-COM: Enforcer are now available on Steam for $4.99 each, or in a package deal that includes all five titles for $14.99. Valve is marking the Steam debut of the great X-COM series by offering an additional ten percent off the prices during the first week of release, and while Windows Vista is not officially supported by the games, this post in the Steam forums says all five titles have been tested under Vista and run without problems.
The X-COM games debuted in 1993 with X-COM: UFO Defense (known as X-COM: Enemy Unknown in Europe), a tactical combat game that also offered strategic elements, research trees, statistical character development and more. Many elements of the game, including spaceships and aliens, were designed after classic 60s and 70s movies and television shows about alien invasions.
X-COM: UFO Defense is far and away the best game of the series, and with X-COM: Interceptor the franchise moved away from its tactical roots, becoming a space combat simulator instead. But Interceptor sold poorly, and despite its early successes the X-COM title slowly faded into obscurity, a fate sealed when Hasbro Interactive, which had purchased original X-COM publisher Microprose, was shut down by Hasbro. Rights to the property then passed to Infogrames by way of Atari before landing with Take-Two Interactive, where BioShock designer Ken Levine is rumored to be working on a new addition to the series.
And while he's playing around with that, you could be playing around with the entire X-COM franchise for 15 bucks. There's a lot I don't particularly care for about Steam, but this is a screaming good deal. The game is deep, accessible even to fans who wouldn't normally consider something called a "tactical combat simulator," and unless you happen to be reading this on a 286 with less than four megabytes of RAM, you have zero worries about system requirements. X-COM: UFO Defense is widely regarded as one of the finest games ever made, and you can have the whole thing for 15 bucks! So why are you still reading this?
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