So, a word on Long War.

All right, show of hands. Who here plays XCOM? by SeaTurtle on 2015-06-02 21:19:00 UTC Reply

Well, get ready for another tour of duty.

Who else here is incredibly hyped for this? I know I am.

Absolutely. by PoorCynic on 2015-06-03 00:21:00 UTC Reply

Enemy Unknown and Enemy Within are two of my favorite games. I was even playing a game using PPC agent names for my soldiers, before I accidentally saved over it. While I'm not normally one to get super-hyped about games (I've been burned before by undelivered promises), I can't help but feel a little excited by what's being planned.

I'm curious to know what people think of what is known about the storyline so far. Most of the complaints I've seen online (besides the old-school XCOM fans complaining about how the newer ones were dumbed down) have been regarding this "aliens won the war" angle. Personally, that's one of the things I'm most pleased about. It strikes me as a really interesting concept as well as a useful way of making sure the player has something to build up for. I see it as not undoing the end of the original; it's an alternate universe. (Not to mention it's given me some interesting story ideas for XCOM operative turned PPC agent James Pittman…)
*raises hand at a speed of Mach Granger* by Scapegrace on 2015-06-02 23:33:00 UTC Reply

I LOVE the XCOM franchise - to the point where Field Commander McCandless is from one of my Long War runs. Actually, that's a point though. Will the new one feature support from Long War? I bloody hope so, because it made Enemy Unknown and Enemy Within a bajillion times better.

Also, on the trailer:

AAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS THE AMOUNT OF WANT

It's confirmed to have full mod support... by SeaTurtle on 2015-06-02 23:38:00 UTC Reply

...through the Steam workshop. If it's not compatible (I know zilch about mods) then someone probably will make it compatible.

So, a word on Long War. by Scapegrace on 2015-06-04 00:26:00 UTC Reply

They're gonna have to do some work to make it fit XCOM 2. New classes are new, which means they're gonna have to be split off, and you'll have to get new assets for all the new stuff, including dedicated grenade launchers seriously why the hell weren't they a thing already. Plus there's an entirely new class about which we know precisely the square root of sod-all, plus there's gonna be changes made to how upgrades work, how promotions work... basically, the core functionality is gonna be very different.

And it's gonna be awesome. =]

According to IGN / Kotaku / whatever... by SeaTurtle on 2015-06-04 01:44:00 UTC Reply

...the devs listened extensively to player feedback for Enemy Unknown and Enemy Within. Lots of things that players complained about will be addressed so that's always a plus.

I quite agree. by Scapegrace on 2015-06-04 10:36:00 UTC Reply

It's just that when you're doing stuff that's been included in a mod, the legality of proceedings suddenly becomes a loooooot more complicated. The changes made to the base game are (very, very technically, and it's up for considerable debate) the individual modder's IP, and since Valve's paid mods debacle showed up there's actually a little bit of legal precedent to support that idea. This means that you can't really chuck the functionality from Long War and its integrated UI mods and so forth straight into XCOM 2, which means we're stuck with vanilla (oh no what a shame and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth) until the modders do a version of Long War for it.

Please don't take this the wrong way - I am still hella hyped for XCOM 2. I'd just like there to be more Long War because it is a wonderful super-happy Infinite Fun Space. =]

They'd better. by Scapegrace on 2015-06-02 23:56:00 UTC Reply

Long War is amazing. If you haven't played Enemy Within with it? PLAY ENEMY WITHIN WITH IT. I cannot stress enough how much better it makes XCOM.

I might do that for my next playthrough (nm) by [EvilAI]UBEROverlord on 2015-06-03 00:27:00 UTC Reply

If you do? Play on Normal. by Scapegrace on 2015-06-03 10:04:00 UTC Reply

I don't care how many times you've beaten vanilla XCOM on Impossible. Play Long War on Normal, or Classic if you like it rough from a big daddy video game who wields a riding crop upon your smooth, supple gamer body and prepares you with a little soothing lotion for-

Um.

Sorry, forgot where I was going with that. =]

If its half as good as Enemy Unknown... by [EvilAI]UBEROverlord on 2015-06-02 21:44:00 UTC Reply

Then it will be a fun game. I will add it to my list of games to get in the near future.