What Video Games Have You Been Playing #15: Computer not on fire yet? Better add more mods!

[aimeeandbeatles]

Crap, I think my main neighbourhood in the Sims 2 got hug-bugged.

EDIT: Since 99% of you are probably confused on what I'm talking about, there's a bit of glitchy Maxis code that can accidentally get activated by badly-made mods or actually hitch along on downloaded lots (which is what happened in my case). It activates a pie menu option called DEBUG - Super Duper Hug. And it makes Sims constantly hug each other. It's pretty harmless, but it is annoying. There's mods to suppress it though, so it's pretty much a non-issue.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I feel a little distressed.

 

[Arakhor]

That level of terrible pun seems appropriate for vanilla, but I don't remember it. Maybe I just didn't get the reference some 12 or more years ago.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

There's also, uh, this.

 

[PPQ_Purple]

Can anyone recommend me any good games along the style of XCOM and Silent Storm? The sort of small squad control strategy shooty games?
The games I have and have played until I got bored of them are XCOM (all of the original ones from the 90's), XCOM EW, XCOM2, Silent Storm, the three UFO games (aftershock, aftermath and the third one) and UFO Alien Invasion. Also that cold ware thing with spies, but I don't like that one. Any other suggestions? Old games are fine as long as I can get them to run.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Can anyone recommend me any good games along the style of XCOM and Silent Storm? The sort of small squad control strategy shooty games?
The games I have and have played until I got bored of them are XCOM (all of the original ones from the 90's), XCOM EW, XCOM2, Silent Storm, the three UFO games (aftershock, aftermath and the third one) and UFO Alien Invasion. Also that cold ware thing with spies, but I don't like that one. Any other suggestions? Old games are fine as long as I can get them to run.

I don't have any specific recommendations, but I can name three games you should look into.

Phoenix Point was something I had one eye on while it was under development, but the reviews have kept me from buying it. Glancing at the Metacritic page, the positive reviews say things like, "Rough around the edges"; "It has some flaws, but it's a solid first entry"; "if you've spent hundreds of hours with XCOM and you've had enough of the series, you might notice the small differences"; and "a good vision of the XCOM-style turn strategy weighed down by its structure and low intensity in the fighting." I mean, Jesus, if those are the people who liked the game... Anyway, this was only released a month ago, so maybe it just needs more time in the oven.

I got Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun just because it was free, but I haven't tried it yet. I got bored with Feudal Japan as a story setting about 30 years ago, so I'm not in any rush to play this one, but it's gotten very good reviews, and it's 3-4 years old, which means it should be a finished product but not yet showing signs of age (it came out the same year as XCOM 2, for comparison).

Battletech is a game I couldn't get into, but not because I thought it was bad. It just didn't click with me, for some reason. I found the color palette was very bland, and like Sengoku Jidai, the giant robot genre isn't one that inherently grabs me by the neck anymore. It looks like a good adaptation of a tabletop game I played a lot in, like, 1985. *shrug* On the bright side, it came out in 2018 and has had one or two DLCs, so it ought to be a fairly complete, polished game by now.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Can anyone recommend me any good games along the style of XCOM and Silent Storm? The sort of small squad control strategy shooty games?
The games I have and have played until I got bored of them are XCOM (all of the original ones from the 90's), XCOM EW, XCOM2, Silent Storm, the three UFO games (aftershock, aftermath and the third one) and UFO Alien Invasion. Also that cold ware thing with spies, but I don't like that one. Any other suggestions? Old games are fine as long as I can get them to run.

Into the Breach is more like Advanced Wars than XCOM I think but is still kind of in the same vein. It's really good.

 

[PPQ_Purple]

For the record when I say like XCOM I mean:
- Small unit of soldiers of some sort.
- Shooting at stuff with guns or at worst arrows. But guns preferred.
- Cover system for tactical fire and maneuver play.

 

[Senethro]

Into the Breach is one of the most elegantly engineered games I've played in my life.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

For the record when I say like XCOM I mean:
- Small unit of soldiers of some sort.
- Shooting at stuff with guns or at worst arrows. But guns preferred.
- Cover system for tactical fire and maneuver play.

Yeah that's Into the Breach.

 

[PPQ_Purple]

I looked at the site and it looks like this:

Is that the game? If so it's not exactly what I was looking for. I mean I am looking for something a bit more like XCOM with human characters I can identify with. This just does not attract me really.

I'll give it a go still but just overall it does not look promising.

 

[Takhisis]

Can anyone recommend me any good games along the style of XCOM and Silent Storm? The sort of small squad control strategy shooty games?
The games I have and have played until I got bored of them are XCOM (all of the original ones from the 90's), XCOM EW, XCOM2, Silent Storm, the three UFO games (aftershock, aftermath and the third one) and UFO Alien Invasion. Also that cold ware thing with spies, but I don't like that one. Any other suggestions? Old games are fine as long as I can get them to run.

Not the same stuff exactly but I still will recommend that you branch off into playing The Battle for Wesnoth as I did five years ago. It's awesome, highly modifiable so there's something for everyone (the engine allows Stone-age hand-to-hand combat only all the way to interstellar travel and frickin' laser* beams) and runs on almost any system.

Edit: oh, and the Paradroid RPG and its clones e.g. FreeDroid RPG which runs on everything, too.

*note the proper spelling, @Sommerswerd

 

[dusters]

Looking for a new game to play where I could meet people from Europe.

So far I have been laying this year - League of Legends, Legends of Runeterra, Hearthstone, War of Omens, chess. So it has to be a brain game, I suppose.

 

[Sommerswerd]

So my move up with Asoka was a total bust. Just when you think you have a leader/strategy combination all worked out...drew an iso start. There was...something...reachable in the distance so I concentrated on getting a fishing boat to at least go meet somebody. It was a one tile island and a dead end. Meanwhile, while I was building a fishing boat instead of a fog buster the barbarians gathered their forces so about the time I saw the dead end I got run over.

"Move up"? What's "move up" precious?

 

[Timsup2nothin]

"Move up"? What's "move up" precious?

Difficulty level.

Please don't throw me in a volcano.

 

[PPQ_Purple]

I just wish there were total conversion mods for XCOM 2. Like that engine could keep me entertained forever. I just can't make my self go through the same old campaign over and over again.

 

[Arakhor]

For the record when I say like XCOM I mean:
- Small unit of soldiers of some sort.
- Shooting at stuff with guns or at worst arrows. But guns preferred.
- Cover system for tactical fire and maneuver play.

How about Mutant Year Zero?

 

[PPQ_Purple]

Shall look it up immediately. Looks good.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I looked at the site and it looks like this:

Is that the game? If so it's not exactly what I was looking for. I mean I am looking for something a bit more like XCOM with human characters I can identify with. This just does not attract me really.

I'll give it a go still but just overall it does not look promising.

That is the game.

It has human characters that pilot the mechs. They level up and gain skills that you have to trade against each other. You can send one back in time with all their promotions intact when you face a Kobiyashi Maru situation - which you inevitably will.

 

[PPQ_Purple]

That is the game.

It has human characters that pilot the mechs. They level up and gain skills that you have to trade against each other. You can send one back in time with all their promotions intact when you face a Kobiyashi Maru situation - which you inevitably will.

I despise games that put me in no win scenarios. The tutorial to XCOM2 almost had me drop the game and get a refund than and there.