Warmaker

Okay, I finally gave it a go and it's pretty fun so far. I'm still getting used to the interface. The team is still working on putting in features from what I've read. But the tactical battles seem right so far. There's different ranges of engagement and situations for different weapons to be most effective. Compared to my foray in UFOE, it's nice to be able to shoot accurately further than 4 tiles! I was pleased to get into a tactical map with up to 8 levels of height / floors. I was receiving alien fire from a tall mansion's balcony. The graphics aren't hi-tech by today's standards but they get the job done, esp. on the tactical maps. Submachineguns. Assault Rifles. Sniper Rifles. Rocket Launchers. Flamethrowers. Pistols (and differing types / functions). Knives. Grenades. Shotguns. Grenade Launchers. Even better, it seems the dev team put in a variety of special purpose rounds for weapons like the Grenade Launcher and Rocket Launcher. The Gren.Launcher even has a Flechette Round which I need to try out. Another neat little thing is that the Grenade launcher can fire single or 3 round "bursts." Also, they can fire "timed" on impact to allow a bit of a roll before exploding. They can also opt for an "Airburst" for more precise shots. The nice little twist to the GL is that they fire in an arc and you have to take into account ceilings, doorways, etc. that will obstruct the rounds as they arc across. Very nice since alot of games treat GL's like simple, direct LOS weapons (i.e. rifle). For a free download, not bad so far. I'd love to see this developed further with more core features put in.

Token "You Can't Have a Terminator Thread Without Arnie" pic

It depends. It is not so much as "Girls vs Toys" for me. It's a bigger meaning. It means being able to deal with the likes and dislikes found between 2 people in a relationship, because there's bound to be differences and some things that one doesn't like about the other. Some will demand a change for their like without giving two s**ts about your own hobbies and whatnot. If they want to change you into a flower holding b***h following in their wake and you comply, then by all means. I won't. There will be middle ground or no ground at all. Funny note: We're holding a sort of "relationships" discussion in a Toys Forum

As long as we don't hear something stupid like: "Holy rusted metal, Batman!"

I saw a convention preview sample of the Commander Gree helmet and it looked really great. The weathering, scorches, and especially the reflective green lens made it really stand out from previous Clonetrooper helmets released by MR. I was going to order that and eventually one of the Stormtrooper versions. I was even hoping for an eventual release of a Scout Trooper helmet from RotJ. I was also hoping for a Commander Cody. I've had a good number of MR products over the years. FX Lightsabers - Ep.IV Darth Vader - Mace Windu AT-AT (regular version without the snow & crashed Snowspeeder) "Spec Ops Trooper" / 501st Legion Clonetrooper helmet (blue & white): And yes, it had the s/n plate and all since some didn't receive it on delivery. Oh well. The ride was fun while it lasted. I guess it's time to see rehashed releases with whomever gets the license. Edit to add: Here's a link with a convention preview of the MR Cmdr Gree. Look close to the bottom.

Interesting, esp. since MR was working on some follow up helmets for the Ep.III Clonetroopers and Stormtroopers. Too bad that won't happen.

My favorite scene from Terminator was when Arnie is prepared for his "trip to the Police Station." He exits his room and walks down the hallway with sunglasses on (at night) and his assault rifle raised. There was a guy in the hallway who stepped to the side and just said, "GodD**N!!!"

The USS New Jersey from what I gathered around "teh internetz" was the most decorated battlewagon the US Navy ever had, more than the famed USS Missouri and the rest of her sister ships that continued to serve for decades. All I know is that with so many decades of service (a bit of off and on stints) in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the 80's, and even into Desert Shield / Storm, the US got its moneys worth with the Iowa Class Battleships. Those battlewagons threw alot of shells into the air, big and small, and even Cruise Missiles late in their service lives. I know the USMC misses having NGS (Naval Gunfire Support) from the big guns of a BB ever since the Iowa Classes have been decomissioned. ------------- As for the po'd looking Airman in the picture, I know full well how he feels. Beautiful weekend, lots of civillians running around the base, lots of wonderful looking girls, food, drinks, aircraft on display. A decent time could be had! But no... You have been selected to be an augment for the airshow. You're working the entire weekend. You're either directing traffic, doing security details, running a "Lost and Found" for belongings and kids. Your day starts at a ridiculous hour like 3am and doesn't end until the last civillian has left the base each day, which during MCAS El Toro's massive airshows usually meant 8pm, sometimes even 9pm. The weather's almost always hot but you have to stand out there all day and be active, especially the traffic details. You must be polite, courteous when you're talking with the civillians despite how drained you feel from standing on your feet for 16 or so hours. When the airshow weekend's done, the thanks you get is: Report back to your commands Monday morning. You report back as ordered. Get to work. -------------- Small story from an Air Show I worked as a Lance Corporal in 1995 at MCAS El Toro. My friend and I were one of the security augments. We've been roaming and returned to the Tower, a.k.a. "Lost and Found." We sat down next to a little boy, waiting for his parents to come and pick up him. My friend is a really big, intimidating guy but is actually a teddy bear. We sit with the kid between us. The boy kind of squirms a little and looks at my huge friend. He quietly asks him: "Umm, excuse me sir, are you a Marine?" "Yes, yes I am." "... Umm... have you killed anyone?" (Looks at the kid) "No. Not today." The kid just looks straight back forward with his hands folded on his lap, scared. We stop the game and let the boy know he was just joking, got him some soda and candy for compensation. Which worked, of course

I've had numerous preorders with HLJ. They never announce when something has finally been released but they always ship it out it does.

Another Terminator movie seems to be in the works. I doubt Arnie will be in it since he's aged and is busy with work and all. I also doubt that it will be a time travel to the 80's-90's like the originals were since... it's been done as much as possible already. What would be cool is to see the fighting in the future with the humans vs machines. We only got glimpses of it from the first movie and I always wanted to see more

And vomit on them

I only saw 28 Days Later, but it was never mentioned there either. It may be one of those plot or logic holes that they want us to go, "Forget about that. You're thinking too much."

In MCAS Miramar's Air Show in 2006, I recall the USAF's F-117 parked to one side. As it turned out, the F-117 had been in service for decades. This demo jet, as what was pointed out earlier, was probably gutted of non-essentials just like demo team aircraft (Blue Angels, etc). Anyways, for 2006, the F-117 wasn't roped off, not under guard with heavily armed sentries, and even allowing some civillian to sit in the cockpit.

Looks interesting, I'll check it out when I get home.

Ahh, the USS New Jersey. It's my favorite warship ever and the first I ever boarded. I can still recall my Dad taking me to see the NJ back in the early 80's for San Francisco's Fleet Week. I was impressed by the size and sheer amount of weapons on that ship, especially the 16 inch guns Also, it seems US Navy warships have a tradition of showing the ship's ribbons / awards from her service, and it seems usually just under the bridge on the starboard side (right side for you landlubbers). The NJ had seen action in WWII, Korea, Vietnam War, and service in the Mediterranean (Lebanon, etc). The ship had a "salad" of ribbons / awards. Nothing like shells as heavy as a car coming down on top of someone

That's the thing... there is no prone position!

28 Days Later 28 Weeks Later 28 Months Later 28 Years Later Can I go on? Curious to see how this pans out with more MWers viewing it.

Looks like the Gamespot Review covered some of my gripes. - Automatic / Uncontrolled Recruitment - Awful Weapon Accuracy If you check at Gamespot's Forum for the game you'll see some interesting topics like this one. Basically, it seems there are fanbois who are bashing the reviewer for the negative review for UFOE. I find it weird since I have always viewed X-Com enthusiasts as a united community, always looking for a worthy X-Com successor but always disappointed. Anyways, when you look at that discussion, the fanbois are railing the reviewer but they're not providing any counterpoints to the review in favor of the game. Then again, that's the same behavior with games these days, right?

I have yet to expand to a second base so I can't help you there just yet. Plus, funds are running low since my money is going to other more important things. Like Grenades Don't make me say it... especially since it was Official... Master of Orion III! Wow was that a disaster! I bought that d**n thing too out of blind loyalty (Pounds head into wall x3)

It's a pretty low key release, so I dunno... The thing that kills me with the Tactical combat is that there's far less possibilities. In Apocalypse, I was worried about enemy fire from a 4th story window. I was worried what was hiding in this ravine to my Troopers' flank since I didn't look down there. I can't position snipers or heavy weapon teams on a rooftop to provide ample observation and support. Put it this way... in the old X-Com Apocalypse, the Tactical combat made me think in 3 dimensions, worrying about height, observation, etc. Not so in UFOE. It felt more "2D." The tension of close ranged fighting is there, but that's just it. For me, it seemed it was only about close ranged fighting, regardless of the weapons I was using. The first indication I had that there was no long ranged fighting was the lack of a Sniper Rifle of any sort. Granted, I'm still fairly early in the game. But then again the shortness of the Fog Of War sort of enforces my concern. I hated to bag the game when you look at the tone of my opinions. Heck, I initiated this thread for the game! You can tell that yes, the game wasn't a high production value, but there was some love put into it. I have yet to experience any freezeups or CTDs. But considering that a game so closely being identified with the X-Com series just seems to lack some of the options, possibilities of the originals which came out 10 or more years ago... it was disappointing. Edit to add: I'll give it a chance and beat the thing. Heck, I paid money so I might as well see it through. Maybe it'll improve with more features down the road. I'll see.

Even more depressing when I know the USMC will replace its entire AV-8 and F/A-18 inventory with JSF's.

Like I said, I got the download version from Matrix Games. Also, I'm putting up opinions based on my experience with X-Com: Apocalypse, not X-Com: Enemy Unknown (I never played EU). I'll shorten UFO: Extraterrestrials to just UFOE. The above is the geoscape (am I using the right term here?) for UFOE. Very straight forward but for me there was one annoying problem. To scroll around this made up planet, you had to use the very sluggish arrow buttons at the bottom of the screen. I can't click on a spot to jump and center the view to that area. It does jump when you hit icons such as the crashed UFO button on the left side. The geoscape is realtime but you can control the speed of time for your needs. Also, regarding UFO detection. When you start off, you have 1 pretty well developed base. But you can't detect what's going on on the other side, so establishing new bases will be a later concern. I say later since your growth potential is very, very slow due to "recruitment" than budget concerns. I'll get into recruitment later. The above 2 are screenshots from the UFOPEDIA section of the game. Topics are self explanatory and more are added as you do more research. Real simple and to the point. I love the recycling of UFOPEDIA from the old X-Com games. The above is the trooper or "agent screen." Click on the arsenal and click onto the new spot on the trooper's inventory. Real simple though I do wish that there was a small area that told the weapon's statistics. This screen also is shown when in a tactical mission and you hit the Inventory for that Trooper. The right column will show the gear that Trooper is "on top of" for that tile and can pick up. Interestingly, it costs no Action Points to access, sort / arrange, and reload weapons while in a mission, unlike in X-Com: Apocalypse. Here is a screenie of the Research Screen. For every Research Module you possess, you get 10 scientists. Put more on a project, the faster the research is for that one. Scatter them, you do more simultaneous research but they will all be slower in pace. Here's the Production Screen where you produce items that your scientists have discovered / unlocked. Same rules just like Research. I have no problems whatsoever with Research and Production. Here's the Buy / Sell Screen. You buy conventional gear, vehicles, and armaments here. Simple, right? It is but there is a bit of a problem. I know some players in other X-Com games have made good money here. In X-Com Apocalypse, I made good money here from conducting raids (Cultists and other human enemies of X-Com) or selling off alien gear that I considered "low tech" and won't be a danger to my field agents should they fall in the wrong hands. Not so in UFOE. There are no raids to "acquire" surplus gear except from alien incursions. Ok, I can live with that. But what about items that you produce from the Production Screen, stuff you produce from your own facilities? Not really but technically you can. You can sell the hi-tech items you manufacture, but they sell for pretty low prices, far lower than the cost required in making them in the first place. That was a big blow, IMO. ----- Ladic had also shown a screenshot of a base layout. You can purchase and add modules to a base adjacent to existing and fully built modules. An interesting note is that there is no Entry / Exit Point(s) with the base. I have yet to be attacked at my sole base, but this looks a bit weird. ----- The above is a tactical mission and my trooper had just chucked a grenade at a somewhat remote target. The effects get the job done but it's of course nowhere near what games tend to show off these days. The above is what you'll see when you select something like a rifle and then click on the target. I have a rifle equipped trooper sight in on the target and this little window pops up for the chances of hitting as well as the Action Point Costs. The top is Aimed, second is Snap Shot, and the third is a 3 Round "Auto Attack." Wounds? Just like in X-Com: Apocalypse, you could get damage that reduces your health. Sometimes you also suffer Wounds that bleed hit points away per turn if left untreated with more advanced (and researched) Medikits. The starting Stimpacks only heal damage, not wounds, which is fine by me. ----- RECRUITMENT In X-Com: Apocalypse, YOU controlled the rate of growth of the number of Troopers you had. You go out and select recruits from a pool of possible candidates. You hire them and each Trooper adds to the total upkeep of X-Com. Each trooper of course can be seriously injured or killed. In UFOE, it gets weird. It is quite hard to get an agent killed. If they're put down during a tactical mission, they're badly injured. When you beat the mission, everyone gets on the transport and goes back to base. Upon return, they're hospitalized for what could be a very, very long time. If you win your missions, you will never lose an agent. "WTF?" you ask? You can still lose them if you lose a tactical mission entirely. You can also withdraw early from a mission, but you will leave behind (and permanently lose) any incapacitated Troopers. UFOE more importantly does not allow you to recruit Troopers as you need. The game mandates when you receive new troopers. Or to be more exact from my early game experiences, new trooper (big emphasis on the singular form of trooper). The new troops come sporadically and very, very slowly, and from what I've seen, only 1. So, combine the complete lack of control on the growth of your organization, the long downtimes for agents, and the frequency of missions which oftenly cause serious injuries, this seriously affected my gameplay. Do not be surprised to find yourself with having most of your Troopers in the Infirmary with only 1-2 fit for combat duty. Also, unlike X-Com Apocalypse, you can't force lightly injured agents to participate in a mission (though with appropriately depleted ability). In UFOE, once in the Infirmary, they're fit for nothing. In X-Com Apocalypse, I had the option to recruit lots of brand new, low skilled recruits that need training and experience, but they bolster my numbers when I need it. Not so in UFOE. ----- GEOSCAPE COMBAT Pretty simple, IMO. You get a warning that a UFO has been detected. You then can opt to launch an intercept with your fighters. If the UFO is shot down over the water, there's no subsequent land tactical mission. If it crashlands on solid land, then an icon can appear and you can dispatch a transport. Before launching of the transport, you can select and outfit the Troopers for the mission. The starting transport allows up to 8 Troopers or Vehicles. Taking a Vehicle takes up 4 Trooper slots. This probably changes with later developments. Not long ago, I got a warning that the aliens took over a region, but I promptly dispatched a section of Troopers and a Vehicle to enter the "converted" alien base and destroy it. Too bad I couldn't keep the base... ----- TACTICAL COMBAT I know the graphics aren't fancy by today's standards but IMO, the artwork ranges from okay to nice and detailed. Building interiors and are done very nicely with lots of detail. Most things on the map are destructible, but IMO, some of it is too easily destroyed. Usually a single shot from my rifle will make an opening in a wall. That wasn't the case in X-Com: Apocalypse. Yes, I can destroy walls, windows, etc., but taking making an opening in a wall takes more power than a single rifle shot or laser shot, usually requiring explosives or a shot from a powerful weapon. Ground Elevation... all the tactical missions I have ran showed no differences in Ground Elevation. Unless you get into a multi-storied building or such, EVERYTHING IS FLAT! In addition, from the missions that I have played, the maximum number of floors and "elevation" is 2 (or 2 storied buildings and such). This is quite sad compared to X-Com: Apocalypse where we had a maximum of 8 or9 stories for buildings! We had apartment complexes and neighborhoods in Apocalypse. Not so in UFOE! I still have to see something like catwalks or other interesting places for units to walk and position themselves in. Movement and Positions. There is no "Run" feature in UFOE. There's only walk. In X-Com Apocalypse, you could have your Troopers run, though it incurred fatigue and a gradual lowering of total Action Points until you gave them rest. Your ability to spot dangers while running is also greatly reduced. In UFOE, you have no such option. Positions... There's Standing and Kneeling. No Prone Position whatsoever! Speaking of Positions... I have yet to notice a benefit to kneeling other than wasting Action Points, 3 pts a piece to get up and down. I have yet to notice benefits to accuracy while Kneeling. I have yet to notice any benefits to kneeling as to how easy your are to be hit by enemy fire. IMO, you're better off standing in the open ground than kneeling in the open ground. At least with standing, you're not wasting points to get down and up and "walking" to the nearest cover. It really pissed me off that positions and movement were so minimalized. Fog of War. Ladic touched this and I'll add more. I hate it. FoW in UFOE is very close and there are no long ranged engagements. Everything feels point blank. I wish UFOE let your units see far! Let their vision for the tactical map only be disrupted by objects and the size of the target (if they can be seen at a distance). You may see something, but can you engage it with your weapons? Probably no. It depends on the gear (Laser Sniper Rifle, Missile Launcher, or very d**n good accuracy while in the Prone). X-Com Apocalypse let you do this. Oh, I said accuracy didn't I? This early in the game, unless a target is right in front of you (1-2 tiles away), your standard Rifles and even the Laser Rifles I just researched and manufactured are atrociously inaccurate. Unless your trooper is "elite" than your chances to hit with an Aimed Shot at a distance with your Rifle is quite poor. A waste of ammo. My tactics are reduced to the following: Engage with a single Missile at long range. Creep up or rush at point blank and use Auto Fire. Or, since it's too dangerous to run forward and you don't have an unlimited supply of missiles, you will rely on grenades. In UFOE, I go through grenades like I breathe air. So bad are weapon accuracies (unless using missiles) that I rely on 'nades as my sole, reliable means of fighting the enemy. My troopers carry more grenades than Stimpacks and Rifle Magazines combined. I have designated troopers who's sole purpose is Missile Mule for the Missile Launcher guy. Everyone else is Rifle with 1 magazine and tons of grenades. Action Points and Fire Selection. The only time you select your mode of fire for a trooper is when you say so for that action. You can't leave a trooper to only use Aimed, Snap Shot, or Automatic for "Overwatch" or preferred firing situations. For instance, I'm at a short hallway with a turn coming up. In such close terrain in X-Com Apocalypse, I would have my Troopers going down that hallway with Automatic weapon fire selection to quickly engage and completely hose down whatever threat comes out or is around that corner. In X-Com Apocalypse, I could have my Troopers only use controlled Snap Fire to strike a balance with speed and time to aim / accuracy because the terrain is distant and optimal enough. In UFOE, you get no such control. With the hallway example I gave, my UFOE troopers will slowly go down that hallway saving 80% of their Action Points each turn, and still be rushed by something around the corner and let out maybe 1 shot to protect themselves. As Ladic also said, there is no "Save Action Points" when you make your Trooper do something in UFOE. In Apocalypse, depending on the Weapon Fire Mode, the Trooper stops to give you a warning that he has the minimum number of points to fire just once with that fire mode during the enemy's turn for Overwatch purposes. There is also no "Overhead Map" in a corner. ----- I'll probably add in more, plus screenshots given time. But my final judgement so far: UFO Extraterrestrials is fine in its own game. But if I compare it to even X-Com Apocalypse, especially the Tactical Combat, it is far inferior. What was possible in the Tactical game in Apocalypse was amazing, considering that it is 10 years old now! There's 2 areas that I feel UFOE was superior to X-Com Apocalypse... The Geoscape since Apoc. didn't have one!... and having vehicles, since Apoc. did not let you bring tanks and such into a tactical mission.

I had 2 gripes with that video. Real-Time No Gore or "Splat-Splat"

UFO: Afterlight is a sequel to UFO: Aftermath. As for UFO Extraterrestrials, I also got the Matrix Games' download version. I'll put up my little opinions on it after I do some errands.

I didn't see that flick. Did it have Mutants, Whores, and lots of gore? Seriously, am I the only one that thinks that a modern "Fallout" type of movie would be awesome? It'd also be perfectly fine for Mel Gibson to have some cameos somewhere!