Jon's Lost Corner: UFO2 Extraterrestrials

A preview on another X-Com style game coming from an indie developer. This is a second release and it should be noted the first game was not all that spectacular but I am sure they will improve on this release.

UFO2Extraterrestrials: Shadows over Earth

A fully 3D game combining real-time global strategy & air combat with turn-based tactical missions

A turn-based “I-Go-You-Go“ tactical squad-based game system

Interactive environments with destructible terrain.

A large number of technologies, weapons, and combat units to develop

A large number of aliens to interrogate

Strong RPG elements where soldiers’ stats improve with experience

Dynamic lighting for intense fire-fights

Final Gameplay design and balance tweaks by the author of the popular
original UFO: ET Bman Ease of Use Mod.

PROLOGUE

In the blackness of space beyond Jupiter, a burst of gamma rays signals the appearance of a ragged hole in the very fabric of the universe. A vast armada of alien ships, their shields glowing as they deflect the incredible energies unleashed by their hyperspace transit, pour out of the hole and assemble behind the gas giant. With a final spasm of radiation, the tear in space-time seals itself, forever closing access to that mysterious other-where from whence the aliens came.
The fleet assembles into a protective formation around the largest ship--the mothership. Upon the bridge of the mothership, the alien commander examines the main screen where the small blue white pearl of Earth is shown.
"Aaahhh," the commander speaks, "Finally we are here. Our future lies ahead of us."
The commander of the alien armada waves a tentacle towards the display and orders, "Dispatch scout vessels immediately. We must learn more about the inhabitants of our new home."

...a few days later at a police station
Joan: I'm telling you, officer. My husband was kidnapped by aliens!
Police Officer: Ma'am, I'm telling ya. There's no such thing as aliens. Let's go over it one more time. Tell me again what you saw.
...a few weeks later on the television
Reporter: Not much is known except they have said they come in peace and will be sending a diplomatic envoy to speak to the United Nations. This is the biggest event in the history of mankind!

...during the 26th assembly of the United Nations
The alien diplomat speaks to the assembly in perfect English, "Humans of Earth,
we are an old and noble race from a far-away system of planets." The alien presses a button on a small device and a holographic image of another star system appears above the table. The aliens pauses while the humans whisper in amazement, then continues.
"We come in peace. We are scientists and explorers, and like you, we seek to know the unknown. There is much about you and your planet that we do not know. We demand that we be given land and resources so that we might learn."
At this, whispers of consternation circled the room. Many representatives looked towards the US representative for comment. He sighed and stood, "Demand is a strong word. Perhaps your grasp of our language is not strong enough and you meant to say you request some land?"
The alien slammed the holographic projector onto the table in obvious irritation.
"My grasp of your simple language is perfect. We do not request anything.
We demand this of you. We demand this land you designate as Australia."
As it spoke, a new image of the continent in question formed above the table.
Immediately the room was in an uproar. Two Australian representatives stood up and began shouting, "This is an outrage!"
One of the European Union delegates tried to calm everyone down,
"Keep quiet! We must think! You will bring an interplanetary war upon us!"
The alien commander interjected, "We have no wish to wage war on your planet.
We just wish to conduct our research. Do not argue with our demands and there
will be no war."
The US delegate spoke again, "You must understand. Australia is inhabited by
millions of people! We can't just give it to you!"
The EU delegate added, "Maybe we could arrange for some other, less populated land.
How about Antarctica? We could also arrange to send Earth scientists to help you
with your research."
The alien shook its head in perfect mimicry of human expression,
"No. Our research is private and will not be shared. It is beyond the capacity of your human brains to understand. And the land you designate as Australia is the land we require. Furthermore, we demand that all population within the designated area remain.
Our research will require large numbers of human subjects."
The meeting broke into cries of "Human subjects!?" "Are you insane!?" "Never!"
Through it all, the alien stood patiently. Eventually, the US representative stood and
said in a shaking voice, "We need a short break while we deliberate on your requests."
The alien nodded, "Very well..."

...a few months later
A ragged page torn from a journal swirls across a twisted and broken landscape.
Writing upon the page, barely legible, reads, "We've retreated to the final bunker 2km underground beneath the base. The air is stale and the odor of blood and fear is oppressive. All of our fortifications are in place--whatever good they will do. I can hear the scraping and clicking of the aliens as they near the entrance. Soon the fighting will start again. Our blood seeps through our bandages and our bodies are drowning in pain and fever, but our minds are still whole. We won't give up. We will fight until are all dead. I know that there are other survivors out there. Somewhere. And the story of our courage in the face of death will inspire them. They will continue the fight. They will discover why the aliens brought war to our planet. They will overcome the enemy."

Alien incursion at the Airport

The Aliens are protected by an exotic metal alloy which is able to deflect and absorb the damaging effects caused by most terrestrial weapons, including armor piercing, hi-explosive, cryogenic, and even chemical ordinance. Each Alien carries a swarm of Sentinels within its carapace. Sentinels are small organic creatures that, although only lightly protected, are difficult to hit due to their speed and agility. The Sentinels have extremely well developed sensory organs, allowing them to track their targets through a combination of visual, auditory, olfactory, and even infra-red signals. Once an Alien has deployed a Sentinel, it is only a matter of time before its target is tracked down and neutralized. The victim's only hope is to destroy the Sentinel before it gets close.

Landing site

The landing site of a Counter Alien Forces (CAF) air transport which has been sent to counter an alien incursion near a train station. The transport is a quadro engine tactical dropship with a thick ceramic ablative armor shell. The small 6-man tactical squad has formed a defensive circle just outside the ship. During mission planning, CAF Intelligence reports indicated the aliens in the area were equipped with acidic, poisonous weapons. Thus each trooper is protected by a Sludge suit, which provides excellent protection against biological and chemical attacks, but very poor protection against incendiary weaponry. Unfortunately CAF intelligence was mistaken. The aliens sighted upon landing are equipped with incendiary weapons.

FAQ Press

Where does the story of "UFO2Extraterrestrials: Shadows over Earth" take place?

The story takes place on Earth, before the events that occurred in the original UFO:ET. The game actually takes place just before the events leading up to the human colonization of the planet Esperanza

What is the political situation on Earth like in this time of alien invasions?

Earth is divided into 9 super states: North American Brotherhood, European Union, Russian Federation, Asian Syndicate, Arabian League , African Coalition, ALBA - the South American Alliance, Australian Commonwealth, and Free Territory of Antarctica. All the super states support the Counter Alien Forces organization.

Is UFO2Extraterrestrials still turn-based or did you go for a new game system?

Yes, we retained the tactical turn-based system of the first game.

Why did you decide on a TB system?

As XCOM:UFO Defense, the Fall out series, the Civilization series and for instance the Heroes of Might and magic series have proven, the turn based gameplay is very suitable for strategy games and players enjoy having the time to plot their moves against the enemy. Also, there are almost no turn based strategy games being released anymore even though there are still lots of players who enjoy this gameplay mode. And now I’m talking especially about the players who have played XCOM:UFO Defense, the Fallout series, the Civilization series and, of course, UFO:Extraterrestrials, our previous product.

While the Tactical Missions are turn based, Geoscape is real-time, right?

Yes, you’re absolutely correct! All gameplay on the Geoscape is in real-time. The player will control his air and naval forces in real time on the Globe.

Did you say naval forces??

There weren't any naval forces in the previous UFO: Extraterrestrials nor in the original XCOM:UFO Defense.

Why did you decide to implement the navy in the "UFO2Extraterrestrials: Shadows over Earth"?

That's because the aliens have not limited their activity to land. They are also terrorizing the seas and oceans. They have been abducting people from their civilian vessels (yachts, boats, tankers, and cruisers). So the CAF have begun utilizing aircraft carriers to protect the oceans of Earth even as the bases protect the land.
Aircraft carriers, as we know from today, have nearly no self protection. I mean no missile launchers etc.

How can they protect civilian ships if they can't even protect themselves?

Actually, the aircraft carriers in "UFO2Extraterrestrials: Shadows over Earth" won't be aircraft carriers per se, but a kind of heavy aircraft-carrying assault cruisers with a VTOL system and they will be armed with missiles and other defenses against numerous disc shaped enemies. These defenses will help protect the cruiser. However the main weapon will still be your Fighters. Maintaining fighters on your aircraft carriers will enable them to reach any endangered civilian ships that much faster.

Why do the aliens abduct so many people?

Our research suggests that probably the most intelligent and oldest of the alien races started to suffer from an unknown illness.

What enables them to survive is something that human bodies produce, perhaps human stem cells.

The aliens want them and what they want, they take.

Will be "UFO2Extraterrestrials: Shadows Over Earth" moddable?

Yes, it will be just as moddable as the original UFO:ET. We know how much the community enjoys being able to mod a game. Most of the game is written in an easy to learn and modify scripting language. We appreciate and encourage any interest from any modders.

Do you think that the modding community at websites like www.ufo-scene.com are going to produce as many mods for "UFO2Extraterrestrials Shadows over Earth" as they did for UFO:Extraterrestrials?

We certainly hope so. These gamers have created their mods because they enjoyed the original UFO:Extraterrestrials and because the game was "mod-friendly”. We hope they will enjoy modding "UFO2Extraterrestrials: Shadows over Earth" just as much.

That’s great! Is there anything you can do to show your appreciation to the dedication and hard work of these modders?

YES! We will be providing each modder with a free copy of "UFO2Extraterrestrials: Shadows over Earth" if they contact us before UFO2:ET is released and if they helped develop any of the original UFO:ET mods.

One of my favorite UFO:ET mods was called the UFO:ET Ease of Use Mod, or “Bman Mod” for short. Are you going to get Bman, aka Brandon Wallace, to help you with "UFO2Extraterrestrials: Shadows over Earth"?

Many of the features of that mod will be included in UFO2:ET, including the tactical interface improvements, advanced tactical and geoscape UFO AI, Swarms and many other. Also many of the unique equipment and your favorite gameplay changes from the mod will also be incorporated. So yes, Brandon is participating in the design and development of "UFO2Extraterrstrials: Shadows over Earth".

What kind of items is UFO2 going to include?

Well, the Sentinels, for instance. They are robots deployable by some of the aliens. The Sentinels can track down the victim they're aimed at and kill it with a devastating self explosion. We also have a variety of proximity grenades able to identify allies and enemy units.
The missions will take place not only in cities, forests, deserts, bases, etc., but also on boats and the Aircraft Carriers. There will be explosive fuel barrels, stacks of missiles, fuel stations and machinery in factories scattered around that you’ll be able to shoot down during combat to blow up nearby enemies—if the enemies don’t do it to you first!

The UFO:ET game engine didn't have dynamic lighting. Are you going to change that for UFO2:ET?

Yes, we’re implementing dynamic lighting for UFO2Extraterrestrials to create more intense combat situations.

Chaos Concept - the team developing UFO2Extraterrestrials: Shadows over Earth.

The development team includes Petr Fiedler, Michal Doležal, Kamil Pekař, Martin Dolejš, Patrik Mareška.
From 2002-2007 we developed UFO:Extraterrestrials, the predecessor of "UFO2Extraterrestrials: Shadows over Earth".
Now we're working on "UFO2Extraterrestrials: Shadows over Earth", trying to create the game that will pick up where the original XCOM:UFO Defense left off.
We worship the Gollop brothers for developing XCOM:UFO Defense, published by Microprose.