New article here.
Apparently they teleport now.
Getting strong Strogg vibes from this one. Can't watch through the video now, too busy and my connection's throttled until the 4th anyway. Someone else give it a look and tell us what's in it, eh? Looking at the new design, I half suspect the "teleport" move is actually some kind of jump jet that "hops" them around the map. Can they still move vertically between levels, or has UE3's pathfinding forced a change to the way they work?
Looks like the top half of a Muton with a rocket pack strapped to their back, and moves a lot like Reapers from SC2. They seem to "swarm" in a pack of 3-4, moving around a lot. Seen from the gameplay footage, Floaters can "levitate" up to fire on Soldiers behind cover. (http://i45.tinypic.com/333hc7s.png). I guess this is used like an ability and not for constant flying.
Jake does mention teleporting, but it is in the context of flying. I am unsure about any real teleport ability.
"They operate in packs, so they may tie you down here. Then teleport behind the lines and sneak up on you". - JS
However the GTTV article says "Teleport to anywhere on the map."
The more I think about them, the more I like them. Prepare to get FLANKED X-COM!
Last edited by heniv; 04-27-2012 at 01:23 AM.
I like the sounds of this one too. Sounds like it will be a very strong unit by itself but in a pack, now that will be a challenge! I don't think I will be risking any fast scouts out by themselves... Squad tighten up and eyes to the skies. 3-4 of these bad boys in a pack would make short work of a lone scout
Actually I think that the half muton makes more since. Why should floater be a species? It always sounded like a process to me. I mean the original alien species was heavily modified. So why not just modify a tough species you already have.Originally Posted by heniv
Still, that's not really the important thing. The important thing is they took what was basically the weakest enemy ever (I think I've had more floaters shoot their teammates than me) and turned them into a Goddamned nightmare. D:
Yuck!
It does look like a Strogg!
Geez, I was hoping they would keep the weird face and body of the old Floaters, or try something new. But this is just lazy.
(My 3D Floater look better anyways)
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Yeah, But the Floaters were *Scientistes* ! So pointlessly making them evil and "bad***" doesn't add any depth to the aliens.Still, that's not really the important thing. The important thing is they took what was basically the weakest enemy ever (I think I've had more floaters shoot their teammates than me) and turned them into a Goddamned nightmare. D:
Last edited by podtech115; 04-27-2012 at 04:02 AM.
Yeah, But the Floaters were *Scientistes* ! So pointlessly making them evil and "bad***" doesn't add any depth to the aliens.
Actually, they were always primarily troopers.
I love their new look, they now have that feel of a fast airborne predator the research tells you about, I also think it'd look even better if their right hand had the weapon fused to the skin and leave the left hand as a claw, they better have melee attacks as well.
Also a thumbs up. The design is not bad and it seems it will have a decent character.
Wow the floaters look awesome. The trailer showed some XCOM agents getting pretty destroyed. (nice death animations eh?) That map looked dark and creepy too.
I don't like the red circles around the aliens though. Less intrusive UI! Don't cover up your art by covering the aliens with random lines and healthbars!
I think if they were able to include floaters then we will definitely see snakemen.
Floaters confirmed, then! They look a bit more threatening now eh? Now we've got Floaters, I'm sure Snakemen will be confirmed as well.
I read "they work in packs" and I was skeptical. The video shows them flying simultaneously swarming over a poor XCOM guy! The blood-red-colored jet pack vapor trails are pretty creepy.
I like the cursor showing both the 3d position of the Floater and it's ground position. Sometimes it was a little bit tough to figure out in the original game exactly where a flying unit was.
That must mean that it won't be the case with all aliens. Those alien groups in the videos must be there for 'demo magic'.I also found out that the Floater will operate in packs, tying down you or a squad mate in one area and then teleport behind the lines to sneak up on other unsuspecting members of your team.
Edit: When that British trooper gets shot, seems to be a fair amount of blood spatter as he goes down. Good.
I should stop reading any of these 'alien type' articles. Its just ruining any surprise or any aspect of the "unknown" for me. Sigh. I had so much fun in the original discovering new aliens.
That G4TV clip was an exercise in what it must be like to be on speed. Every image is only up for maybe 1 second, the announcer is screaming at you, there are explosions going off everywhere, I'm sitting over here freaking out, running circles around the room, WTH!
Yeah, same here. We must demonstrate more willpower!
I think they will expose only several most common alien types before release. Just enough to maintain hype.
Yeah a new alien WOOHOO. I get that some people don't want them to spoil all the alien types but... you can just NOT read this articles you know?^^ I'm dying to see all the crazy new enemies and I don't care about loosing that "unknown" feel. After one playthrough I'll know them all by heart anyway.
On topic:
At first after seeing the Image i was thinking... WTF? This looks stupid.
But after watching them in action they actually grew on me. That red exhaust trail is a nice touch and their whole movements remind me of a necron unit from Dawn of War( forgot the name of the unit)
Plus I really like their ability to teleport around. That's something I really wished for and that will really be scary combined with the new cover bsed system.
Just think about it: You are engaged in a firefight with a group of mutons. Your soldiers are all hiding behin cover jsut to stay alive and suddenly those guys show up behind you and rip you apart. Loving it !
When I played the first game, I had literally NO idea what to expect/what I will see when I step off the skyranger.. Since I was one of the first in the US to play it, there were no reviews, screenshots, and I had not read the manual.
What an experience that was !
but with the advent of the internet, thats all gone now. i remember they had much better and more fun manuals back in the days anyway. sid meiers pirates gold! one side manual, backside of each page history/lore of real pirates...i even managed to make a presentation on pirates when i was a kid, based only on the manualWhen I played the first game, I had literally NO idea what to expect/what I will see when I step off the skyranger.. Since I was one of the first in the US to play it, there were no reviews, screenshots, and I had not read the manual.
What an experience that was !true story!
tormented alien soldiers...
is it just me, or are they reminiscent of SC II Terran Reapers?
eitherway, since it seems they're going to just reimagine the old alien characters of the original - revealing them seems to be fine. We only hear of their descriptions, and even if the developers mention their tactics and strengths, that doesn't mean we still won't be surprised by what they might be capable of doing once we actually play against said aliens.
What I just hope is that they don't reveal other "new aliens" and that the Tin Man is just a hint to us that they're introducing new aliens. I just hope they are doing that and they won't reveal them.
Yeah now that you mention it they kinda look like a combination of a terran reaper and a necron wraith.
http://www.beastsofwar.com/wp-conten...ron-Wraith.jpg
What i find interesting is the clawed left hand. Does that mean they have a melee attack too or is it just for show?
Watch the video closely, I'm pretty sure there is a point where they are clawing at one of the soldiers.
What the frekk are you doing on this forum then?
Do you also hide from the world if you missed a match and will watch the replay? =D
I'm quite sure Firaxis wont reveal the entire game, these are just to please the old-time players that the old content is still in, and feed the hype even more.
NOT TO MENTION the damn FANATIC fanbase always wanting more info on the game......
LMAO what a gay looking alien!!! Nothing like the orignal Floater at all. Epic Fail.
gay as in: happy, cheerful?
what if its a girl???
Maybe get alphacent the magnificent - to redesign them?
To be honest i love the look of the floaters - reminds me a little of those flying zombie robotic creations in return to castle wolfenstein.
Love how the vectoring jets fly off as it flys around or holds postion - They look absoultly mint - i just dont know what is the matter with people - why are they a fail? - they look deadly almost like a pack of wolves that are about to tear you to peices.
One intresting thing i did see in the video was the first a shiv in action - nice
Ready and willing sir!
Floaters look cool, I think their unit movement speed could be reduced abit though. Otherwise they look good, did we actually see of them do any try flying, or we're they all just hovering 3 feet off the ground. In the last 3 millisecond clip it looked like the floater could've been 1 'space' off the ground to shoot the PC hiding behind the wall but it was hard to tell.
Also that was a good lookin map, tombstones and crypts at night.
Was it jus me or was anyone else expecting a slightly larger looking shiv ? Maybe it's just my xcom original memories ...
Does the new Floater design remind anyone else of Maw from Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight?
Reminds me of a number of designs that have come about over the last 10 years, but it's different in that it's cut in half and has a jet pack. I hope soldier view has proper blind spots. Could be an interesting enemy.
More to complain:
1. They are not Floating anymore. They are flying.
2. I like the bulkey "life support system/anti-gravity unit" they had. It made them more sadder, somehow.
3. What happen to their horns? It made them more different.
4. I was hoping they keep the.... for a lack of a better word, "cleavage slice" on their foreheads. It look like they cut open the brain, and even did something to the nose. It added history and mystery to the Floaters.
5. Their faces look too much like the new muton, facemask and all. Talk about lazy.
6. I almost forgot, what about the triangle eyes? I thought that made him really alien.
Both the new floater and new muton remind me of the strogg. I don't really mind it and the strogg were a scarier enemy than the original muton/floater/sectoid units, but I do wish that the floater had a bit more of a torso and used an anti-grav system instead of a jet-pack type system (only because those two minor changes would stay a bit more true to the spirit of the original while still having artwork that is unique and different from the original's).
Not true: Look closer, they still hav some sort of grav field coming from their torso. The jetpacks are only for fast movement and to stabilize their flying position.
I see what you mean. I think They should have added something to the lower torso like a spine or that old Grav unit.
Meh always hated those. They really emphasized the alien/machine hybrid being on this new design and I'm fine with that.
Well I like it that aliens now have a bit more in common. Would be strange if they have completely different technologies.
Yeah they never had those. It's just an eyebrow.6. I almost forgot, what about the triangle eyes? I thought that made him really alien.
You might want to look at them in action as I think they look alot better when moving around. At first I didn't really like their design either, but now I'm loving it.
Yes, and how DARE Firaxis remove that dashing cape! Now the floater have no class at all. Rather they should have added a top hat and a monocle. :P
Sarcasm aside;
1. No, now more than ever they "float up/levitate".... in the original they really fly.
2. Can you ever imagine that bulky original Floater moving fast? And they should not be sad, they should be terrifying.
3, 4, 5. Yes, they look a bit much like the Muton.
6. Triangle? Not triangle, what Alucardex wrote.
I think they could have made the look of them a bit more devil-like as in the original and still combined it with the great new design.
Last edited by heniv; 04-28-2012 at 01:51 AM.
What I really like is what seems to be their idle animation.
They float just a bit above ground using their clawed hand to hold them in position.
to me they look a bit like vultures waiting for their prey when doing that.
They really did a good job on their animations.
seems to me, that firaxis has induced new ways of inducing terror. Start with the bulky wall popping Berzerkers, now we have the flanking "i'll scratch your face off" Floaters. And you have to keep in mind that us "terrans" aren't that great in the melee department in these modern times (relatively speaking).
It makes me quiver how firaxis would recreate Chryssalids, under this direction.
I have to admit, they look terrifying in motion
The original floaters never threatened me. Maybe because of stats and race AI?
I was more afraid of sectoids.
When it's a scary looking and acting unit like this one, I like being hyped at. =P
If that's what they do by day, I don't want to have their nightmares.
I'm really hoping that they move more like spiders and that they can climb walls. After seeing how they took the dorky/lovable floaters from 1994 and turned them into these manic death-machines I'm really excited for all of the aliens.
This is much more impressive than mutons or sectoids just because they changed more. I still think the mutons and sectoids are awesome enemies, they are just sort of what you expect. These floaters are a very pleasant (ie: fearsome) surprise.
Looks cool. Kinda had hoped they'd be more along the lines of the originals, but wth.
I'm still hoping there'll be a mod or something down the road with easily recognizable versions of the original bad guys, esp. the Mutons.
Dont worry there will be tons of mods.
There is even newer artwork around to base the design on:
http://commanderx.xcomufo.com/alliance/05_full.jpg
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