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UFO: Enemy Unknown

A turn-based strategy game blending base management with tactical combat.

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UFO: Enemy Unknown is a strategy game set in 1998 where an international organization called X-COM fights an alien invasion.[1] The game combines a global strategy layer with turn-based tactical combat on procedurally-generated maps.[2][3] It was originally conceived as a sequel to the 1988 game Laser Squad.[4]

Making and release

The game was originally conceived by Mythos Games, led by Julian Gollop, as a sequel to Laser Squad with isometric graphics.[4] An initial 1991 demo ran on the Atari ST and was a simple two-player tactical game called Laser Squad 2.[4] The Gollop brothers brokered a deal with MicroProse after approaching three publishers.[4] The game was nearly canceled twice during development, first due to financial difficulties and then under pressure from Spectrum HoloByte.[5]

MicroProse UK bosses decided to ignore the cancellation order and not inform the developers.[6] MicroProse worried the demo didn't have the epic scope of their hit game Civilization.[7] Pete Moreland, who headed MicroProse UK's development, proposed the UFO theme.[7] Julian Gollop named the 1970s television series UFO and a Bob Lazar book as inspirations.[8]

Development took 30 months, ending with the game's completion in March 1994.[9] In Europe, Quebec, and Australia it sold as UFO: Enemy Unknown, while North America got the title X-COM: UFO Defense.[10]

What the cited sources add

MicroProse UK added John Reitze and Martin Smillie to handle artwork, with Reitze's manga-esque style being considered brilliant for the game.[11] John Reitze designed the alien races and painted the introduction cinematic.[11][12] The team was told to remove men in black from the game because MicroProse had another title featuring them.[11] The brothers received about £3,000 monthly under the initial contract, which anticipated an 18-month development period.[11]

Unofficial patches and the open-source OpenXcom project correct that bug.[13][14]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "UFO: Enemy Unknown" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: UFO: Enemy Unknown user manual. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "UFO: Enemy Unknown" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Top 25 PC Games of All Time", IGN, 16 March 2007; Kat Bailey, Enemy Unknown: An X-COM Retrospective , GameSpy, 19 January, 2012 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "UFO: Enemy Unknown" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Top 25 PC Games of All Time", IGN, 16 March 2007 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "UFO: Enemy Unknown" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Making Of: X-COM: Enemy Unknown | Edge Magazine", Edge-online.com, 2009-05-15; "XCom UFO creators strategy game Laser Squad Nemesis", Lasersquadnemesis.com; "Mythos Games Ltd – UFO Enemy Unknown", 2001-06-06; Craddock, "How a Publishing Nightmare Set the Stage for the Original 'X-COM'", 9 March 2021; Gollop, "Classic Games Postmortem – XCOM: UFO Defense", GameSpot, 28 March 2013; Interview With XCOM Creator Julian Gollop , NowGamer, 30 August 2011.; Gollop, "Classic Games Postmortem – XCOM: UFO Defense", GameSpot, 28 March en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "UFO: Enemy Unknown" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gollop, "Classic Games Postmortem – XCOM: UFO Defense", GameSpot, 28 March 2013; Staff, "Developing the distinctive look of the original X-COM: UFO Defense", Ars Technica, 9 March 2021; "Mythos Games Ltd – UFO Enemy Unknown", 2001-06-06; "Julian Gollop reveals how the original X-Com was nearly cancelled - twice", Eurogamer, 28 March 2013; Gollop, "Classic Games Postmortem – XCOM: UFO Defense", GameSpot, 28 March 2013 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "UFO: Enemy Unknown" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Craddock, "X-COM: UFO Defense Would Have Been Canned If Its Creators Hadn't Secretly Revolted", Kotaku, 9 March 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "UFO: Enemy Unknown" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gollop, "Classic Games Postmortem – XCOM: UFO Defense", GameSpot, 28 March 2013; "The Story of X-Com", Eurogamer, 28 November 2010; Gollop, "Classic Games Postmortem – XCOM: UFO Defense", GameSpot, 28 March 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "UFO: Enemy Unknown" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Mythos Games Ltd – UFO Enemy Unknown", 2001-06-06; "The Story of X-Com", Eurogamer, 28 November 2010; "The Making Of: X-COM: Enemy Unknown | Edge Magazine", Edge-online.com, 2009-05-15; "The Making Of: X-COM: Enemy Unknown | Edge Magazine", Edge-online.com, 2009-05-15; Interview With XCOM Creator Julian Gollop , NowGamer, 30 August 2011.; Amiga CD32 Gamer 5 (October 1994); Interview With XCOM Creator Julian Gollop , NowGamer, 30 August 2011.; "The Making Of: X-COM: Enemy Unknown | Edge Magazine", Edge-online.com, 2009 en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "UFO: Enemy Unknown" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gollop, "Classic Games Postmortem – XCOM: UFO Defense", GameSpot, 28 March 2013; "The Making Of: X-COM: Enemy Unknown | Edge Magazine", Edge-online.com, 2009-05-15 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "UFO: Enemy Unknown" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Game Versions , StrategyCore.; Alec Meer, Why X-COM Matters (To Me) , Rock Paper Shotgun, 14 April 2010; Game Versions , StrategyCore.; XCOM： 2K MarinがX-COMの新作を開発中 « GAME LIFE ニュース; Game Versions , StrategyCore. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Staff, "Developing the distinctive look of the original X-COM: UFO Defense", Ars Technica, 9 March 2021. facts only, no text reused. arstechnica.com
  12. Wikipedia, "UFO: Enemy Unknown" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Staff, "Developing the distinctive look of the original X-COM: UFO Defense", Ars Technica, 9 March 2021; Gollop, "Classic Games Postmortem – XCOM: UFO Defense", GameSpot, 28 March 2013; Mat Paget, "New X-COM book explains the special kind of terror that made the first game a classic", PC Gamer, 9 September 2021 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Wikipedia, "UFO: Enemy Unknown" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kat Bailey, Enemy Unknown: An X-COM Retrospective , GameSpy, 19 January, 2012 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  14. Wikipedia, "UFO: Enemy Unknown" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: the-rps-bargain-bucket-flu-faced on Rock, Paper, Shotgun (2015/08/16); "About", OpenXcom; OpenXCom renews the original OpenXCom renews the original UFO Defense as a valid option for terror by Phil Savage PC Gamer (9 May 2013); You Wouldn't Steal A Skyranger: X-Piratez Is An Outstanding Total Conversion Of UFO/X-COM by Sin Vega on Rock, Paper, Shotgun (30 March 2016). (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article UFO: Enemy Unknown (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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