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[Corpekata]

Saw this in some of the XCOM related threads but thought it was worth its' own thread.

The modders have actually opened their own studio, fittingly called Long War Studios to develop their own games and a lot of people assumed they wouldn't work on XCOM 2. Looks like they'll have something available at launch even. Nice to see Firaxis and 2k courting the mod scene directly this time around.

Details at PCGAMESN

The announcement was made via the official XCOM blog, which had this to say:

"We are happy to announce Long War Studios, the developers behind the Long War total-conversion mod for XCOM: Enemy Unknown and XCOM: Enemy Within, has partnered with Firaxis Games and 2K for XCOM 2.

 

[SpartanSlayer117]

This is nice. Long War isn't for everyone but the amount of work and improvements to the base game are extremely well done and i'm sure Long War Studios will deliver.

 

[TC McQueen]

I'm more interested in the panel showing off the mod tools. Everything I've seen and heard about the Long War makes me want to avoid LWS's stuff for XCOM 2 unless it's minor stuff that doesn't screw you over.

 

[Shake Appeal]

Everything I've seen and heard about the Long War makes me want to avoid LWS's stuff for XCOM 2

Have you tried playing it? It's what takes XCOM from "a really good tactics game" to "the best tactics game ever" for me.

 

[Katori]

Firaxis in the modern era has always been great about modability. Can't wait for XCOM 2--maybe I'll finish a game this time.

 

[Psychoward]

Cool cool, personally never tried out LW cause some of the tedium seemed to out weigh the positives but this is good nonetheless.

 

[Velurian]

It would seem Firaxis is getting more aligned with the promises behind their first xcom game with the second one. Mod support was something that was promised for the first game as well as well as good work/cooperation with the community.

Also, and this important, partnering up might mean actual pay for modders, which in turn will lead to a better end result. Would love to see it implemented as an actual part of the game, maybe an alternative game mode or sth.

This is promising.

 

[PeterVenkman]

This is really cool given how massive Long War was, even stretching over the expansion (Enemy Within). I personally found it too much of a wall in terms of difficulty, but maybe with tutorials or an early start like this I could get into it.

 

[decoyplatypus]

It's cool to see Firaxis going above and beyond for XCOM2.

 

[Dictator93]

It's cool to see Firaxis going above and beyond for XCOM2.

.

 

[TC McQueen]

Have you tried playing it? It's what takes XCOM from "a really good tactics game" to "the best tactics game ever" for me.

No, because it combined Valkyria Chronicles 2's "toss in more of everything" approach with tons of bullet spongy enemies and absurdly long times to do anything beside die/fail. It's a mod aimed at <1% of the userbase and I'm not in that percentage.

Don't get me wrong, I respect the hell out of them for what they accomplished, but I don't see the need to waste my time on something I'm 90+% sure that I won't like.

 

[Morat]

This is exactly the right approach from a pc games company: we get (hopefully) excellent mods and they get a game which should keep selling as its life is extended by said mods!

 

[Sinatar]

This is pretty cool, though I thought the long war team was working on their own game called Terra Invicta?

 

[epmode]

It would seem Firaxis is getting more aligned with the promises behind their first xcom game with the second one. Mod support was something that was promised for the first game

Link pls. Aside from a few comments about how it would be nice to support mods, I don't remember anything being promised at all.

 

[Corpekata]

Link pls. Aside from a few comments about how it would be nice to support mods, I don't remember anything being promised at all.

Yeah, it was basically a lot of "well, we won't stop you, good luck" type of stuff.

 

[Zeth]

This is so cool.

I'm really hoping XCOM 2 becomes a strategy platform for all kinds of experiences. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but what we've seen so far has been quite promising.

 

[Anno]

Super cool to see this. I wonder if maybe this is a way for LWS to get some work before they get fully onto their own thing, and in return Firaxis has some big name mods to talk about even right at launch. Can't really imagine what it'll be though.

 

[ashecitism]

Yeah, it was basically a lot of "well, we won't stop you, good luck" type of stuff.

This is what I recall as well.

 

[MrCompletely]

Wow, Firaxis is really hitting all the right notes for the this release. I honestly can't imagine what they could do to make me more hyped... maybe release it early?

 

[wamberz1]

Fantastic, always love to see these kinds of stories. long war was great, hope we see a mode like it or something.

 

[Rosur]

This is cool

 

[Funky Papa]

Firaxis does what id-don't.

 

[Slackbladder]

It's interesting to see these are day one mods but there is no way I'm modding the game until I've finished it at least once before modding. Even then I'm very very pernickety when it comes to mods.

 

[Shake Appeal]

No, because it combined Valkyria Chronicles 2's "toss in more of everything" approach with tons of bullet spongy enemies and absurdly long times to do anything beside die/fail.

It didn't, though. Yes, it goes on for a very long time, but Long War is fairer to the player (except arguably the airgame) than the base game is. The balance is greatly improved.

 

[Funky Papa]

As far as I'm concerned Long War is not only the best version of XCOM, but also the closest to OG X-Com.

Terror missions are hell, though. I know they are supposed to be tough, but Long War turns them into a festival of unwanted sodomy.

 

[UnrealEck]

Firaxis does what id-don't.

id stopped being a PC dev long ago though. Probably after Quake 3 Team Arena.

 

[kadotsu]

One of maybe 3 mods I wouldn't mind paying for.

 

[bathsalts]

Wonder if we'll be able to see total conversion type mods similar to the civ titles. Xcom dungeons&dragons or Vietnam type joints would be interesting.

 

[rickyson1]

wow this too now?

don't think i've ever been quite so hyped for a game before

 

[Alo81]

This is gonna be the best game. I'm loving everything about the PC-centric nature so far.

 

[CertifiedFP]

Wonder if we'll be able to see total conversion type mods similar to the civ titles. Xcom dungeons&dragons or Vietnam type joints would be interesting.

Yeah, that's the kind of thing I'd love to see, conversions that take the gameplay engine into whole new settings.

Maybe the Valkyria universe will finally get the high-level strategy game it deserves, be it as an XCOM mod.

 

[Tain]

I'm not nearly as trustworthy of the Long War devs as I am of Firaxis, so I wouldn't consider using these until after finishing the game, but it's a nice gesture.

 

[Vaporak]

Excellent news, The Long War is the best turn based tactics game I've ever played and I hope the team has the time, funding, and inspiration to make something just as amazing with XCOM 2.