Although some gamers considered it a poor imitation of the XCOM titles, UFO: Aftermath was received very well by the general public, as well as the gaming press. This positive feedback convinced its designers that a sequel was a viable option, and armed with the suggestions and feedback from Aftermath, they set out to create a better UFO game. Today we had a little chat with Jiri Rydl, public relations manager of Altar Interactive, about UFO: Aftershock and all the goodies it promises to deliver.

About the game:

1. Computer Games Romania: How did the XCOM fans react to UFO: Aftermath and why did you decide to make a sequel?
Jiri Rydl: From the overall response, from the official website to positive feedback, fans reacted in a very positive way. And they reacted with pleasure and enthusiasm when we announced a sequel. But most importantly, fans wanted to know what new features would be in UFO: Aftershock, and we look forward to delivering. :-]

2. Computer Games Romania: How is the storyline in Aftershock related to the one in Aftermath and why did you choose this particular approach?
Jiri Rydl: UFO: Aftershock continues where UFO: Aftermath ended, if you accepted Reticulans offer. The reason we chose this storyline is to give you more insight, to tell you more about the Reticulans, their goals and their enemies in a new story.

3. Computer Games Romania: Will there be different factions or groups that the player can interact with during the game? If so, how extensive will the interactions be?
Jiri Rydl: Yes, there will be several factions in the game. Your main profit from interacting with them is the access to the resources in the territories they live in. Another interesting option is the possibility to recruit people from allied factions, which could be very useful. Who wouldn’t like to have psionic on his side?

4. Computer Games Romania: Can we expect dynamic missions, or static, multiple-solution missions?
Jiri Rydl: In UFO: Aftermath we spent an enormous time developing an engine able to handle a random tactical mission environment, but the results did not justify the amount of work required to produce all those assets. In UFO: Aftershock we have decided to stay with the randomization concept with predefined templates, thus these missions will offer better tactical opportunities.

5. Computer Games Romania: Did you take into account the critics that you received for Aftermath and the suggestions and ideas from the fan base in developing Aftershock?
Jiri Rydl: Definitely! Many changes were made due to ideas and feedback from players: for instance ability to enter buildings, the fog of war, manufacturing, the ability to buil your own bases or to interact with the different factions in the game.

6. Computer Games Romania: Will there be new enemies/allies in Aftershock? What about the equipment? Any new weapons and items we can look forward to?
Jiri Rydl: To answer all your questions in one word: Yes. There will be new enemies, as well al allies in UFO: Aftershock. Regarding the equipment, you can look forward to exciting new gizmos such as scanners, cloakers, psionic enhancers, implants and many more.

Hardware and Gameplay:

7. Computer Games Romania: Has anything changed regarding the engine? Are there any improvements which have been made?
Jiri Rydl: The engine is almost completely new and offers many new features that the previous one lacked, including dynamic lights and shadows, daytime changing, different weather effects and improved resolutions. We wanted to give a more complete experience for the players.

8. Computer Games Romania: Will there be multi-level buildings that the player can enter or take advantage of? To place a sniper at a higher level for instance...
Jiri Rydl: Yes there will be multiple level buildings, which you can enter or climb on. You will not be able to use floors in the middle of building however.

9. Computer Games Romania: Will the terrain destruction be the same as in Aftermath, or have you worked on improving the player's interaction with the environment?
Jiri Rydl: Except walls, cars and other objects on the streets, which were destroyable in UFO: Aftermath already, in Aftershock you can partly destroy all buildings in a mission, which gives you new opportunities to surprise enemies or take them down without noticing you.

10. Computer Games Romania: One of the main novelties of Aftershock is the player's ability to build and manage bases, like in the previous XCom games. Can you detail on how much management the bases will require?
Jiri Rydl: There are larger regions on Earth that will be divided into several districts. After capturing a district by power or through diplomacy, you can build your base there. There are also “neutral” districts, which belong to no country and bring no resources, but still can be captured by the player. After setting up the base, you decide what kind of buildings you will build in a base – research, manufacturing or others.

11. Computer Games Romania: If a base is attacked, will the fighting be taking place both inside and outside? What about the soldiers, will they still be scattered across the base or grouped together?
Jiri Rydl: Actually, your soldiers do not live in the bases, they live in the orbital habitat, above Earth. So they arrive to the mission as normal. Most missions take place both inside and outside, and this will be no exception.

12. Computer Games Romania: Since now the player will be building bases, will there be an economic model in the game? If so, how extensive will it be?
Jiri Rydl: There is a simple economic model based on resources. As you win missions, you gain influence, which in turns helps you to gain more territories. Territories yield resources, resources fuel research and manufacturing, research and manufacturing mean more power for you, more power wins more missions and so on.

13. Computer Games Romania: Has the manufacturing evolved in Aftershock? Will the player be able to produce anything they require?
Jiri Rydl: Yes, players will be able produce anything they have knowledge of, provided they have the necessary resources.

Features and overall game aspects:

14. Computer Games Romania: Some of the players criticized the lack of sounds in Aftermath. Has ALTAR done anything in regards to this matter?
Jiri Rydl: We released a patch with alien sound soon after releasing UFO: Aftermath, so you can add sounds to the game right away. In UFO: Aftershock, there will be fascinating and entertaining sounds from the very beginning of course.

15. Computer Games Romania: Can we expect to see a multiplayer mode in Aftershock?
Jiri Rydl: There is possibility we will have time to do this, but right now we are focused on the single-player experience and the creation of a good story.

16. Computer Games Romania: How far along is the development of Aftershock? Can you give us an estimative release date?
Jiri Rydl: We are in the middle of development. The estimated release time is the second half of 2005.

17. Computer Games Romania: Has the RPG system been improved in any way? If so, to what extent?
Jiri Rydl: RPG system is more complex in UFO: Aftershock. There are two ways of improving your soldiers: attributes and trainings. As your troops earn experience points in battles, they are able to go up in levels. When they gain a level, they will get one attribute point they can allocate, improving their skills in the department of your choice.
The other way of learning is training. There will about a dozen different trainings, which give soldiers a unique new ability (sometimes it is simply the ability to use advanced-sniper-training-required weapons, while sometimes it will be something completely new, like the ability to heal critically injured soldiers). Each soldier can receive only a small number of different trainings, so you’ll have to choose carefully.

18. Computer Games Romania: What about research? Has the research tree expanded?
Jiri Rydl: There will be an improved research tree with mutually exclusive branches, thus the player will have to replay the game to see all the possibilities. On the other hand, you can finish the game with any given combination of weapons and info about your enemy.

19. Computer Games Romania: Will there be aerial dogfights?
Jiri Rydl: There will be no air battles in UFO: Aftershock.

20. Computer Games Romania: Will the squad size increase or will there still be a maximum of 7 soldiers?
Jiri Rydl: Seven squad members is optimal number of soldiers you are able to coordinate in battle, so it remains the same.

21. Computer Games Romania: Has the Simultaneous Action System been improved in comparison to the one that was used in Aftermath?
Jiri Rydl: SAS was improved in many ways, with new options or orders for your soldiers, like “wait and attack”.

22. Computer Games Romania: Will the player be able to use vehicles in the game? Jeeps, buggies and such?
Jiri Rydl: Unfortunately, there will be no vehicles in UFO: Aftershock.

23. Computer Games Romania: We heard something about cyber-implants ... care to detail a little bit?
Jiri Rydl: Some of your troops will be able to use cyber implants. They are called cyborgs and they are the toughest and heaviest soldiers you can have.

24. Computer Games Romania: Will stealth be taken in consideration in Aftershock?
Jiri Rydl: You can play in stealth mode if you want, but remember as you can hear your enemies, they can hear you too. But by using light armor and well-trained soldiers you can avoid surprises from enemies.

25. Computer Games Romania: What about the game interface? Has it been improved? And if so, in what way?
Jiri Rydl: We want to make more obvious to the player what is going on and provide a more functional interface. For each soldier, you will be able to see the order queue and his current activity. For every action, you will see results, how it was influenced by soldier's skills, equipment, enhancers, etc.

AI, soldiers and Camera:

26. Computer Games Romania: What can we expect from the new enemies in Aftershock?
Jiri Rydl: Enemies will be smarter. All of the less intelligent enemies have been killed off over the past fifty years, and only the most able remained alive. Therefore, you will be fighting more intelligent opponents, and the AI will be much better than in UFO: Aftermath.

27. Computer Games Romania: Will the enemies respond more realistic to the player’s actions? For instance, will they seek cover if they're fired upon?
Jiri Rydl: Yes, and I will can say that some of them can even heal themselves.

28. Computer Games Romania: Will the enemies react to sound as well as to seeing an enemy soldier?
Jiri Rydl: Yes. Watch your back!

29. Computer Games Romania: Will there be ranks for the player's soldiers?
Jiri Rydl: There will be soldier ranks in UFO: Aftershock, which should reflect their skills and survivability.

Final thoughts:

30. Computer Games Romania: What about the modding community? It is well known that the fan base can keep a game alive many years after its release.
Jiri Rydl: That’s true and we work on improved modability of UFO: Aftershock. We believe our fans will enjoy this game long after its release.

31. Computer Games Romania: If Aftershock is received at least as well as Aftermath, can we look forward to other UFO titles?
Jiri Rydl: We have always some ideas how to continue the story, but we have other projects in mind too, so let’s see.

32. Computer Games Romania: Lastly, anything you want to say to the loyal UFO/XCOM fans out there?
Jiri Rydl: Watch http://www.ufo-aftershock.com for news.