Info (UFOAI)

Introduction

UFO: Alien Invasion is a free, open-source game in the tradition of the original UFO: Enemy Unknown. Players must defend earth against an alien invasion by building bases around the world, shooting down alien UFOs and sending in infantry squads to engage the enemies in turn-based tactical combat.

Introduction

"It is the year 2084. Earth, never the most stable of places, enjoys a time of relative peace. The violent beginnings of the 21st century are far away now; distant memories, but not so distant that they've been forgotten. To most of Earth's people, the Second Cold War is a dark shadow from the past, much like the World Wars were to the children of the late 20th.

Conflicts have gotten rarer near the end of the century as new technology and universal health-care finally became available to the third world. Even the fires of terrorism have cooled in the wake of the Second Cold War, with its horrors and inhumanities still fresh in the minds of the people, from the old United States to the ravaged Indian subcontinent. Class struggles are ascending to the political battlefield now that every nation is guaranteed fair representation in the UN, and the global standard of living is slowly on the rise down to the most impoverished corners of the planet. Countries have solidified, stabilised around a restructured United Nations that successfully polices the world governments. Fragmented clumps of smaller nations, frightened at first by the vast power blocks accumulating around China and the European Union, have banded together into powerful political leagues of their own -- then found themselves with no neighbours they could safely fight. For the first time in the history of mankind, there is law and order across more than three quarters of the world.

To many people on Earth, it seems like things are going all right.

The first attack hits the city of Mumbai on the 3rd of March, 2084. Six small UFOs appear out of nowhere and come screaming down from orbit, undetected by the vast radar installations covering the skies over Mumbai, and set down in the single most densely-populated city on Earth. They offer no warning, no explanation. Twenty thousand innocent civilians and three battalions of elite troops are massacred over the course of twelve brutal hours before massed Commonwealth soldiers manage to bring the aliens' advance to a standstill. Then, as suddenly as they appeared, they retreat to their craft and vanish back into orbit, leaving only the ravaged streets of Mumbai as evidence.

An emergency meeting of the UN provides no conclusive direction. The incursions continue faster, larger and more savage than before, this time in Bonn, Johannesburg and Bangkok. Some nations attempt diplomacy, sending messages in a thousand different languages to the aliens ravaging across the countryside. Their words are ignored. Within hours, all three cities are emptied of human life. The attack is over by the time the various militaries are given permission to strike back. The aliens leave nothing behind them but concrete and blood. All the UFOs disappear without a trace -- but no one doubts they'll be back.

Eighty-seven hours after the initial attack on Mumbai, Earth declares war. For two weeks, the armies of humanity each try to fend off the mysterious alien attackers to the best of their ability. They score precious few successes.

Left with only one alternative, the UN takes action. Ancient equipment is dusted off, some of it more than a century old, and the long-defunct anti-extraterrestrial agency of the former United States -- PHALANX -- is resurrected under a new UN banner. Its sworn duty is to combat the alien threat, and to ensure the survival of the human race at all costs.

Funded by all eight of the political powers, and drawing its soldiers from the elite of their armies, PHALANX is the best of the best. It is Earth's first and only line of defence. It can't afford to fail; because if it does, humanity doesn't stand a chance."

Victory

"Great work, Commander. We have fought off the alien horde and kept earth safe. For now.

But we can't rest on our laurels for long. The aliens could return at any moment.
They must have many more Carriers up there, beyond our reach. I'm sure they'll be
back just as soon as the game's development team can build a carrier mission. I'll
be waiting for your orders.

Until then, visit ufoai.org to find out when the next version is coming out. If
it's not coming fast enough for you, lend a hand. We're free. We're open-source.
We're under-staffed. Until next time, thanks for playing.

-- UFO: Alien Invasion Development Team"

Gameplay

In line with the traditional gameplay of the original UFO: Enemy Unknown, UFO:AI is split primarily between a global view of the earth and short tactical ground missions. In the global view, players will construct and develop bases around the world to track and engage UFOs. Players will have to recruit and equip soldiers, hire scientists to research new technologies, and employ engineers to build new weaponry, aircraft and equipment. Funding comes from nations and the sale of loot acquired from successful ground missions.

In the ground missions, players will take control of their soldiers (8-12) to kill or capture aliens that have landed or been shot down on earth's surface. Technology acquired during these missions will open up new research paths, while research and development will provide new weapons and equipment for soldiers to wield on the battlefield.

Project History

The game was initially developed by a small team, which released their final version ("the Christmas release") of the game at the end of 2003. In 2006, one of the project members, Martin Gerhardy, received permission to release the game under an open-source license. The source code and art assets were made available on their Sourceforge page and development resumed under its current form.

• Jan 12, 2008: Version 2.2 released
  • Air interceptions
  • Random map assemblies
• Jun 17, 2010: Version 2.3 released
  • Campaign system
  • Rendering engine improvements (normalmaps, bumpmaps, glowmaps, etc)
  • UFO crash site missions
• Apr 25, 2012: Version 2.4 released
  • Smoke and incendiary weapons
• Jun 28, 2014: [1]
  • Major rebalancing of campaign and combat

Where to Download

UFO: Alien Invasion can be downloaded for free from the project's website.