Editing X-COM: Alliance

{{short description|Cancelled video game}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = X-COM: Alliance
| image = X-COM Alliance.jpg
| caption = 1999 logo
| developer = {{plainlist |
* [[MicroProse|MicroProse Chipping Sodbury Studio]] <small>(1995–1999)</small>
* [[MicroProse|MicroProse Hunt Valley Studio/Infogrames Interactive Hunt Valley Studio]] <small>(1999–2002)</small>
}}
| publisher = [[MicroProse]] (1995-1998) <br /> [[Atari Interactive|Hasbro Interactive]] (1998-2001) <br /> [[Atari Interactive|Infogrames Interactive]] (2001-2002)
| designer = {{plainlist |
* Andrew Williams, Terry Greer, Marc Curtis <small>(UK)</small>
* Chris Clark <small>(Chapel Hill)</small>
}}
| producer = {{plainlist |
* [[John Broomhall]], Grant Dean, Stuart Whyte <small>(UK)</small>
* Martin DeRiso <small>(Chapel Hill)</small>
}}
| engine = [[Unreal Engine 1]]
| genre = [[Tactical shooter]], [[strategy video game|strategy]], [[Action role-playing game|action role-playing]]
| series = ''[[XCOM|X-COM]]''
| modes = [[Single player]], [[Multiplayer video game|multiplayer]]
| platforms = [[Microsoft Windows]]
| release = Unreleased
}}

'''''X-COM: Alliance''''' is a cancelled video game in the ''[[XCOM|X-COM]]'' series. The game was developed by two different teams of [[MicroProse]] developers (first as a subsidiary of [[Spectrum Holobyte]], then [[Hasbro Interactive]], and finally [[Infogrames Entertainment, SA|Infogrames Entertainment]]) between 1995 and 2002.<ref name=movie>{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/06/06/x-com-alliance-interview-and-movie|title=X-COM: Alliance Interview and Movie|website=IGN|date=2000-06-05 |access-date=2020-06-06}}</ref> It had the player assume the role of commander of the militarized scientific mission lost in space during the aftermath of ''[[X-COM: Terror from the Deep]]''.

Unlike other games in the ''X-COM'' series, most of which were [[strategy video game|strategy game]]s, ''Alliance'' was a [[first-person shooter]]. It was described as having strategy, [[adventure game|adventure]], and [[role-playing game|role-playing]] elements.<ref name=movie /> After being officially announced in 1998 for a planned release in the first half of 1999,<ref name=e3>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/features/gs/e398/xco.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040502154830/http://www.gamespot.com/features/gs/e398/xco.html |archive-date=2004-05-02 |title=GameSpot's Best of E3 2008: X-COM Alliance |date=2004-05-02 |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref> the game was repeatedly delayed and put on hold, before eventually becoming [[vaporware]]; it was eventually cancelled in 2002. Since then, it had numerous build versions leaked online.

==Gameplay==
[[File:X-COM Alliance 1999.png|thumb|left|A promotional screenshot from the version shown at the [[Electronic Entertainment Expo|E3]] 1999]]

The [[gameplay]] of ''X-COM: Alliance'' would emphasize team management and tactics. Through the first-person perspective, the player would assemble and lead squads through a series of story-driven missions with various primary and secondary (optional) objectives. Teams of up to four members would be selected from a pool of soldiers, scientists and engineers (and later also friendly aliens). Each team member would have different skills as well as their own unique abilities, voices, personalities and attitudes, and was supposed to be acting differently from the others even if put in similar situations. The characters' speech, movement, and combat effectiveness would also rely on their emotional state, influenced by their individual personal traits and conditions such as their surroundings and levels of morale and fatigue.<ref name=movie /><ref name=inter/><ref name=ign /><ref name=bob /><ref name=pro/>

Additionally, a large 2D component was planned for the game's management and research part. Besides the single-player mode, [[Multiplayer video game|multiplayer]] co-operative, [[deathmatch (video games)|deathmatch]], and [[capture the flag]] modes were being planned as well.<ref name=movie /><ref name=inter>{{cite web|url=http://xcomalliance.3dactionplanet.gamespy.com/interviews.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060926040138/http://xcomalliance.3dactionplanet.gamespy.com/interviews.htm |archive-date=2006-09-26 |title=''Alliance'' interviews |date=2006-09-26 |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref><ref name=ign /><ref name=bob /><ref name=pro>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/xcomalliance/news/2565420/x-com-alliance-shows-progress |title=X-COM Alliance Shows Progress – PC News at GameSpot |publisher=Gamespot.com |date=2000-04-13 |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref> 
==Plot==
The game takes place in the year 2062 (22 years after the events of ''[[X-COM: Terror from the Deep]]'' and five years before ''[[X-COM: Interceptor]]''), when the research vessel UGS ''Patton'', with a crew of top scientists and engineers and team of X-COM soldiers, travels to a site of the former alien base at [[Cydonia Mensae|Cydonia]] on the surface of [[Mars]] to retrieve alien artifacts and establish an Elerium mining facility. However, the ''Patton'' goes through an unexpected dimensional [[wormhole]] gateway and ends up stranded 60 [[light year]]s from [[Earth]], finding the alien invaders from ''[[UFO: Enemy Unknown]]'' to be engaged in a war with a new alien race, the Ascidians. The crew of the ''Patton'' joins forces with the Ascidians, and the alliance gives the game its name. Eight other new alien races were going to be introduced too.<ref name=ign>{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/02/19/x-com-alliance|title=X-COM: Alliance|website=IGN|date=2000-02-18 |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref><ref name=bob /><ref name=faq>{{cite web|url=http://xcomalliance.3dactionplanet.gamespy.com/faq.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060828130807/http://xcomalliance.3dactionplanet.gamespy.com/faq.htm |archive-date=2006-08-28 |title=''Alliance'' FAQ |date=2006-08-28 |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.strategycore.co.uk/databank/series/x-com/timeline/recovery/ |title=Timeline: Recovery |publisher=Strategycore.co.uk |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref>

==Development==
[[File:X-COM Alliance gameplay.jpg|thumb|Screenshots of the distinctive 2D (strategic) and 3D (tactical/shooter) sections in an early (before 1999) version of ''X-COM: Alliance'']]

The concept for the game was originally conceived in 1995.<ref name=movie /> Its initial working title was ''X-COM 4'' (later ''X-COM 5''); the project was code-named ''Fox Force Five'' to stop media leaks.<ref name="inter" /> 

Development work began in 1996 at MicroProse's UK Studio in [[Chipping Sodbury]], then led by the ''Terror from the Deep'' producer Stuart Whyte and designer Andrew G. Williams, who had also worked together on the [[Amiga]] and [[PlayStation]] ports of the first two ''X-COM'' games (Williams was also simultaneously a co-producer of ''[[X-COM: Apocalypse]]''). The game's concept was inspired in part by the head-mounted cameras of the Colonial Marines in the film ''[[Aliens (film)|Aliens]]''. The use of such cameras was also similar to the 1993 video game ''[[Hired Guns]]'', co-created by Scott Johnston, a programmer in the original development team of ''Alliance''. According to Whyte, the game was intended to be multiplayer-based, possibly with one player becoming the team leader and directing the other players. ''X-COM Alliance'' used the [[Unreal Engine]]. Deformable and destructible environments (as in the ''X-COM'' strategy games) were one of the game's planned features; the game engine later created for ''[[Red Faction]]'' employed a similar concept.<ref>Whyte, Stuart. [http://www.angelfire.com/yt2/stuwhyte/microprose/Alliance/xcomalliance.htm X-COM Alliance] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308050419/http://www.angelfire.com/yt2/stuwhyte/microprose/Alliance/xcomalliance.htm |date=March 8, 2011 }}</ref>

In April 1999, when "much of the foundation work had already been set,"<ref name=movie /> the work on the game was then taken over by MicroProse's [[Hunt Valley, Maryland|Hunt Valley]] studio (creators of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation: Klingon Honor Guard|Klingon Honor Guard]]'').<ref name=bob>Niell, Gary (2004-3-10). "[http://www.thelastoutpost.co.uk/games/bob-kathman-reveals-all Bob Kathman Reveals All!]" Interview. ''TheLastOutpost.co.uk''.  Retrieved 2012-6-4.</ref> Chris Clark became the new lead designer and Chris Coon was lead programmer on the project;<ref name=ign /> artists included Bob Kathman.<ref name=bob/> The game was redesigned, including a complete overhaul of the game graphics and [[HUD (video gaming)|HUD]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://xcomalliance.3dactionplanet.gamespy.com/e3.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070621224712/http://xcomalliance.3dactionplanet.gamespy.com/e3.htm |archive-date=2007-06-21 |title=Alliance X - where it's X-Com Alliance all day every day: E3 coverage |date=2007-06-21 |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref> [[Dave Ellis (game designer)|Dave Ellis]] provided game design advice, helping to coordinate elements such as the featured weapons and alien races for [[canon (fiction)|canon]] compatibility between ''Alliance'' and the other ''X-COM'' title in development, ''[[X-COM: Genesis]]''.<ref name=dave>{{cite web|url=http://www.thelastoutpost.co.uk/games/dave-ellis-early-days |title=Games » Dave Ellis: Early Days |publisher=The Last Outpost |date=2008-01-30 |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref> The game was supposed to use the heavily modified Unreal Engine, featuring [[skeletal animation]], [[motion capture]], a completely different [[Artificial intelligence (video games)|AI]], a new sound system able to store and playback large amounts of speech, and a [[DirectMusic]]-based dynamic music system.<ref name=movie /><ref name=ign /><ref name=faq /> The 1999 [[Electronic Entertainment Expo|E3]] conference by MicroProse featured people dressed up as aliens and other items from the game's universe, but the display did not include a playable [[demo (software)|demo]].<ref name=ng>{{cite web|url=http://www.nowgamer.com/features/1034964/interview_with_xcom_creator_julian_gollop.html |title=Interview With XCOM Creator Julian Gollop – NowGamer |publisher=Nowgamer.com |date=2011-08-30 |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref> [[Julian Gollop]], main designer of ''X-COM: UFO Defense'' and ''X-COM: Apocalypse'', said MicroProse had problems to make the game's engine to work properly.<ref name=ng/>

The game, set for a Q4-2000 release,<ref name=movie /> was pushed back again in August 2000 to "sometime in the year 2001."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/xcomalliance/news/2620393/x-com-alliance-delayed |title=X-COM Alliance Delayed – PC News at GameSpot |publisher=Gamespot.com |date=2000-08-25 |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref> In January 2000, producer Martin DeRiso stated that the game was "60–70%" complete.<ref name=inter /> However, the project was put on indefinite hold in late 2000, when the Hunt Valley studio was redirected to begin work on the much less-ambitious ''[[X-COM: Enforcer]]'', using some resources from ''Alliance''.<ref name=dave />

In January 2001, ''Alliance'' had supposedly resumed development, and its new release date was set to the third quarter of 2001.<ref>(2001-01-09) "[https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/01/09/x-com-alliance-delayed-again X-COM Alliance Delayed ... Again]." ''IGN''.</ref> After Infogrames Entertainment bought Hasbro Interactive, the game was postponed again because of the departure of a key team member (responsible for the implementation of the game's innovative AI system).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sulic |first1=Ivan |title=X-COM: Alliance Update|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/01/13/x-com-alliance-update |website=IGN |access-date=June 6, 2020 |date=February 25, 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/news/2766300/x-com-alliance-up-in-the-air |title=X-COM Alliance up in the air – News at GameSpot |publisher=Gamespot.com |date=2001-05-29 |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref> Infogrames created an official website in February 2002, only to pull it down a few days later.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.ign.com/articles/2002/02/25/x-com-still-a-no |title=X-COM Still a No|website=IGN|date=2002-02-25 |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/xcomalliance/news/2850343/x-com-alliance-still-on-hold |title=X-COM: Alliance still on hold – PC News at GameSpot |publisher=Gamespot.com |date=2002-02-25 |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref> The game was ultimately aborted in 2002<ref>{{cite web|last=Plante |first=Chris |url=http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/8/19/4614410/xcom-the-bureau-development-2006-2013 |title=The many faces of The Bureau: XCOM Declassified: from 2006 to 2013 |publisher=Polygon |date=2013-08-19 |access-date=2014-05-18}}</ref> without any official announcement.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.complex.com/video-games/2013/08/best-xcom-moments-hisotry/xcom-alliance-canceled |title=The FPS that wasn't. — The Biggest Moments In "XCOM" History |publisher=Complex |date=2013-08-23 |access-date=2014-05-18}}</ref> Gollop commented: "''X-COM: Alliance'' was in development for a long time. How the development got screwed up, I don’t know. As you’re probably well aware, quite often games companies start and you’re going for a long time and it just doesn’t happen."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/04/29/julian-gollop-interview-on-x-coms-old-and-new-the-ghost-recon-strategy-that-never-was-ai-auteurs-and-fork-my-fruit/4/ |title=Julian Gollop interview: on X-Coms old and new, the Ghost Recon strategy game that never was, AI, auteurs and "Fork My Fruit" - Page 4 of 4 &#124; News |publisher=PC Gamer |date=2013-04-29 |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref>

==Reception==
Early versions of ''Alliance'' garnered very favorable responses from several video game publications, including [[GameSpot]]'s "Best of E3 (Sequels)" award in 1998 and [[IGN]] PC's "Best Action Game of E3" award in 2000.<ref name=e3 /><ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/05/17/ignpcs-best-of-e3-2000|title=IGNPC's Best of E3 2000|website=IGN |date=2000-05-17 |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref> [[GameSpy]] called it "the most ambitious game we've seen at E3" and "the pinnacle of tactical gaming, a new high-water mark that'll bust through established game genres," and ''[[PC Zone]]'' called it "a serious contender for 'game of the year'" in 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://xcomalliance.3dactionplanet.gamespy.com/webcoverage.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060926140228/http://xcomalliance.3dactionplanet.gamespy.com/webcoverage.htm |archive-date=2006-09-26 |title=''Alliance'' 1998–2000 web coverage |access-date=2013-08-23}}</ref>

==Further reading==
*[http://www.terrygreer.com/xcomalliance.html A development account and design documents for the original version of ''X-COM: Alliance''] shared by Terry Greer, a senior artist and head of game design at MicroProse UK.

==See also==
*''[[The Dreamland Chronicles: Freedom Ridge]]''
*''XCOM'', a first-person shooter game that was later turned into third-person tactical shooter ''[[The Bureau: XCOM Declassified]]''

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070621221157/http://xcomalliance.3dactionplanet.gamespy.com/index2.htm Alliance X] ([[GameSpy]] coverage)
*[http://www.gamespot.com/x-com-alliance/ ''X-COM Alliance''] at [[GameSpot]]

{{X-COM}}

[[Category:Action role-playing video games]]
[[Category:Cancelled Windows games]]
[[Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games]]
[[Category:Strategy video games]]
[[Category:Tactical shooters]]
[[Category:Unreal Engine 1 games]]
[[Category:Video games set in the 2060s]]
[[Category:Video game sequels]]
[[Category:XCOM]]