PetrusOctavianus: How was the difficulty?
I understand the original was insanely difficult due to some programming error. Does the Open version replicate this? (Wondering if I need to brush off my Xcom skills before tackling TFTD)
If I recall correctly I played it on the same difficulty as the original with openxcom, and I do not recall the alien threat being any more difficult than in the original (again, with openxcom) in terms of alien vs soldier match-ups. If anything I found soldier armor to be more effective.
There indeed was a difficulty error like that, where one version's experienced difficulty was the actual superhuman difficulty or something like that. But I'm pretty sure that has been fixed, due to it being a well known bug back when it released already (as far as I'm aware at least).
The game is much more difficult though, but not because of the aliens density / stats / tactics. Instead the levels themselves can be extremely formidable due to size and complexity. Alien base missions for example, of which you have to complete at least one, is massively more difficult than those in the original. Not because there are so many aliens and/or they are so difficult to kill. No, the actual base itself is very challenging to navigate, and has lots of places for aliens to hide (Bring tons of explosives, and a tank if possible to simply level areas). Similarly shipping lane missions (which are optional) can take the better part of an afternoon to clear. They're not difficult to navigate at least, but they are huge.
However for UFO sites and alien terror missions the difficulty is more or less the same.
It's definitely worth having a go at I think for any fan of the original, especially since it runs very nicely with openxcom. I certainly had a lot of fun with it, even if I aged a couple of years in the weeks I spent on it :)