X-COM Firaxis - XCOM: Enemy Unknown + Enemy Within Expansion

[Surf Solar]

i like the game over ending, its quite nice.

What the fuck, I had a game over too due to too many panicking countries and there that council guy wasn't controlled by a sectoid.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

By the way, am I the only one with this issue or have you guys not played far enough to encounter this or what, but I run into trouble with giving movement orders in areas where there are multiple levels of terrain pretty regularly. During an attack on a landed UFO (It was listed as unknown to me, but a buddy claims it was a large supply ship) it was constantly flickering the roof of the UFO and occasionally vanishing the mid-level of it, even when I supposedly had the camera on the mid-level since that's where I had guys. Even had a few times during crashed UFO missions where it would throw a fit trying to move a soldier to cover along the ledge of a hill. Have to shift the camera around and position the mouse juuuuuust right to manage it.

I've had it show up 2-3 times noticeably in my 20+ hours so it's not really gamebreaking but it's annoying as fuck when it appears.

 

[Surf Solar]

Yep, it's the same here. Multi-level maps, be it bigger class UFOs or buildings in the city always cause this. Since I am playing the game with a controller (yeah, fuck me right) I can just press up or down and it gets fixed. Still annoying though

 

[Gozma]

sats need 20 days to finish
so you need around 400 jewgold on the 10th for the sats
and 150 for the satlink plus 10 engineers on the 16th to finish the satlink in time
thats a bunch of dough
10 engineers is not possible to get on the first month?

By 4 satellites I mean 1 starting + 3 new.

You start with 275 in North America IIRC. Maybe 250?

If you wait until you have 9 engineers, satellites cost 77, so 231 for the satellites, on or before the 11th

150 I think for the workshop on or before the 7th. It's possible to have the first abduction after the 7th and if so forget it

By the 10th you should have gone on at least the startup mission and an abduction, and that will give you about 20 sectoid corpses for 100. So you have about 375 to spend. Throw in some weapon fragments to make it up. It's possible Europe's starting bonus lets you do this more easily but I dunno offhand.

Now you need the first UFO mission on or before the 17th which I think should usually generate enough loot to sell, including stuff like uranium and alien alloys, to buy the uplink.

This also uses all of your power so anything else you get in the month will probably go to power and then the OTS/Alien Containment fund.

On the upside 4 satellites of income will be very nice.

By the way, am I the only one with this issue or have you guys not played far enough to encounter this or what, but I run into trouble with giving movement orders in areas where there are multiple levels of terrain pretty regularly. During an attack on a landed UFO (It was listed as unknown to me, but a buddy claims it was a large supply ship) it was constantly flickering the roof of the UFO and occasionally vanishing the mid-level of it, even when I supposedly had the camera on the mid-level since that's where I had guys. Even had a few times during crashed UFO missions where it would throw a fit trying to move a soldier to cover along the ledge of a hill. Have to shift the camera around and position the mouse juuuuuust right to manage it.

I've had it show up 2-3 times noticeably in my 20+ hours so it's not really gamebreaking but it's annoying as fuck when it appears.

There is a corridor on the abductor ships that fucks up horribly like that and you have to take it every time you board one, hate it

 

[BlackAdderBG]

Starting in Asia, I get 165 at the beginning.
How do you get the Engineers? 5 starting plus 4 from the first abduction still arent 10. One is still lacking for the Uplink.

Take 200 money and build workshop maybe...

 

[Monocause]

But guys, there's really not much benefit to trying so hard to get the satellites ASAP. There's also not much reason to attempt to keep all the nations on the council, except for a self-imposed challenge on sorts.

 

[UncleJimb0]

I hope everyone has enjoyed their turn-based gears of war game.

 

[Gozma]

Starting in Asia, I get 165 at the beginning.
How do you get the Engineers? 5 starting plus 4 from the first abduction still arent 10. One is still lacking for the Uplink.

The workshop gives five engineers. Takes ten days to make so you gotta start it on the 7th or earlier so the uplink can finish. Asia sucks, there are only a couple of foundry projects I care about and by far the most important OTS upgrades (5th and 6th squad members) are pretty cheap. The big benefit of the North America start is the extra money - you get a flat amount, plus the satellite cash (180 for the US, the highest in the game), but your first month's rent is also deducted - including the costs for the interceptors and the skyranger that the North America thing gets a discount on.

But guys, there's really not much benefit to trying so hard to get the satellites ASAP. There's also not much reason to attempt to keep all the nations on the council, except for a self-imposed challenge on sorts.

True. Also by the time it matters (when you have run out of countries to put satellites in because of the countries that have been lost) the game is much easier. I have been playing on Impossible (non-ironman, trying to learn shit) and it is definitely getting easier as the months go - I could be playing ironman at this point and the only thing I would really miss are the "hey 90% stun failed fuck you IMMA RELOAD." I can go several missions with no significant danger. A lot of it is just that at the start overwatch is complete shit, never hits anything, never kills anything it hits. But when you have six dudes with lasers and scopes, a few levels to raise their aim, plus a sniper or two with the overwatch-boosting skill, you really maim enemy groups when they pop in and then you can wipe them out before more shit joins, even on the tight maps that always turn into shitstorms.

If Impossible started with a series of like 4-5 easy UFO missions instead of a nightmare month of three abduction maps with rookies and near-rookies (some of these are borderline unwinnable) and a (thankfully optional) council mission it would not be a problem.

One more thing about Impossible - some of the interceptions seem harder. Medium scouts in particular are hard to get down with avalanches. Might need to rush for laser cannons.

 

[sser]

Interceptions are more difficult on Impossible. On Classic, a large UFO still takes a number of shots to down an interceptor. On Impossible, one blast is like 90% of the interceptor "health bar."

 

[Gozma]

Nah, I just watched an interceptor down an abductor pretty easily with a laser cannon and no boosts on impossible (one of the two "large" ships along with the supply ship, which is probably tougher and more dangerous and might be what killed your interceptor). Laser cannons might be overkill for medium scouts, the cheap sectoid-corpse aim booster and avalanches would probably be safe.

 

[good little toastboy]

Now you need the first UFO mission on or before the 17th which I think should usually generate enough loot to sell, including stuff like uranium and alien alloys, to buy the uplink.

But that still isn't fast enough as getting your satellites up takes at least 3 days (I think I had one take 6 days on my first playthrough, don't remember which country). So you've got to have all that stuff not later than the 14th, which seems really unlikely.

 

[Dead Guy]

The panic reduction from satellites is instant though, only the detection lags behind from what I've seen.

 

[kris]

A lot of it is just that at the start overwatch is complete shit, never hits anything, never kills anything it hits. But when you have six dudes with lasers and scopes, a few levels to raise their aim, plus a sniper or two with the overwatch-boosting skill, you really maim enemy groups when they pop in and then you can wipe them out before more shit joins, even on the tight maps that always turn into shitstorms.

I started to treat overwatch in a different way when I played. Basically I make sure to position my guys so they will make "close range" shots on overwatch. Instead of standing at a door way I stood a click to the side so I shot them as they passed it, same at corners.

 

[Psquit]

I hope everyone has enjoyed their turn-based gears of war game.

we could argue that the games is more like a halo/gears of wars, but i dont think its worth it.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Right, just started.

I am not even out of the tutorial yet so don't come flailing at me with fanboy rage, but from the looks of it, the removal of time units has to be the single most retarded feature of this game.

Second is alien free move when spotted. What the fuck.

But 'HALLO, KOWENNEN SIE MICH HOWEREN' in first tutorial mission probably takes the cake anyway.

 

[spectre]

but from the looks of it, the removal of time units has to be the single most retarded feature of this game.

I raged long at the fact that you couldn't move after firing (except for heavies) even if it was the only thing you did and even if it was a lousy pistol.
This bugs me as well. Why only two actions? Three would have been nice (but not perfect, yet I think consoletards CAN count up to three), and it would have allowed for a bit more flexibility in the system, especially if they fixed the above
and made different weapons have different modes of firing, each costing 1-3 AP. Not exactly like the original, closer to incubation in fact, but I think it would be more fitting.

Just finished it on Classic today, took me two days to do so (three if you include learning the ropes). Probably could have been done in less. The ending was pretty retarded, I was genuinely puzzled that they went for THAT kind of ending in THIS kind of game, but oh well, not like TFTD's let's blow cthulhu to smithereens and die made more sense. At least they didn't attempt to squeeze in a morally ambiguous choice somewhere near the end. Must have been hard cause I heard that kind of shit is in vogue.
My only gripe with the last fight was how easy it was. First, some really unchallenging fights for a warm up, then two sniper shots aaaand we're done here.

 

[Monocause]

Does anyone else get kicks from how hilariously over-the-top is the council guy's VA?

We believe that the X-COM project will undertake greater efforts to combat the extraterrestrial threat.

IDK, on one hand it seems they abandoned the extreme camp of the original game (as exemplified by the intro sequence), on the other there's too much stuff like that to think it's just an accident. I believe they just went for a more low-key, subtle campy atmosphere.

 

[Darth Roxor]

SUDDENLY
ENEMIES WITH GUARANTEED REACTION FIRE START SPAWNING ALL AROUND YOU

SUDDENLY
CIVILIAN VIP GETS POISONED BY SOME STUPID POISON GAS CLOUD THING

civilian hp -1

CIVILIAN PANICS AND STAYS IN GAS CLOUD

EVERYBODY PANIC

squaddie x starts shooting in a random direction...
... THAT JUST COINCIDENTALLY HAPPENS TO BE THE CIVILIAN STANDING 5KM AWAY

civilian vip dies, mission failed





Is this game for fucking real? What the fuck.

 

[Elim]

That's X-Com, baby!

Anyone else raging hard when these assclowns say something like that when they have never touched the originals?
It just feels so pretentious. They play the wuss-version and think they are hardcore or something like that.

 

[Jaedar]

Yeah, I get pretty mad at that too. The original really wasn't that fucking random, people just suck. Even a rookie rapidfiring has 20% accuracy. That's almost 50% chance you'll hit one or more shots. And you have 12 guys, and they can each rapid fire more than once. Good luck not hitting.

 

[spectre]

Yeah, namedropping "That's sexcum baybee" seems like a common excuse to justify all sorts of shitty design in that game.
(Although I must confess, I still enjoyed it for what it was and will probably replay it a few times... mayhap I was starved for ANY sort of turn based tactical)

Also on this:

Second is alien free move when spotted. What the fuck.

If it wasn't for the free turn, you would assrape all the aliens you see, because they are out of cover. Making the game too easy.
This is a shitty balancing solution, but there's little else to be done the way they designed the system (I think at this point it's fair to call it the shitty design domino effect).
It would be pretty easy to fix if the aliens actually moved around and did logical shit like enter overwatch or get into cover, but they don't, so there.
Although, I wonder why no tester called them out how much it breaks their immershun, since it's so easy to fix it by simply spawnining the aliens already in cover - just hide their movement.
Still, they wouldn't be able to play that snazzy cinematic, so I guess it was a conscious choice.

Speaking of testing, how the fuck did that mess of an UI got past QA it's beyond me. It works well enough in open, flat spaces, but any map that has two levels, especially the ufos, are a fucking nightmare both for movement and free aim.

The original really wasn't that fucking random, people just suck. Even a rookie rapidfiring has 20% accuracy. That's almost 50% chance you'll hit one or more shots. And you have 12 guys, and they can each rapid fire more than once. Good luck not hitting.

Word. They (the designers and fanboys) seem to flaunder the randomness like it's a the best thing ever. Way to misunderstand the original game's design principles.
It's okay to have 90% shots miss once in each 10, but the problem is, the next excom doesn't really provide many tools to skew the math in your favor.
(like, say, sending two interceptors at once or weapons with actual burst fire capability - as in multiple projectiles hitting ass and leg with separate hit roll for each, or a large enough squad size to possible compensate for low cth).
You could argue that there's some, like heavies and snipers shooting twice, rockets and grenades with near 100% cth, those special one-use stuffies for the interceptor, but the point is, that's not enough and it's not readily available enough.

 

[Gozma]

The only time I have gotten the "SHIT IS TOO RANDOM" salt is the first month of Impossible. Every other difficulty, and later in Impossible, is seriously under your control and if you don't see it it is because you don't understaaaand. A lot of it is about the suboptimal backup plan, like having a guy ready to execute the alien if your stun fails, that kind of thing.

 

[spectre]

Awright, I did notice that once you get two snipers in flying suits with damn good ground and double tap tapping dat ass on the other side of the map at 100% cth / 80% crit, things get pretty stable at this point, as in you can expect predictable results.
Maybe I'll see it differently on my next plays. I agree that it's an early to midgame problem.
It is true that you CAN manipulate the cth by closing in and flanking, and there are other special abilities as well.
Thing is, early on, your options to get predictable results are limited to grenades and rockets (close range shotguns work too). The rookies have pitiful accuracy to do little else... and that's my problem in a nutshell.
In the original, you had more tools to work with and negate the random feeling - grenades, HE ammo, burst fire, variable rookie stats, field large number of guys - only half of this is possible in the new game.
I would argue, that if the new xcom allowed a squad size of 8 to 10, had snap shots, aimed shots for all weapons, proper autofire and pistols that could be fired 2-3 times each turn, it would play much smoother without breaking the balance (and more supportive to ironman).
As it is now, I think playing the numbers game relies a bit too much on not triggering more than one enemy spawn at a time - I can dig playing the game cautiously, but it feels a bit too cheesy at times.

 

[circ]

Am replaying to test some different combos and what not. Tried out a sniper who gets to shoot anything in a squadmates view, only it didn't say it needs to be 0 cover view, out in the open with nothing around pretty much, making the skill shit 99% of the time. However, going non healer with support class was pretty nice, specially overwatch sentinel. Too bad people can't hit for shit, even with 100+ in aim (that's good right?), with a 95+% hit change?! I also like how the game tells you psi is tied to high will, but then picks the one guy with the smallest will for psi powers. WHY NOT JUST SAY THIS SHIT IS COMPLETELY RANDOM HAHA WILL HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT? I also can't get more than one guy, and it always seems to be a guy, for psi powers, but I've read of people running around with several. Is this possible? And how exactly are you supposed to heal squads inside a UFO, when it goes into HERE'S A ROOF TO OBSTRUCT YOUR VIEW mode when trying to heal, so you can't target the actual guy you want to heal because you can't zoom in in that mode.

Anyway some questions. I fucked up and never captured a sectoid, instead I got a floater early and on the same mission I got the summoned light alien that guards the ship even though that wasn't until next mission but the game was cool with that and gave me credit for that without having to do it again. Anyway, missing sectoid, I never got to research plasma pistol. That's what you need for pew pew right?

Also, I made Gollop chamber and on my previous playthrough I had gotten the rocket launcher replacement, blaster something before that but not this time. What's the pre-requisite?

 

[Tommers]

Heh. Gollop chamber and the blurb mentions 2 'gifted brothers'. Nice touch.