Let's Play UFO: Enemy Unknown/X-COM: UFO Defense - Update 44

[TNO]

This looks epic.

Sign TNO up to Eurocom as whatever is most convenient. (TBH, sign me up anywhere if you want a colonel of one of the other bases or whatever)

(PS. If you plan on intercepting aggressively, expect to lose a LOT of planes.)

 

[Thrombone]

Thrombone is signing up for wherever he is needed.

I vote A and A.

 

[spekkio]

Go for Lazors, expand the Amerikwan Base.

And place sergeant Hartman in it.

 

[MMXI]

MMXI reporting for duty. European squaddie please.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Now we just need a X-Com Apocalypse LP...

Oh gods, no.

For every thing that Apocalypse did right, it did 1-2 things wrong.

# Fully customizable vehicles? That's great, but land vehicles can be one-shotted if you shoot the ground out from under them, rendering them all useless.

# Aliens have one-hit-kill aliens that can even reach flying troops? Not if you order your squad lie prone on the ground.

# More control over managing your base? That's cool, but say hello to Micromanagement Hell.

# Improved enemy AI? Only when fighting human opponents. Sadly this is an X-COM game, where fighting aliens is the name of the game.

# Research tree is improved? From TFTD, yes. But the key research topic is capturing a live specimen of a piece of snot, and the game never even hints at the importance of said snot. Capturing it alive isn't exactly easy either.

 

[korenzel]

The screenshots look quite blurry, or is my vision failing ?

Your initial setup looks rather overkill, you have almost full radar coverage, which means you can intercept pretty much anything and are unlikely to lose because of points. The maintenance costs for your three bases should be manageable, especially if you go for the laser cannon right away. The aggressive interception thing could cost you a lot of money though if a battleship appears.

Do the research limitations you've imposed on yourself mean you're using XComUtil's research help from captured aliens ?

Sign me up as a rookie on EuroCom, I will climb up the ranks through good service and death of superior officers. Go for armors first.

 

[MMXI]

Oh yes. I forgot to vote. Armour and Japan please.

 

[pajak713]

I would like to become a recruit in Potato, good sir!
Sign up a contract for Spider.

 

[Storyfag]

The screenshots look quite blurry, or is my vision failing ?

They are. FRAPS produces my screenshots at abysmal 240x150 px. I then use BIMP Lite to enlarge them to manageable 720x450 at the cost of blurr. But the text is still readable. I hope the tactical missions will look all right.

Your initial setup looks rather overkill, you have almost full radar coverage, which means you can intercept pretty much anything and are unlikely to lose because of points. The maintenance costs for your three bases should be manageable, especially if you go for the laser cannon right away. The aggressive interception thing could cost you a lot of money though if a battleship appears.

Thing is, your votes will decide whether we go for laser cannons that fast or if we'll focus on armor. Plus ever since I installed XComUtil my UFO seems to be bugged and research takes AGES to complete. Though, in hindsight, it might have been worthwile to step up alien activity to compensate for the multiple bases. A mistake it may be too late to fix now

Do the research limitations you've imposed on yourself mean you're using XComUtil's research help from captured aliens ?

Nope, I didn't enable this feature. These are purely LARPing limitations. I didn't like the ones proposed by XCOMUtil.



I updated roster on the first page. Soldier stats incoming tommorow with a more proper update. We still need one Rookie for EuroCOM. JOIN. HMANITY NEEDS YOU!

 

[Sergiu64]

Voting on the Armor then. I kinda dislike Laser weaponry, think its the least realistic thing in the game.

 

[golgepapaz]

sarge golgepapaz at your service...

 

[Malakal]

With the AI patch I think he is going to need every laser and more. Even if realism has to be thrown out of the window. But you know, UFO games with UFOs...

 

[anus_pounder]

pounded_anus reporting for duty. Rookie, Preferably Potato-1, but I'll take pretty much any opening anywhere.

 

[Desmodus Rotundus]

rookie signing up to poke aliens with stunrods and fry them with laserpistol in my other hand, location eurobase.

 

[dextermorgan]

Rookie signing up, wants to play with LAZORS.

 

[Storyfag]

rookie signing up to poke aliens with stunrods and fry them with laserpistol in my other hand, location eurobase.

Sorry, the eurobase is now full. You'll be assigned to the kwabase and transferred as soon as there's... an opening. Roster updated.

Now, update time!

Lazors and KwaCOM won the vote, but armor was close behind, so I'll switch to it right after getting laser rifles.

As promised, soldier stats. Bee is pictured in the lower right corner, next to the rocket tank's stats.

We begin expanding our primary base. The Alien Containment facility will play a much larger role in our research program than it does in standard UFO games.

We purchase more equipment.

Research has been allocated.

And KwaCOM is being prepared to house another away team.

This is our present away team's equipment. The rocket tank aboard is piloted by Gondolin. KickAss' tank will see action alternately with it.

Ah, a very small UFO prowls the skies!

Bee's Interceptor is sent to shoot it out of the sky.

And does so with ease.

The items we purchased arrive. We won't be fielding the stun rods yet as the Alien Containment facility is not yet finished.

Our scientists gain initial understanding of laser weapons.

They will proceed to find battlefield applications of the technology.

Another UFO located. It is larger than the previous one.

Bee's Interceptor is again ready.

That's the UFO, as seen by Bee's onboard camera.

Bee proceeds to attack it at full speed.

But the alien saucer simply accelerates out of range.

It seems to be preparing to land.

It did. Time for the away team!

Malkal is the team's ranking officer. He's holding a grenade, as is everyone.

Gondolin is startled as the tank's optics relay visuals of an alien back to his command console at EuroCOM.

This alien shot the tank as it rolled down the Skyranger's ramp. Fortunately our Heavy Weapons System was barely scratched.

Gondolin repays the offending alien in kind.

More aliens stalk the Skyranger's front!

Two are found on the ground.

And one is lurking in the shadows on the first floor.

Captain Malkal graciously steps back to allow the rookies to draw first blood.

Thrombone prepares to do so, but fails.

Malkal decides to take care of the northern alien.

He is successful.

Sargeant JoKa attempts to save the rookie from certain plasma death.

But doesn't seem to hit the alien.

The aliens, however, make a run for it. Is the AI patch all it is made out to be? They seem to be holed up at the door to the building.

This is the alien from the first floor. Also, the UFO has been located! It is to the northwest from the Skyranger.

Thrombone prepares his grenade.

JoKa throws his to the ground and Slaughter picks it up.

The grenades detonate, killing two aliens.

Shots were fired at our tank from this general direction.

Gondolin's rocket does not kill the alien, but reveals it all the same.

Hellraiser prepares to dispose of it.

And he succeeds!

Korenzel is preparing to enter the alien-infested building.

During the alien turn Hellraiser has been fatally wounded and died from that wound! RIP Hellraiser.

Korenzel finds the alien sniper...

And shoots it. The alien falls down without its distinctive death cry.

Thrombone prepares to storm the UFO.

And finds it empty. Korenzel's target was the last alien.

The mission went surprisingly well. Truth be told, I lost Hellraiser due to my own stupidity alone, not remembering that aliens holed up on upper floors have a tendency to snipe through windows. Has the AI patch crashed our game? Has it made aliens inept? Find out in the next episode of UFO: Enemy Unknown!

Our scientists provide us with blueprints of a Laser Pistol.

And begin researching more powerful lasers.

We can, but we won't. The engineers are now busily producing Medi-Kits.

And Desmondus gets his promised transfer to Potato Base.

One of KwaCOM's rookies assumes the callsign of dextermorgan.

 

[Derper]

Cannonfodder Derper reporting for duty!

 

[Storyfag]

UPDATE 3

Base expansion proceeds at full speed.

A landed UFO is detected!

We intercept it with the Skyranger.

Commander Roxorowski decided to lead the away team personally this time. The tranny is strong in this one.

The tank's camera feed informs KickAss of an alien nearby.

PotatoCOM's most recent arrival, Desmondus Rotundus, is offered a chance of shooting it.

His first shot goes wide. His second shot misses the gray creature by mere centimetres.

But his third shot...

His third shot flies true! The alien's death cry, however, was not heard.

The UFO is located. North by northwest from the landing zone.

A plasma shot scorched the tank as it was scouting the area (I really need to learn how to take screenshots of such events ASAP). KickAss investigates to find a gray alien armed with a huge weapon. Unfortunately he doesn't have enough TU's to shoot it with his mighty rocket launcher!



U-Cat prepares to shoot the offending creature.

And does so perfectly.

By the God-Empreror, this thing is huge! That's supposed to be a SMALL UFO?

While exploring, MMXI bought it from reaction fire. RIP MMXI.

Jaedar just primed and threw a grenade at MMXI's killer.

Spider noticed another alien exiting the UFO has an idea, but I sheepishly forgot to take a screenshot. He primes and throws his grenade.

The alien dies in the resulting explosion.

Meanwhile, the alien that killed MMXI was completely shredded to pieces by Jaedar's grenade.

KickAss locates another alien. This one is armed with a very strange weapon.

Unfortunately the rocket misses the creature. Its return fire also misses the tank.

The alien possibly hid behind this wall. KickAss decides to destroy it. "It's the only way to be sure."

The alien stunned by Desmondus Rotundus earlier apparently got on its webbed feet and decided to go on a stroll. We can't have that, now can we? The screenshot of the execution has been censored by X-COM High Command and will not be posted.



The troops mass outside the UFO.

An alien exited it and stunned U-Cat. It was then promptly shot by Spider with reaction fire.

Is it potato?

While checking a building, Sergiu64 notices an alien. It must be the one that avoided KickAss' tank! Pope Amole's grenade is used to deal with it. Of course I forgot to take screenshots...

RK47 scouts the UFO. The entry chamber is clear.

So more troops amass outside the entrance.

And then enter the flying saucer.

We never heard the death cry of the alien that stunned U-Cat. And here it is, up on its feet again. Jaedar deals with it. Again, the execution screenshot has been censored to preserve the viewers' sensitivity.

Despite the looks, U-Cat is alive.

As he proceeds deeper into the UFO, Jaedar is shot! RIP Jaedar.

RK47 then deals with his killer.



That's more like it, but the body count is still abysmally low. I think the AI mod is a sham!

Rookies dextermorgan and Derper are transferred to PotatoCOM so that they'll see some action. Two new soldiers are enlisted in their place.

Also, in anticipation of KwaCOM's new role, we begin the construction of an Alien Containment facility there.

 

[spekkio]

Srg. Hartman with 10 Bravery?
The fuck is this shit.



Good that at least his Reactions are correct (56)

I also think that using when somebody dies would be a good idea (makes reading the LP easier). Plus stealing somebody's ideas is fun.

 

[Malakal]

Malkal? Well fuck you too.

From what I read AI patch only changes few things right now, mainly makes aliens more eager to use snap shots and less likely to move pointlessly wasting TUs. We'll see about that.

 

[kyrub]

I think the AI mod is a sham!

Hmm, I guess you have no idea how "easy" it is to change an interior game mechanics (not speaking of AI procedures) from inside the code. I never claimed the X-COM would turn into a Deep thought miraculously, there is no change in AI coordination, for instance. Especially spotter-sniper tactic is still as easy as it was. I could easily let aliens kill you from outside your horizont the same way you can, but I didn't want to change the X-com rules. If you intend to deride my work all along your LP, it would be probably better to stop playing with it. I'd like to have the feedback, but not at any cost.


BTW, Storyfag, looking at your first screenshots (modified base setup), did you INSTALL the patch properly? What extensions do you use? Xcomutil? If so, you need a fresh X-COM CE install // overwrite UFO defense.exe with patch, and THEN split the exe with Xcomutil. Otherwise you're playing X-Com Vanilla... You should run the UFO defense.exe you copy from patch folder. You may use UFO loader.exe from Seb76's extender, but you have to make sure in the INI file that "UFO defense.exe" is chosen as running file.

Sadly, there is no simple way to discern which exe is running (version is stored in English.dat). However, if you don't witness any alien auto shots from distance, you're probably not patched properly. This is the most obvious change of the patch.

 

[Storyfag]

I think the AI mod is a sham!

If you intend to deride my work all along your LP, it would be probably better to stop playing with it. I'd like to have the feedback, but not at any cost.

I intended the quoted comment to be good natured and tongue-in-cheek. Sorry if you felt offended.

BTW, Storyfag, looking at your first screenshots (modified base setup), did you INSTALL the patch properly? What extensions do you use? Xcomutil? If so, you need a fresh X-COM CE install // overwrite UFO defense.exe with patch, and THEN split the exe with Xcomutil. Otherwise you're playing X-Com Vanilla... You should run the UFO defense.exe you copy from patch folder. You may use UFO loader.exe from Seb76's extender, but you have to make sure in the INI file that "UFO defense.exe" is chosen as running file.

Sadly, there is no simple way to discern which exe is running (version is stored in English.dat). However, if you don't witness any alien auto shots from distance, you're probably not patched properly. This is the most obvious change of the patch.

I've overwritten the UFO defense.exe with your patch and am using it. FRAPS names the screenshots "UFO Defense" as opposed to "UFO" like it did before I patched, so I think it's working properly. The base layout is a result of me fiddling with savegame files (copying advanced base files from another save to a fresh one) and not of using XComUtil. Will keep an eye out for the missing autoshots though.

Malkal? Well fuck you too.

Oh come on! It's just a typo. You'll be back to your normal self in the next update.

I also think that using when somebody dies would be a good idea (makes reading the LP easier). Plus stealing somebody's ideas is fun.

Good idea. It will be so from the next update onwards.

 

[Orgasm]

I think the AI mod is a sham!

Hmm, I guess you have no idea how "easy" it is to change an interior game mechanics (not speaking of AI procedures) from inside the code. I never claimed the X-COM would turn into a Deep thought miraculously, there is no change in AI coordination, for instance. Especially spotter-sniper tactic is still as easy as it was. I could easily let aliens kill you from outside your horizont the same way you can.

Do it. Give em full view. Will it be essentially the same as turn 21? I guess there will still be no actively aggressive behavior for the agents but at least they will be blasting Storyfags ass from all over the place and he will be hiding and turtling like there is no tomorrow. Will make this ride at least a little bit challenging.

Can I have yours or Sebs commented IDA files? Couldnt find them on Ufopedia.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

*checks stats*

Woah. My stats equal that of a 3-mission Colonel? Nice. Sniper duty for me.

And I not only survived a mission, but managed to kill an alien, and THEN get shot, and survive that? How long until I'm fit for active duty again?

In one mission, I've been of more use to X-COM than in four iterations in korenzel's TFTD LP.

 

[Jaedar]

And I was doing so well, getting two kills on my first mission. Jaedar Jr reporting for duty