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Let's Play UFO Extraterrestrials - Finale

korenzel

Educated
Joined
May 18, 2010
Messages
278
Azira said:


That's one smooth terror mission. Truthfully however, injuries were sustained, but we traded the auto-doc around, and that seems to have spared us a hospital trip for Bee and Black. :smug:
You managed to get better than "Very Bad" on a terror mission ? You're good ! I always got the worst ratings, probably because I value soldier lives more than civilian ones...

With the Beekeeper armor now deployed for most of the troops, deaths by chemical attacks should stop, which means you're now in the very sweet spot where soldiers don't risk dying as much. I won't spoil you by detailing the next tier of enemies, I'll just stay they live up to their name, and that you should be careful.

In general, I found that more damage is generally the better option, as enemy armors get upgraded pretty fast and bypassing their protection can be difficult. The lack of burst of the Heavy Plasma is a major drawback though, especially for near-hundred accuracy soldier who can use automatic fire with deadly efficiency. You'll probably want to diversify in chemical and incendiary grenades at some point, as they can deal a lot of damage to otherwise tough to crack enemies.

Rocket Launchers are pretty good, with one of the most accurate aimed fire available and a *huge* area of effect. They are best reserved to the back line though as they take a long time to fire and reload, and soldiers carrying them can't bring as many shields in their backpacks. I personally preferred grenades as they're smaller, still pack a good punch and don't slow down soldiers as much, but using them requires diversifying training, whereas rockets can be used by anyone with decent strength and good accuracy.
 

Azira

Arcane
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Messages
8,519
Location
Copenhagen, Denmark
Codex 2012
Yes, the results of that terror site surprised me as well, as there were civilian bodies strewn all over the place, but I guess the two civilians who ran around just outside the transport counted for a lot. Being that close to our starting point, they were never in any real danger, as the closest enemies were swept away immediately.

As to diversifying, I've grown quite fond of grenades, and I certainly expect to produce some more, to have some variety. At the moment though, stun and plasma grenades seem to fulfill my needs nicely.

And I do remember the different tiers of enemies. This is not a blind LP, but with regards to the tech tree, almost blind. I know the coming enemies are going to hurt, and I intend to play those recovery missions carefully, at least until we get to research their weapons and bring them to bear against them. :thumbsup:
 

Ashery

Prophet
Joined
May 24, 2008
Messages
1,337
We take up positions just outside our transport, and rely on reaction fire to bring down the foe. This is not quite enough, as Ashery dies on us..

:salute:

Ah well, at least I wasn't shot in the back by Eklektyk this time around.
 

Damned Registrations

Furry Weeaboo Nazi Nihilist
Joined
Feb 24, 2007
Messages
14,980
Looking good. Hopefully I'll start showing up in the killings list some more once plasma grenades are researched. Grenades kind of slack off during the transition from laser to plasma, since there are no laser grenades. I don't know if it's the same here, but I recall plasma grenades being pretty insanely strong in enemy unknown, being able to blow through a lot of new structural materials and generally splatting most enemies.
 

eklektyk

Erudite
Joined
Feb 12, 2010
Messages
1,777
Location
mexico of europe
Ashery said:
:salute:

Ah well, at least I wasn't shot in the back by Eklektyk this time around.

well we can arrange something specialy for U .... :M

As to another commanders report of stunning progres and xenos death - simply awe inducing :salute:

ps. little sad that I got another of those pesky holidays cos something punctured my lung while i was peacefuly killing filthy xenos :oops:
 

Azira

Arcane
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8,519
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Copenhagen, Denmark
Codex 2012
eklektyk said:
ps. little sad that I got another of those pesky holidays cos something punctured my lung while i was peacefuly killing filthy xenos :oops:

The surgery really helps in this, the 30 days sick-leave you'd get from going KO seems to be down to 10 days now. If the other injuries are also reduced 66%, the greenhorns will not be seeing too much action I'm afraid. :smug:

A properly experienced soldier is just so much more effective than a mere rookie. Come the new enemies however, people will be spending time in the hospital, so I guess it sort of evens out. :M
 

Azira

Arcane
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Joined
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8,519
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Copenhagen, Denmark
Codex 2012
An update will be coming along shortly. A new page before that would be appreciated. M:

Any guesses as to whome dies next? :smug:
 

Canus

Savant
Joined
Jan 26, 2011
Messages
647
Canus reporting for duty sir. Some sort of sniper would be appreciated.
Also, bump.
 

Azira

Arcane
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Nov 3, 2004
Messages
8,519
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Copenhagen, Denmark
Codex 2012
Destroyers and sentinels

The game is far from over. We've suited everyone up in new and improved armour, and we've built a larger and faster transport that allows us to bring 10 soldiers to the field for each mission. But we still have a long way to go.
First on the agenda, a new UFO swarm appears.




The swarm leader is targetted by all interceptors within striking distance and it is soon downed. We lose a single interceptor. Again, this is a good trade. The rest of the swarm is harried, other UFOs are brought down and some escape. We lose no more interceptors, as I play it safe with the leftovers. As soon as an interceptor looks to be in danger, I order it to retreat.
In short order, our new transport arrives at the crash site of the swarm leader.
I'd like to show you the assault on the UFO.



Having cleared most of the map, we line up our troops outside the crashed UFO. Small breaches in the hull are seen in the top and bottom right corners, and a single soldier is sent to cover both these exits.



Inside the UFO, two aliens are spotted on the ground floor, and they're quickly dispatched. At this point, the plasma weaponry is rarely deadly, though it can still cause quite a bit of damage. The blue 4-squares large thing in the middle of the UFO is the lift to the second floor of the UFO, where the navigational controls are.



A single vipons waits up here, stupidly standing with the back towards the lift. He dies in short order.



The mission is a great succes, even though we take wounds, we lose noone. With 20 aliens killed, I call this a roaring succes! :salute:
british-troops.jpg

Amongst the salvage, we find some unique equipment.





The shield adds 50 temporary armour, and automatically recharges after every battle. It counts for 10 of our current shields, yet only weighs the same as 4, a nice :incline:
The Alien Life Scanner is a real beaut however. This little puppy lets the soldier holding it know the location of any and all enemies on a map. :smug: This makes advancing through the fog of war much less dangerous, and allows for the positioning of clever ambushes. Broken? Possibly, but we're fighting for our survival here, no reason to play fair. :twisted:
Eager to test it, we send our team on another recovery mission.







Promotions to a slew of newbies, as I had to make some rotations due to the wounds taken in the swarm leader mission. Medic, Draco and Warcupine II all get their first promotion, whereas Donaroriak maxes out his throwing skill. :salute:



Warcupine II was taken out of action in that mission but survived, and thanks to the surgery building, he only needs 10 days to recover. :incline:



I keep on capturing commanders whenever I make a positive ID on one, I've lost count of how many we've got. :roll:




A more powerful cannon is researched, based on the plasma principles. Cannons hold less ammo as they increase in power, and I have yet to build any of these plasma cannons, though I ought to upgrade our interceptors' weapons soon.




This is yet another of the sell-for-profit research topics. Power Distribution isn't used for anything except sale. It's just another way to wring profit from downing and recovering UFOs.




The plasma grenade however, has more direct applications. :smug:





The advanced laboratories I ordered built are finally completed, and each adds 30 more scientists. That's a 50% increase per slot taken in the base. :incline: I order the disassembly for 4 basic labs, so we can build two more of the advanced variety.




The research tree seems a little borked at this point. We've already researched the Stormbringer, which is a better interceptor on all acounts than this Lightning, yet this research topic opened up much later.. :roll: Well, I'll just pretend it happened the other way round, as I haven't yet had our technicians build our own interceptors.





korenzel reaches the esteemed position of Staff Sergeant and breaks the 100 mark on the action points! :salute: dextermorgan improves on his reactions, making it more dangerous for enemies trying to sneak up on him. :smug:




Not to be outdone, Black soon after also makes it to Staff Sergeant and improves on his strength score, to better carry more protective shields into battle. :salute:





Lightbane and Pope Amole does as dextermorgan did, and builds their reaction stats. :salute:




A new tank is also developed, and this one actually looks useful. If only it didn't rob 4 soldiers of the chance to earn xp, I might bring tanks to the battle..




Now this is useful, as it will improve our radar coverage considerably. It takes up twice the space in a base, cost double the amount of cash to keep running, yet covers 50% more ground, and seeing as space isn't an issue yet in my interceptor bases, building these in them seems a no-brainer.



I forgot to take a screenshot of the laser defense building. :oops: Imagine it's effectiveness lying somewhere between the rocket defense building, and the plasma defense building which pops up later in this update. :roll:




I decide to interrogate one of the many vipon commanders I've been hoarding, and it spills the beans on the alien mothership! Sounds nasty. Any guesses on whether we'll have to tackle this puppy at one point in the game? :roll:





A few more battles are fought, and Storyfag joins the ranks of the SS! :incline: :salute:




And here's the plasma defense building. Takes a while to build, but maybe I ought to stick one or two of these in the Seathopia base.. :M




Human ingenouity thinks up a plasma grenade with antennae!
cutcaster-photo-100128240-Man-wearing-propellor-hat.jpg





This is a proper step up from the basic shields. Too bad our technicians are busy producing weapons for our ground troopers, otherwise our interceptor pilots would gladly have these things installed ASAP.
Well, I guess they'll just have to wait a while. :smug: Their interceptors will be upgraded alright, but not just yet.






More boom for our rocket launchers! :salute: Too bad I'm not using them, as I prefer 'nades..





The missions are by now almost trivial, and Drakron and Eklektyk also join the ranks of the SS. :smug: :salute:




Mhmm.. Incendiary grenade...
World_Baghdad.jpg

"Say hello to my leedle friend!"
:smug:
At this point, I'm almost getting cocky. We down another fighter UFO and I send in the ground crew to sweep the crash site.



And we see this ugly fella!



The first one goes down easy enough to rapid fire, and Drakron earns a whopping 20xp for the kill! This should serve as a warning of how dangerous they're considered...



Donaroriak doesn't heed the warning and is shot down summarily. Lucky for him, he hangs on to life, while Drakron does his best to down the beast. Two heavy laser shots connect, yet do no damage, before the beast is finally felled.. Nasty critters indeed. :incline:



Two injured in our first skirmish with these new foes. The chasers have upgraded weapons as well, which explains why Storyfag was injured in spite of carrying about 12 portable shields into battle.







The next battle sees a lot of promotions, not least due to the fact that I had to take two newbies along, to fill Storyfags and Donaroriaks two vacant seats. Medic and anus_pounder II handle themselves well however, especially the former. :salute:




Safely back at base, the corpses, or rather wrecks, are thoroughly investigated by our researchers. This Destroyer seems aptly named, and it's armour value is disheartening. With effort and determination however, they can be brought down, as long as you remember to always have your soldiers back eachother up.



While we were battling these new enemies, the technicians built our first Stormbringer interceptor. :salute: Faster, stronger and simply better than its predecessor, this plane is one I will grow fond of. For now, we have only the one, but gradually the other interceptors of the Raptor class will be outphased.
The dissection of the Destroyer opened up a new research avenue.




Ion technology is the next step up the damage ladder, when it comes to armaments. It even promises better shielding with research. So having to face these destroyers seems to have some benefits as well. :smug:




The ion pistol however isn't that impressive, it's inaccurate and holds too few shots for my tastes. They will all be sold.
Before research on the rifles can complete, the turn of the month is upon us.



As you can see, the primary income source is loot, quite as it is in the original x-com games. The primary money sink is manufacturing of new weapons, although salaries comes in a close second. Still, our grants are larger than the maintenance costs of bases and aircraft, at least so far. Once we replace all interceptors with Stormbringers, this might very well change. But as long as we bring in loot from the scavenged UFOs, everything seems OK.



In our next recovery mission, we come upon yet another new foe. These oddly shaped thingies have flying capabilities, making grenades less effective, and they have a nasty habit of firing off a reaction snap shot when destroyed. :rpgcodex:




Warcupine II continues his :incline: His skill with grenades ought to please Ulminati. :smug:




Now we're talking. This outdamages our heavy lasers! The accuracy is a little poorer, but each ammo pod holds charge enough for 20 shots. Plans are made to outfit all shooting soldiers with these rifles. The grenadiers will stick to their explosives. :smug:




The heavy ion gun. :salute: Very high damage, but no burst fire mode. I can't stress how much I love burst fire, so this gun is ignored for now. I might change my attitude later, depending on how the rifles perform, but for now none of these are made.




Rocket tank. Will make things go boom. Takes up too much space though, and like all tanks, cannot gain xp.




The sentinel is researched. They really are annoying. Lucky for us, they sport less armour than the destroyers, and as such are less of a hassle to destroy. Except for the fact that they like to squeeze off a reaction shot when they die. That's annoying. :M
The personal jetpack research topic sounds promising though. :smug:




Medic continues to shine. :salute: Maxing out her shooting accuracy, she's quickly becoming an asset.




Research finishes on an improved suit of armour. It is a massive improvement on protection against mechanical attacks, yet its defense against chemical attacks is very poor. Question is if I should make the change, seeing as the new ion weaponry seems to be more dangerous that the larva aliens..



On the very next mission though, I spot this. A green larva. This is a new iteration. It's not a commander, but it's a more dangerous version called a King Larva by our researchers. This just makes the decision about what armour to bring more difficult..



The mission was simple, even if it did introduce a new enemy.
Then, in our very next mission...



18%20-%20boom_headshot%20lolcats.jpg

Medic tries to kill a destroyer, but its reaction fire causes a massive 132 damage, killing her outright..
She will be missed.
dawson-crying1.jpg


But the rest of the team merrily kills the remaining enemies,






And three soldiers get promoted, Desmodus Rotundus II twice! :salute: Special honours to Bee, who's now our sixth SS. :smug:




We could now produce these shields for personal protection, if I wanted us to. I don't. I'm mean that way.
No seriously though, our technicians are hard at work producing boom-boom to make the enemy go away, so they can't waste time on things that protect our soldiers instead.
Oh, wait, I did order 20 new suits of the Viper class armour..

cheapskate.jpg


Guess I'm just a cheapskate then. :smug:




Jetpacks!

19_20_Jet-pack-Thunderball-1965-Sean-Connery.JPG


Cheapskate or not, I can't resist ordering a batch of these for our soldiers! The really cool stuff about them is they detract 30 weight, meaning soldiers with these mounted can carry more stuff into battle! :incline:




Mhmmm, another improvement on our missile tech for our interceptors. Again, same amount of ammo, meaning a hefty deal more bang for our buck! :smug:






And finally, we uncover the secrets behind flame-/ and chemical throwers. :twisted: The limited range sounds disheartening, but the mental image I get of dousing alien scum in highly corrosive acids mixed with neurotoxins just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I must make at least a few of the chemoguns, though I doubt I will be making flamethrowers. If someone objects vehemently, I might make one for him or her to use, no doubt killing him-/herself in the process. :smug:
 

Storyfag

Perfidious Pole
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Joined
Feb 17, 2011
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Stealth Orbital Nuke Control Centre
Re: Destroyers and sentinels

Azira said:
A few more battles are fought, and Storyfag joins the ranks of the SS! :incline: :salute:

:yeah:

Azira said:
And finally, we uncover the secrets behind flame-/ and chemical throwers. :twisted: The limited range sounds disheartening, but the mental image I get of dousing alien scum in highly corrosive acids mixed with neurotoxins just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I must make at least a few of the chemoguns, though I doubt I will be making flamethrowers. If someone objects vehemently, I might make one for him or her to use, no doubt killing him-/herself in the process. :smug:

Actually, I'd like one, sir!
 

korenzel

Educated
Joined
May 18, 2010
Messages
278
Good work with the Destroyers, they are really fearsome and will remain so all the way to the end of the game with their frequent criticals bringing down or killing a soldier in one shot. The real pain begins where you assault a battleship full of those.

I didn't find JetPacks to be a worthy investment. They do allow soldiers to carry more equipment but at the cost of the whole backpack, which means they won't be able to bring much anyway. The Desert Viper armor isn't really worth it : the additional protection against mechanical doesn't really prevent death by Destroyer fire, and the low chemical resilience makes troops all too vulnerable to larvaes and other gas spewing enemies.

You're now headed to the part of the game in which finances become very hard to maintain. Once chasers and vipons are mostly out of the picture, so are the expensive guns, grenades and ammo you can sell to pay the various expenses. Too bad you can't salvage the Destoyers' Ion Cannons and so forth.
 

Black

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
1,872,592
Oooh, you've got the maphack item, as soon as I found it and saw how it works I thought to myself that I have won the game :M

Also, I request some Agi and Vit, I don't wanna die like a bitch!
 

Azira

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Nov 3, 2004
Messages
8,519
Location
Copenhagen, Denmark
Codex 2012
@dextermorgan
You'll get to test-ride the chemogun then. Make us proud. :salute:

@Storyfag
I'll look forward to seeing you spreading burning death, even if you yourself wind up a victim of the flames. :salute:

@Drakron
Yep. You do have better shooting accuracy. If I were to restart the game, I would dismiss all the starting soldiers with low accuracy, and higher some with better scores. Those of you who came a bit later to the party, have better stats. Unfair, but that's how the game is. :M

@korenzel
I haven't formed an opinion on the jetpacks yet, but I seem to recall they enable flying for our soldiers, which is useful for avoiding grenades at the least, so I might use them even if they do limit the carrying space available.
As to finances, they're looking good so far. I still see the occasional chaser, so there is some loot, though not as much as in era 1.

@Black
Yep. And I intend to keep it. It's not quite an I win button, but it saves me from scouring every last part of the map when hunting down the enemies, and I'm grateful for that.
And you'll get agility and vitality when I decide it, not before. :smug:
 

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