XCOM (Firaxis)

[spoodie]

Turns out I was still playing on easy, I must have loaded a save before I switched up or something. So yeah, it's all going rather well for me. I dare not switch to normal so late in the game. Time to start again perhaps. At least now I know that the money associated with putting a satellite over a country isn't the cost of running, but the money the country will give you!

[Dog Pants]

I have an engineer mission at last! Unfortunately that mission contains Mutons, and when you're still rocking assault rifles and LMGs they're bloody hard.

[spoodie]

Does anyone know if mind control is permanent or not? Having to kill your own people is rough.

[Dog Pants]

This is very interesting. Not only does this mod (based on unfinished 'second wave' content found in the game files) make progress a lot more like the original, with much more complex systems such as random rookie stats, but it also hints at a potential Steam Workshop which could really turn an already good game into something amazing. For me it could definitely stand to move a little more towards X-Com. I'd also love to change the default ranks, Rookie, Squaddie and Colonel all grate against the military structure of the game for me. Personally I'd have chosen Private, Lance Corporal, Corporal, Sergeant, Warrant Officer, Leiutenant, Captain, Major.

[friznit]

Does anyone know if mind control is permanent or not? Having to kill your own people is rough.

4 turns or so. I've never let the mind controller live long enough to find out though. Sniper with disabling shot is really really useful though, not just for that but also cos they disable all the weapons on big stompy robots.

Also great to see mods appearing. If Firaxis can unlock the mod tools in due course (which they have a history of doing if Civ is anything to go by), XCom could have a very, very long life indeed.

[friznit]

Playing Classic with the Warspace Extension mod. It does stuff, but notably when you miss an abduction mission, it only pisses off the one country, not the whole continent.

[Dog Pants]

Ooh, it has Second Wave. From those notes it looks like there were quite a few features dropped from or changed in the game at quite a late stage. Second Wave, for example, or that there are graphics for the arc-thrower to go in the pistol slot. I believe there is also a full bank of local language samples for the troops to sound like the country they're supposed to come from (which I think was in the preview I played too). I'd like to see mutators so I can put together my own custom pack of changes (Steam Workshop will hopefully provide this). I'm not keen on the weapon changes in that mod, and there's a load of stuff I'd like to see that isn't in there. Still, an impressive list of changes for a game which is only just over a week old.

[Joose]

I believe there is also a full bank of local language samples for the troops to sound like the country they're supposed to come from (which I think was in the preview I played too).

I would love this. It bugs me that everyone speaks with an american accent.

[Dog Pants]

Somehow I feel like I'm pulling my disastrously engineer-free game back from the brink. I now have 14 engineers, enabling me to build carapace armour for my squad and laser weapons for those who aren't carrying scavenged plasma weapons. I've also managed to put a few more satellites up, and money doesn't seem to be much of an issue any more. However, my interceptors are now woefully underpowered - I've let a few UFOs go even after using two aircraft - and probably half of the countries have withdrawn from the project because I simply didn't have the sat coverage to protect them early game. If one more withdraws that bar on the world map goes fully red, and I suspect that's game over.

[FatherJack]

If one more withdraws that bar on the world map goes fully red, and I suspect that's game over.

I did wonder what the penalty for panicked nations was. I've only played the demo and wasn't really blown away - the battle mechanic was nice enough, but I wasn't able to do anything in the base other than make everyone's hair pink and select some upgrade options that the demo was too short for me to take advantage of. I'd have liked to see how the base building worked as the ant farm idea is such an intriguing one.

The first hint I got was "build satellites to make money" so I was a little surprised a few of you seemed to miss that, but I guess the hints are random. My first squad included Russian and Japanese, but they both looked and sounded American, although I think the Japanese woman had a few lines in German. I just picked the mission that gave the rewards I wanted (scientists) but the demo didn't really explain what happened to the other one whose panic levels would have risen.

I think the demo put me off a little - there wasn't really enough there to make it look worth the full price, and from what a few have said it seems there are a few things missing even from the full release.

[Dog Pants]

I've only played the demo and wasn't really blown away - the battle mechanic was nice enough, but I wasn't able to do anything in the base other than make everyone's hair pink and select some upgrade options that the demo was too short for me to take advantage of. I'd have liked to see how the base building worked as the ant farm idea is such an intriguing one.

The base building is pretty abstract. You choose where to put new rooms, but the only real relevance of the positioning is that adjacent like rooms get a cuddle bonus. It isn't disappointing as such, but it lacks the consideration of the original. You don't even see the base in its entirety, it just acts as a background to the menus. In fact the whole strategic game is pretty flimsy. It isn't bad, it's just functional rather than being a whole separate layer to the game. The interceptions, incidentally, are pretty much the same. I do find myself missing juggling multiple bases, feeling that achievement of getting a second squad, with interceptors and Skyranger, and balancing their logistics and responsibilities.

The first hint I got was "build satellites to make money" so I was a little surprised a few of you seemed to miss that, but I guess the hints are random.

I hadn't missed it, but random chance had starved me of the ability to build them until late game. I have to admit that I'm disappointed that I've survived so long with these setbacks.

My first squad included Russian and Japanese, but they both looked and sounded American, although I think the Japanese woman had a few lines in German.

That's just the heavily scripted tutorial. Unfortunately the game remains 15 varieties of American. Given that the work was done to localise troops I suspect this may have been a publisher decision.

I think the demo put me off a little - there wasn't really enough there to make it look worth the full price, and from what a few have said it seems there are a few things missing even from the full release.

The demo was a bad example. In fact I'd go so far as to say the whole tutorial is counter-productive - it's needlessly restrictive, the game is far more interesting when it's freeform. Despite my reservations over certain design decisions, it captures that quintessential thrill of creeping forward and praying you get the jump on the bad guys that formed the essence of the first game. The niggling issues will almost certainly be modded once Steam Workshop opens up (and if you're short up and unsure I think a later sale purchase once the mods are in full bloom will make this an excellect purchase).

[friznit]

A lot of it is expectation. A combination of XCOM fanboism and rose tinted specs means that this has been getting quite a bit of undeserved nerd bashing. It's actually a bloody good game in it's own right. Sure, there are a few niggles like the voices, or general lack of base assaults/defence (only one alien base assault), or that somehow it doesn't quite feel like I'm fighting for the survival of the human race, but just building satellites to make red bars go green. However, I'm enjoying it more than most games recently and there's just enough of a balancing act to make the strategy side worthwhile.

A caution on modding though: unfortunately when you start getting into the mods and tweaks you quickly see why certain parts of the game have been artificially crippled (decloacking the abduction UFOs which are all 'horse cloaked' by default, for example). Even the so-called balance mod can cause a big imbalance, because shooting down more UFOs => more materials => more cash => easier. I've been playing Classic Ironman Marathon with the Warspace Extension mod. Started in Africa (extra cash), spammed a load of sats first thing, focussed on capturing aliens for the research credits and beelined straight to plasma weapons. With so many captures, I needed to build only 2 sniper rifles (the mod lets you put the zapper device in a pistol slot, so you can carry many more of them in the squad) and had almost full research done and zero panic before I'd even started the base assault (the mod remove continent wide panic too). My guess it that the hardest part of modding is going to be maintaining proper balance, because there's very little 'self levelling' in the game and it's clearly very easy to unbalance it horribly with only minor changes.

Hot tips for the day though: Y is shortcut for Overwatch (R for reload), so you can quickly "Tab Y Tab Y Tab Y" to put your whole squad in overwatch. Also, you can Tab to the next guy and start him moving before the first one has stopped, to get those initial 'admin' moves done quickly. And finally, sniper disabling shot is bloody awesome for capturing aliens.

[Joose]

The first hint I got was "build satellites to make money" so I was a little surprised a few of you seemed to miss that, but I guess the hints are random.

It wasn't so much that I missed it, more that I missed how bloody important it is to take full advantage of it. It takes 20 days to build satellites, so if you don't get on it fairly quickly you can leave your economy crippled. I was given the choice between shiny new guns or satellites and picked the shiny new guns first.

I properly lost my classic difficulty game, so i've started again on Normal Ironman. Its absurdly easy once you know what you're doing. Once i've completed it I will probably go back and try classic again.

Anyone fancy a go of/already tried the multiplayer?

[buzzmong]

As someone who hasn't yet played it, those satellite mechanics and basing your economy around them sounds like complete crap.

[HereComesPete]

As someone who hasn't yet played it, those satellite mechanics and basing your economy around them sounds like complete crap.

The prejudice is strong with this one.

[buzzmong]

Admittedly I'm somewhat biased against it as I know what I want from this type of game and the stuff I do know about it isn't 100% in tune with that, but the economy management side isn't something that I feel has to be done a certain way and from what I've read both here and in other places, it doesn't sound like a good mechanic at all.

[friznit]

You'd be right really. The economy model, for what is was worth in the original, is even more simplified - you can't even build things for sale like you used to (at least I recall doing that in XCOM Apocalypse, not sure about EU). But as I keep saying, negatives and trolls aside it's still a very good game and I would highly recommend it to anyone who asked.

[friznit]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... uikOvg_wxY

[TheJockGit]

Why didn't they go with this original concept? For me that was pure X-Com.

By the way, nice find Friz

[Dog Pants]

Interesting find. It looks more like the pace of the original, and the farm thing is clearly a nod, but I'm not sure about the TU ticker at the bottom and the way it's used. Looks like a more abstract version of what UFO used, and personally I think XCOM benefits from not needing that level of micromanagement. It's a shame we don't have more variety of settings and missions - early investigation missions in farm abductions that are a little more like that video would be interesting (briefly) - but DLC and/or mods could easily produce that.