Shiny Llama
Member
Am I too late to join? I did the Superhuman Antarctic Challenge back in the day and did pretty well. I'll try ironman for NeoGAF.
X-Com: Enemy Unknown Ironman Challenge [On Again For 2012]
- Thread starter archnemesis
- Start date
I think this is a rolling challenge thread. Feel free to join in. We're pretty much setting our own challenge levels now. Mine is just "beat the game", since I never did that before. That base takedown there? My first successful one... ever.
I would have been so dead on Ironman, but I think I'm going to win this time, which is good since it'd be a downer if my first Let's Play-ish thing would have ended in failure.
I would have been so dead on Ironman, but I think I'm going to win this time, which is good since it'd be a downer if my first Let's Play-ish thing would have ended in failure.
Shiny Llama
Member
Nice to see some new blood playing X-COM! /oldman
I did a few X-COM runs on my youtube channel, but I don't claim to be the greatest at the game. Looking forward to playing Firaxis' version later in the year... If they don't mess it up.
X-Com is one of those games that I played several years ago and just gave up. I've failed many, many times, which is why I'm able to navigate around some really bad mistakes this time. I still haven't faced Psionics before, and I know that Ethereals are coming soon. As it is right now, a possible Game Over scenario still exists for me, and that's a base raid by Etherals before I get Psionics of my own.
I've also gotten far and just quit a few times, which is the reason I'm doing this thread. I can quit any time when it's just me, but I have a game to finish for the thread. And the aliens will be defeated this time. UFO: Enemy Unknown is one of those games on my list of games I wanted to beat, but never did.
Besides, Blaster Bombs get! I haven't tried those before either, so I'm looking forward to some extreme trick shots with it. And accidentally blowing myself up on a misfire, but that's part of it, too.
Chapter 12: Housecall
May 7th to May 10th 1999
It's a Me!
It is. You did ask to be on the Base Raid team, didn't you? DennisK4 is there, too, but I failed to get a screenshot of him. Which, considering the amount of screeshots I took in that mission is no easy feat.
All explosions look like skulls.
Except when it's not. That's a Stun Bomb. But yes, all explosions look like skulls.Yesthat's a one way to tell a player it is deadly.
I kind of hope hat the Firaxis game will have skull-shaped explosions, even if it's just an easter egg to unlock. Or a mod.
StoppedInTracks
Member
God damn Thikkaman is no joke.
Me too. I'm getting paranoid. But maybe it's because I keep shooting down the Alien Retaliation scouts. As far as I know, the same rules for discovering enemy bases work for both sides. They have to pass near my base at least once to spot it. I'm expecting to see an Alien Battleship on an Alien Retaliation mission any day now, though. The question is if it'll go to my base or fly away empty handed.
Really, this game of X-Com is going well not just because I'm playing better than usual, but because the game is holding back. And I kind of want a base attack about now. Before it gets too easy. Once I get Hovertank/Fusion going on, it's over for the aliens concerning base raids. Three of those things in each base means the aliens get Blaster Bombed to bits on their spawn points.
(What difficulty are you playing at?)
There's also to take into account the fact that now a lot of information are available, about how to play; originally there was no ufopedia.org (or internet users) that explained you things.
For example, probably you wouldn't have obtained access to the hyper-wave decoder so quickly, with a "pure" playthrough.
I'm not sure but if you keep shooting down UFOs, you won't get invaded; at least unless a battleship itself comes searching for your base.
I'm on Beginner. And yeah, I'm reading Ufopedia. The newbie guide there is great. I'd never have come up with mass producing Laser Cannons for profit on my own either, although I'll have to pause that one soon since I know what's coming up next in Research. Can finally get rid of the Tank/Rocket Launcher and trade in for a brand new Hovertank/Plasma. Maybe swap out an Interceptor for a Firestorm, too. That'll be a big help financially.
I'm basically making my playthrough a Beginner walktrough. Once I finish, I plan on making a condensed and illustrated guide on how I won, so new players can learn from it. I'm not that great a storyteller, but illustrated instructions? That I can do!
And I look forward to seeing that everything I know is wrong when the new XCOM is released.
I'm basically making my playthrough a Beginner walktrough. Once I finish, I plan on making a condensed and illustrated guide on how I won, so new players can learn from it. I'm not that great a storyteller, but illustrated instructions? That I can do!
And I look forward to seeing that everything I know is wrong when the new XCOM is released.
Chapter 13: Calm before the storm
May 10th to May 21st 1999
Overheard at the UFO-32 recovery debriefing:
"Well that was the shortest mission ever..."
After the successful mission against the alien base, morale was at an all time high at X-Com. Plus the science team had their hands full with the new weapons and captives. Of course, just because we had won a major battle, it didn't mean the aliens were defeated. Wish it was that easy...
When Skyranger-1 refueled, the Tank was loaded back onto it and the recovery of UFO-32 was started.
(Note: That is one messed up UFO! It's rare to see them this busted.)
One burst of concentrated plasma fire from perfect free later and it was already over. Didn't even leave the Skyranger.
Meanwhile on the science front, a dossier was delivered to my desk. It was labelled "Firestorm". Our very own hunter/killer UFO. Many times faster than the Interceptors we normally used, and sturdy enough to take a hit and keep flying. It only had one drawback: It uses Elerium for fuel, meaning we cannot use these all the time unless we have a source of Elerium ready to use. Alien Base-1's supply ships would be missed.
At Forge, this technology was put to use in a different way, marking the first Earth-made Hovertank. One for Skyranger-1 and one to guard at Forge. At the same time, Twilight and Forge were reinforced with two new rookies each. We were getting paranoid about all the "Alien Retaliation" missions going on. Our bases were hidden well, yes, but so was Alien Base-1 and WE found THAT. More garrisoned troops seemed wise.
Speaking of Alien Retaliation, another scout appeared, seemingly trying to locate Vanguard base. It was shot down just east of Budapest, a little too close for comfort. The recovery team was delayed a few hours to add the prototype Hovertank/Plasma to the craft. The Rocket Tank was old off as we could now build our own.
The mission went well, and we did not need the Hovertank's abilities this time. Still good to see it working in the field.
A Sectoid Scout was shot down, and recovered. Apparently it was scouting out Siberia in preparation for a Terror Mission.
Back in the labs, the science team gave us some happy news. Blaster Launchers!
And then Hyperwave made the mood sober again... A Battleship was detected to the north east of Vanguard with a course directly towards the base.
The base was put on red alert, we had guests incoming.
(Click the image for music)
But this particular incident should be very familiar to you, right Miss Lee? After all, this is where you met us.
Notes: You guys just HAD to say it, didn't you? "It's amazing that McNum hasn't had his base invaded yet." Well here's your base invasion for you! Actually, I've been looking forward to it. While I don't have that much story going, I really needed a base attack at Vanguard for the little I have. Plus, I got Blaster Bombs! Imma deck 'em in the snoz!
Yeah, if I don't seem worried about this, it's because I'm not. It's Floaters. Sure there'll be one with a Blaster Launcher, but I have two. And I'm going to nuke the hangars until they glow. They're indestructible, after all.
May 10th to May 21st 1999
Overheard at the UFO-32 recovery debriefing:
"Well that was the shortest mission ever..."
After the successful mission against the alien base, morale was at an all time high at X-Com. Plus the science team had their hands full with the new weapons and captives. Of course, just because we had won a major battle, it didn't mean the aliens were defeated. Wish it was that easy...
When Skyranger-1 refueled, the Tank was loaded back onto it and the recovery of UFO-32 was started.
(Note: That is one messed up UFO! It's rare to see them this busted.)
One burst of concentrated plasma fire from perfect free later and it was already over. Didn't even leave the Skyranger.
Meanwhile on the science front, a dossier was delivered to my desk. It was labelled "Firestorm". Our very own hunter/killer UFO. Many times faster than the Interceptors we normally used, and sturdy enough to take a hit and keep flying. It only had one drawback: It uses Elerium for fuel, meaning we cannot use these all the time unless we have a source of Elerium ready to use. Alien Base-1's supply ships would be missed.
At Forge, this technology was put to use in a different way, marking the first Earth-made Hovertank. One for Skyranger-1 and one to guard at Forge. At the same time, Twilight and Forge were reinforced with two new rookies each. We were getting paranoid about all the "Alien Retaliation" missions going on. Our bases were hidden well, yes, but so was Alien Base-1 and WE found THAT. More garrisoned troops seemed wise.
Speaking of Alien Retaliation, another scout appeared, seemingly trying to locate Vanguard base. It was shot down just east of Budapest, a little too close for comfort. The recovery team was delayed a few hours to add the prototype Hovertank/Plasma to the craft. The Rocket Tank was old off as we could now build our own.
The mission went well, and we did not need the Hovertank's abilities this time. Still good to see it working in the field.
A Sectoid Scout was shot down, and recovered. Apparently it was scouting out Siberia in preparation for a Terror Mission.
Back in the labs, the science team gave us some happy news. Blaster Launchers!
And then Hyperwave made the mood sober again... A Battleship was detected to the north east of Vanguard with a course directly towards the base.
The base was put on red alert, we had guests incoming.
(Click the image for music)
But this particular incident should be very familiar to you, right Miss Lee? After all, this is where you met us.
Notes: You guys just HAD to say it, didn't you? "It's amazing that McNum hasn't had his base invaded yet." Well here's your base invasion for you! Actually, I've been looking forward to it. While I don't have that much story going, I really needed a base attack at Vanguard for the little I have. Plus, I got Blaster Bombs! Imma deck 'em in the snoz!
Yeah, if I don't seem worried about this, it's because I'm not. It's Floaters. Sure there'll be one with a Blaster Launcher, but I have two. And I'm going to nuke the hangars until they glow. They're indestructible, after all.
perfect free
Member
Awww yeah.
You sir, are a god amongst men. I spent 2 hours today reading all your posts on my smartphone at work.
If you need more rookies, you have me! You know, if.
If.
Thanks for the praise! It makes it all that much more fun to do.
I might need more rookies soon enough. It all comes down to one particular stat that's invisible to me at the moment. Today's badass might be tomorrow's mindslave.
Also, I'm beginning to get a feeling that I'm not the only one who has X-Com as one of those games I really wanted to beat, but never did. Well, this is for everyone who just wants to see the game completed. Vanguard base will not fall, and if my plan works out, I'll be ready to win by late July, early August ingame. Just need one more captured alien... and that one will be arriving in Siberia soon. If I read the game right, then there's a foreshadowing in this chapter.
Seriously, I've never been able to beat it. I've never really been that good at strategy games, but it's nice getting to see someone else really enjoy it. I'm watching a superhuman antarctic challenge right now on youtube, and it's pretty awesome.
Let's Play is starting to be one of my favorite things now... I'm torn between a Super Metroid speedrun, and picking X-Com back up.
Chapter 14: Encounter
May 21st 1999
Suggested music for this chapter: Team America World Police Theme
Before we begin, maybe you would like to tell me your side of the story here?
I had found out that something was going on at the abandoned base west of Budapest. Aircraft had been seen leaving the base, yet no one anywhere would even acknowlegde the existence of them. Now that smells like a story to me, so I did what any journalist worth her salt would do and went looking. Turns out the base was not abandoned at all and armed guards had been posted. I tried asking them a few questions, but they were very uncooperative until...
"Come with me if you want to live. NOW!" was all he said before grabbing my arm and dragging me deep into the mountain, and shoving me into a small room, locking the door. Then... Star Wars broke out outside."
Star Wars? Yes, I suppose you could say that. We call it The Defense of Vanguard Base. Here's how it went down.
The Floaters didn't take it kindly that we had shot down several of their UFOs and blown up their base, and they were very keen to repay us in kind. So when the alien Battleship arrived, we pretty much knew what was about to happen. We were prepared, though, having emergency protocols for just such an occasion ready to go in effect.
The base was laid out so the aliens would all have to funnel through the Access Lift room, a good place to stage an ambush, in other words.
The plan was simple, which is good. The Hovertank would hide in a small room next to the Access Lift and move in and out of cover to spot the incoming aliens. Any alien that got past that would walk right into a firing squad of Heavy Plasma. A small team would be ready at the end of the corridor to shoot any aliens that the Tank and ambush team could not hit. Plan B was Blaster Bomb Barrage, but we never needed that.
In fact, this plan pretty much just worked out. Tank spots alien, tank shoots alien.
Alien blocks tank, hallway team shoots alien.
Alien runs past the Tank, ambush team shoots alien.
And it all came down to the awesome fight between a Reaper and the Hovertank in the open space of the hangar. Reapers can't reach that high.
All in all, Vanguard was saved, but when a plan comes together like this, the bigger question would be: Was it ever really in danger?
After the fight, if you want to call it that, I was told we had a civilian in the base. A journalist even. It would be nearly impossible to keep what just happened, including the existence of aliens a secret for long, unless we did something. I'm sure you remember our little talk. About how the world had the right to know, how we were the big evil UFO conspiracy and so on. Well, we ARE the UFO conspiracy, but we're the good guys. I can still remember the look on your face when I offered you this deal. How's that exclusive first interview after X-Com going public working out for you?
All of this so far has already been released to the public.
It has, but not quite. You see there are a few... omissions in the public data. You will be there first hand when the results of those omissions show themselves. In about... three and a half hours, I would think. And trust me, this is one exclusive you do NOT want to miss.
Now you got me curious, what aren't you telling?
Can't tell you yet. Except for two words: "Red Knight". That's all you get for now.
Notes:
How to prepare for a base raid:
1. Always have troops in the base. HWPs are nice too.
2. Transfer or sell ALL nonessential weapons and combat items to another base as you only get 80 items, and you don't get to choose.
3. Have a base that is easy to defend. The layout I use is not the best, ideally you want the access lift to funnel into a corridor of General Stores so you get one long unbroken corridor to shoot at the aliens through.
4. Watch out for the items on the 2nd floor. If they break, you lose the room in the Geoscape, so check your Blaster Bomb fire! General Stores and Hangars are invulnerable.
As you can see, the Hovertank pretty much won the fight before it started. There's a trick to this move, though. Down the hall, exactly 20 tiles, no more, no less from the first tile in the intersection where the ambush team was waiting I had placed Adnor. This is because if the enemy did move into the intersection, it would see Adnor at the same moment he saw it. The alien then has the choice of firing its weapon and getting cut down by the ambush team, or walk away, and get shot by the corridor team. One alien tried to shoot. One. The rest turned back.
I got this screensot, too, just so I'd remember talking about it.
Alien Turn 20 is special. On the 20th turn, the aliens become able to see all your units. This meant that I moved Adnor into a side corridor since he could no longer hide out of sight range, but honestly, against Floaters, this is no big deal. There are, however, other aliens you really don't want to have complete unit locations. But on the flipside, you can use it to your advantage as you know the aliens WILL be coming for you on turn 20 and beyond, so set traps.
By the way, I consider Base Defense X-Com's party trick. You actually play in the base you built, how awesome is that? Especially considering the game's age? Just one of the small things that makes X-Com as a whole awesome.
So how bad do you think the game is going to come after me now that I'm openly mocking the aliens? Better do it properly...
"X-COM! FUCK YEAH! HOVERTANKS! FUCK YEAH!"
May 21st 1999
Suggested music for this chapter: Team America World Police Theme
Before we begin, maybe you would like to tell me your side of the story here?
I had found out that something was going on at the abandoned base west of Budapest. Aircraft had been seen leaving the base, yet no one anywhere would even acknowlegde the existence of them. Now that smells like a story to me, so I did what any journalist worth her salt would do and went looking. Turns out the base was not abandoned at all and armed guards had been posted. I tried asking them a few questions, but they were very uncooperative until...
"Come with me if you want to live. NOW!" was all he said before grabbing my arm and dragging me deep into the mountain, and shoving me into a small room, locking the door. Then... Star Wars broke out outside."
Star Wars? Yes, I suppose you could say that. We call it The Defense of Vanguard Base. Here's how it went down.
The Floaters didn't take it kindly that we had shot down several of their UFOs and blown up their base, and they were very keen to repay us in kind. So when the alien Battleship arrived, we pretty much knew what was about to happen. We were prepared, though, having emergency protocols for just such an occasion ready to go in effect.
The base was laid out so the aliens would all have to funnel through the Access Lift room, a good place to stage an ambush, in other words.
The plan was simple, which is good. The Hovertank would hide in a small room next to the Access Lift and move in and out of cover to spot the incoming aliens. Any alien that got past that would walk right into a firing squad of Heavy Plasma. A small team would be ready at the end of the corridor to shoot any aliens that the Tank and ambush team could not hit. Plan B was Blaster Bomb Barrage, but we never needed that.
In fact, this plan pretty much just worked out. Tank spots alien, tank shoots alien.
Alien blocks tank, hallway team shoots alien.
Alien runs past the Tank, ambush team shoots alien.
And it all came down to the awesome fight between a Reaper and the Hovertank in the open space of the hangar. Reapers can't reach that high.
All in all, Vanguard was saved, but when a plan comes together like this, the bigger question would be: Was it ever really in danger?
After the fight, if you want to call it that, I was told we had a civilian in the base. A journalist even. It would be nearly impossible to keep what just happened, including the existence of aliens a secret for long, unless we did something. I'm sure you remember our little talk. About how the world had the right to know, how we were the big evil UFO conspiracy and so on. Well, we ARE the UFO conspiracy, but we're the good guys. I can still remember the look on your face when I offered you this deal. How's that exclusive first interview after X-Com going public working out for you?
All of this so far has already been released to the public.
It has, but not quite. You see there are a few... omissions in the public data. You will be there first hand when the results of those omissions show themselves. In about... three and a half hours, I would think. And trust me, this is one exclusive you do NOT want to miss.
Now you got me curious, what aren't you telling?
Can't tell you yet. Except for two words: "Red Knight". That's all you get for now.
Notes:
How to prepare for a base raid:
1. Always have troops in the base. HWPs are nice too.
2. Transfer or sell ALL nonessential weapons and combat items to another base as you only get 80 items, and you don't get to choose.
3. Have a base that is easy to defend. The layout I use is not the best, ideally you want the access lift to funnel into a corridor of General Stores so you get one long unbroken corridor to shoot at the aliens through.
4. Watch out for the items on the 2nd floor. If they break, you lose the room in the Geoscape, so check your Blaster Bomb fire! General Stores and Hangars are invulnerable.
As you can see, the Hovertank pretty much won the fight before it started. There's a trick to this move, though. Down the hall, exactly 20 tiles, no more, no less from the first tile in the intersection where the ambush team was waiting I had placed Adnor. This is because if the enemy did move into the intersection, it would see Adnor at the same moment he saw it. The alien then has the choice of firing its weapon and getting cut down by the ambush team, or walk away, and get shot by the corridor team. One alien tried to shoot. One. The rest turned back.
I got this screensot, too, just so I'd remember talking about it.
Alien Turn 20 is special. On the 20th turn, the aliens become able to see all your units. This meant that I moved Adnor into a side corridor since he could no longer hide out of sight range, but honestly, against Floaters, this is no big deal. There are, however, other aliens you really don't want to have complete unit locations. But on the flipside, you can use it to your advantage as you know the aliens WILL be coming for you on turn 20 and beyond, so set traps.
By the way, I consider Base Defense X-Com's party trick. You actually play in the base you built, how awesome is that? Especially considering the game's age? Just one of the small things that makes X-Com as a whole awesome.
So how bad do you think the game is going to come after me now that I'm openly mocking the aliens? Better do it properly...
"X-COM! FUCK YEAH! HOVERTANKS! FUCK YEAH!"
archnemesis
Member
Locate "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\xcom ufo defense\dosbox.conf".
Try changing these values.
Try changing these values.
Code:
[sdl]
fullresolution=1920x1080 # match that to your desktop resolution
output=ddraw
[render]
aspect=true
[cpu]
cycles=auto limit 16000
[mixer]
blocksize=1024
prebuffer=10Thanks, I'll give these a shot when I get home tonight!
I'm honestly a bit disappointed in that fight myself. Sure, it was hilarious that I kept getting away with it, but it doesn't make for interesting screenshots. "Everything went exactly as planned" is not a fun story. And yes, this mission was with no reloads. It was a grinder, the aliens didn't ever get out of the Access Lift room.Hell yeah, nobody died. I was growing impatient with the aliens but they did, after all, raid your base. Too bad they didn't concentrate their big guns from the sky on you
Well, the game is hinting heavily at two things coming up, so I might get some more interesting fights going. One in Siberia, and one in America. Looking forward, kind of, to the one in Siberia. It's going to be nasty, but I could walk out of it with the last big score I need.
This is another example of "informed" playthrough vs a "pure" playthrough.
Back in the days most people didn't know or didn't think about base layout managament (at least not on their firsts playthrough), so base defense missions were way more dramatic, with aliens spreading everywhere.
Yeah, I've failed enough X-Com games to not make THAT mistake again. As I said in the beginning, I have a lot of failed or given up games of X-Com behind me. Just not a won one. When the Psi and Etherals start flying around, then I'll be closer to a pure game, and I never did the final mission, obviously.
Base missions inside a thoughtless base, can be summarized like this:
aliens, aliens everywhere.
It was a nightmare.
Yup, it really is. Oh, and speaking of base defense, here's another free tip: One access Lift and TWO Hangars in all bases. That way you get enough lift and hangar spawn points for the maximum amount of aliens. If not, they get to use your spawn points. And you don't want that.
Of course, it didn't help that I am a very patient player. If I have an advantage and the opponent needs to act to win, I'm not going to waste it. And if the opponent doesn't act, I win anyway. I can be very frustrating to play against sometimes...
Chapter 15: Escalation
May 22nd to May 31st 1999
Warning given on May 22nd over secured Hyperwave channels
"Incoming Alien Battleships!"
May 21st had our first defense against the aliens go smoothly, however it was clear to use that the aliens were beginning to see X-Com as a threat, or at least an annoyance that needed to be dealt with. The base attack had shown them willing to attack us head on, but this attack was a prelude to what to come the following day. The day Brazil fell.
It started with a blip on the Hyperwave.
Then another, and several after that. The Interceptor at Twilight was sent up to monitor, but not engage, as it would be no match for a Battleship, even with the Plasma Cannons.
That's when it detected the tell-tale signals of an alien base, right in the middle of Brazil. We alerted the Brazilian authorities of it, yet got no reply.
At least, we hope it wasn't a reply with got, as the proximity alarm at Twilight fired off. For the second day in a row, we had company.
However, we had a proven defensive plan, and we had the Thnikkaman. Really, the outcome of this invasion was never in doubt. The aliens invading us were new, though. While we had seen "Mutons" on the Hyperwave channels, we had never faced any in battle before.
Turns out they're big, musclebound aliens in green tights. Yeah. Wouldn't have guessed that. They're also rather tough, taking more than one Heavy Plasma blast to take down on most occasions.
They also had some kind of blob-thing with them. It set fires where it slithered, but fell to Heavy Plasma fire by the ambush team.
In the end, though, it was just a slaughter. No matter how tough the Mutons are, they still couldn't breach our defenses.
We shot down a Muton Supply Ship, but no recovery was made. Intelligence pointed towards an upcoming Terror Mission in Siberia, so Skyranger-1 was not available to send across the world at this time.
A few days later, news came from the science team. They had plans for a hybrid fighter/transporter craft. They called it Lightning. A fairly decent design, but we never actually got one built for active service. They believed they could do one better than the Lightning.
A small Muton Scout was spotted on a Retaliation mission, it seemed like Twilight would get another visit soon. It was obliterated in the sky.
A second scout appeared, this time in Europe. Interceptor-2 was scrambled, and the UFO was shot down in Norway.
The recovery mission went well, and thanks to the Flying Suits and hovertank, the Mutons inside the UFO were shot through the hole in the roof. We got no Elerium from this attack. The last one was killed by fanboi. We learned a few things about Mutons on that mission. As suspected, they had significant armor, but X-Com was still victorious.
And now let me present... The Ultimate Craft. The science team had been busy improving the design of the Lightning, and what they came up with was... The Avenger.
The fastest craft ever built on Earth, and strong enough to challenge even an Alien Battleship, although the science team heavily advised not to send a lone Avenger to fight a Battleship, as they are difficult to repair. But not only could it take the fight to the alien ships, it also had a massive troop carrying ability. 26 men or 14 men and 3 tanks could it carry. -CLASSIFIED-
-CLASSIFIED- Once we got some Avengers built, we could fight the aliens on even terms on Earth.
Now, it is time to discuss what turned out to be a major revelation. We call it the UFO-50 Incident. UFO-50 was a Terror Ship heading for Siberia, its crew was Sectoids. Interceptor-2 shot it down, and a recovery mission was prepared.
What we found there literally boggled the mind...
Notes:
Also, Brazil is gone. The appearance of the Battleships and the alien base seals it. This means the clock is ticking! The aliens will Infiltrate all the Funding Nations one at a time until none are left and X-Com is shut down. That is the major plan of the aliens. You cannot prevent this from happening either. All you can do is press on and attempt to win the game before the aliens conquer Earth one nation at the time.
Now, I need a bit of advice again. You know what a crashed Sectoid Terror Ship means. It means a Sectoid Leader. And that means my first run-in with Psionics. Now, since I have no clue on anyone's Psi Strength stat, I'm basically running in blind. So I've been restocking Skyranger-1...
As you can see, there are no Heavy Plasmas on board now, instead there are Laser Pistols and Small Launchers galore, although I should stock a few more Stun Bombs. And there is a Blaster Launcher.
I have two ideas, and they aren't mutually exclusive. I need to get the Sectoid Leader stunned. Fast. For two reasons. One is to capture it, the other is to shut down the enemy Psi ASAP. Which is where the Blaster Bombs come in. The plan is to take 3-4 flying troops and have them open up the roof over the command deck of the UFO and lob Stun Bombs in there. If this works, the Leader will be down and out early. Then it's a matter of taking out the Sectoids and Cyberdisks. The Tank and any spare Blaster Bombs will handle the Cyberdisks, and Sectoids are weak enough that Laser Pistols can take them. But Laser Pistols barely hurts Flying Suits and Power Suits. See, I expect someone to be mind controlled, but I don't know who. But with a Laser Pistol, it doesn't matter who. They won't kill anyone. Wound, yes, kill, no.
Is there a flaw in this plan I'm not seeing? Apart from "But you're bringing a Blaster Launcher!"?
May 22nd to May 31st 1999
Warning given on May 22nd over secured Hyperwave channels
"Incoming Alien Battleships!"
May 21st had our first defense against the aliens go smoothly, however it was clear to use that the aliens were beginning to see X-Com as a threat, or at least an annoyance that needed to be dealt with. The base attack had shown them willing to attack us head on, but this attack was a prelude to what to come the following day. The day Brazil fell.
It started with a blip on the Hyperwave.
Then another, and several after that. The Interceptor at Twilight was sent up to monitor, but not engage, as it would be no match for a Battleship, even with the Plasma Cannons.
That's when it detected the tell-tale signals of an alien base, right in the middle of Brazil. We alerted the Brazilian authorities of it, yet got no reply.
At least, we hope it wasn't a reply with got, as the proximity alarm at Twilight fired off. For the second day in a row, we had company.
However, we had a proven defensive plan, and we had the Thnikkaman. Really, the outcome of this invasion was never in doubt. The aliens invading us were new, though. While we had seen "Mutons" on the Hyperwave channels, we had never faced any in battle before.
Turns out they're big, musclebound aliens in green tights. Yeah. Wouldn't have guessed that. They're also rather tough, taking more than one Heavy Plasma blast to take down on most occasions.
They also had some kind of blob-thing with them. It set fires where it slithered, but fell to Heavy Plasma fire by the ambush team.
In the end, though, it was just a slaughter. No matter how tough the Mutons are, they still couldn't breach our defenses.
We shot down a Muton Supply Ship, but no recovery was made. Intelligence pointed towards an upcoming Terror Mission in Siberia, so Skyranger-1 was not available to send across the world at this time.
A few days later, news came from the science team. They had plans for a hybrid fighter/transporter craft. They called it Lightning. A fairly decent design, but we never actually got one built for active service. They believed they could do one better than the Lightning.
A small Muton Scout was spotted on a Retaliation mission, it seemed like Twilight would get another visit soon. It was obliterated in the sky.
A second scout appeared, this time in Europe. Interceptor-2 was scrambled, and the UFO was shot down in Norway.
The recovery mission went well, and thanks to the Flying Suits and hovertank, the Mutons inside the UFO were shot through the hole in the roof. We got no Elerium from this attack. The last one was killed by fanboi. We learned a few things about Mutons on that mission. As suspected, they had significant armor, but X-Com was still victorious.
And now let me present... The Ultimate Craft. The science team had been busy improving the design of the Lightning, and what they came up with was... The Avenger.
The fastest craft ever built on Earth, and strong enough to challenge even an Alien Battleship, although the science team heavily advised not to send a lone Avenger to fight a Battleship, as they are difficult to repair. But not only could it take the fight to the alien ships, it also had a massive troop carrying ability. 26 men or 14 men and 3 tanks could it carry. -CLASSIFIED-
And it is spaceworthy, capable of one hundredth of the speed of light.
Now, it is time to discuss what turned out to be a major revelation. We call it the UFO-50 Incident. UFO-50 was a Terror Ship heading for Siberia, its crew was Sectoids. Interceptor-2 shot it down, and a recovery mission was prepared.
What we found there literally boggled the mind...
Notes:
Stop giving the aliens ideas! But the Hovertank/Ambush/Corridor plan worked like a charm again. Thnikkaman is now at over 20 kills!
Also, Brazil is gone. The appearance of the Battleships and the alien base seals it. This means the clock is ticking! The aliens will Infiltrate all the Funding Nations one at a time until none are left and X-Com is shut down. That is the major plan of the aliens. You cannot prevent this from happening either. All you can do is press on and attempt to win the game before the aliens conquer Earth one nation at the time.
Now, I need a bit of advice again. You know what a crashed Sectoid Terror Ship means. It means a Sectoid Leader. And that means my first run-in with Psionics. Now, since I have no clue on anyone's Psi Strength stat, I'm basically running in blind. So I've been restocking Skyranger-1...
As you can see, there are no Heavy Plasmas on board now, instead there are Laser Pistols and Small Launchers galore, although I should stock a few more Stun Bombs. And there is a Blaster Launcher.
I have two ideas, and they aren't mutually exclusive. I need to get the Sectoid Leader stunned. Fast. For two reasons. One is to capture it, the other is to shut down the enemy Psi ASAP. Which is where the Blaster Bombs come in. The plan is to take 3-4 flying troops and have them open up the roof over the command deck of the UFO and lob Stun Bombs in there. If this works, the Leader will be down and out early. Then it's a matter of taking out the Sectoids and Cyberdisks. The Tank and any spare Blaster Bombs will handle the Cyberdisks, and Sectoids are weak enough that Laser Pistols can take them. But Laser Pistols barely hurts Flying Suits and Power Suits. See, I expect someone to be mind controlled, but I don't know who. But with a Laser Pistol, it doesn't matter who. They won't kill anyone. Wound, yes, kill, no.
Is there a flaw in this plan I'm not seeing? Apart from "But you're bringing a Blaster Launcher!"?
You need to take into account the UFO position. If the UFO is far from your ship a rush could be dangerous, your soldiers could get salughtered on their way to the UFO top and you could just be forced to take a standard approach.
Is really the first time you encounter psy-aliens? Still no Ethereals I presume then?
Though you are already in the final phase. Good Job.
Yup, first time I I'm going to fight Psionic aliens. I think I had a Sectoid Terror Mission in another game, but that basically boiled down to the aliens mind controlling one of my troops inside the Skyranger and me going "Nope, not going to deal with that!" and hitting Abort.
You are right that I did not take into account the distance to the UFO. Flying Suits are awesome, but there's no cover in the air. Any Sectoid or Cyberdisk can take a shot at them, and Cyberdisks rarely miss.
No Etherals sighted yet. May has been Muton Month. And a few Floaters. I can't wait to see my X-Com score for this one, it's going to be good, I think.
EDIT: My goal is to win by the end of August. I could head for the final mission without learning Psi, yes, but that seems like a bad plan.
X-Com Monthly Report - May 1999
Funding:
Bases:
Research:
Production:
Active Soldiers:
NONE (Yay!)
Soldiers KIA:
I'm sorry, for shouting, but that is one hell of a SCORE! Then again, in May, everything came up X-Com. Free points for defending two bases, several downed and raided UFOs, a massive amount of research done, and of course, the destruction of Alien Base-1.
And yes, I'm putting that last one on the to-do list for June. If I get Psi on the coming mission, and I can screen the troops for Psi Strength through June and July. Pick the 14 best and three tanks and set off on the final mission. That's the plan, at least. The Muton Alien Base-2? I don't plan on doing much with that yet. Although it would make a good test run for the final mission, I suppose.
The only downside to May is the loss of Brazil. But as I said, you cannot prevent losing some nations. Just win the game before you lose them all. "We fight or we die!" as some sheepherder said.
Now what curveballs do you think the game could think up in three game-months? I'm expecting Etherals soon... Never fought those before.
And yes, I will be transferring more Engineers to work on the Avenger. I just want that Firestorm done first.
Funding:
Bases:
Research:
Production:
Active Soldiers:
- Commander Rentahamster - 24 missions, 8 kills
- Colonel Thnikkaman - 15 missions, 23 kills
- Captain Narag - 24 missions, 7 kills
- Captain PKrockin - 15 missions, 18 kills
- Captain Rhomega - 16 missions, 10 kills
- Sergeant Adnor - 10 missions, 10 kills
- Sergeant Brashnir - 8 missions, 6 kills
- Sergeant CappyFish - 23 missions, 7 kills
- Sergeant Deraldin - 13 missions, 7 kills
- Sergeant perfect free - 11 missions, 5 kills
- Sergeant Tunesmith - 6 missions, 1 kill
- Squaddie Belgorim - 1 mission
- Squaddie Boogalogist - 15 missions, 5 kills
- Squaddie Bufbaf - 5 missions, 2 kills
- Squaddie fanboi - 9 missions, 8 kills
- Squaddie DennisK4 - 6 missions, 2 kills
- Squaddie inky - 1 mission
- Squaddie Keikaku - 7 missions, 4 kills
- Squaddie Myke Greywolf - 14 missions, 5 kills
- Squaddie Orgun - 1 mission
- Squaddie Raphier O'Niel - 1 mission, 2 kills
- Squaddie ruttyboy - 1 mission
- Rookie archnemesis
- Rookie fresquito - 1 mission
- Rookie gutabo - 1 mission
- Rookie geedundee
- Rookie Haunted - 1 mission
- Rookie Jintor
- Rookie Mashing
- Rookie Mattdaddy
- Rookie Phoenixazure
- Rookie SappYoda - 1 mission
- Rookie SovanJedi
- Rookie Tempy
NONE (Yay!)
Soldiers KIA:
- Rookie TheJollyCorner
- Rookie Sinatar
- Rookie frontieruk
- Squaddie LuffyZoro
- Rookie ThoseDeafMutes
- Squaddie NinajHeartless
- Get global Hyperwave Network running - ONGOING
- Raid alien Supply Ships for loot - COMPLETE
- Research New Fighter Craft - COMPLETE
- Research New Fighter/Transport - COMPLETE
- Research Ultimate Craft - COMPLETE
- Attempt to gain Psionic ability - ONGOING
- Attempt to capture a Blaster Launcher - COMPLETE
- Assault ALIEN BASE-1 and capture a Floater Commander - COMPLETE
- Research
- ONGOINGCydonia or Bust
- Establish profitable manufacturing at Forge - COMPLETE
- Get global Hyperwave Network running
- Capture Psi capable alien
- Research Psi-Labs
- Research Mind Shield
- Research
Cydonia or Bust
- Build several Psi-Labs
- Measure Psi Strength of at least 14 soldiers
- Construct Avenger-1
- Establish Twilight Strike Team
- Raid Muton Supply Ships headed for Alien Base-2
- Prepare for final assault in August
- Times reloaded: 12
- Total reloads: 40
I'm sorry, for shouting, but that is one hell of a SCORE! Then again, in May, everything came up X-Com. Free points for defending two bases, several downed and raided UFOs, a massive amount of research done, and of course, the destruction of Alien Base-1.
And yes, I'm putting that last one on the to-do list for June. If I get Psi on the coming mission, and I can screen the troops for Psi Strength through June and July. Pick the 14 best and three tanks and set off on the final mission. That's the plan, at least. The Muton Alien Base-2? I don't plan on doing much with that yet. Although it would make a good test run for the final mission, I suppose.
The only downside to May is the loss of Brazil. But as I said, you cannot prevent losing some nations. Just win the game before you lose them all. "We fight or we die!" as some sheepherder said.
Now what curveballs do you think the game could think up in three game-months? I'm expecting Etherals soon... Never fought those before.
And yes, I will be transferring more Engineers to work on the Avenger. I just want that Firestorm done first.
That's because the roosters are manually typed in, except that I copy/pasted the names over. I'll go fix that now. It takes a while to compile all that, so typos will happen.
I'm almost a little sad you didn't get any kills on the Base Defense, you were on the corridor team that shoots anything that the Tank doesn't kill. It was you and Thnikkaman. He killed 5 Mutons, you didn't kill any. Then again, partnering someone with Thnikkaman and expecting them to get kills? Perhaps a bit too optimistic.
I happened to get sick, so yesterday I started a round without saving/loading. Going pretty well so far, though I guess I am on beginner since I did not manage to get the extender working in win7 for the steam version and did not have the patience to research it 
I just landed on the first alien base, going for a commander. Date is 1st of June. Only have two bases and have not gotten psy yet, so that is my next goal, hoping the base has sectoids. Researching ultimate craft at the moment, so going to replace all the other crafts soon with two avengers.
I just landed on the first alien base, going for a commander. Date is 1st of June. Only have two bases and have not gotten psy yet, so that is my next goal, hoping the base has sectoids. Researching ultimate craft at the moment, so going to replace all the other crafts soon with two avengers.
Hey, no problem. I'm just surprised I didn't notice it earlier because I've looked at the list about a dozen times before and completely missed it. Keep up the good work! Can't wait to see what happens on the last mission.
I haven't played that yet, I was planning to get it done yesterday, but the ingame clock passed over 0:00 June 1st, so it was stats time. If you notice, the Skyranger isn't home in the Vanguard base. It's halfway to Siberia.
It's going to be interesting to see who's the weakminded one(s). Please don't be the guy I give the Blaster Launcher. If it is, it'll be the best failure screenshots, though. "Aliens have taken control of [name]. *BOOM* Craft is lost."
Hah! I tried the last mission about a week ago. I got really lucky with my starting position in that I could see the elevator from the Avenger so I just had everyone make a break for it. I had 4 troopers mind controlled on turn 1. That was followed up with an alien grenade that managed to take out half my squad of 26 troopers.
If it had been even a turn later, most of those troops would have been able to make it inside the pyramid. :/
Indeed, Dat Colonel. I'm just happy to serve alongside him. Though it is good to know that my promotion was earned after just one mission not solely based on my good looks.
To explain a little game info: Rookie to Squaddie is a special promotion. You get it for earning XP. In your case it's the brighter yellow in the Stamina bar. You got that for shooting at the enemies. The whole stat gain system of X-Com is pretty complicated, but in essence, you become better at what you do. So if you shoot a lot, you get more accurate. If you don't panic at low morale, you get Bravery and so on.
It's what the bright areas on all the stats mean.
Will update tomorrow, been playing enough for at least two chapters, maybe three.
Spoilers for future chapters: (For X-Com vets only.)
I'll do some proper writeups tomorrow, but it's getting late here, wanted to find a proper breakpoint to stop, turns out June just keeps burning slowly with no real breakpoints.
Spoilers for future chapters: (For X-Com vets only.)
I think I've basically won now. Blaster Bombs are... WOW! So good. So stupidly overpowered. And they're guided. The Sectoid Leader smash and grab went perfectly and I've got Psi Labs and Psi-Amps under construction. And my Avenger is less than a week away. I got Cydoia or Bust as well. Money is a bit tight, but I plan on firing about 100 scientists before July 1st. They get paid in advance, so if they're not hired on the 1st, I don't have to pay.
The Etherals are gearing up for a base raid, but I've fought Etherals now. They're nasty, but they share the same limits as all aliens. You get the drop on them and they fold. And if they do a base raid? Sucks to be them, I doubt they'll fare better than the Mutons did. I do look forward to seeing a Sectopod in action, but the game has more or less thrown ts worst at me now. It'll need to try harder.
Basically the plan is this: Put as many veteran troops in the Psi-Labs as possible, give them a month to get their scores. Take the top 14 and put them in Avenger-1 with three Hovertank/Plasmas. Raid Alien Base-2 with them to train their Psi Skill on Mutons. When Alien Base-2 falls, and the team is okay with Psi, it's off to Cydonia and winning the game.
The Etherals are gearing up for a base raid, but I've fought Etherals now. They're nasty, but they share the same limits as all aliens. You get the drop on them and they fold. And if they do a base raid? Sucks to be them, I doubt they'll fare better than the Mutons did. I do look forward to seeing a Sectopod in action, but the game has more or less thrown ts worst at me now. It'll need to try harder.
Basically the plan is this: Put as many veteran troops in the Psi-Labs as possible, give them a month to get their scores. Take the top 14 and put them in Avenger-1 with three Hovertank/Plasmas. Raid Alien Base-2 with them to train their Psi Skill on Mutons. When Alien Base-2 falls, and the team is okay with Psi, it's off to Cydonia and winning the game.
I'll do some proper writeups tomorrow, but it's getting late here, wanted to find a proper breakpoint to stop, turns out June just keeps burning slowly with no real breakpoints.
Chapter 16: Matter over Mind
Jun 1st to Jun 10th 1999
From the UFO-50 mission audio log:
Get... out... of my HEAD! Damn alien!
Now what I'm about to tell you will sound like a science fiction film. Then again, we're already far past that point with the plasma blasters and alien invaders I suppose. But this one... is a bit odd. It is mentioned in the public reports, but kept purposely vague to not cause undue panic. Well, not more panic than the revelation that aliens are real and hostile would do on its own. So let me just break it down to a simple sentence: Psychic powers are real. Yes, we are talking about "read your mind and dominate you into acting against your own will" powers here.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. It all began when we recovered UFO-50.
UFO-50 was a Terror Ship class, nothing we hadn't seen before, and it was crewed by Sectoids, a race we hadn't seen in months. To conserve ammo, we brought out the laser weapons for this, as we knew it was more than enough to take out a Sectoid. For backup, the Commander had been authorized a Blaster Launcher with four bombs to use at his own discretion. Something that turned out to be vital to the success of the mission.
Right off the bat we encountered something new. A Cyberdisk, as we call them. Basically it's a mini UFO, and it can take some damage before going down. And just to be spiteful, it usually self-destructs when it does.
The Hovertank, perfect free and fanboi took the first one down in a sustained assault of plasma and lasers.
As it turned out, there was another Cyberdisk hiding in the fields, but Rentahamster commanded everyone to stand back. It was time to battle test the Blaster Launcher. After setting up some waypoints for the missile to follow, he launched it.
It went out of the Skyranger, into the air, and then spiked down on top of the Cyberdisk. The explosion took out the disk, the Sectoid in the nearby field, the bottom floor of the house nearby, and most of the orchard.
(Note: Everyone, meet the BFG of X-Com. The Blaster Launcher. See how much damage it just did? Yeah, you get to use those. And they're guided. Just be careful of a bug with it. If you use it in waypoint mode, as you should, your route must be at least 2 points long, or the Launcher will misfire and you get no explosion. It also has one very useful utility feature, but read on to see what that is.)
Suddenly, perfect free reported hearing voices. Alien voices. Saying to panic, to run away. Of course, an alien going "Boo!" is not enough to scare perfect free, but the troubling part was that no one else heard it.
I gave the order to capture the UFO's command crew, to see if they were using some new weapon against us, or if perfect free was just starting to crack under pressure. It happens to everyone from time to time, after all. The troops advanced on the UFO, taking out enemies as they went.
Narag, Rhomega and PKRockin approached the roof of the UFO, as Rentahamster had a plan.
Coding in a very carefully plotted plan, he launched a missile to pass between the flying troops and impact on the roof of the UFO.
The missile did exactly what it should, and for the first time, X-Com had made its own door in a UFO.
(Game Concept: 2D explosions. All explosions in X-Com are flat. So even the mighty Blaster Bomb did not affect my fliers on level 4 when it detonated right below them on level 3. Kind of odd, but I use what I can.)
Then Tunesmith called out the he was now hearing the voices, and he barely held it together. The aliens DID do something that affected the thoughts of our agents.
Immediately the trio descended into the UFO and took down the command crew with their Small Launchers. Special care was given to the Sectoid Leader found there.
From then on, it was mostly a cleanup job. Although the pair of Cyberdisks in the UFO could be a problem. If it hadn't been for the unusual teamwork between Rentahamster and Tunesmith. Tunesmith opened the UFO door, and Rentahamster launched the last of the Blaster Bombs. One shot, two kills.
A quick hunt outside later and the area was secured.
The alien leader was handed over to the science team. While they were busy, several UFOs were shot down, but X-Com command deemed it too risky to attempt any recoveries at the moment.
Then the breakthrough came. Sectoids, those small unassuming aliens had a secret. They have latent psychic abilities. But the bigger revelation was the one the science team came with immediately after: So do we. Now, I'll admit that we do have a guy hired on the science team whose job it is to think only in science fiction cliches, and it was his idea to compare the psionic center of the Sectoid brain to a human brain. It sometimes pays to have the proper geek assigned to a job.
Meanwhile, we had our first Made in X-Com craft ready. Firestorm-1. It was transferred to Vanguard, to try out what a human made Elerium powered craft can do.
We also established our fourth base, if you want to call it that, in South Africa. Long had this been a blank spot on our Hyperwave map, so a listening post base designated "Nova" was constructed with only a Hyperwave Decoder to be built.
The science team gave me the plans for a new facility for the base, and I gave the order to construct Psionic Labs in Vanguard and Twilight. While we still lacked the ability to go on the offense with mind powers, we would at least be able to scan the brains of our troops and find out who would benefit from Psionic training, and who was best kept away from any psychic aliens. The science team would look into a way to amplify the psionic powers of a human into something weaponized.
The Firestorm soon got its trial by fire as it shot down UFOs 56 and 57.
Speaking of psychic aliens, we wanted to recover UFO-57 as the Hyperwave mentioned a new species: "Etherals".
Notes: Woohoo! Blaster Bombs rock, and I got Psi! Not much to say, and other than that, yet. I've played ahead, I'm a few missions ahead of this chapter already.
I did make one tiny blunder in this chapter that might cost me a month, see if you can spot it.
Jun 1st to Jun 10th 1999
From the UFO-50 mission audio log:
Get... out... of my HEAD! Damn alien!
Now what I'm about to tell you will sound like a science fiction film. Then again, we're already far past that point with the plasma blasters and alien invaders I suppose. But this one... is a bit odd. It is mentioned in the public reports, but kept purposely vague to not cause undue panic. Well, not more panic than the revelation that aliens are real and hostile would do on its own. So let me just break it down to a simple sentence: Psychic powers are real. Yes, we are talking about "read your mind and dominate you into acting against your own will" powers here.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. It all began when we recovered UFO-50.
UFO-50 was a Terror Ship class, nothing we hadn't seen before, and it was crewed by Sectoids, a race we hadn't seen in months. To conserve ammo, we brought out the laser weapons for this, as we knew it was more than enough to take out a Sectoid. For backup, the Commander had been authorized a Blaster Launcher with four bombs to use at his own discretion. Something that turned out to be vital to the success of the mission.
Right off the bat we encountered something new. A Cyberdisk, as we call them. Basically it's a mini UFO, and it can take some damage before going down. And just to be spiteful, it usually self-destructs when it does.
The Hovertank, perfect free and fanboi took the first one down in a sustained assault of plasma and lasers.
As it turned out, there was another Cyberdisk hiding in the fields, but Rentahamster commanded everyone to stand back. It was time to battle test the Blaster Launcher. After setting up some waypoints for the missile to follow, he launched it.
It went out of the Skyranger, into the air, and then spiked down on top of the Cyberdisk. The explosion took out the disk, the Sectoid in the nearby field, the bottom floor of the house nearby, and most of the orchard.
(Note: Everyone, meet the BFG of X-Com. The Blaster Launcher. See how much damage it just did? Yeah, you get to use those. And they're guided. Just be careful of a bug with it. If you use it in waypoint mode, as you should, your route must be at least 2 points long, or the Launcher will misfire and you get no explosion. It also has one very useful utility feature, but read on to see what that is.)
Suddenly, perfect free reported hearing voices. Alien voices. Saying to panic, to run away. Of course, an alien going "Boo!" is not enough to scare perfect free, but the troubling part was that no one else heard it.
I gave the order to capture the UFO's command crew, to see if they were using some new weapon against us, or if perfect free was just starting to crack under pressure. It happens to everyone from time to time, after all. The troops advanced on the UFO, taking out enemies as they went.
Narag, Rhomega and PKRockin approached the roof of the UFO, as Rentahamster had a plan.
Coding in a very carefully plotted plan, he launched a missile to pass between the flying troops and impact on the roof of the UFO.
The missile did exactly what it should, and for the first time, X-Com had made its own door in a UFO.
(Game Concept: 2D explosions. All explosions in X-Com are flat. So even the mighty Blaster Bomb did not affect my fliers on level 4 when it detonated right below them on level 3. Kind of odd, but I use what I can.)
Then Tunesmith called out the he was now hearing the voices, and he barely held it together. The aliens DID do something that affected the thoughts of our agents.
Immediately the trio descended into the UFO and took down the command crew with their Small Launchers. Special care was given to the Sectoid Leader found there.
From then on, it was mostly a cleanup job. Although the pair of Cyberdisks in the UFO could be a problem. If it hadn't been for the unusual teamwork between Rentahamster and Tunesmith. Tunesmith opened the UFO door, and Rentahamster launched the last of the Blaster Bombs. One shot, two kills.
A quick hunt outside later and the area was secured.
The alien leader was handed over to the science team. While they were busy, several UFOs were shot down, but X-Com command deemed it too risky to attempt any recoveries at the moment.
Then the breakthrough came. Sectoids, those small unassuming aliens had a secret. They have latent psychic abilities. But the bigger revelation was the one the science team came with immediately after: So do we. Now, I'll admit that we do have a guy hired on the science team whose job it is to think only in science fiction cliches, and it was his idea to compare the psionic center of the Sectoid brain to a human brain. It sometimes pays to have the proper geek assigned to a job.
Meanwhile, we had our first Made in X-Com craft ready. Firestorm-1. It was transferred to Vanguard, to try out what a human made Elerium powered craft can do.
We also established our fourth base, if you want to call it that, in South Africa. Long had this been a blank spot on our Hyperwave map, so a listening post base designated "Nova" was constructed with only a Hyperwave Decoder to be built.
The science team gave me the plans for a new facility for the base, and I gave the order to construct Psionic Labs in Vanguard and Twilight. While we still lacked the ability to go on the offense with mind powers, we would at least be able to scan the brains of our troops and find out who would benefit from Psionic training, and who was best kept away from any psychic aliens. The science team would look into a way to amplify the psionic powers of a human into something weaponized.
The Firestorm soon got its trial by fire as it shot down UFOs 56 and 57.
Speaking of psychic aliens, we wanted to recover UFO-57 as the Hyperwave mentioned a new species: "Etherals".
Notes: Woohoo! Blaster Bombs rock, and I got Psi! Not much to say, and other than that, yet. I've played ahead, I'm a few missions ahead of this chapter already.
I did make one tiny blunder in this chapter that might cost me a month, see if you can spot it.