Dick Justice
Banned
It's their way of optimizing performance so it's no longer complete shit.
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XCOM 2 |OT| Be Aggressive! Be Be Aggressive!
- Thread starter Sober
- Start date
It's their way of optimizing performance so it's no longer complete shit.
TheThunder
Member
Same setup as me (except I have a 4.4 OC and 16GB RAM). Patch really helped a lot, still don't expect anything like solid 60fps throughout, especially as further you are in the campaign as you build up your base and missions have way more pods in them.
ISee
Member
I think I'm starting to get addicted to XCOM 2. I tried the Division yesterday on a friends PS4: And while playing all I could think of was half and full cover, flanks and how to increase my chance to hit. Seriously I was literally confused for a couple of seconds because there were no half and full cover symbols behind walls, cars etc.
Dick Justice
Banned
Lol no, who told you that?
I also find it hilarious that Sectopods and Andromedons give no shits about their own hardware.
Doing a UFO mission once, in concealment, Alien Activity phase, hear lots of stomping, then an Andromedon busts out through the wall of the UFO (door was about 4 tiles away) like the Kool-aid guy. Viper sheepishly follows through the new hole, all "i didn't do it"
I lost it IRL.
Doing a UFO mission once, in concealment, Alien Activity phase, hear lots of stomping, then an Andromedon busts out through the wall of the UFO (door was about 4 tiles away) like the Kool-aid guy. Viper sheepishly follows through the new hole, all "i didn't do it"
I lost it IRL.
Mobius and pet octopus
Member
So exactly how much better has performance improved?
I've been stuck in stardew/overwatch land and didn't even notice an update was out. I did notice the DLC release.
I've been stuck in stardew/overwatch land and didn't even notice an update was out. I did notice the DLC release.
I swear the design of the Andromedon is a homage to the Kool-Aid man. Every time I take my MC Andromedon through a wall, I shout "Oooooh yeah!"
TemplaerDude
Member
I woke up one morning recently and spent a little too much time wondering if I had one or two moves left before my girlfriend got in the shower. It was weird.
andromedons will attempt to punch the shit out of your untouchable'd ranger at any cost. An ethereal/Avatar and a support beam could be between the ranger and the andromedon, and it will still be clobbering time.
any one have a good mod for increasing alien difficulty fairly, but noticeably? thinking more so number wise than ++armor/health or whatever.
I've heard good things about the Improved AI mod.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=618390218&searchtext=ai
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=618390218&searchtext=ai
TC McQueen
Member
Oh man, I've actually made progress with the AOE suppression mod I've been working on! It actually shows up in the strategy layer now. Too bad I can't get Suppression to show up as a Squaddie ability along with Launch Grenade.
CertifiedFP
Member
Unfucked the INI they changed in the last patch and cranked that Avenger crew cap up to 300. No performance issues here.
Really underhanded for them to slip a change like that in without it being present in the patchnotes or it being a visible option.
Especially since Noone who switched it back is reporting performance issues, and the only thing we have in the way of evidence is someone from Firaxis claiming so.
...Maybe if you're playing on a Pentium 4, I dunno.
btw end mission was fucking hilarious for various reasons
1) fuck you game for not telling me that killing the
. Could have done it a lot faster and better
2) I got a BSOD on a rice doll that wasnt too bad. Reloaded the game and I was like 3 turns before that and everything went way fucking worse
1) fuck you game for not telling me that killing the
3 Avatars automatically wins it
2) I got a BSOD on a rice doll that wasnt too bad. Reloaded the game and I was like 3 turns before that and everything went way fucking worse
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1199437
made a thread to spoiler talk about the sequel. dont think we had one
made a thread to spoiler talk about the sequel. dont think we had one
CertifiedFP
Member
Pointless stupid mod idea:
What if your recruitment pool only drew characters of nationalities of contacted regions? Just the Rookie pool though, with the Elite/Pre-Levelled units from HQ and the Black Market being international.
What if your recruitment pool only drew characters of nationalities of contacted regions? Just the Rookie pool though, with the Elite/Pre-Levelled units from HQ and the Black Market being international.
TheThunder
Member
Second Commander campaign is done (this time with Ironman)
Gotta say, was much easier this time around,especially later on, I guess knowing what to prioritize when it comes to research and what is good (armor and weapons) and what is useless (most of the alien autopsies) would explain it.
Gonna take a little break before attempting Legend Ironman next and after that probably gonna wait for the expansion or a very big and substantial mod (while in the meantime get Long War which I never tried and I regret it)
Gotta say, was much easier this time around,especially later on, I guess knowing what to prioritize when it comes to research and what is good (armor and weapons) and what is useless (most of the alien autopsies) would explain it.
Gonna take a little break before attempting Legend Ironman next and after that probably gonna wait for the expansion or a very big and substantial mod (while in the meantime get Long War which I never tried and I regret it)
RandomSeed
Member
I stopped playing XCOM due to the recent bug where enemies still have their defensive bonus, despite blowing up their cover. Not the biggest deal in the world, but I'm ready to put it down for a few months. Playing The Old Hunters before Dark Souls 3 comes out. Maybe some Witcher 3, on my NG+ save that has been in progress forever. 
400 hours and 3 comepleted legend ironman campaigns later (and an infinite amount of restarts) , I shall speak with professoral air of authority.
Half the battle is gatecrasher. That one first goddamn mission defines the entire early game, which then defines the midgame and if you got the late game, then you already won. (even if you get wiped on the late game, you can pretty much grind and buy colonels, you won't actually lose).
I don't like to use the quick start mod because I do like to see my initial squad to evolve from rookies, but here is the thing:
Gatecrasher is RNG. Your only options are to shoot or throw grenades. If your shots hit (and cause 4 damage instead of 3) then you win. If they don't, you don't. There is very little decision making and a whole lot of "please, hit".
A flawless gatecrasher is almost a free pass to the midgame (say, when muttons start to appear and/or around the 3rd month) and this midgame is where the meat of the game is. Those missions are the perfect mix of challenge and tools at your disposal, it is the reason to love this game.
You get there actually by default because the avatar project only starts to be something to worry about around month 4 or 5, but if you keep losing soldiers and/or missions, you risk lagging behind the AI to the point where missions have to be done perfectly because something like a double activation of mutton or mechanized pods before you have plasma grenades will just overwhelm you. (there are plenty of other little examples).
It is entirely possible to bounce back from a bad start, it just makes the game significantly more challenging. There is no point in the game that is so defined by a single mission like gatecrasher. And then each mission is gradually less important, tho the first two months are pretty vital.
The second mission is vital because it is your first engineer, tudo bem third is vital because it is your first scientist, the first retaliation is vital because those are your first faceless corpses, after that you get a little breathing room for a couple of missions (by that I mean you can actually fail them without damaging your campaign almost beyond repair), then the first supply raid comes and it is vital so you have enough alloys for weapon upgrade. Supply raid is also the test to see of you are ready for the midgame as it not only introduces the stun lancers, but do so in large numbers. The pods on this mission usually are 2 lancers + officer, 2 lancers + sectoid or viper and one early game pod (like 2 troopers and sectoid).
A pod with two lancers, before mimic beacon and mag weapons are naturally tough to deal with. You either have a squad of 5 soldiers between cpl and lt. Or you'll simply won't have damage output to deal with them. I don't remember now if they have 7 or 8 health, but you need between 2 and 3 succesful shots to kill one. So to kill two before they have a chance to attack (the consequence of which is entirely on the hands of RNG), you need 5 soldiers who can deal good damage and who don't miss their shots.
And whether you have those soldiers is directly tied to gatecrasher.
In short: nothing you do in the game is as important as gatecrasher. It defines your ability to get to the midgame in good enough shape and then, only then, you are actually playing xcom 2.
Half the battle is gatecrasher. That one first goddamn mission defines the entire early game, which then defines the midgame and if you got the late game, then you already won. (even if you get wiped on the late game, you can pretty much grind and buy colonels, you won't actually lose).
I don't like to use the quick start mod because I do like to see my initial squad to evolve from rookies, but here is the thing:
Gatecrasher is RNG. Your only options are to shoot or throw grenades. If your shots hit (and cause 4 damage instead of 3) then you win. If they don't, you don't. There is very little decision making and a whole lot of "please, hit".
A flawless gatecrasher is almost a free pass to the midgame (say, when muttons start to appear and/or around the 3rd month) and this midgame is where the meat of the game is. Those missions are the perfect mix of challenge and tools at your disposal, it is the reason to love this game.
You get there actually by default because the avatar project only starts to be something to worry about around month 4 or 5, but if you keep losing soldiers and/or missions, you risk lagging behind the AI to the point where missions have to be done perfectly because something like a double activation of mutton or mechanized pods before you have plasma grenades will just overwhelm you. (there are plenty of other little examples).
It is entirely possible to bounce back from a bad start, it just makes the game significantly more challenging. There is no point in the game that is so defined by a single mission like gatecrasher. And then each mission is gradually less important, tho the first two months are pretty vital.
The second mission is vital because it is your first engineer, tudo bem third is vital because it is your first scientist, the first retaliation is vital because those are your first faceless corpses, after that you get a little breathing room for a couple of missions (by that I mean you can actually fail them without damaging your campaign almost beyond repair), then the first supply raid comes and it is vital so you have enough alloys for weapon upgrade. Supply raid is also the test to see of you are ready for the midgame as it not only introduces the stun lancers, but do so in large numbers. The pods on this mission usually are 2 lancers + officer, 2 lancers + sectoid or viper and one early game pod (like 2 troopers and sectoid).
A pod with two lancers, before mimic beacon and mag weapons are naturally tough to deal with. You either have a squad of 5 soldiers between cpl and lt. Or you'll simply won't have damage output to deal with them. I don't remember now if they have 7 or 8 health, but you need between 2 and 3 succesful shots to kill one. So to kill two before they have a chance to attack (the consequence of which is entirely on the hands of RNG), you need 5 soldiers who can deal good damage and who don't miss their shots.
And whether you have those soldiers is directly tied to gatecrasher.
In short: nothing you do in the game is as important as gatecrasher. It defines your ability to get to the midgame in good enough shape and then, only then, you are actually playing xcom 2.
Maybe
Part of the thing is that I don't really have a solution other than maybe just removing rookies from the game, making you already start with squaddies.
My problem with gatecrasher is not so much that it sets the tone for the campaign, but that you don't have the tools to set that tone yourself. I must have done that mission at least 50 times and I never feel it is fair. It is either unfair in my favor or in the AI favor, but it is essentially playing Tharsis. You make some decisions, but at the end of the day, it is the dice who wins.
A mission that is so important shouldn't be the exact same one that is more dependent on rng.
Part of the thing is that I don't really have a solution other than maybe just removing rookies from the game, making you already start with squaddies.
My problem with gatecrasher is not so much that it sets the tone for the campaign, but that you don't have the tools to set that tone yourself. I must have done that mission at least 50 times and I never feel it is fair. It is either unfair in my favor or in the AI favor, but it is essentially playing Tharsis. You make some decisions, but at the end of the day, it is the dice who wins.
A mission that is so important shouldn't be the exact same one that is more dependent on rng.
I dunno, while I've failed plenty of Gatecrashers, it's usually the next 2-3 missions which go terrible for me. Mostly on the first retaliation mission because I just assume none of the civs are faceless when positioning.
Gatecrasher has 4 nades and 3 pods. I feel it's a matter of getting in position to guarantee wiping the first pod and then going from there with a surplus of one nade. Ideally (and yes, I know that term means little in XCOM) you shouldn't ever have to take a non-flanked shot, so 65 or greater.
Sectoid is a free kill too.
Gatecrasher has 4 nades and 3 pods. I feel it's a matter of getting in position to guarantee wiping the first pod and then going from there with a surplus of one nade. Ideally (and yes, I know that term means little in XCOM) you shouldn't ever have to take a non-flanked shot, so 65 or greater.
Sectoid is a free kill too.
CertifiedFP
Member
Hmm, I wonder what the viability of porting Enemy Unknown/Within to XCOM 2 is. I don't mean pieces of content, I mean the WHOLE GAME, Morroblivion-style.
I want to replay EU12 sometime, but the sheer amount of quality-of-life improvements and mod support make it... Impractical to go back.
I want to replay EU12 sometime, but the sheer amount of quality-of-life improvements and mod support make it... Impractical to go back.
TC McQueen
Member
It's technically possible, but you'd need people to handle importing the content (maps, gear, weapons, etc), then they'd need to rebuild all the old scripts for abilities and the like, then test it all...
It's a hell of a lot of work.
I'm not sure porting the whole game is necessary. There are certain aspects of Enemy Within I miss such as Exalt missions and Cybernetic soldiers, but these can be added as individual mods. And lord knows no one wants the wretched air game to return.
I guess it'd be fun for a while to have the old fixed maps back again, but eventually we'd all just go back to XCOM 2's procedural maps. Now, procedurally generated maps using EU parcels...that's a whole other game entirely.
The entire 2 first months for me are always dependent on how well I did on gatecrasher. Maybe it is just a bizarre coincidence, but that's how it always goes.
And geez, I don't know, like, something is going to shoot at you, you know? Grenading everyone on the first pod is a good strategy that I haven't really thought, but then there is the officer pod and I feel I need a bunch of grenades for that.
Sectoids are jokes until they aren't. There's always that one moment where that one sectoid lands a mind control and you can't really reach him.
That's when the the fun stops.
It's rare. But goddamn when it happens it fucks everything.
Oh, I meant, concealment means you can get the drop from a good distance on the first pod. I generally just restart if I don't take them out almost immediately. Same way that rerolling Gatecrasher for a good early snowball is best practice, you might as well reroll that first pod for a good Gatecrasher.
4 nades 3 pods meant you had 1 surplus with a 1-nade-per-pod ration, usually toss it at the officer pod.
Overwatch three units and keep three awake. Keep one guy with a mimic beacon off overwatch, launch a grenade to pull with a grenadier and keep one more guy open, I like to keep a gunslinger, so if everything took enough damage I can lighting shot, face off, and drop stragglers with low health. If nothing dies (freaking overwatch rolls) can throw the mimic beacon and prepare for round two or do final mop up if one unit is left with the guy who holds the mimic beacon.
Just picked this up, but I'm currently playing EW on my phone. I've never finished a full playthrough of EU/EW and I don't know how long it'll take me (I'm currently in April, just finished the first big story mission with the terror attack. The furthest I've ever gotten is the assault on the big alien base, I think). Should I finish first and then start 2, or should I just start 2 now and play them concurrently, EW when I'm out and 2 when I'm home? I'm guessing there's no essential story beats I'll miss out on if I just jump right into 2 or anything?
2 is basically a different continuity from EU's ending so you won't miss too much if you just go to 2 from where you are.
XCOM 2 basically starts by rewriting all of the previous events, so there's no real need to play them for story purposes.
Ohhh, okay. Yeah, I knew it assumed losing EU was canon, but I never thought of it that way. I guess I'll start 2 tonight and just slowly chip my way through EU/EW when I'm out and about. Thanks!
It's so weird, I've played EU on 3-4 different platforms now for probably 50 hours total and never finished, but I'm all of the sudden desperate to get good at it and finish.
Oh, really? Has a lot changed in terms of combat? I've tried to avoid watching much because a lot of the magic of EU when I played at launch was just being totally unaware of what I was getting myself into.You will. Just don't expect it to carry over so much into 2's combat system
The only new thing I know about it is being hidden in the beginning of missions so you can set up ambushes, which is an AMAZING concept that I absolutely adore.
Things aren't so much changed as much as the difficulty is ramped up in a more dynamic sense. You'll see.
TC McQueen
Member
Finally got my AOE Suppression mod working, so I put it up on Steam: Cone of Fire.
Shake Appeal
Member
Can we expect to see more performance patches? It's kinda depressing that my computer crushes The Witcher 3 at 1440p/60fps/Ultra(without HBAO and Hairworks) but still can't keep XCOM 2 at anything like a consistent framerate while loading missions, in the Avenger, and sometimes even in missions.
TC McQueen
Member
XCOM 2 is a game where a huge chunk of it consists of procedurally generated maps and blowing up/igniting those maps, so the game being more intensive than an RPG with limited terrain destruction should be expected.
Isn't the cone angle a bit to big? I'm only judging using the images you uploaded, but seems kinda OP as it's shown
TC McQueen
Member
Maybe, but it's hard to tell what a good size would be, because if the length extended thanks to a hack reward/one of the upgrades you get for the final mission, the cone will get narrower at certain distances, plus the enemies tend to scatter whenever they're revealed, so a big cone is more likely to be useful.Isn't the cone angle a bit to big? I'm only judging using the images you uploaded, but seems kinda OP as it's shown
I might narrow it by four tiles and maybe increase the cooldown to see if that makes it less OP, but I don't think I'll make too many mechanical changes to the mod.