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XCOM 2 |OT| Be Aggressive! Be Be Aggressive!

Khoryos

Member
Got my VPN running and steam on while I'm here at work - with a little luck, it'll be ready to go the second I get home!

I popped a VPN to play the first one early, as well - but that was three days, not six hours.
 

dumbo

Member
In his latest "WTF is" video, TotalBiscuit states that his review version has still the same performance issues like the preview version he had played a few weeks prior and that the problems with the action cam even got worse. He went with completely disabling AA and ambient occlusion, as those two appear to be the culprits, and recommended to disable the action cam until it's fixed. If I'm not mistaken, I recall him calling these action cam related issues "gamebreaking".

Kindof:
- AA in the game is choice between none, FXAA and MSAA. TB doesn't like FXAA, so he picked MSAA and the performance (predictably) tanked.
- the action cam is bugged in the version he had, we've no idea whether that will be improved for release. (it's very hard to 'fix' it, but it could obviously work better than it does).

For the most part, the game is relatively bug-free, and I've no problem with a few mostly graphical glitches that can be worked out over time.
 

Pheace

Member
Anyone considering the 3 mods from the long war devs "Vanilla" enough to go with them on the first playthrough or are you planning to play without?

I think I'm going to play without them originally.
 

Sblargh

Banned
I really like the action cam and don't see myself turning it off unless the risk of "gamebreaking" becomes way too real.

I even like the (unintentional?) delay that snipers had on their overwatch cam on EU. And the new overwatch mechanics also make for far more entertaining overwatch cam action.
 
Super ready for this. Most exciting thing about this game honestly is the modding potential.

I've been watching Beaglerush and Jamball stream their gameplay of XCOM 2, with the nice side bonus that members of Firaxis, 2K, and Long War Studios sometimes pop in and answer questions. Amineri in particular, one of the main people behind the Long War mod for XCOM: Enemy Unknown/Within answered a lot of questions regarding just how moddable the game is.

In short, the hardest part about adding new things to the game really is just making the graphical assets for them. There's lots of flexibility for modders to add new units, weapons, abilities, classes, voice packs, even things like new regions to the Geoscape or building blocks for the map procedural generator. It seems like LWS has some ideas in the pipeline for this game, in addition to the three mods the game will launch with. Obviously you can't just completely change the game into a FPS but the possibilities for new and exciting mods appear to be wide open.
 
Does Steam preloads still require double the space of the game files to unpack ?

I only have ~55GB left, if it still does then I guess I'm gonna have to wait and download it on release with my slow ass internet.
 
Like last time, I was intending to wait and pick the game up a while after release. Like last time, I buckled and its preordered. No will power.

Anyone considering the 3 mods from the long war devs "Vanilla" enough to go with them on the first playthrough or are you planning to play without?

I think I'm going to play without them originally.

Have been wondering about using the SMG one as felt it offers a little more tactical variety without drastically changing things - leaning towards using it.

Although I was tempted to go with the other two as well, think I would prefer to get to grips with the vanilla version first.
 

Phinor

Member
Does Steam preloads still require double the space of the game files to unpack ?

I only have ~55GB left, if it still does then I guess I'm gonna have to wait and download it on release with my slow ass internet.

I think it varies from game to game now because they fixed/changed it, but some games still pretty much require double space. For example Rise of the Tomb Raider.
 

AlanOC91

Member
I loved XCOM1 but towards the end of it I started to feel like everything was very repetitive and I could just use the same tactics over and over and over for like the last 10 missions/side missions.
I ended up just wanting to hurry and finally complete the game before I grew completely bored of it. I'm not sure if the expansion helped this as I never played it.

I really hope this doesn't happen to me in XCOM 2 :/
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
I think it varies from game to game now because they fixed/changed it, but some games still pretty much require double space. For example Rise of the Tomb Raider.

Pre-load data is now split into ~1GB chunks that are decrypted and deleted on-the-fly. No game requires ~twice the amount of space these days -- just the stated installation size (not download size) plus roughly a gig. This change was made last May (or last June if you don't use the beta).

If you've pre-loaded XCOM 2, then your SteamApps\depotcache folder will look like this.
 
Pre-load data is now split into ~1GB chunks that are decrypted and deleted on-the-fly. No game requires ~twice the amount of space these days -- just the stated installation size (not download size) plus roughly a gig. This change was made last May (or last June if you don't use the beta).

Good to know. Last game I preloaded was GTA V and I didn't know about the double size thing, so I had to delete and move some things around to get an additional 60GB so it can unpack which was annoying.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Good to know. Last game I preloaded was GTA V and I didn't know about the double size thing, so I had to delete and move some things around to get an additional 60GB so it can unpack which was annoying.

Yeah, GTAV caught a few people by surprise due to its huge size, particularly SSD users.

Connected through NZ vpn and it still says 19 hours till launch.

The countdown is tied to your store region, not IP address.
 

Sblargh

Banned
I loved XCOM1 but towards the end of it I started to feel like everything was very repetitive and I could just use the same tactics over and over and over for like the last 10 missions/side missions.
I ended up just wanting to hurry and finally complete the game before I grew completely bored of it. I'm not sure if the expansion helped this as I never played it.

I really hope this doesn't happen to me in XCOM 2 :/

Well, I can't say if it will or won't happen, but it seems the dev team worked to adress that in particular.

And if it still does happens, it's time to up that difficulty.
 

mclem

Member
Intrigued by the pacing changes; there was a fair amount of pushback against Codename STEAM when the reinforcement rules in that game pushed players forward more rapidly than many were comfortable with, I wonder if there will be a similar reaction in some quarters for this, too.

(Speaking personally, I definitely have a tendency to play things overly slowly, so this will push me right out of my comfort zone - but on the other hand, I'd say that's probably a good thing, even if it does leave me uncomfortable!)
 

Falk

that puzzling face
The countdown is tied to your store region, not IP address.

You talking about that display or the actual unlock time?

Because right now I'm in Asia and I'll be legit mad if I can't play it tonight.

literally PREORDER CANCELLED mad
 

cripterion

Member
Maybe one of Long War's first mods will be controller support like was in EU/EW... I was planning on being a couch commander again, guess not! (I didn't read the fine print about no controller support at launch).

A controller and co-op mod for this game will set me for life!
 

aravuus

Member
You talking about that display or the actual unlock time?

Because right now I'm in Asia and I'll be legit mad if I can't play it tonight.

literally PREORDER CANCELLED mad

Just display, afaik. Pretty sure my game unlocked the last time I played around with a VPN even though my store region was still set to Finland and said x hours until release.

You can just change the store region in the settings, anyway.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
Just display, afaik. Pretty sure my game unlocked the last time I played around with a VPN even though my store region was still set to Finland and said x hours until release.

You can just change the store region in the settings, anyway.

I was so ready to cancel my preorder and change my store setting before re-preordering too.

:(
 
Anyone considering the 3 mods from the long war devs "Vanilla" enough to go with them on the first playthrough or are you planning to play without?

I think I'm going to play without them originally.
I really want to enable the leadership mod and the submachine gun mods initially. Do mods disable achievements?
 

Corto

Member
People that didn't knew you could turn off action cam didn't play Xcom EU/EW on ancient hardware. To have some sort of playable game it was one of the first thing I had to turn off.
 

dumbo

Member
A controller and co-op mod for this game will set me for life!

According to reddit the game has steam controller support, and I think the devs have said they may look at normal controller support. (due to the nature of this, it probably needs to be done by the developers).

In theory it should be possible for a team to create a "co-op tactical" mode of some sort, based on the existing multiplayer. But, obviously the strategy layer wouldn't really work in co-op.
 

Unai

Member
So, all this talk about this game is making me want to actually play it, but the thing is, I haven't played the previous one either! Should I play it first for story reasons? (I already have Enemy Unknown)
 

cripterion

Member
According to reddit the game has steam controller support, and I think the devs have said they may look at normal controller support. (due to the nature of this, it probably needs to be done by the developers).

In theory it should be possible for a team to create a "co-op tactical" mode of some sort, based on the existing multiplayer. But, obviously the strategy layer wouldn't really work in co-op.

Yeah I'm not asking for a deep co-op experience, just a way for me and a buddy to experience the tension of the missions together.

And yeah I'm aware about the support for the Steam controller, unfortunately I don't think so many pc gamers own or want one. I was fine with playing EU with a 360 controller, if they can put the same controls back in, I'm game. (wanna play this game on my 4K tv set).
 

Khoryos

Member
So, all this talk about this game is making me want to actually play it, but the thing is, I haven't played the previous one either! Should I play it first for story reasons?

Not really - this game assumes you lost the first one really, humiliatingly early.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
So, all this talk about this game is making me want to actually play it, but the thing is, I haven't played the previous one either! Should I play it first for story reasons? (I already have Enemy Unknown)

If you ever intend to play it, you might as well give it a spin, because by all accounts XCOM2 is superior in every way to XCOM so it may be hard to go back once you've played XCOM2.

To answer your question though, other than some fanservice returning characters and the premise of 'lol you lost in XCOM' it seems to be something you can jump into from the get go.
 

Sblargh

Banned
I really want to enable the leadership mod and the submachine gun mods initially. Do mods disable achievements?

No, they don't.

According to reddit the game has steam controller support, and I think the devs have said they may look at normal controller support. (due to the nature of this, it probably needs to be done by the developers).

In theory it should be possible for a team to create a "co-op tactical" mode of some sort, based on the existing multiplayer. But, obviously the strategy layer wouldn't really work in co-op.

People are already on it if this site is to be believed (which I honestly couldn't say):

http://www.idigitaltimes.com/xcom-2-co-op-mode-already-works-thanks-modders-504011
 

Phinor

Member
Pre-load data is now split into ~1GB chunks that are decrypted and deleted on-the-fly. No game requires ~twice the amount of space these days -- just the stated installation size (not download size) plus roughly a gig. This change was made last May (or last June if you don't use the beta).

If you've pre-loaded XCOM 2, then your SteamApps\depotcache folder will look like this.

I know they changed it and I checked the preload data but what I'm saying is that their fix didn't work, at least not with every game. Rise of the Tomb Raider still required over 18 gigabytes of free space to unlock (and the game is less than 19GB). I had slightly less than 18 GB free on my SSD when RotTR started unlocking and it couldn't unlock completely, I had to make room for the unlock process to continue and complete. After the decryption finished, I had over 20GB free (the original ~18GB + the few extra gigabytes I made room when the decryption halted).

I remember similar incident late last year, maybe with Just Cause 3.. or Fallout 4? Whatever the game was, it didn't require exactly double, but whatever 20+ gigabytes space I had back then wasn't enough for the unlock. Again I had to move files back and forth to make more room and afterwards I had plenty of room again when the decryption was done.
 

ldcommando

Banned
So, all this talk about this game is making me want to actually play it, but the thing is, I haven't played the previous one either! Should I play it first for story reasons? (I already have Enemy Unknown)

Let me update you on the story: the aliens won

You are now all caught up and ready for xcom 2
 

Ivory Samoan

Gold Member
A controller and co-op mod for this game will set me for life!

+1

I'm even keen to buy a Steam Controller specifically for this game - I prefer my XCOM from the couch for sure, hopefully there's a UI scaler so it's not too small for Steam Controller players though... that's my only concern.

Now, if Steam only sold their controllers in New Zealand (not sure why they don't): Amazon seems a pretty safe bet though.
 

Mexen

Member
Superb OT.

I understand the rationale behind PC exclusivity but I sure hope this comes to console.
 

Unai

Member
Not really - this game assumes you lost the first one really, humiliatingly early.

If you ever intend to play it, you might as well give it a spin, because by all accounts XCOM2 is superior in every way to XCOM so it may be hard to go back once you've played XCOM2.

To answer your question though, other than some fanservice returning characters and the premise of 'lol you lost in XCOM' it seems to be something you can jump into from the get go.

Let me update you on the story: the aliens won

You are now all caught up and ready for xcom 2

Ok, thanks!
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
You talking about that display or the actual unlock time?

Because right now I'm in Asia and I'll be legit mad if I can't play it tonight.

literally PREORDER CANCELLED mad

The former.

I know they changed it and I checked the preload data but what I'm saying is that their fix didn't work, at least not with every game. Rise of the Tomb Raider still required over 18 gigabytes of free space to unlock (and the game is less than 19GB). I had slightly less than 18 GB free on my SSD when RotTR started unlocking and it couldn't unlock completely, I had to make room for the unlock process to continue and complete. After the decryption finished, I had over 20GB free (the original ~18GB + the few extra gigabytes I made room when the decryption halted).

I remember similar incident late last year, maybe with Just Cause 3.. or Fallout 4? Whatever the game was, it didn't require exactly double, but whatever 20+ gigabytes space I had back then wasn't enough for the unlock. Again I had to move files back and forth to make more room and afterwards I had plenty of room again when the decryption was done.

It's impossible for a specific game to be pre-loaded differently. It sounds like your files aren't properly being deleted for some reason; I pre-loaded all three games you've mentioned and as best I can recall all were pre-loaded into a collection of files up to ~1GB in size that gradually disappeared from the depotcache folder, plus you're the only person I've seen mention that the updated pre-load system hasn't actually solved anything. I'll try to remember to keep an eye on things when XCOM 2 is decrypting.

Edit: After a light went off in my head, I managed to dig up this:
Ah, that's right. I noticed that when my PC unpacking RotTR as well earlier this morning. The process took about 1,5GB from my HDD at most, and then it was starting to free up some space until it's finished.

So, it means that we won't have to worry about that, right? Good to know.
 

Ont

Member
The rush for meld was a huge improvement in EW to try and get rid of over watch camping. Put me in the camp that's for time limits as long as they're not every other mission.

I agree with this. Anyone can overwatch camp every round, you separate men from the boys when you need to move quickly around the map. :)
 
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