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[Sad Affleck]

This is kind of where I'm at for the story writ large.

Earlier in the thread people were like "story is cheesy and terrible. They should just strip it out and have the mechanics, since that's why you're there anyway."

To be honest, I agree with them. In the classic X-Com game it was very intimidating encountering a new unit for the first time. It just stood there, silent and menacing, often just a silhouette drenched in shadow, you had no idea what to expect. NuXCOM never achieved the same atmosphere. Less is more in this case.

 

[CrichtonKicks]

To be honest, I agree with them. In the classic X-Com game it was very intimidating encountering a new unit for the first time. It just stood there, silent and menacing, often just a silhouette drenched in shadow, you had no idea what to expect. NuXCOM never achieved the same atmosphere. Less is more in this case.

I don't really agree. I've felt genuine dread encountering pretty much every new enemy in both EU/EW and this game. For pretty much the same reason- "oh crap, now what?"

The Chosen are a bit different because you get the little briefing on strengths/weaknesses but all of the other enemies give me that same sense of dread I had with encounters playing the original in the mid '90s.

 

[LurkerPrime]

Every time the Warlock or a Ruler enters the map, I feel pure terror. Actually pretty much any action below 80% accuracy, or into the darkness, puts me on edge.

But, yeah I'd say XCOM 2 doesn't have the older game's atmosphere, though it really can't. XCOM 1 and X-Com had the whole "fear of the unknown" thing in their favour--you're fighting an enemy unknown, with powers beyond your imagination, though the pure spine-chilling terror of getting shot at while trying to exit the Skyranger is gone. In XCOM 2, meanwhile, the enemy unknown is the RESISTANCE, with the now-rulers of Earth being put on the defensive; it reverses the roles in a great way. I think both games manage to evoke the original in spite of their differences, which I find almost as impressive as the gameplay itself.

And in terms of the Chosen, they seem like the logical conclusion to the alien forces. Humans have their battle-worn heroes with absurd abilities and appearances, so why wouldn't the invaders as well?

While we are putting ours into posters.

Oh, er... uh...

It's necessary advertising to counter ADVENT's propaganda.

Yeah, that's it.

 

[BeesEight]

Been trying Beta Strike to see how that works and it's an interesting novelty but it definitely isn't balanced.

Edit: I also tried Grim Horizon just out of morbid curiosity and I think it's a great idea to make the middle and late game more challenging but oh my god some of the dark events would make the game nigh unwinnable if you got them early. If there was a mod that allowed you to activate a mission that could remove a few dark events over the course of the game so you could get rid of the really nasty ones then this would actually be pretty cool.

I've started (well, re-started) a Legendary Beta Strike campaign. Can confirm that it's stupid. It exacerbates vanilla's quirks into horrible problems. Like, the first mission the Chosen shows up it has around thirty health, a point of armour and you do three damage a shot.

Yeah, I learned you just let them steal knowledge right away so they run. Sectoids are actually a threat now that you can't wipe them in a turn and their mind fray has a much higher chance of mind control. Basically, this is Firaxis' Long War and you have to brush those flash bangs off.

Twenty health alien relays is silly though. Once you tech out your soldiers though, they'll probably be dumb with those massive health pools I guess.

 

[Shake Appeal]

When "Enemy Unknown" becomes "Enemy Constantly on the Phone."

 

[Sblargh]

Every time the Warlock or a Ruler enters the map, I feel pure terror. Actually pretty much any action below 80% accuracy, or into the darkness, puts me on edge.

But, yeah I'd say XCOM 2 doesn't have the older game's atmosphere, though it really can't. XCOM 1 and X-Com had the whole "fear of the unknown" thing in their favour--you're fighting an enemy unknown, with powers beyond your imagination, though the pure spine-chilling terror of getting shot at while trying to exit the Skyranger is gone. In XCOM 2, meanwhile, the enemy unknown is the RESISTANCE, with the now-rulers of Earth being put on the defensive; it reverses the roles in a great way. I think both games manage to evoke the original in spite of their differences, which I find almost as impressive as the gameplay itself.

And in terms of the Chosen, they seem like the logical conclusion to the alien forces. Humans have their battle-worn heroes with absurd abilities and appearances, so why wouldn't the invaders as well?


Oh, er... uh...

It's necessary advertising to counter ADVENT's propaganda.

Yeah, that's it.

This is interesting, because you gotta imagine that's how your original XCOM 1 squad would turn out 20 years later.
Well, not EXACTLY like that. But I can see, 20 years after, your top Assault becoming a crazy survivalist shacked up somewhere trying to recapture the feeling of running down and blasting a Muton or your top sniper become an assassin for hire.

Or something.
Being a colonel after a war with aliens gotta mess up with your mind.

 

[jon bones]

got bored of Mario KB so i picked this up with the expack

played the challenge map with my coffee before work

oh yeah, i am down to sink 100 hours into this 😍

 

[Poodlestrike]

Y'know what'd be interesting in XCOM 3 is if they did another alternate timeline. XCOM holds off the aliens, but is never able to totally drive them off earth, so there's swaths of the planet that're alien-controlled following an armistice. Eventually the weirdness from the XCOM 2 ending starts making itself felt and you've got to coordinate between a whole bunch of near-future groups who mostly hate each other. XCOM Apocalypse tiiiiime.

 

[schadenfood]

Question about the Chosen stronghold missions--I've only done the assassin--

Spoiler

do all three follow the same basic structure? Explore an area, teleport to an arena, blow up the sarcophagus while random enemies spawn in?

The one that I did took a good two hours...want to manage my expectations with the next one.

 

[Lister]

Uhm.. Am I missing something?

I ran a grounded UFO mission that went belly up thanks to an enemy I do not recall ever seeing in my previous campaigns... Which is weir,d I don't think he's supposed to be new?

He looked like the ADVENT Stun Lancers, but was black with yellow or gold trimm on hsi suit. Instead of moving/running, he kind of turns into a cloud of little nano dust and then moves to a location, then re-materialies.

He grabbed one of my soldiers, knocked her unconscious then made a copy of her, which ended up killing one of my other soldiers.

I was like: What in the fuck?

Did I just totally miss this enemy type in X-Com 2 all this time? Or is it just my bad memory?

 

[Baalzebup]

Uhm.. Am I missing something?

I ran a grounded UFO mission that went belly up thanks to an enemy I do not recall ever seeing in my previous campaigns... Which is weir,d I don't think he's supposed to be new?

He looked like the ADVENT Stun Lancers, but was black with yellow or gold trimm on hsi suit. Instead of moving/running, he kind of turns into a cloud of little nano dust and then moves to a location, then re-materialies.

He grabbed one of my soldiers, knocked her unconscious then made a copy of her, which ended up killing one of my other soldiers.

I was like: What in the fuck?

Did I just totally miss this enemy type in X-Com 2 all this time? Or is it just my bad memory?

That is a new enemy type from WotC.

Question about the Chosen stronghold missions--I've only done the assassin--

Spoiler

do all three follow the same basic structure? Explore an area, teleport to an arena, blow up the sarcophagus while random enemies spawn in?

The one that I did took a good two hours...want to manage my expectations with the next one.

They are essentially identical in basic format.

 

[Markoman]

Uhm.. Am I missing something?

I ran a grounded UFO mission that went belly up thanks to an enemy I do not recall ever seeing in my previous campaigns... Which is weir,d I don't think he's supposed to be new?

He looked like the ADVENT Stun Lancers, but was black with yellow or gold trimm on hsi suit. Instead of moving/running, he kind of turns into a cloud of little nano dust and then moves to a location, then re-materialies.

He grabbed one of my soldiers, knocked her unconscious then made a copy of her, which ended up killing one of my other soldiers.

I was like: What in the fuck?

Did I just totally miss this enemy type in X-Com 2 all this time? Or is it just my bad memory?

I think they're called Spectres. One of the new enemy types that came with WotC.

 

[Sullichin]

Think I need to get this to hold me over between Rabbids and Destiny 2 PC release.

my only concern is that it took me fucking forever to beat the campaign of this game the first time. The idea of doing a whole new campaign seems insane. I also never want to do that final mission ever again lol

 

[LurkerPrime]

"Don't let Spectres hug you!"

That should be on a poster or something.

Y'know what'd be interesting in XCOM 3 is if they did another alternate timeline. XCOM holds off the aliens, but is never able to totally drive them off earth, so there's swaths of the planet that're alien-controlled following an armistice. Eventually the weirdness from the XCOM 2 ending starts making itself felt and you've got to coordinate between a whole bunch of near-future groups who mostly hate each other. XCOM Apocalypse tiiiiime.

I could see XCOM 3 being a "we won" timeline where we're striking at their home planet.

But I imagine the new WotC ending will be the biggest hint. I haven't seen it yet so I'm in the dark. (I haven't seen any XCOM 2 endings, actually.)

 

[Randomizer123454444]

Dark Event "Lost World" is the worst thing ever. It seems to be lasting forever too. Every time an enemy explodes (Hello Gatekeepers + Sectopods and...) a lost swarm appears. It makes my grenades almost useless too.

It's really infuriating and I regret ever letting this happen.

 

[Sullichin]

Did they change anything in the strategy layer in the expansion or is it still a race against the Avatar project?

 

[BladeOfSanjuro]

Did they change anything in the strategy layer in the expansion or is it still a race against the Avatar project?

There's more stuff there, you can now run covert actions and hunt the chosen down in their lairs.

 

[Skade]

I still supposed to be a race against the avatar counter of doom but you now have so much options to reduce it with covert actions and resistance orders that it's not really a problem anymore.

Dark Event "Lost World" is the worst thing ever. It seems to be lasting forever too. Every time an enemy explodes (Hello Gatekeepers + Sectopods and...) a lost swarm appears. It makes my grenades almost useless too.

It's really infuriating and I regret ever letting this happen.

It's a known bug. There's a fix for that on the workshop.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1127790621

 

[epmode]

If anyone from Firaxis is reading this thread, I'm running into a bug with two different Xbox controllers. If I go to the customization screen for a solider's body and try to change any of the options, the customization menu glitches out and starts reading my up or down presses as double inputs. That means it's no longer possible to select half of the body customization options since it's no longer possible to highlight them.

This happens 100% of the time.

I apologize for posting about it in this thread but I simply can't find a way to submit bug reports to Firaxis.

More details on my setup are included in my thread on Steam: http://steamcommunity.com/app/268500/discussions/0/1474222499227466356/

 

[RedlineRonin]

If anyone from Firaxis is reading this thread, I'm running into a bug with two different Xbox controllers. If I go to the customization screen for a solider's body and try to change any of the options, the customization menu glitches out and starts reading my up or down presses as double inputs. That means it's no longer possible to select half of the body customization options since it's no longer possible to highlight them.

This happens 100% of the time I try it.

I apologize for posting about it in this thread but I simply can't find a way to submit bug reports to Firaxis.

yup. had the same experience. you need to hit b to go back and then a to go back into the menu again each time you change something

its dumb and not the only controller issue. you'd hope with console release in a couple weeks they are getting this figured out

 

[Grimsen]

Did they change anything in the strategy layer in the expansion or is it still a race against the Avatar project?

Ultimately it is, but they added ways of lowering the doom clock on top of doing story missions and black sites.

From the top of my head, the stratefy layer now has:

-Covert ops with the three allied factions, which give all sorts of bonuses.
-Modifiers (cards) associated with the factions that give all sorts of bonuses and modifiers for the strategy layer and the combat.
-3 different bases with scanning bonuses
-randomized continental bonuses
-Enemy modifiers from the Chosen (reduced income, etc)
-more base building options

If anyone from Firaxis is reading this thread, I'm running into a bug with two different Xbox controllers. If I go to the customization screen for a solider's body and try to change any of the options, the customization menu glitches out and starts reading my up or down presses as double inputs. That means it's no longer possible to select half of the body customization options since it's no longer possible to highlight them.

This happens 100% of the time.

I apologize for posting about it in this thread but I simply can't find a way to submit bug reports to Firaxis.

More details on my setup are included in my thread on Steam: http://steamcommunity.com/app/268500/discussions/0/1474222499227466356/

Well known bug at this point. I am now an expert in backing in and out of the customization menus lol.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Did they change anything in the strategy layer in the expansion or is it still a race against the Avatar project?

There's more stuff to worry about, yeah. The Avatar project is still the prime "lose" condition, but it can be managed in different ways, and you also have to keep an eye on the Chosen. Let them go hog wild for too long and they'll

Spoiler

attack the Avenger with a pile of dudes and a giant cannon.

.

 

[Randomizer123454444]

I still supposed to be a race against the avatar counter of doom but you now have so much options to reduce it with covert actions and resistance orders that it's not really a problem anymore.



It's a known bug. There's a fix for that on the workshop.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1127790621

It's... a bug? It all starts to make sense.. I guess I will shelve the game until this is fixed.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

So I started the game with the DLC integrated but without the story missions for them, and now the game just kind of randomly spoiled (sorta) me on what those story missions involve.

I feel like I should have just included them (fatigue be damned) or replay the vanilla game to do them properly.
Has anyone tried them with WotC and can comment on what the outcome was?

 

[CecilRousso]

Just had a pretty fun ambush mission, where I had to take my covert ops soldiers through a Lost map and just get out of there. The squad was one of sharp shooters, my secondary reaper, and a poorly upgraded grenadier. Not the best squad for this mission, but I had managed to send my sharpshooter with the Shadowfall gun on this mission though.

So I killed on advent soldier with her to put her in concealment, had my reaper aldready in that, and my grenadier just ran for it. Got all of them through, with one just one killed enemy, and a minor injury to my grenadier. It helped to use one grenade from the grenadier, and a remote detonation, to lure a pretty big bunch of Lost on the advent soldier.

 

[Sullichin]

Sounds good, I'm excited to play this now. I didn't play the other two expansions yet either.

 

[Pheace]

Fuck no! That is *not* happening!

 

[Bert]

So, is there a mod on the PC versions (or another game) that lets you play it like the old strategy game on Amiga?

I’d genuinely buy a PC just to play that, shooting down UFOs, building and defending bases, researching new vehicles and planes, but with modern battle gameplay.

Anyway, can’t wait for console release of this. Just bought Shens Last Gift on an impulse and really got the bug again. Glad to hear the Avatar Project is less prominent, only thing I really didn’t like.

 

[Sblargh]

Fuck no! That is *not* happening!

There's also less enemies.
Not that much less, it's still very dangerous, but generally doable.

 

[SRG01]

Speaking of bugs, is anyone getting graphical corruption when working with the Grenadier middle slot after you get Predator armor?

 

[Erheller]

So, is there a mod on the PC versions (or another game) that lets you play it like the old strategy game on Amiga?

I’d genuinely buy a PC just to play that, shooting down UFOs, building and defending bases, researching new vehicles and planes, but with modern battle gameplay.

Anyway, can’t wait for console release of this. Just bought Shens Last Gift on an impulse and really got the bug again. Glad to hear the Avatar Project is less prominent, only thing I really didn’t like.

Xenonauts is probably what you're looking for, but the original X-Com: UFO Defense isn't too bad with the OpenXCom mod.

Speaking of bugs, is anyone getting graphical corruption when working with the Grenadier middle slot after you get Predator armor?

Yeah, I was getting that too

 

[Incendiary]

Can it be next Tuesday yet? I'm itching to play this on PS4.

 

[CrichtonKicks]

Fuck no! That is *not* happening!

I got a SITREP where I could only take Sergeants and below. I literally couldn't do it- my entire army was made up of Captains and above.

 

[Shake Appeal]

Dark Event "Lost World" is the worst thing ever. It seems to be lasting forever too. Every time an enemy explodes (Hello Gatekeepers + Sectopods and...) a lost swarm appears. It makes my grenades almost useless too.

It's really infuriating and I regret ever letting this happen.

Yep, I was affected by this bug and the Brutal bug (although there's some debate about whether Brutal is bugged?) without even realizing it.

 

[Pheace]

Dark Event "Lost World" is the worst thing ever. It seems to be lasting forever too. Every time an enemy explodes (Hello Gatekeepers + Sectopods and...) a lost swarm appears. It makes my grenades almost useless too.

It's really infuriating and I regret ever letting this happen.

It does last forever sadly, longer than it's supposed to. You need to do another map with the Lost World sitrep and then it'll go away. Avoid it like the plague after that (Counter the Dark event if you can)

That said, my first half of the campaign had that bug and it wasn't too bad, I'm not really sure if it was a negative thing in retrospect, it probably helped as often as it was a bother, it just became a burden after a while, and as you said, it limits your options.

 

[Sad Affleck]

So, is there a mod on the PC versions (or another game) that lets you play it like the old strategy game on Amiga?

I’d genuinely buy a PC just to play that, shooting down UFOs, building and defending bases, researching new vehicles and planes, but with modern battle gameplay.

Anyway, can’t wait for console release of this. Just bought Shens Last Gift on an impulse and really got the bug again. Glad to hear the Avatar Project is less prominent, only thing I really didn’t like.

I will second the Xenonauts recommendation. It's basically Cold War X-Com. Open X-Com is excellent if you feel like replaying the originals. Also keep an eye out for Phoenix Point, the original X-Com creator's new game.

 

[Uriah]

Discovered that cover ops could fail and lead to a mission. Now I know not to send low level soldiers on them.

 

[SRG01]

Discovered that cover ops could fail and lead to a mission. Now I know not to send low level soldiers on them.

Oh, the ambushes? I just took my guys and ran 8)

 

[General Lee]

Finished my first WOTC campaign. I liked all the new content, but tbh once I got around to plasma tier, the squad was so op there wasn't really any difficulty. All the Chosen gear, Ruler gear and training center abilities really make things easy, but only once you get them. Coming from Long War, I did enjoy the brisk pace and lack of grind, but after the Chosen were dealt with, it was mostly just going through the motions.

All in all I really liked this expansion, especially the improved performance, and hopefully we'll get to see a lot of new mods using the new additions. Next I think I'll try out the challenge mode and then proceed to do a modded run without Rulers.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Discovered that cover ops could fail and lead to a mission. Now I know not to send low level soldiers on them.

You can totally do those with low-level soldiers, a long as they're properly outfitted.

I would try to send concealment rangers and/or reapers on ambush chance missions, though. Easily the easiest way to do things.

 

[More_Badass]

After realizing that I had no deceased soldiers after five hours into my campaign (vanilla), I decided to just start over on Ironman. Let's see how this goes

 

[BrassDragon]

Seems like the first game that took some inspiration from Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis system... I want more games to play around with procedurally generated enemy skills and 'memories' of previous encounters. Surprised it hasn't prodded the creativity of more developers so far.

It's a wonderful addition here.

 

[More_Badass]

Okay, yeah, Ironman changes everything. I had never played XCOM on that, not even Enemy Unknown and Within, so I probably got a lot of bad habits, never really learned to play most effectively

Now, I'm carefully considering movement and placement, where would be a good spot for overwatch several turns ahead, how to maximize turns, weighing overwatch vs grenades vs shots, thinking about how far and where enemies might be able to move during their turn, and having to adjust to rolling with the punches and adapting plans due to losing soldiers mid-mission.

 

[loganclaws]

Okay, yeah, Ironman changes everything. I had never played XCOM on that, not even Enemy Unknown and Within, so I probably got a lot of bad habits, never really learned to play most effectively

Now, I'm carefully considering movement and placement, where would be a good spot for overwatch several turns ahead, how to maximize turns, weighing overwatch vs grenades vs shots, thinking about how far and where enemies might be able to move during their turn, and having to adjust to rolling with the punches and adapting plans due to losing soldiers mid-mission.

Ironman is the real way to play xcom.

 

[Uriah]

Damn, those resistance fighters on terror missions are really strong. They killed a couple of aliens by themselves.

 

[mbpm1]

Damn, those resistance fighters on terror missions are really strong. They killed a couple of aliens by themselves.

They have like 95 aim buff as hell

 

[jon bones]

where is the Iron Man setting? i am playing Normal but don't want to save scum this time

i did it too much in xcom ew

 

[Sblargh]

where is the Iron Man setting? i am playing Normal but don't want to save scum this time

i did it too much in xcom ew

It asks you if you want it before starting a new campaign.

 

[jon bones]

It asks you if you want it before starting a new campaign.

son of a.

must have missed it. im not far in, but whatever this will be the first of many 'learning' runs

i am ready to sink so many hours into this... it feels so good to play

...but only if you turn the new Tutorial off, as I discovered.

ah that explains it, thanks!

 

[Shake Appeal]

It asks you if you want it before starting a new campaign.

...but only if you turn the new Tutorial off, as I discovered.