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XCOM: Enemy Unknown |OT| Neo GAF is Under Alien Control

C

Chubzdoomer

Banned
For anyone who's purchased the boxed copy of this game (specifically the PC version):
Is there a nice manual inside like what Firaxis usually bundles with their games? Or is it now the typical pamphlet most publishers throw inside? (Or is there not a manual at all -- instead, are you required to view a PDF on the disc?)

Thanks in advance for any answers.
 
M

McNum

Member
Chubzdoomer said:
For anyone who's purchased the boxed copy of this game (specifically the PC version):
Is there a nice manual inside like what Firaxis usually bundles with their games? Or is it now the typical pamphlet most publishers throw inside? (Or is there not a manual at all -- instead, are you required to view a PDF on the disc?)

Thanks in advance for any answers.
Click to expand...
It's more of a quick start guide than a manual.

Here, have a look. It's this, but in print and with a Steam Product Code on the back.
 
J

Jintor

Member
_tetsuo_ said:
This is so godlike. We found out that system link IS ACTUALLY in the game. People that were in a yugioh tournament are dropping $10 a game in money matches. Shit is ridiculously hype at this point. Like, every single shot is just super tense and if it is a hit everyone is just going nuts.
Click to expand...

need video
 
C

Chubzdoomer

Banned
McNum said:
It's more of a quick start guide than a manual.

Here, have a look. It's this, but in print and with a Steam Product Code on the back.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads-up.

That's very, very disappointing. The absence of nice, thick manuals is something that's been plaguing this industry for quite some time and Firaxis was one of the few who preserved the tradition. No more, I suppose. I don't think it bothers most people, else there'd be far more complaints similar to mine, but I strongly believe that this move to everything-digital and the complete absence of fleshed out manuals has made us lose more than we realize. I guess those who never grew up in the time period in which game boxes were stuffed with goodies wouldn't understand. I feel for them. I really do.

/Mini rant
 
F

firehawk12

Subete no aware
_tetsuo_ said:
This is so godlike. We found out that system link IS ACTUALLY in the game. People that were in a yugioh tournament are dropping $10 a game in money matches. Shit is ridiculously hype at this point. Like, every single shot is just super tense and if it is a hit everyone is just going nuts.
Click to expand...
I think it's clear that Xcom needs to be at Evo next year.
 
T

TTG

Member
Seriously, the shiv is the best thing ever. When I start up classic, it will be one of the first things to shoot for. Huge health, good enough firepower. Big range and expendable. Are there no downsides? If you're going with 6 spots, how do you not include one?
 
B

Bigfoot

Member
For all the people complaining about bugs, are you PC, PS3, or 360?

I'm playing on the PC and I've been pretty much bug free so far other than the occasional mouse point appearing on screen since I'm playing with a 360 controller.
 
J

Jintor

Member
TTG said:
Seriously, the shiv is the best thing ever. When I start up classic, it will be one of the first things to shoot for. Huge health, good enough firepower. Big range and expendable. Are there no downsides? If you're going with 6 spots, how do you not include one?
Click to expand...

costs money dollars, time to create
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
Porthos said:
For all the people complaining about bugs, are you PC, PS3, or 360?

I'm playing on the PC and I've been pretty much bug free so far other than the occasional mouse point appearing on screen since I'm playing with a 360 controller.
Click to expand...
360. I'm in a mission where the battle music keeps playing non stop but I've been around the map twice and there are no enemies left. It sucks. At one point midway though the mission one guy had a red blip on his minimap but no enemy was there. I'm guessing that was the start of the problem.

It's a good thing I keep lots of saves so I could roll back. If I'd been doing an ironman run I'd have been up shit creek without a shit paddle.
 
KrM DeLorean

KrM DeLorean

Member
Incendiary said:
Just had a mission where my guy snuck up on a Muton while another was Suppressed, and missed a 94% shot which ended up in his death...
Click to expand...
I have no regrets when this happens, no matter how highly ranked he is. Soldier deserved to die if he can't make that shot. Good riddance, I'll make sure his replacement is more competent ffs.

Anyone else kill time when not playing by thinking up new names/nicknames?

I have a few spreadsheets full of names for my next few playthroughs. I broke them into 'squads' based on different games/movies etc.

For example I have a Resident Evil themed squad, Classic 80's GI Joe characters, Metal Gear Solid, Transformers nicknames (Starscream, Megatron) etc all broken down into what classes and what ability paths to take. I haven't stopped thinking about this game since I got my hands on it.. I hope they release some kind of DLC to make you able to group your soldiers into predetermined "Squads" so you can have an 'Alpha unit' for dealing with terror missions, or a 'Bomb Disposal Unit' etc. I think it would be pretty dope, with custom Icons or whatever..

I love this game.
 
J

Jubbly

Member
Spotted a couple of references so far:

  • Gollop Chamber - named after the creators of X-COM
  • Sit. Room mention of Commander Straker, commander of the British anti-alien base in the fantastic UFO: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063962/ (I pretend that the second half of the series when the TV studio forced massive, abysmal changes doesn't exist)

Surely there's more?

TTG said:
Seriously, the shiv is the best thing ever. When I start up classic, it will be one of the first things to shoot for. Huge health, good enough firepower. Big range and expendable. Are there no downsides? If you're going with 6 spots, how do you not include one?
Click to expand...

I avoid them because of the bug that causes them to load into a mission without weapons or abilities. If that were ever fixed I would probably use them.
 
thelurkinghorror

thelurkinghorror

Member
I just want to say as long time UFO fan that this game is amazing, a perfect ground where to build the XCom franchise again. Xcom is so good on pc, but became fucking fantastic on console, where something like this never really happen with all this care, all the love firaxis seems to have put on this game.

I'm in my 5th attempt on classic ironman, every time i bite the dust i feel the delicious taste of failure, so rare in these gaming days.

So good...
 
KrM DeLorean

KrM DeLorean

Member
firehawk12 said:
I think you can only heal it with Arc Throwers too, right?
Click to expand...

You can heal it if you control a drone too.

I built an "Engineer" type subclass. Specced Support abilities that runs around with Arc Throwers closely behind the Shiv. Equipped with Archangel armor to make it easier to reach/control Drones...
 
S

suaveric

Member
I'm on the final mission and everything is going pretty well. Then I get to the room with the Sectopods. They're way over on the other side of a very long hallway, too far away from me for even my snipers to see. The only reason I know they're their is because I sent ahead a MC'd muton. He gets killed off as soon as the alien turn starts and then the weirdest thing happens. Artillery rains down on three of my guys, instantly killing them. One of those was the guy that I couldn't let die.

I don't even know what happened there, do sectopods have massive long-range area affect weapons?
 
N

Nome

Member
Didn't think this would be my type of game (I LIKE CALL OF DOOTY) but wow, this game is amazing.

PC interface blows though.
 
Alexios

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Nome said:
PC interface blows though.
Click to expand...
I thought the same, I was just kinder in my earlier posts. If you don't think it's a sin you can try playing it with a controller, it's clearly made for it first and works really well. You may still prefer clicking to get around despite the issues of course...
 
J

Jubbly

Member
About to start the final mission in Game 2. Having learnt from my mistakes in Game 1, Normal second time round was a joke. I lost 1 guy near the start and another later on when he was incapacitated and fell off the map. Appears the strategy is get satellites immediately, assault the base as soon as you have a bit of an upgrade for your troops, get Firestorms, and stay on top of the situation.

As you can see below, I have one-pip panic worldwide. Nearest I got was four pips on one country before assaulting the base.

ITnKV.jpg
pl64I.jpg
Fxhw4.jpg
JMbkI.jpg
pLGVL.jpg
Mx9TO.jpg
Click to expand...

If this same strategy holds true in Classic I'll be a bit disappointed. In the original you had more item and weapon variety, multiple bases, the ability to manufacture and sell stuff, etc. At this time, it's looking like there's one very clear, very easy way to succeed, with all the difficulty coming from combat and the way your health is reduced compared to Normal to make simple hits fatal.
 
S

Slackbladder

Member
I upgraded Scopes, but when I look at them all they say is a 10% bonus to aim, nothing about increasing critical chance. Are they acually upgraded? Also, upgraded Shivs to have plasma weapons but the ones I have still have laser. Is it only new Shivs that are made that have plasms?
 
K

Keikaku

Member
Slackbladder said:
I upgraded Scopes, but when I look at them all they say is a 10% bonus to aim, nothing about increasing critical chance. Are they acually upgraded? Also, upgraded Shivs to have plasma weapons but the ones I have still have laser. Is it only new Shivs that are made that have plasms?
Click to expand...
Yeah, upgraded SHIVS need to be made. The upgrade doesn't apply retroactively.
 
M

McNum

Member
KO Traveling Hobo said:
OMG I put so many lives on the line to get a chance to capture the sectoid commander at the end of the alien base, only for one of my dudes to panic and kill it.
Click to expand...
Oh, don't worry too much. You'll get the important thing from it by doing a dissection. Also...
You'll get more chances. A lot more chances. Sectoid Commanders are now just another enemy group to run into. Enjoy!
 
KrM DeLorean

KrM DeLorean

Member
The Foul said:
Probably been mentioned, but I liked the homage to the old x-com in the cutscene after you finish researching Laser weapons,
The target the scientist fires at is the original sectoid sprite
. Hardly a spoiler, but nice touch nonetheless.
Click to expand...

Awesome touch. There's an original
Muton sprite
there as well. I miss the snakemen =/
I love the original Geoscape theme that plays when you finish a round of
Psi Training.

I really hope modders find a way to replace the music with the tunes from the original..
 
Y

yarden24

Member
suaveric said:
I'm on the final mission and everything is going pretty well. Then I get to the room with the Sectopods. They're way over on the other side of a very long hallway, too far away from me for even my snipers to see. The only reason I know they're their is because I sent ahead a MC'd muton. He gets killed off as soon as the alien turn starts and then the weirdest thing happens. Artillery rains down on three of my guys, instantly killing them. One of those was the guy that I couldn't let die.

I don't even know what happened there, do sectopods have massive long-range area affect weapons?
Click to expand...

yes, it takes the sectopod 1 turn to charge up for it, you can see its "mouth" open as the animation, I never actually got hit by it, so i don't know what the damage is
 
D

Danj

Member
Jubbly said:
Appears the strategy is get satellites immediately, assault the base as soon as you have a bit of an upgrade for your troops, get Firestorms, and stay on top of the situation.
Click to expand...

How do you do that? You can build more satellites straight away but building additional satellite uplinks requires more engineers than you start with, and the choice of available missions doesn't always include ones that provide engineers. I'm on my 2nd game and I've already lost one country.
 
C

Choc

Banned
guys im up to shooting down the overseer craft but man i am now where near killing it

what do i need to do and what should i research?

ive researched aim and dodge but i am just getting no where close to even hitting it, it semes ? :|


how do i research new missiles (can i even do that?)? or weapons for the ship. I've also researched and built the alien ship.
 
W

whalleywhat

Member
Jintor said:
He's saying the XCOM archive should've been named a ufopaedia? I thought it was, maybe i'm not paying attention. Either way he might just be joking.
Click to expand...

"They nailed everything about updating this classic game, but renaming the UFOpedia is unforgivable." All of my joke sensors are going off.
 
A

Aaronology

Member
I was raving about my Ghost/Support/Psionic soldier on the last page and I just discovered she's even more awesome with combat stims. Her speed/running distance goes through the roof. SOME EXAMPLES:


mLgm6.jpg

Dark Athena runs from the other side of the map, through the entire building and gets in position to spot the Chrysalid (and two others I didn't know where there), all while remaining safe and giving my snipers their squad sight. Support Ghosts w/sprinting and Archangel Snipers equipped with Squad Sight are BFFs! My heavy and assault guys are beginning to feel a bit outclassed and neglected.


pE1oI.jpg

Most of my guys hadn't even made it to the front entrance of the ship yet while Dark Athena was already chilling in the control room with the Ethereal and his Elite. In two turns she had scouted the entire ship, noted every enemy location and returned back to the team without alerting any hostiles. I can only imagine what sort of tactics I could use with an entire line up of ninjas.


This is perhaps a better example of the extreme distance that can be traveled by a stimmed up Support Ghost. It's bonkers. I love it!

TZALj.jpg
 
F

fanboi

Banned
Ehem... so I was just on a very hard mission... abduction... 10 mutons... fuck... 3 of my best dead... 2 of them Captains heavy...

Niiiiiiiiiiice...

Next mission... TERROR MISSION DEAR GOD.

But... my fucking rookies just fucked thos Cryssalidideiidesdisiesds up.

28 enemies dead, one civilian saved (14 crysislsilsdiidslidsds killed).

Dear god... I need a whiskey.
 
K

KO Traveling Hobo

Member
Ezenzer said:
I was raving about my Ghost/Support/Psionic soldier on the last page and I just discovered she's even more awesome with combat stims. Her speed/running distance goes through the roof. SOME EXAMPLES:
Click to expand...
Is Elizabeth 'Dark Athena' Warden a randomly generated name? Because that's fucking badass.
 
A

Astery

Member
So, I finished easy and normal, then head to classic mode. I got my ass handed in the very first stage.

There's like 20 Sectoids roaming around trying to flank my men while I keep trying to kill 1 of them, missing all hits for 3 turns (48~68% hit rate, 2 of my men are less than 4 tiles away corning it in a half cover.)

I climbed into a truck for elevation advantage, just to get all side covers blown within a turn.

One of the 2 men finally got killed by the same asshole all my men are trying to kill, the other freaked out and shoot my 3rd man dead.

I guess I'm back to normal lol.
 
R

raphier

Banned
You cannot move and fire this weapon on same turn. BULLSHIT! Sectoids do it all the time!

EDIT: Yeah welcome to the Classic, where everyone that is not you get critical bonus.
 
S

Slackbladder

Member
I don't like the panic mechanic in the game (hey, it rhymes!). Panicking is fine but a decrease in aim should happen, as if they are wildly firing from the hip. Sometimes they hit an ET but too often they hit a team mate. Of course it often means they are flanked but I've panicked aliens over long range who still shot my psionic who was behind high cover. That and Sectopods that can shoot you out of your visual range and shooting through walls (an Ethereal did this and I was thinking "where did that come from?" and lo and behold the door opens and he floats out, bastard) are my biggest gripes.
 
F

F!ReW!Re

Member
Jubbly said:
Spotted a couple of references so far:

  • Gollop Chamber - named after the creators of X-COM
  • Sit. Room mention of Commander Straker, commander of the British anti-alien base in the fantastic UFO: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063962/ (I pretend that the second half of the series when the TV studio forced massive, abysmal changes doesn't exist)

Surely there's more?
Click to expand...

Well the some of the achievements are references to movies, from the top of my head;

- You Have 5 Seconds to Comply - Robocop
- Drums in the Deep - Lord of the Rings

Also had some ingame references yesterday but can't remember those at the moment ;-)
 
Rentahamster

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
I didn't get to take a screenshot when I was still in the top 10 :(

There are some pretty cheap ass things you can do in multi. I've just been messing around with all kinds of combos hence my huge loss rate lol.

Y12LW.gif
 
T

The_Hitcher89

Member
Just to be sure, Chrysalids can't be captured can they? SO ideally, I want to stay the fuck away from them?

Also, how far can they travel with each move? I don;t know whether to get close to them with the shotgun, which seemed effective if suicidal, or hang back and risk letting them get close when they survive the initial assault
 
Rentahamster

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
F!ReW!Re said:
Also had some ingame references yesterday but can't remember those at the moment ;-)
Click to expand...

"And so it begins..." is probably a reference to Babylon 5. It is a line from other media too, like LOTR, but no one else has the "and" in front of "so it begins", IIRC.

Besides, B5 fits the space theme better.
 
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