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[Mupod]

Finally did it.

Unfortunately on my very last preparation mission I lost 'Whiskey', my faithful support lady who had been with me from nearly the start of the game. An unfortunate room full of 4 elite mutons and 2 heavy floaters... even with combat stims/smoke you can't live through that. However, her sacrifice saved two of my psionic badasses who leveled up and were immediately brought to the final mission. 6 maxed out psionic colonels. Needless to say, I was insanely over-prepared and that shit was easy as hell.

I didn't customize anyone this game...as I've said before I figured they'd all just die on me. But they didn't, and I grew attached to them. Especially the lady on the right, who has been through a LOT OF SHIT. And that sniper not only had the most insane stats I've ever seen on a soldier, he pulled my ass out of the fire countless times.

Spoiler

I one shotted the final boss AGAIN with a cloaked alloy cannon user. If he had missed or been reflected it could have ended up bad, since apparently they aggro even if you walk into the room with cloaked guys. But it didn't and I won, so fuck you final boss.

Might start a classic non-ironman just to work on some achievements. I never did find a battleship.

 

[Incendiary]

I didn't customize anyone this game...as I've said before I figured they'd all just die on me. But they didn't, and I grew attached to them. Especially the lady on the right, who has been through a LOT OF SHIT. And that sniper not only had the most insane stats I've ever seen on a soldier, he pulled my ass out of the fire countless times.

Holy shit....how did she survive that? She must have had balls of steel.

 

[Uriah]

Was on the final boss. Game crashes. Learned my lesson.

 

[TTG]

So, I'm starting a new game and a thought occurred to me. How many of you will take rookies on missions instead of a more experienced squad member on purpose, especially early in the game. Cultivate a good B team intentionally etc.

 

[Kyou]

This has probably been asked before but have they said if there are any plans to sell the color customization? It's a huge bummer to have that behind a preorder wall.

 

[Incendiary]

So, I'm starting a new game and a thought occurred to me. How many of you will take rookies on missions instead of a more experienced squad member on purpose, especially early in the game. Cultivate a good B team intentionally etc.

That's all I did on Classic. For the first eight-ten missions I would always take at least one rookie with me. I eventually got to the point where I had about 10 viable candidates to take on late game missions, so even if one was out injured I had a backup. I had...uh...4 Assaults, 2 Supports, 3 Heavies, and 2 Snipers, all at least Captain, and my main squad was either Majors or Colonels.

 

[pieatorium]

So, I'm starting a new game and a thought occurred to me. How many of you will take rookies on missions instead of a more experienced squad member on purpose, especially early in the game. Cultivate a good B team intentionally etc.

If I'm short on a certain class i will or I'm taking an easy mission because I need the reward more than one of the more panicked places. Usually just try to get them some cheep grenade kills and keep them safe,

 

[Aaron]

So, I'm starting a new game and a thought occurred to me. How many of you will take rookies on missions instead of a more experienced squad member on purpose, especially early in the game. Cultivate a good B team intentionally etc.

When I had nothing but rookies to do super hard missions, I started a rotation. Next game I'm going to be rotating from the start. You need a deep bench for those critical injuries, or just having your dudes in the tank for psi training.

 

[KingKong]

Oh man, I just had the most intense base assault ever

I probably waited way too long to start it and didn't suit up well enough, so it was full of mutons and muton chargers (hate those things) and drones. A third through, I realize that I only took one guy with a medkit (dumb I know) and had 2 guys go down thanks to the muton charger. A bunch of overwatch and grenades later and I'm down to two guys outside the boss room, one almost healthy and the other about half

I see the boss, a muton and the muton charger. I'm thinking I'm fucked but might as well try, and somehow manage to get them both with no damage thanks to high cover giving me 100% and high crit. Now I'm thinking I've got this, one enemy left and two of my best men. Then the following happens

The boss crits my almost healthy guy and does something like 8 damage and kills him in one shot. My second guy, the one I've had since the second mission and is my absolute best panics for the first time ever and runs off. The enemy does some kind of psy attack and takes me to 1 hp. I have a 100% shot and I'm thinking, I'm done so might as well shoot. I take half his hp off. The boss...misses!!! He was right above me with no cover taking probably a 75% shot and he misses! I blast him in the face and win the mission.

Most intense moment I've had in a game in a long time

Pic (maybe spoiler?) http://i.imgur.com/uIUX4.png

 

[methane47]

Just bought the game last night, downloaded today while i was at work... got home... and i played it for about 2-3 hours..

Good game so far..

But i'm really missing some stuff from the original. Can someone tell me.. will i ever have to explore a map? or will i always be moving in one direction to/from my skyranger..

Oh Is there any Gaf Multiplayer action going on (steam)?

 

[BanShunsaku]

Australia's panic level has risen!

(Sorry if old)

 

[r1chard]

So, I'm starting a new game and a thought occurred to me. How many of you will take rookies on missions instead of a more experienced squad member on purpose, especially early in the game. Cultivate a good B team intentionally etc.

Yep, always have a rookie on the team. If only to get them up to Squaddie so you can know which of them to get rid of so you can promote the ones you actually need to classes you actually need

Following a tip from a friend - I always alter the head of rookies so they have a helmet. Easily identifiable in battle then, and easy to manoever them into a good position for their important first xray kill.

 

[Shouta]

Finished my run through the game and I'm kind of disappointed that it's so light on content for such a setup and concept. It's kind of lacking its own flavor to me. It doesn't have the customization like the more role-playing strategy games (FFT/TO/etc) but it kind lacks the strategy/tactics options of more "pure" experiences.

I could probably come up with a list of things that bothered me or I think would've made for a better experience but meh, that's a lot of writing.

 

[Despera]

Just finished the game. Shit was fun.

There's so much room for improvement, but that's what sequels are for.

 

[Unity2012]

This has probably been asked before but have they said if there are any plans to sell the color customization? It's a huge bummer to have that behind a preorder wall.

Agreed.

The Classic X-COM Soldier items and the Deco Pack seems like great DLC material; however the full color customization feature should be, at least, offered as a (paid or Free) DLC for those of us who did not pre-order.

Give it up already Firaxis!!! You know you want to, C'mon!

 

[Dark Octave]

Just finished the game. Shit was fun.

There's so much room for improvement, but that's what sequels are for.

Abut how long did it take you and how many missions are there?

 

[Rentahamster]

Oh Is there any Gaf Multiplayer action going on (steam)?

I've asked multiple times, but nobody wants to play me

 

[Beaulieu]

I didnt know color customization was a preorder thing; my friend has it and I don't so I thought it was a PC only thing.

pathetic thing is that he pirated the game, and has the preorder bonus.... uncool for people who paid the game and dont even have the feature.

 

[Jintor]

Didn't realise that Firaxis made a new '1994' sprite for the Thin Man, lol

 

[golem]

Question about the near end game.. how do you

Spoiler

activate the gollup chamber? what kind of psi soldier do you need?

 

[Sickboy007]

How do you pick up weapons from fallen enemies?

I think i'm starting to the hang of this, on my fifth try.

 

[Wildesy]

I really, really wish you could turn off the alien noise alert thing, it's driving me insane. The maps are already simple enough that it's reasonably obvious where the aliens are going to be, then it's made even simpler by having an alert tell you where they are every few turns. I like to be methodical and flank an enemy, which the game takes as you been lost and unable to find the enemy so it triggers the alert almost every bloody turn. Feels like I'm having my hand held the whole time. Really frustrating.

Question about the near end game.. how do you

Spoiler

activate the gollup chamber? what kind of psi soldier do you need?

One with PSI armor, it's a research option late in the game.

How do you pick up weapons from fallen enemies?

You don't. You only retrieve weapons from aliens you capture with the arc thrower.

 

[jwhit28]

How do you pick up weapons from fallen enemies?

Weapons break into fragments when enemies are killed. You can get enemy weapons from stunning them with the arc thrower but you have to have them researched to use them and you can't use them until after you bring them back from a mission.

 

[LiK]

Finished the story. Final mission wasn't too bad.

 

[methane47]

I've asked multiple times, but nobody wants to play me

I'll play you (in a couple days after i get the hang of the game.. lol)

 

[AzureSky]

All Snipers or All Support doesn't seem like it'd be too terribly hard to be honest.

Guess I might have a future playthrough planned out. Six of whatever class they flood me with at the start!

actually, i would be ok with 6 Heavy's blasting everything to pieces
Will try to get more next time if possible, bullet storm and extra rocket (shredder) are fun and very usefull.

 

[LiK]

I NEED CONFIRMATION.

Does anyone's game stutter whenever the Berserker dude charges you? It seems to ONLY stutter when he's moving towards me after I shot him. It goes right back to normal after that. So weird.

 

[Basileus777]

I NEED CONFIRMATION.

Does anyone's game stutter whenever the Berserker dude charges you? It seems to ONLY stutter when he's moving towards me after I shot him. It goes right back to normal after that. So weird.

It happens to me, and I've seen other comment about it as well.

 

[LiK]

It happens to me, and I've seen other comment about it as well.

ah ok, must be a bug then. so annoying when it happens. glad it's not game breaking.

 

[yarden24]

right i started my second game, this time on classic, and Ive got 3 options, either i launch a satellite to Egypt, or USA, the other one will leave the council, or i attack the alien base with nothing but the starting equipment, and get destroyed,

what say you gaf?

 

[TTG]

I really, really wish you could turn off the alien noise alert thing, it's driving me insane. The maps are already simple enough that it's reasonably obvious where the aliens are going to be, then it's made even simpler by having an alert tell you where they are every few turns. I like to be methodical and flank an enemy, which the game takes as you been lost and unable to find the enemy so it triggers the alert almost every bloody turn. Feels like I'm having my hand held the whole time. Really frustrating.

That only really goes for interior parts of a map. There's no flanking a group of enemies, that are in the fog of war, in the open.

 

[mik83kuu]

right i started my second game, this time on classic, and Ive got 3 options, either i launch a satellite to Egypt, or USA, the other one will leave the council, or i attack the alien base with nothing but the starting equipment, and get destroyed,

what say you gaf?

Egypt has pyramids. Pyramids were built by aliens. Egypt is not on your side.

 

[EmSeta]

I NEED CONFIRMATION.

Does anyone's game stutter whenever the Berserker dude charges you? It seems to ONLY stutter when he's moving towards me after I shot him. It goes right back to normal after that. So weird.

Yup, super annoying. They better patch that.

 

[CambriaRising]

right i started my second game, this time on classic, and Ive got 3 options, either i launch a satellite to Egypt, or USA, the other one will leave the council, or i attack the alien base with nothing but the starting equipment, and get destroyed,

what say you gaf?

Esc>Exit to desktop

 

[Nocebo]

Just bought the game last night, downloaded today while i was at work... got home... and i played it for about 2-3 hours..

Good game so far..

But i'm really missing some stuff from the original. Can someone tell me.. will i ever have to explore a map? or will i always be moving in one direction to/from my skyranger..

Oh Is there any Gaf Multiplayer action going on (steam)?

Yeah, you'll pretty much never have to explore a map. The map is always directional. When I mentioned this after the demo people said it would be different for the full game but it clearly is not. The alien base and stuff is especially directional. It makes the game easier and a lot less tense. Also because aliens don't really roam around as much they'll almost never get the jump on you without you knowing they're coming before hand.

 

[Shouta]

Yeah, you'll pretty much never have to explore a map. The map is always directional. When I mentioned this after the demo people said it would be different for the full game but it clearly is not. The alien base and stuff is especially directional. It makes the game easier and a lot less tense. Also because aliens don't really roam around as much they'll almost never get the jump on you without you knowing they're coming before hand.

Enemies should've been roaming around looking for you in the game, I don't really understand why they didn't do that.

 

[Jintor]

You've never had enemy patrols run in on you? Happens all the time.

The way I look at it, a lot of abduction and terror maps are still largely explorational, with the possible exception of highway maps and base/alien ship maps, which always were directional even in X-Com (with the exception of breach points). I mean fuck, poking around swamps or forests around downed UFOs - motherfuckers could still come from anywhere.

Directional? I guess you're always headed in one direction, away from the Skyranger. But that's how it's always been.

I do think it might have been possible to, say, up the squad limit, slam a couple of these pre-built maps together, and have a mission over an entire streetfront. God damnit, Firaxis, bring me a patch and bring me mod tools and let's see what the community can do. There's so many little things I just want to see tweaked and experiment with.

 

[KO Traveling Hobo]

It does get on my nerves that the entire alien team isn't actively trying to kill you like the AI does in Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre, and the like. This is a problem that I also had with the original and TFTD, though, so it's not unprecedented for the series.

 

[Raxus]

It does get on my nerves that the entire alien team isn't actively trying to kill you like the AI does in Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre, and the like. This is a problem that I also had with the original and TFTD, though, so it's not unprecedented for the series.

This would make defensive options way too strong, not to mention later in the game you have to fight off 20 something enemies in a single mission.

 

[Nocebo]

Enemies should've been roaming around looking for you in the game, I don't really understand why they didn't do that.

Yea, this is so noticeable with UFOs like large scouts. There will always be aliens in the "control room" or whatever you want to call it. They will never leave that room. There will never be aliens in the rooms left or right of that room. So I always run my guys up to the door without worry. Feels a bit silly. In the original you were always on your toes entering a UFO.
I also don't like the fact that aliens are "triggered" most often than not. Especially on classic it makes it into a game of "put everyone in overwatch except one guy. Move that guy up, enemy triggered? No-> next turn rinse repeat." or "Don't put people on overwatch, move a guy up. Enemy triggered? Yes -> deal with them with your remaining guys. No -> Move your remaining guys but not further than your first guy."

It feels like terror missions are the only ones where enemies actively roam around.

 

[KO Traveling Hobo]

This would make defensive options way too strong, not to mention later in the game you have to fight off 20 something enemies in a single mission.

True. Maybe it's just residual salt from the old bug hunts.

 

[Zeliard]

I think the tension is balanced out pretty well with the much smaller squad sizes, especially in the early-to-mid game. You don't have the option of just sending sacrificial rookies out to corners of the map. I feel like I have to tread more carefully in this than in the original since individual soldiers are more critical.

 

[Salsa]

FUCK YOU ALIEN SCUM



that last mission on Ironman was fucking INTENSE. Mostly cause my top squad got wiped out a couple missions before that so I was mostly out there with rookies.

In the end I had

Spoiler

the chick that needs to survive

under enemy mind control and just one sniper left. Double tap saved my ass.

feelsgoodman. Knowing I was 1 inch away from losing EVERYTHING. This is why Ironman's awesome and the way to play the game.

 

[Jintor]

I do think there are definite problems with the discovery mechanic, but I'm struggling to properly articulate them

 

[KO Traveling Hobo]

FUCK YOU ALIEN SCUM



that last mission on Ironman was fucking INTENSE. Mostly cause my top squad got wiped out a couple missions before that so I was mostly out there with rookies.

In the end I had

Spoiler

the chick that needs to survive

under enemy mind control and just one sniper left. Double tap saved my ass.

feelsgoodman. Knowing I was 1 inch away from losing EVERYTHING. This is why Ironman's awesome and the way to play the game.

Only two battles lost, but 55 dead soldiers. Coldblooded.

 

[Salsa]

Only two battles lost, but 55 dead soldiers. Coldblooded.

a couple of missions down the middle went fucking abysmal for me. All the bad luck. Random small glitches here and there certainly didnt help, but I had a fucking blast.

I cant stress enough how satisfying and intense Ironman mode is. Edge of my seat during that last mission man. 4 squadmates died and every death was like a blow to my stomach.

 

[KO Traveling Hobo]

a couple of missions down the middle went fucking abysmal for me. All the bad luck. Random small glitches here and there certainly didnt help, but I had a fucking blast.

I cant stress enough how satisfying and intense Ironman mode is. Edge of my seat during that last mission man. 4 squadmates died and every death was like a blow to my stomach.

I definitely agree with you on Ironman. After Normal Ironman, I've been playing regular Classic and I've been savescumming relentlessly. More games should have restraints like that.

 

[Salsa]

I definitely agree with you on Ironman. After Normal Ironman, I've been playing regular Classic and I've been savescumming relentlessly. More games should have restraints like that.

Indeed!

btw, time on one playthrough:

 

[Jintor]

Once they fix the bugs, I think I'll run a legit normal ironman. (Not that I savescummed the first time through). Then a classic ironman.

 

[Nocebo]

You've never had enemy patrols run in on you? Happens all the time.

The way I look at it, a lot of abduction and terror maps are still largely explorational, with the possible exception of highway maps and base/alien ship maps, which always were directional even in X-Com (with the exception of breach points). I mean fuck, poking around swamps or forests around downed UFOs - motherfuckers could still come from anywhere.

Directional? I guess you're always headed in one direction, away from the Skyranger. But that's how it's always been.

I do think it might have been possible to, say, up the squad limit, slam a couple of these pre-built maps together, and have a mission over an entire streetfront. God damnit, Firaxis, bring me a patch and bring me mod tools and let's see what the community can do. There's so many little things I just want to see tweaked and experiment with.

With all due respect, you have no clue what you're talking about. Terror maps are explorational? I rarely move 20 paces from the skyranger before I complete the mission. I can't remember a time where I had to enter more than one building. On other missions you move in one direction away from the skyranger: up (depending which way your camera is facing). This was not the case in the original where you had to move in multiple directions. You had to split up your team to effectively explore the map. In this game you don't have to diverge much more than 10 squares from your one directional path to encounter all aliens on the map. So you can keep your team together at all times with no problems. This has all to do with Jake Solomon trying to change the pacing of the game, I'm not sure how this can be denied.
The Aliens will mostly come from in front of you, sometimes from the side but never from the back. Not so for the original.

Alien base in the original was directional? Wow, I can't believe what I'm reading. I don't mean to be rude but did you even play the original? You realize that in XCOM the base is one long corridor right? X-Com had multiple rooms and required horizontal and vertical exploration.
Does this look one directional? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rmukkQCepQ
Some UFO's in X-Com could be completed in one direction because they were like one or few rooms. But I'm not sure how you can consider the larger ones one direction since the elevator has you start in the center for at least one of them. Plus they were multiple levels high.