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[Impeccable]

First time Xcom player. Tried Classic Ironman for my first two playthroughs - I failed.

Now working on a Normal Ironman and lasting longer but I still am finding the base/panic/world part of the game more difficult to balance than the actual fights :/

 

[Toma]

First time Xcom player. Tried Classic Ironman for my first two playthroughs - I failed.

Now working on a Normal Ironman and lasting longer but I still am finding the base/panic/world part of the game more difficult to balance than the actual fights :/

Cant play it yet, why is that part difficult?

 

[Ketch]

Only on normal Iron man, but I still never try to capture an alien alive unless it's a specific requirement.... I don't see the benefit of putting my dudes in that much danger... Is it okay if I don't capture any more then required? Or am I gonna screw myself? Is it worth the risk?

 

[FStop7]

Every day it's the same thing.

Start new Ironman campaign. Build up a couple of folks to corporal by the third mission. By the fourth or fifth mission something goes bad and the whole squad eats it. Start over.

I've developed a few legitimate (at least I think so) criticisms of this game.

First of all, why is it impossible to surprise the enemy? Why do they always get a free move when I first encounter them? Is the ability to get the drop on the aliens something that can be earned as the game progresses?

Second of all - why are the enemies allowed to shoot me through hard cover? I've been shot by aliens standing outside of buildings while I'm standing inside the building, pressed up against the wall, next to the doorway. They just shoot me through the wall (without destroying it first). That's not really fair. What makes it worse is they shouldn't even know I'm there because I snuck around to flank them.

I don't mind challenging AI, but omnipotent/cheap AI sucks.

 

[truthiness]

I don't capture anything unless I have every other soldier covering my capture specialist and a medic close by. Once you have an enemy isolated, hurt and surrounded they usually keep going into overwatch and they become easy targets for capture. It helps a lot if yu can have someone to suppress them as well. I've captured: sectoids, thin men, floaters, mutons and 2 berzerkers. I try to capture at least one alien every mission. I think the weapons you can recover from live specimens are worth the risk. I don't know if you can capture Chryssalids, probably not, but at this point they are kill on sight for me.

Wait, so there's a reason to continue to capture things after the first one? I've only captured one of each whenever the research guys told me to.

 

[Mesoian]

Only on normal Iron man, but I still never try to capture an alien alive unless it's a specific requirement.... I don't see the benefit of putting my dudes in that much danger... Is it okay if I don't capture any more then required? Or am I gonna screw myself? Is it worth the risk?

You get free special guns by capturing them. It's nice taking a whole battalion of thinmen back to base and having enough light plasma rifles for everyone.

 

[-tetsuo-]

I don't think so. =(

They probably wanted to avoid people turning X-Com into their own private manufacturing business.

This happened a lot in the original lol

Wait, so there's a reason to continue to capture things after the first one? I've only captured one of each whenever the research guys told me to.

Free plasma weapons, yo

 

[Zeliard]

Cant play it yet, why is that part difficult?

When panic levels in a country get too high they quit the XCOM project and you lose their funding. You can afford to lose some countries, and you almost certainly will, but if it happens too much it spells disaster.

You have to get satellite coverage and interceptors in a decent selection of countries (which is very pricey especially on Classic) as well as do missions that will help balance out panic levels, but that can be a tough decision as other missions can be much easier to complete without getting your people killed as well as offer much better short-term rewards.

The game is all about balancing out the short-term with the long-term. Gotta do stuff that helps you immediately in order to keep pace, but then also be mindful not to ignore the long-term problems like panic levels or they'll come back to bite you.

 

[whalleywhat]

Only on normal Iron man, but I still never try to capture an alien alive unless it's a specific requirement.... I don't see the benefit of putting my dudes in that much danger... Is it okay if I don't capture any more then required? Or am I gonna screw myself?

I think every interrogation gives you a bonus for a certain type of research, which can be quite helpful. You also get free weapons. Rule of thumb would just be don't march a guy up to an alien if he can't survive a blast from it. You can highlight the radius within which you can stun an alien when you have a guy with the stun gun selected and move the cursor over them. My Assault guy is good for that, cause I often put him near aliens to feed them a mouthful of Scatter Laser anyways, so sometimes it's just a matter of me remembering I have the ability to stun them.

Any way to take screenshots while using controller? It seems to disable keyboard

Not for me. Hitting F12 works.

 

[Uthred]

Any way to take screenshots while using controller? It seems to disable keyboard

 

[Toma]

When panic levels in a country get too high they quit the XCOM project and you lose their funding. You can afford to lose some countries, and you almost certainly will, but if it happens too much it spells disaster.

You have to get satellite coverage on a decent selection of countries (which is very pricey especially on Classic) as well as do missions that will help balance out panic levels, but that can be a tough decision as other missions can be much easier to complete without getting your people killed as well as offer much better short-term rewards.

The game is all about balancing out the short-term with the long-term. Gotta do stuff that helps you immediately in order to keep pace, but then also be mindful not to ignore the long-term problems like panic levels or they'll come back to bite you.

I love challenges and roguelike game design (learn by dying), will Classic Ironman be the right choice even though I barely played XCOM before? I played an older xcom game a bit, but not nearly enough to feel confident about stuff like that.

 

[Zeliard]

I love challenges and roguelike game design (learn by dying), will Classic Ironman be the right choice even though I barely played XCOM before? I played an older xcom game a bit, but not nearly enough to feel confident about stuff like that.

I personally wouldn't play anything lower than Classic Ironman, and if you're fond of roguelikes that's the way to go. If you play on Normal definitely still go for Ironman to add spice to your decisions and mistakes.

And Impossible Ironman must be a serious bitch. I wonder if anyone is close to completing that, or even already has.

 

[mrgone]

Hey, I just noticed that the chance to-hit percentage when 1 go into firing mode is different than the percentage that shows up when I mouse over the corresponding alien head in the UI. Now I'm confused - I though that percentage that pops up over the alien head was supposed to be a quick way to see that to-hit percentage. Is that their chance of hitting you (it's usually higher)? Is it the chance your sniper can hit that target once you get that squad sight ability?

 

[EternalGamer]

I love challenges and roguelike game design (learn by dying), will Classic Ironman be the right choice even though I barely played XCOM before? I played an older xcom game a bit, but not nearly enough to feel confident about stuff like that.

Normal gets plenty challenging enough. It is not like normal in most games.

 

[Wanny]

Normal is plenty for first timers. It is still challenging.

 

[Mindlog]

I need a mod or patch to edit the name database :[]
I've been saying it since the begining. It is the thing that will annoy me most. I want to edit the name table instead of individual soldiers.

 

[Jintor]

The dudes over at the Penny-Arcade forums have been doing that since the demo

let me dredge it up

Go to:
<Your Drive>:\<Your Path To>\steam\steamapps\common\XCom-Enemy-Unknown\XComGame\Config\
Find the file DefaultNameList.ini, and rename it to something else (like "LameNormalNames.ini")
Then, rename the file you downloaded to DefaultNameList.ini and place it in that directory.

all credit to jdarksun. you probably want to modify that ini. back it up first though.

 

[Corky]

I swear to god if I don't have the day 1 soldier customization stuff tomorrow I'm flipping the fuck out.

 

[Mindlog]

The dudes over at the Penny-Arcade forums have been doing that since the demo

let me dredge it up



all credit to jdarksun. you probably want to modify that ini.

It's in the OP.
Nice!

 

[fanboi]

So, how many countries must leave and how so you get them back?

 

[legbone]

Normal is plenty for first timers. It is still challenging.

i'm a first timer and normal is straight up fucking hard for me. i'm thinking of bumping it down to easy. yes i suck.

 

[Shorty11857]

Normal gets plenty challenging enough. It is not like normal in most games.

I'm playing normal and was feeling like it was too easy, then when opened a door on a crashed space ship the enemy mind-controlled my Major Sniper and one hit my other Major, that was a costly mission

 

[whalleywhat]

I'm playing normal and was feeling like it was too easy, then when opened a door on a crashed space ship the enemy mind-controlled my Major Sniper and one hit my other Major, that was a costly mission

This is the exact moment that I went "Yeah, Normal is bringing it."

 

[Ken]

Are you supposed to get Civ5 in your gifts as soon as you purchase the game?

 

[Sinatar]

So, how many countries must leave and how so you get them back?

Must leave? None must. You can't get them back once they're gone.

 

[MYE]

Never played an XCOM game

How is the PS3 version?

 

[flowsnake]

Are you supposed to get Civ5 in your gifts as soon as you purchase the game?

You get it on the day of release.

Edit: Disregard this

 

[MasLegio]

have they fixed the stupid illogical and highly unrealistic reloading time waste?

I can walk and then reload but fuck me if I dare to reload in the first turn.
How stupid is that?!

having reload use up all the units is just stupid

 

[fizzelopeguss]

What no.

It's totally fine.

You're wrong, end of.

 

[DTKT]

You're wrong, end of.

I'm open to debate on the question! What is bothering you with the current KBM controls? I've been playing for about 5-6 hours and had no issue with troop control or base management. I mean, they could be better but they are totally adequate for what you actually need to be doing.

 

[-tetsuo-]

You're wrong, end of.

The game is far from unplayable on M&K.

 

[FStop7]

What makes it worse when an alien crits you is that the camera does a super close up of the alien as it's about to shoot you, so you know you're fucked before it even happens.

 

[inky]

Wait, so there's a reason to continue to capture things after the first one? I've only captured one of each whenever the research guys told me to.

Their weapons auto destroy when you kill them. When you capture them alive you get them intact.

I actually made a lot of money through this. There was this request by Nigeria for plasma rifles and they paid quite handsomely for my extra ones.

 

[Castor Krieg]

Classic Ironman, game 7, doing better now. Mid-May, survived first terror mission. Got a squad of 3-4 veterans that I fill with rookies (base is in Asia, I think it is the best choice). Will be launching my 5th satellite in a few days, before the next council report.

For those who told me Assaults with Shotguns are viable - dear God, you were right. I got them in Carapace Armor and they are tearing the shit apart.

My only problem - Interceptors are still armed with default weaponry, because I went Armor first. I am afraid I won't be able to catch UFOs.

 

[Zeliard]

Game 7? Now that's dedication

 

[Toma]

You get it on the day of release.

No, I already got it and gifted it to a friend who is playing it since 2 days.

 

[whalleywhat]

Classic Ironman, game 7, doing better now.

Yeah, not regretting my choice.

 

[Ken]

No, I already got it and gifted it to a friend who is playing it since 2 days.

Hope shattered. Still pre-loading but no Civ5 in my gifts.

 

[Toma]

Hope shattered. Still pre-loading but no Civ5 in my gifts.

Maybe you didnt have it before, and its now in your library?

 

[epmode]

Is the multiplayer working? I tried searching for a public game and couldn't find a thing.

edit: Quick matches work but manual searches are still screwy.

 

[MJLord]

Just tried to start a game on impossible difficulty and I swear to god it just cheats you out.

 

[Moobabe]

So close now UK GAF. So close.

 

[Open Source]

Every day it's the same thing.

Start new Ironman campaign. Build up a couple of folks to corporal by the third mission. By the fourth or fifth mission something goes bad and the whole squad eats it. Start over.

I've developed a few legitimate (at least I think so) criticisms of this game.

First of all, why is it impossible to surprise the enemy? Why do they always get a free move when I first encounter them? Is the ability to get the drop on the aliens something that can be earned as the game progresses?

Second of all - why are the enemies allowed to shoot me through hard cover? I've been shot by aliens standing outside of buildings while I'm standing inside the building, pressed up against the wall, next to the doorway. They just shoot me through the wall (without destroying it first). That's not really fair. What makes it worse is they shouldn't even know I'm there because I snuck around to flank them.

I don't mind challenging AI, but omnipotent/cheap AI sucks.

Agree on #1 - don't like how the enemy is in triggered clusters. But maybe they tried other ways and it didn't work well with current battle system? You can get armor that gives temporary activated stealth. And battle scanner sniper ability lets you see them early (though not approach them w/o trigger)

#2 - that kind of cover is partway in, partway out (because it lets you shoot out of it). If you go one more step away from the opening, you won't get shot (and can't shoot out, at least not along the same arc).

 

[Ken]

Maybe you didnt have it before, and its now in your library?

Nope. I checked under 'S' for Sid Meier's... too but nothing there.

So apparently checking my transactions XCOM isn't showing up as a pre-order... despite the fact that I'm still locked out of it and am still pre-loading. I'm starting to hate this whole regionlocking/different release date stuff. Apologies for all the images but I'm just a little frustrated.

 

[Open Source]

First time Xcom player. Tried Classic Ironman for my first two playthroughs - I failed.

Now working on a Normal Ironman and lasting longer but I still am finding the base/panic/world part of the game more difficult to balance than the actual fights :/

I found that high abduction rate early in the game before the mission where you

Spoiler

assault the alien base

makes countries unhappy at an unsustainable rate. I guess this is their way of making you do the main missions at a decent clip.

In my experience, as long as you're putting up a decent amount of satellites, it gets a lot easier to keep countries happy later.

Also, I think that losing certain countries is grounds for a restart, because of the importance of their continent bonuses.

 

[MasLegio]

soooo


00:20 12 October but I still have to cheat steam to play my game

dumb regionlocking shit

 

[Impeccable]

Cant play it yet, why is that part difficult?

Personally, I can't seem to balance the panic levels when choosing abductions, balancing the base and money isn't TOO bad. But I find it hard to get enough sats into space in a fair amount of time.

If I don't manage to succeed on this current play through I'm going to prioritize sats. WAY more than I do now, I realized how important they are this time around... but it MIGHT be too late, we'll see!

Loving the learning curve.

 

[Metalmurphy]

Personally, I can't seem to balance the panic levels when choosing abductions, balancing the base and money isn't TOO bad. But I find it hard to get enough sats into space in a fair amount of time.

If I don't manage to succeed on this current play through I'm going to prioritize sats. WAY more than I do now, I realized how important they are this time around... but it MIGHT be too late, we'll see!

Loving the learning curve.

I'm about to start my 5th game and I'm more and more convinced your supposed to just sacrifice one continent.

 

[Hawk269]

Problem is when I go change to XB360 controller in the options it just massively slow the game down and give me message to reconnect controller. No amount of driver update or plug/unplug has helped. It works fine with all my other games too...

Weird, the only time I had that error is when I working on some other stuff and the controller turned off. I was sitting in the menu when this happened and I got that error, but that is about it.

Try removing driver for the controller and re-downloading.

 

[epmode]

Are you supposed to be able to rotate the hologlobe/geoscape with a controller? It works fine when I try it in keyboard/mouse mode but nothing works when I'm using a controller. The weird thing is that the globe is affected by the right stick but it moves soooo sloooowly! It would take 5 minutes for the globe to rotate at this rate.