Playing the original X-com for the first time

[irishScott]

Picked it up (with all the other X-coms) on a steam sale last year, just getting around to it. Figured with the re-make coming out in a few weeks I should get up to speed on the lore.

Had to do some DOSBox config file tweaking to fix the audio lag, but it's running perfectly now, and... YES! It's like Chess: Stargate Edition. Only better.

Definitely frustrating to start out though. Knowing my limits and the game's reputation, I went in cold on beginner, read the manual, felt my way around... and promptly got my ass kicked on the first UFO recovery mission.

Went online, found a decent video tutorial that recommended I give everyone an auto-cannon. Did everything in the video... and promptly got my ass kicked on the first terror mission. I later learned how retarded said video was (it told me that laser weapons and the motion scanner were useless as well as rifles. To the point where it told me sell off all my early equipment and give everyone auto-cannons).

So after about 3 more restarts I finally got a solid handle on how things worked (turns out rifles, lasers, and motion scanners AREN'T useless after all) and I've been relatively kicking ass on beginniner. Casualties have never been higher than 60%, and now that I have power suits haven't breached 40%. Presently my issues are more financial than tactical.

And OMG once you get into it... I can see why this game has such a following. From my perspective, it's literally like being in charge of Stargate Command (albeit in a obviously different context). Which is awesome. And you do get those personal attachments to those poorly animated sprites. More than once I've found myself cursing out one of my people for missing something 15 ft away with an aimed shot, or cursing out an alien who got super lucky and killed one of my people a hundred yards away.

Hell once I had a rambo sectoid trapped in a corner, it got excessively lucky (this was before power armor and motion scanners on a night terror mission) and wiped out the 3-man squad I sent to kill it. I made a personal point of capturing that fucker alive (taking no more casualties in the process) and dissecting him later in our lab. The irony is that there were 5 cyberdiscs on that night-terror mission and I took them out at distance like it was nothing (although one was by the skin of my squad's teeth).

I'm aware that the game's narrative is advanced via research, so I'm happy to avoid researching "alien origins" until I've got all the research/manufacturing that I deem useful done. Given the amount of casualties the sectoids have inflicted, and they're the lowest level enemies, I want to be prepared before going after anything larger.

Still, I'm looking forward to many more fun hours with this, and from what I hear the expansions aren't that bad either. The one thing that strikes me though is that I had serious issues with BEGINNER. How is this game even playable on the highest difficulties? At least the early game.

 

[Harrod]

The brutality of the game is what gave it the following it got, I remember once having ranked up my crew to the point they were super-soldiers. Only to start a mission, and upon opening the doors having a sonic pulsar thrown in and wiping all but two of them out. I still think it's one of the top ten games of all time as far as game play goes.

 

[GundamW]

The brutality of the game is what gave it the following it got, I remember once having ranked up my crew to the point they were super-soldiers. Only to start a mission, and upon opening the doors having a sonic pulsar thrown in and wiping all but two of them out. I still think it's one of the top ten games of all time as far as game play goes.

The new one looks great. Can't wait.



From my previous post here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2217534


Arhhh, the

Spoiler

20 turns

exploit...

(wall of text)
So there I was, still early in the game, assaulting a base with 12 guys equipped with plasma/laser rifles, cheap armors, and such.

Spoiler

Did the 20 turns wait

, killed most of the aliens, only losing 2 guys in the process.

Time to move in to the control room. Did a scan and got 3 aliens in the control room. No problem.

Positioned 8 guys in the room right underneath and surrounded the "elevator platform", ready to shoot any alien coming down. The remaining 2 guys doing the patrol/sweep in other area just to be sure.

Here's the plan, Sue Redshirt, you will be the sacrificer next turn. You will charge in and drop the stun bomb right in front of the aliens. So time to equip and prime your bomb. Everyone else, close in, get ready, and when the bomb goes, you guys charge in and shoot anything that's still standing...no question? good.

Alright new turn, time for you to shine, Sue. Go get them!
Sue with primed stun bomb in hand, step forward to the elevator platform, ready to move up....

Aliens saw the Redshirt. React. *Pew* Blaster bomb was shot from the floor above, went thru the elevator platform, and *BAM* exploded right next to Sue.
Whoopsie, Sue died/obliterated... along with her 7 comrades that were surrounding the 3x3 elevator. (I was stun and amazed, of course.)

The 2 remaining soldiers panicked. One drop his gun and ran. The other went berserk and started shooting wildly in every direction. The next few turns, I tried to get control of the guys to no avail.

Oh well, lessons learned. Time to reload...

Hehe, Good times!

 

[thespyder]

LOL. glad you are enjoying. I am guessing you haven't come across any Poppers yet. Wait till you do.

And yes, expect to lose a LOT of your soldiers over the course of the game. it is actually PART of the fun. My Ex never got the hang of that and would save every turn.

But don't hold back on studying the alien history. I mean, it probably doesn't make that much difference, but definitely start expanding. Sectoids are pushovers later on, but there are other things that will come at you. The above mentioned Poppers are one such thing.

have fun with it.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I still have my boxed Microprose copy with floppy discs, though I haven't had a PC with floppy for years now. It was such a great game for its time, and still holds up pretty well. It had the best squad-level combat until Jagged Alliance 2 came along, and it beats JA2 for the alien lore.

Losing squaddies was part of the fun, most of us didn't give them real names until they lived long enough to earn them -- at the start they got names matching their stats and traits, like "John Coward A15"

 

[irishScott]

I still have my boxed Microprose copy with floppy discs, though I haven't had a PC with floppy for years now. It was such a great game for its time, and still holds up pretty well. It had the best squad-level combat until Jagged Alliance 2 came along, and it beats JA2 for the alien lore.

Losing squaddies was part of the fun, most of us didn't give them real names until they lived long enough to earn them -- at the start they got names matching their stats and traits, like "John Coward A15"

Really? First thing I did was sack anyone with a Bravery of 20 or lower, and order more replacements. Guess it has cost me a few hundred thousand.

 

[Slew Foot]

Never played the original but i spent an entire summer vacation playing terror from the deep.

By the endgame, my guys were walking tanks and Id have guys fire the guided disruptor shots across the maps to nuke the base before walking in.

 

[rickon66]

It has been so long since I played it, this thread has brought back some pleasant memories.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Autocannons, eh? That is the opposite of what is good. You typically want about 1/2 rifles and 1/2 pistols and a rocket HWP to start out. The pistol guys are for moving fast and scouting, and pistols have good AP : DMG.

Really? First thing I did was sack anyone with a Bravery of 20 or lower, and order more replacements. Guess it has cost me a few hundred thousand.

This is good. I'll keep bravery 30 if they have good other stats, otherwise they get the boot too.

You know to manufacture for fun and profit, right? Always have those engineers cranking out the aircraft lasers to sell. Make $$$, eventually build a research/production base out in Hawaii or something.

 

[QuantumPion]

Starting out I give everyone rifles but I can usually get laser pistols researched and manufactured before the first UFO is detected. I never bother with heavy cannons, auto cannons, rocket launchers, etc. They are just too heavy, you hardly have any time units to get into position to use them. Grenades work well enough.

Research lasers asap, then alien alloys->personal armor. Once your guys are equipped with at least laser rifles and personal armor they do a lot better. To make money, build laser cannons (the fighter craft weapon) to sell. They have the highest profit per engineer hour.

When you are building your base, try to design it so that the entrance and hangars all lead through a single narrow corridor. That way if your base comes under attack it is easy to defend. E.g.:

 

[DaveSimmons]

The one thing I used autocannons for was with incendiary rounds, as a super-flare that kills.

Instead of tossing a flare into a dark area, I'd fire an incendiary round to light it up.

I'd only have one guy armed this way, with a pistol as a secondary weapon.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

My general squad at the start (before lasers) is 6 rifles 2 autocannons 2 rocket launchers and a tank. I always rename everyone with over 35 strength to have a last name heavy so I know who can carry the heavy loadouts. Once I get lasers it's 8 laser rifles 2 rocket launchers and a tank (tanks mostly there as a beefy scout since it doesn't level up I don't like using it for straight combat unless it'll definitely save someone). Mix in heavy plasma/small launcher/blaster launcher as I get them.

I do Simmons idea with incendiaries except I do it with rocket launchers instead.

For money, you want to manufacture laser canons to be making good money. Selling off most of the alien weapons you find should cover the rest (laser rifles are awesome don't bother with plasma pistols/rifles and it's ok early to sell some heavies before you've researched them). I usually start out making my base in europe and an interceptor station in america and by the third month if things have gone really well I can end up with more money than I know what to do with.

If you haven't I highly recommend you run x-com utils fixes a lot of bugs. One of which is a bug that makes the game default to beginner if you quit and load from a save. Also gives some options to "enhance" the game although I avoid all of them except the defensive base setup (hate demolishing half my starting base because it's laid out retarded) and auto-reequiping troops.

It's kind of like the original AvP though the mechanics that make it so hard exist through all levels of difficulty so once you master it on easy the numbers might be stacked different against you, but it's not like you're getting insta-gibbed much different so it's not as bad as you'd think.

 

[adlep]

I remember playing this game on Amiga 500. AI turns would take solid 5 minutes of intense processing...
Good times

 

[lupi]

I was always pretty good at strategy games, this one was a real ass kicker if you went into it without any real knowledge of the game at first though.

 

[irishScott]

My general squad at the start (before lasers) is 6 rifles 2 autocannons 2 rocket launchers and a tank. I always rename everyone with over 35 strength to have a last name heavy so I know who can carry the heavy loadouts. Once I get lasers it's 8 laser rifles 2 rocket launchers and a tank (tanks mostly there as a beefy scout since it doesn't level up I don't like using it for straight combat unless it'll definitely save someone). Mix in heavy plasma/small launcher/blaster launcher as I get them.

I do Simmons idea with incendiaries except I do it with rocket launchers instead.

For money, you want to manufacture laser canons to be making good money. Selling off most of the alien weapons you find should cover the rest (laser rifles are awesome don't bother with plasma pistols/rifles and it's ok early to sell some heavies before you've researched them). I usually start out making my base in europe and an interceptor station in america and by the third month if things have gone really well I can end up with more money than I know what to do with.

If you haven't I highly recommend you run x-com utils fixes a lot of bugs. One of which is a bug that makes the game default to beginner if you quit and load from a save. Also gives some options to "enhance" the game although I avoid all of them except the defensive base setup (hate demolishing half my starting base because it's laid out retarded) and auto-reequiping troops.

It's kind of like the original AvP though the mechanics that make it so hard exist through all levels of difficulty so once you master it on easy the numbers might be stacked different against you, but it's not like you're getting insta-gibbed much different so it's not as bad as you'd think.

Meh, I put my first base in my hometown (Northern Virginia). Just played another 3 hours. Got through my first base assault with only 1 casualty, and snakemen+crysallids are now common. Started building a new base in Europe. I have the hyper-wave decoder now, so radar's a thing of the past.

Yeah I basically did exactly that financially. Made about 10 million selling plasma weapons and alien corpses (kept a few samples around for necessary research). How do you get laser cannons? I stopped laser research once I got rifles.

I've read enough wikis to know heavy plasma is the ideal squad weapon, so I've got a few samples of that on hand to research when I get around to it, am selling the rest. For the moment laser rifles and power suits all-around seem to be doing the job perfectly. Snakemen die easily. Had a close call with a cryssallid though. Got right up to 4 of my teams' faces, but thankfully ran out of TUs making that last square. Some point-blank auto-laser fire took care of him. *whew*

 

[GoodRevrnd]

If you haven't I highly recommend you run x-com utils fixes a lot of bugs. One of which is a bug that makes the game default to beginner if you quit and load from a save. Also gives some options to "enhance" the game although I avoid all of them except the defensive base setup (hate demolishing half my starting base because it's laid out retarded) and auto-reequiping troops.

Some of the other options are actually really cool.

 

[thespyder]

Never played the original but i spent an entire summer vacation playing terror from the deep.

By the endgame, my guys were walking tanks and Id have guys fire the guided disruptor shots across the maps to nuke the base before walking in.

TFTD was brutal on soldiers. Some of the underwater maps were insane and aliens could be hiding behind every single pillar or rock formation. You had to search the entire board. I lost more soldiers from the occasional last guy popping out where you least expected it than from almost anything else.

Oh, and wait just wait till you have a base mission. hehehe....

 

[Albatross]

The most annoying thing in TFTD were the cruise missions when one last fucker remained standing,although I loved the game, that got old realllly fast,like a retarded hide and seek game.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Meh, I put my first base in my hometown (Northern Virginia). Just played another 3 hours. Got through my first base assault with only 1 casualty, and snakemen+crysallids are now common. Started building a new base in Europe. I have the hyper-wave decoder now, so radar's a thing of the past.

Yeah I basically did exactly that financially. Made about 10 million selling plasma weapons and alien corpses (kept a few samples around for necessary research). How do you get laser cannons? I stopped laser research once I got rifles.

I've read enough wikis to know heavy plasma is the ideal squad weapon, so I've got a few samples of that on hand to research when I get around to it, am selling the rest. For the moment laser rifles and power suits all-around seem to be doing the job perfectly. Snakemen die easily. Had a close call with a cryssallid though. Got right up to 4 of my teams' faces, but thankfully ran out of TUs making that last square. Some point-blank auto-laser fire took care of him. *whew*

I put my bases where I get the most coverage with radar; so usually toward the center of continents. Europe is just kind of a preference with me since you can positive influence so many nations at once. America is your largest contributor; I'm not sure it really makes too much of a difference where you start.

Heavy plasma is ideal except maybe vs sectopods. Laser rifles are faster, have infinite ammo, and weigh less assuming you carry an extra clip with your heavy so they do have some pluses. I just get laser rifles as my first tech since rifles are so painfully bad (having laser rifles fast will save way more lives than having medikits).

Laser cannon/laser tank research unlocks after heavy laser research (heavy lasers are pretty meh too slow and inaccurate). Laser cannons are the most profitable thing you can produce and I like using the laser tanks instead of regular tanks just because they're home grown.

I don't usually equip power/flying suits on everyone. Just people important to me everyone else gets personal armor until I have excess resources. While I research personal armor pretty fast I'm not usually in a rush to get power armor. It's good, but I'd rather get plasma cannons/hyperwave decoder/psi tech/etc than it.

 

[QuantumPion]

Also if you like X-com I recommend giving Apoc a try. I think it is very underrated and in many ways better than the original. Mainly because in the original, the tactical fights start to become tedious and annoying by mid-game but in Apoc with real-time combat you can have your elite troops run around with the toxiguns, shields and cloaking devices rambo style hehe.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Also if you like X-com I recommend giving Apoc a try. I think it is very underrated and in many ways better than the original. Mainly because in the original, the tactical fights start to become tedious and annoying by mid-game but in Apoc with real-time combat you can have your elite troops run around with the toxiguns, shields and cloaking devices rambo style hehe.

Yea, I've been on an enemy unknown binge, but I do like Apoc a lot too. If only the game was polished as well as it was meant to be, it would have been amazing (stuff like politics was only half-assed implemented).

 

[thespyder]

Also if you like X-com I recommend giving Apoc a try. I think it is very underrated and in many ways better than the original. Mainly because in the original, the tactical fights start to become tedious and annoying by mid-game but in Apoc with real-time combat you can have your elite troops run around with the toxiguns, shields and cloaking devices rambo style hehe.

I think that Apocalypse was definitely an improvement on the original as well. However, i thought the real time combat was a complete failure. I tried it two, maybe three times and just found that I didn't have the fine control over my soldiers that I needed to survive even the most basic missions.

 

[Albatross]

BTW,is there a reason why not a single X-COM is GOGed?

 

[QuantumPion]

I think that Apocalypse was definitely an improvement on the original as well. However, i thought the real time combat was a complete failure. I tried it two, maybe three times and just found that I didn't have the fine control over my soldiers that I needed to survive even the most basic missions.

You just need to set your guys to aggressive so they stay where you tell them to be and not run off on their own. On normal stance they will try to run away and find cover when under fire.

 

[irishScott]

BTW,is there a reason why not a single X-COM is GOGed?

Probably licensing. Valve likely negotiated an exclusive agreement.