Who's preordering X-COM?

[GoodRevrnd]

By the time they make colonel they will be quite different. I've got guys with 45 wp and guys with 96 and everything in between. Aim seems to be set by rank and class though you're right.. or at least there is less deviation.

And I bet your willpower differences can be accounted for strictly based on how much they have been critically wounded and when you built the OTS willpower upgrade.

 

[Malz]

Well I didnt get my copy till fri as Direct2play sold me the eu release (after being warned here it was grey market I was so afraid of getting burned over being cheap) Im on my third game without finishing although all look promising till I get total party killed (TPK) once I loose the "gang of six" it becomes three top rank guys and three kinda newbs.

Then the AI seems to get super evil with the missions coming quick...soon its "the six newbs play game of death" sigh...... Great equipment is good but great guys trump great equipment .

Maybe Ill just try a game on normal but Im a old school x com guy , I used to play Jagged Alliance because it was x com like. Just seems wrong to choose a easier setting

 

[LurkerPrime]

The other thing that's a little dissatisfying is the strategic view is too scripted. After restarting only a couple of times it was very clear each month there's a very set pattern of what happens (so many abductions/ships appear/etc). I think part of what made the original legendary was how organic the strategic view felt.

The chance to detect a ship with your radar at the start of the game is iffy at best. That, and you only have sparse coverage of the world. You only start spotting ships on a regular basis once you get the hyperwave decoder, and by that point, your nearing the end of the game. So, unlike the original, alot of your missions are abduction/terror/special missions instead of downed UFOs.

I really can't wait till people start making mods for this. Since it seems multiple skill trees can be supported, It would be nice to have a skill tree for xp (your current tech tree), and then a skill tree for your ranking (i.e. passive moral type boosting effects). It would also be nice to have a few more levels attainable by my soldiers. Once everyone is a colonel, you dont have anything else to look forward to by bringing them on the mission.

That and new techs/weapons added would be awesome for replayability of the game.

I also felt the story of this one was lack luckster compared to the original. The original seemed to give you much more information on the background of the aliens.

 

[PowerYoga]

Even with hyperwave decoder you don't get many interceptions. Most of the time my missions are just terror/abduction/etc and I've shot down less than 10 ufos throughout my game, which ended in october or so.

I would like more stats/deviations in soldiers as well, seems like every one of them are pretty much the same sans willpower.

 

[thespyder]

I had a lot of fun levelling an entire squad of average soldiers to ridiculous stats... like 120 accuracy and 100 reactions (I react faster than mutons!), as well as 120 psi skill (had to be patient for that) and even contemplated getiing a 100 bravery soldier. I gave up on that last one though... you basically need to kill off a dozen of your own soldiers to level up bravery by ten. Pain in the butt.

In the end though, all you really wanted in original xcom was a bunch of soldiers who could shoot straight, and had 80 time units, as well as a couple of really powerful psi users. True, your soldier had unique attributes in str/stamina/throwing accuracy, but for the most part, it didn't matter. Those things had almost as much impact on the game as the colour of your soldier's armour. I probably would have preferred customizing colours in the original over str/stamina/bravery. At least that would have made keeping track of them that much easier.

Edit - is it my imagination, or does using a lot of psi attacks increase willpower?

So I think we agree in principle that both systems are different. I don't agree that the new system is "Better". merely different.

 

[Malz]

Does it seem like when you have a new crew after a alien wipe out of your old venerable marines you seem to get more events ? I was getting two a day after the aliens slaughter of the old fire team

 

[tydas]

Question for anyone...i'm trying to find where they describe the UI for the tatical game...for example, what the graphics above the soldiers heads mean and when a soldier gets hit, what does that number represent?

Also, is there a description anywhere of the alien buffs?

 

[thespyder]

Question for anyone...i'm trying to find where they describe the UI for the tatical game...for example, what the graphics above the soldiers heads mean and when a soldier gets hit, what does that number represent?

Also, is there a description anywhere of the alien buffs?

Well, the icons above the soldiers represent how much damage they can/have taken and how much cover they have versus a given opponent. it also shows how many movements the soldier has left.

So, you see a bunch of smaller dashes. if they are all solid, the solder has full health. If it gets hit for 3 damage, three of the dashes will appear empty. The remainder will remain solid.

Next you have a shield. If it is full, you have full cover versus the opponent. if it has half full, you have some protection. If it is empty, he is out in the wind. and if it is yellow, he is flanked by an opponent.

Finally, you have two larger arrows. Your soldier gets two moves per turn. If you move once, one of them goes away. If he moves twice (or dashes) both go away.

As for Buffs that the aliens have, I know that they can mind merge with each other giving them some bonuses to health and accuracy, but couldn't give you more than that. I am sure other players will speak up and fill you in on that.

 

[QuantumPion]

Well, the icons above the soldiers represent how much damage they can/have taken and how much cover they have versus a given opponent. it also shows how many movements the soldier has left.

So, you see a bunch of smaller dashes. if they are all solid, the solder has full health. If it gets hit for 3 damage, three of the dashes will appear empty. The remainder will remain solid.

Next you have a shield. If it is full, you have full cover versus the opponent. if it has half full, you have some protection. If it is empty, he is out in the wind. and if it is yellow, he is flanked by an opponent.

Finally, you have two larger arrows. Your soldier gets two moves per turn. If you move once, one of them goes away. If he moves twice (or dashes) both go away.

As for Buffs that the aliens have, I know that they can mind merge with each other giving them some bonuses to health and accuracy, but couldn't give you more than that. I am sure other players will speak up and fill you in on that.

To add to this, if you see red shields on the battlefield when selecting where to move, that means that position is already flanked by an enemy.

 

[thespyder]

To add to this, if you see RED shields on the battlefield when selecting where to move, that means that position is already flanked by an enemy.

NM. Reading comprehension error on my part. And thanks for the addition.

 

[tydas]

OK, tks..for some reason I thought my soliders only had like 5 or 6 hp so when i saw the damge numbers from the enemy hits i was confused..

The online steam game manual seems really lacking, is anyone aware of a better resource?

 

[Rhezuss]

I'm late to the party but how's the game so far?
Been wanting to get it but really not sure if it's worth it as full price.
45 bucks on GMG seems like a good rpice though.

Compared to TFTD...how is EU?

 

[thespyder]

For me, I am enjoying it. I have only a few hours on it thus far, just barely out of the tutorial, but I am really thrilled with what I have seen thus far.

Just to manage your expectations, it is a re-imagining of the original so there are quite a few things that have changed. And it is a bit less free form. But still thoroughly enjoyable.

I have heard people quote 20-30 hours game play depending on how much extra stuff you do, so factor that in. And the tactical combat is very enjoyable. Plus the graphics are a definite improvement.

 

[kevinsbane]

I'm late to the party but how's the game so far?
Been wanting to get it but really not sure if it's worth it as full price.
45 bucks on GMG seems like a good rpice though.

Compared to TFTD...how is EU?

Much less painful.

In terms of those stupid multi deck bug hunts that would get your aquanauts killed because there was a tentacalant left on the map hiding in a cranny somewhere in the maze that was an underwater base. That pissed me off to no end that I gave up playing TFTD. Too much work for stupid bug hunts like that that happened too often. I just ignored those missions after a while.

It's a ton of fun to play.

 

[Sureshot324]

This game is addictive as hell and definitely gives you that "just one turn...." feeling. I'm nearing the end of my first play through and will probably try a classic+ironman playthrough next .

 

[Malz]

I'm late to the party but how's the game so far?
Been wanting to get it but really not sure if it's worth it as full price.
45 bucks on GMG seems like a good rpice though.

Compared to TFTD...how is EU?

Gosh I love this game ! Not really the same as the old x com though, but that one set the bar real high ! I got mine for 29.99 @ direct2play but its the eu version . Seems to work fine too (except for the getting it late part). Oh and it did'nt come any extras or pre ordering

Classic is hard(not at first but it ramps up) havent tried impossible . doing a campain on medium now just to finish it .

As everyone said has the one more turn feel

 

[thespyder]

Yeah, I will second that "Just one more turn" feeling. Don't start playing if you have something planned to do later on. You can get sucked in and will look around and say "What time is it?!?"

Classic is hard(not at first but it ramps up) havent tried impossible . doing a campain on medium now just to finish it .

LOL. I got this abduction mission last night. I had to select the Really Hard one because the terror factor for that country was really high. Man, they weren't kidding. I know there were at least 10 sectoids and two floaters and I hadn't uncovered half the board. And I was playing on Normal and just about 3 missions out of the tutorial so early days and no good stuff yet. Tough!!!

 

[nanobreath]

LOL. I got this abduction mission last night. I had to select the Really Hard one because the terror factor for that country was really high. Man, they weren't kidding. I know there were at least 10 sectoids and two floaters and I hadn't uncovered half the board. And I was playing on Normal and just about 3 missions out of the tutorial so early days and no good stuff yet. Tough!!!

I have noticed a major difference in difficulty on the abduction missions. The tough ones, really are tough. Basically you can run into 3+ groups of aliens at a time, making it really hard to maintain cover, and kill the aliens before they eventually flank you and get in a good shot. Missions like these are when the Heavy is REALLY useful. That rocket blast being able to take out all of the smaller creatures, and a good chunk out of the mutons is a must when you have 5 of them grouped together. On top of that, it obliterates the cover on those maps as well. This really allows the rest of the squad to mop up quickly. Two snipers with 100% hit chance, using head shot = dead muton!

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I kind of wish there was a hard difficulty between normal and classic. Normal is kind of too easy. If you do things right, there's almost zero chance of ever losing anyone. Classic your guys are in constant danger of dying, which I like, but would also like that in between option sometimes.

 

[thujone]

sooooooo... snipers with shared sight and overwatch pretty much destroy everything

 

[clok1966]

terror missions.. is it just me or are others saving more then a couple people? I must admit im early in game but the last 2 i did i saved a crand total of 5 people (2 of 15 and 3 of 15).. ZOMBIES! (hope that wasnt a spoiler) i must say i cringed a tiny bit with that.. why not simply mind contoled humans?

 

[QuantumPion]

Yeah, I will second that "Just one more turn" feeling. Don't start playing if you have something planned to do later on. You can get sucked in and will look around and say "What time is it?!?"



LOL. I got this abduction mission last night. I had to select the Really Hard one because the terror factor for that country was really high. Man, they weren't kidding. I know there were at least 10 sectoids and two floaters and I hadn't uncovered half the board. And I was playing on Normal and just about 3 missions out of the tutorial so early days and no good stuff yet. Tough!!!

That's nothing. I'm not playing on ironman but the only two missions I had to reload on were the alien base mission (played too aggressively, without realizing how long it was) and this one grounded UFO. It was the smallest UFO type, but had 9 mutons and 3 sectoid commanders inside with 6 floaters outside. The first attempt I lost 3 of my highest ranking guys due to alien grenades and mind control. Second attempt I got smart and lined up my heavy outside the door before alerting the aliens. Took out all 12 with 1 rocket :biggrin:

sooooooo... snipers with shared sight and overwatch pretty much destroy everything

Just wait till you get double tap and an archangel suit.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

terror missions.. is it just me or are others saving more then a couple people? I must admit im early in game but the last 2 i did i saved a crand total of 5 people (2 of 15 and 3 of 15).. ZOMBIES! (hope that wasnt a spoiler) i must say i cringed a tiny bit with that.. why not simply mind contoled humans?

The terror missions I've played on normal I usually save 11-14 civilians. Have to play a little aggressive. The aliens usually target civies so you can afford to more chances than usual. Granted, I don't know what it's like on classic. I keep getting stuck into losing a nation and restarting so I never get far : (

 

[Rhezuss]

Bought...damn you all and thanks

 

[thespyder]

I have noticed a major difference in difficulty on the abduction missions. The tough ones, really are tough. Basically you can run into 3+ groups of aliens at a time, making it really hard to maintain cover, and kill the aliens before they eventually flank you and get in a good shot. Missions like these are when the Heavy is REALLY useful. That rocket blast being able to take out all of the smaller creatures, and a good chunk out of the mutons is a must when you have 5 of them grouped together. On top of that, it obliterates the cover on those maps as well. This really allows the rest of the squad to mop up quickly. Two snipers with 100% hit chance, using head shot = dead muton!

Tell me about it. My sniper had a 71% chance to hit a sectoid. he missed TWICE in a row. And then died.

I then got fed up and decided to use my Heavy's rocket launcher. I got scolded by the Scientist chick who said that we were trying to save artifacts for study and to please refrain from using high explosives. What am I supposed to use, Harsh Language?

But yeah, I only have the base equipment thus far. I think one guy has the next level up armor. Everyone else is using shot guns and assault rifles. And half of my guys were still rookies. So yeah, probably should have let the country go to hell and stick to something a little more my speed. Doh!