I haven't read the review yet, but I gather, they like it.
Check it out to get your XCOM juices flowing.
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/02/01/xcom2-review/ (https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/02/01/xcom2-review/)
All I need to know is that they ported the original game into the new setting as appropriate; any improvements and new additions are icing.
Although I hope the improvements include real differentials between lasers and plasma. In the original UFO/X-Com, there was a legitimate debate about whether to upgrade along plasma or laser: plasma did more damage, but lasers didn't need ammo. In XCOMEU/EW, plasma and lasers operate exactly the same except plasma hits harder. Not even a debate, go with plasma when you can get it.
Anyway, relatedly here's RPS's report on what the Long War mod team will be doing first for XCOM2.
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/02/01/xcom-2-long-war-mods/
The original Eurogame interview with the Longwar modders:
God willing, you won't get an extended add for the "Squatty Potty". But I did. I did. (https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fold.wargamer.com%2Fforums%2Fsmiley%2F00000117.gif&hash=9b26f274aa378d82d87884ce5c42382aa23dd406)
friday and saturday will be all nighters, do not disturb full on XCOM 2 sessions
It's a glowing review, basically saying "If you thought XCOM Enemy Unknown was good...prepare to be blown away by XCOM 2".
Damn. I wasn't intending to pick this up right away... now my resolve is beginning to crumble...
At $80 CDN... I can wait a while.... :P
Quote from: Barthheart on February 01, 2016, 02:30:42 PM
At $80 CDN... I can wait a while.... :P
+1 Definitely going to wait for it to go on sale.
Stay strong, brothers.
G2A.com is selling Steam keys for 38 USD (C$53).
Quote from: Shelldrake on February 01, 2016, 03:12:04 PM
+1 Definitely going to wait for it to go on sale.
Quote from: Gusington on February 01, 2016, 03:14:59 PM
Stay strong, brothers.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi64.tinypic.com%2F2yv5o5e.jpg&hash=5a52301b8d3216bb28baa98e43bc02bdee1c7235)
You'll buckle. Like belts!
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv378%2Fsnow4brains%2FSmileys%2Fpopcorn4qt.gif&hash=8bb973c9a7d117cb55e9991070e6590bba512bc9)
I never resolved not to wait to buy it. :coolsmiley:
The reviews on Metacritic (http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/xcom-2/critic-reviews) are a bit better overall than the reviews on the original (http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/xcom-enemy-unknown): 91 to 89. And my current favorite big-time review site (PCGamer) gives it a 94. Only 5 of the 32 Metacritic reviews are below 90.
The general attitude seems to be: same game, but better setting, more polished, better balanced. But it is pricey, isn't it? Facing what is probably a long wait to get this baby at a reasonable price, too - what to do, what to do. . . .
BUUUUUUUUUUUYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY it
Friday night entails getting home, downloading, naming the team after some grogs and going bug hunting
Quote from: undercovergeek on February 01, 2016, 05:03:31 PM
BUUUUUUUUUUUYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY it
Friday night entails getting home, downloading, naming the team after some grogs and going bug hunting
Do you also hang around outside AA meetings, handing out bottles of beer?
$33.05 USD at Instant Gaming. More than reasonable price in my opinion.
Any reason not to buy from Instant Gaming (eg having to set up some kind of 'strings attached' user acct?)? I'm always a little wary of sites I've never used before that seem to be offering major discounts.
$33 for a blockbuster AAA title that hasn't been released yet but retails at $60... Seems almost too good to be true - ?
Quote from: sandman2575 on February 01, 2016, 05:42:36 PM
Any reason not to buy from Instant Gaming (eg having to set up some kind of 'strings attached' user acct?)? I'm always a little wary of sites I've never used before that seem to be offering major discounts.
$33 for a blockbuster AAA title that hasn't been released yet but retails at $60... Seems almost too good to be true - ?
I've bought 5 games from them. All new releases and always 30-40% discounted. The only annoyance was on the first purchase where I had to take a photo of a photo ID with the present date in order to verify my identity. It took about an hour for the verification to go through. This was a one time thing though and was not an issue thereafter. It seems to be a totally reliable website with some of the best prices for day one releases.
Good to know -- thanks
CDKeys.com is another reliable source. I bought Witcher 3 and Blood Bowl 2 from them at release for half price. I ordered XCOM2 last week and paid $32, but the price is now up to $35 or so.
My only complaint is that I've yet to receive my key, but I don't think any of the digital retailers have sent them out yet.
I bought mine from cdkeys a couple of weeks back...have bought several games from them in the past with no issue.
^Thanks for the heads up. Just ordered it from them too.
How do these other game purchase sites rate for ease of use for parching updates DLC etc with the base game?
I like steam because it keeps this all painless and I only have to worry about one game account. I also have only one place to go to if I want to reinstall older games.
Con
These sites typically just sell keys to other mainstream sites such as steam, gog, ubi, origin, etc. for xcom2 from cdkeys, you'll just get a steam key.
I have never. ever. ever, in 25 + years of computer gaming, bought a game pre-release . . . ever!
Until now. Although a bit too early perhaps, I am calling XCOM2 the 2016 war-game of the year.! :)
Quote from: Windigo on February 02, 2016, 01:45:02 PM
I have never. ever. ever, in 25 + years of computer gaming, bought a game pre-release . . . ever!
Until now. Although a bit too early perhaps, I am calling XCOM2 the 2016 war-game of the year.! :)
Yes. I think black sea was the last game I actually anticipated and looked forward to release. This is the only game since then I think I can say the same about.
Pretty ballsy Breezy, with Warhammer: TW and Oriental Empires coming soon :)
Quote from: Gusington on February 02, 2016, 04:44:37 PM
Pretty ballsy Breezy, with Warhammer: TW and Oriental Empires coming soon :)
:) well I don't go in for sacrilege so I will clarify by saying "that's actually this close to release". I am currently definitely anticipating the TW game as well. Also CM Blitzkrieg to add though. To be honest I know nothing about oriental so will now go take a look see.
Not being a Warhammer fan I really don't know if I'm getting that title yet...just saying. I know Blitzkrieg will be huge...not to say XCOM 2 won't be but it will have some fine company 😀
Kind of weird that they don't know when pre loads can start and the specific time the game will unlock...seems kind of late in the game not to know that information yet, especially the time the game will unlock...most times Steam has a counter that tells what it is.
DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO PRE-ORDER AT NO DISCOUNT AT ALL ON STEAM?!?
::)
Must...preorder...game! Of course the $33 in steam credit I'm currently carrying will soften the blow quite a bit. ;D
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on February 02, 2016, 07:20:57 PM
Kind of weird that they don't know when pre loads can start and the specific time the game will unlock...seems kind of late in the game not to know that information yet, especially the time the game will unlock...most times Steam has a counter that tells what it is.
It's possible they do know but don't want to say. As soon as a time is announced the forum will be flooded with posts like "But that's Tuesday in Ubekistan. You said Friiidayyyyy" and "Why can't it unlock right after I finish feeding the dog? I want to play it noooowwwwwww".
Not to mention the wailing and gnashing of teeth in the event of a hiccup and a delay of an hour or two.
Quote from: tgb on February 03, 2016, 04:51:15 AM
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on February 02, 2016, 07:20:57 PM
Kind of weird that they don't know when pre loads can start and the specific time the game will unlock...seems kind of late in the game not to know that information yet, especially the time the game will unlock...most times Steam has a counter that tells what it is.
It's possible they do know but don't want to say. As soon as a time is announced the forum will be flooded with posts like "But that's Tuesday in Ubekistan. You said Friiidayyyyy" and "Why can't it unlock right after I finish feeding the dog? I want to play it noooowwwwwww".
Not to mention the wailing and gnashing of teeth in the event of a hiccup and a delay of an hour or two.
That's quite an unfair criticism.
Bear in mind you live in the U.S, for which the release time are adjusted.
Where I live these releases drag right into Saturday. Giving me barely a day to play the game on the weekend (no Sundays off like in the U.S).
As been oft said, the most reasonable thing would have been a release time based on the UTC/GMT.
XCom 2 23% off at Green Man Gaming.
I bought the first one at full price...which I NEVER do. I must have had a bunch of Steam credit from a Christmas present.
What's sadder is I hardly played it. Not to say it's a bad game, I just didn't want to invest the time it required to properly appreciate it. (Sort of like me and Wasteland 2 right now.)
And even sadder than that, I bought the iOS version, and played it a lot more on my iPad. :-[
Still...in either case, I haven't finished the game, nor do I have it installed in either case at the moment.
I'll be waiting, too.
Just got my key - I'm assuming preload just went live
Quote from: Gusington on February 02, 2016, 06:12:01 PM
Not being a Warhammer fan I really don't know if I'm getting that title yet...just saying. I know Blitzkrieg will be huge...not to say XCOM 2 won't be but it will have some fine company 😀
A game with stoic beer-guzzling dwarves, bearing large axes and blunderbusses, and Gus doesn't know if he'll bother getting it?
What's this world coming to?!
Quote from: Gusington on February 02, 2016, 06:12:01 PM
Not being a Warhammer fan I really don't know if I'm getting that title yet...just saying. I know Blitzkrieg will be huge...not to say XCOM 2 won't be but it will have some fine company 😀
Actually not a devout one myself. But like the idea and perhaps think a fantasy setting like this might be what TW excels at because you won't have people arguing about real life stuff such as how the phalanx should be used. Am really looking forward to Blitzkrieg but does seem the gaps between games I eagerly anticipate is getting wider these days. :)
Preloading now and looking forward to busting some advent ass tomorrow at midnight. O0
Quote from: Gusington on February 02, 2016, 04:44:37 PM
Pretty ballsy Breezy, with Warhammer: TW and Oriental Empires coming soon :)
I trust my fellow fan bois and basement dwellers to stack the voting ....
;-)
Quote from: Zulu1966 on February 03, 2016, 04:10:53 PM
Quote from: Gusington on February 02, 2016, 06:12:01 PM
Not being a Warhammer fan I really don't know if I'm getting that title yet...just saying. I know Blitzkrieg will be huge...not to say XCOM 2 won't be but it will have some fine company 😀
Actually not a devout one myself. But like the idea and perhaps think a fantasy setting like this might be what TW excels at because you won't have people arguing about real life stuff such as how the phalanx should be used. Am really looking forward to Blitzkrieg but does seem the gaps between games I eagerly anticipate is getting wider these days. :)
Oh yes, they will, and the arguments will be even more impassioned and abstruse. Experts on military technology history and warhammer lore will BOTH be required to way in, as the question will be: How should the phalanx be properly used
in the Warhammer setting?
Trust me, I've seen plenty of such arguments at asoiaf.com (asoiaf = A Song of Fire and Ice = the Game of Thrones novels).
^Totally agree. The only thing I've seen people argue more about on gaming sites besides TW are bewbs.
It'll help that traditionally Warhammer is supposed to be about formation fighting on tabletop anyway. WHY DOESN'T CREATIVE ASSEMBLY PUT THE PROPER TABLETOP CODEX RULES INTO THEIR REAL-TIME ENGINE FOR TOTAL WARARRRGARRRBLE/??
Preorder complete! Preload commencing! Excitement growing!
im ready, im preloaded, there is jamesons with a back up jonnie walker, there are man snacks
i took a proper OCD adult look at my games library and have purged my HDD of crap i dont play anymore - my 'in the attic' section of steam games i dont play anymore is three times as big as my current playlist
im clean and pure
and ready
Quote from: undercovergeek on February 04, 2016, 04:38:33 AM
im ready, im preloaded, there is jamesons with a back up jonnie walker, there are man snacks
i took a proper OCD adult look at my games library and have purged my HDD of crap i dont play anymore - my 'in the attic' section of steam games i dont play anymore is three times as big as my current playlist
im clean and pure
and ready
+1 Commander!
Quote from: Capn Darwin on February 04, 2016, 06:46:13 AM
Quote from: undercovergeek on February 04, 2016, 04:38:33 AM
im ready, im preloaded, there is jamesons with a back up jonnie walker, there are man snacks
i took a proper OCD adult look at my games library and have purged my HDD of crap i dont play anymore - my 'in the attic' section of steam games i dont play anymore is three times as big as my current playlist
im clean and pure
and ready
+1 Commander!
yezzzzzz..... "Welcome back Commander" *shiver*
saw some editional German reviews ....Arrr, couldn't resist any longer :-[ ... IMPUSIVE BUY :D O:-) .... preloading :)
Quote from: MikeGER on February 04, 2016, 11:29:17 AM
saw some editional German reviews ....Arrr, couldn't resist any longer :-[ ... IMPUSIVE BUY :D O:-) .... preloading :)
I have assigned the german voice pack mod for ALL my Assault Class in XCOM:EW and XCOM: LongWar... makes them even more badass.
might have to do this in honour of MikeGer and make him my first assault guy
I think we need a Groghead's soldier pack we can all use.
Quote from: Capn Darwin on February 04, 2016, 12:48:00 PM
I think we need a Groghead's soldier pack we can all use.
After hearing Jarhead do a video review, I think he'd be awesome in the soldier pack.... wonder what's involved? Make it rated 18+.... for realism.
And the word is that Steam is now releasing the release :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
Are you sure you're ready for this level of commitment?
Quote from: Windigo on February 04, 2016, 01:13:14 PM
And the word is that Steam is now releasing the release :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
nooooooooooooooooooooooooo, im not home tonight!!!!!!! :'(
false alarm... they are just letting you download it... its still locked on your HD
Read this from Commander Beags to get yourself ready to roll tonight! O0
http://www.pcgamer.com/xcom-2-guide/?ns_campaign=article-feed&ns_mchannel=ref&ns_source=steam&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0
I think it's being pushed by Steam :2funny:
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1160.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fq499%2Fwmar1967%2FMisc%2FSnap1_zpsiabedyxj.jpg&hash=3853c6dc32b37cb8443f2fab1ab6a21b6fb74b65) (http://s1160.photobucket.com/user/wmar1967/media/Misc/Snap1_zpsiabedyxj.jpg.html)
It is now released in the UK according to Steam...NOW!
Just started my preload....my countdown says it unlocks in 6 hours for me, so plenty of time to get things loaded up:)
Saw a couple of posts that suggest after the game unlocks it could take 30-90 minutes to unpack...although someone with an SSD drive said about 5 minutes for them. So I guess in the end, it just depends:)
And...unpacking. Sigh. :-[ It's currently bouncing from 2 to 8 hours. Apparently I'll be loading this up tomorrow.
My unpack was hella slow, turned off Internet and paused AV software. Much faster now. Down to 5 minutes.
Why unpacking necessary?
Quote from: jomni on February 05, 2016, 12:35:02 AM
Why unpacking necessary?
AFAIK about 25GB download for a 45GB footprint on the HDD
(...took about an hour, but i have got it installed on an external USB drive, so i created a bottleneck,
but didn't had planed to jump start a game at 1pm anyway, i only checked if it was installed correctly)
That's a big game.
"Unpacking"... It's why I never pre-load. What's the point?
Mine is all set...but won't be able to play until tonight, no big deal. Hopefully all the performance issues I have been reading about are limited to certain configurations and hopefully that configuration is something I don't have:)
gaming pc = my house
girlfriend = her house
when i suggested i might stay at mine to kill aliens............... theres a look that probably comes across Gus' dogs face when he sees his balls in a jar on the mantlepiece
It didn't take that long for it to unpack for me, but I didn't time it. I just knew that it took less time than I expected given what I've been reading.
When I loaded it up it auto-selected "Low" graphics presets. I figured I could at least run it on medium with AA off, which I tried. During the transport animations I noticed a frame rate drop, and it must have been substantial since I never notice those things.
Played the first tutorial mission and halfway into the second when the game crashed on me. I'm going to see if there are new drivers that might help, but I sure hope the game auto-saves.
I can also see I'm going have to revise my playstyle (which I already knew, but haven't made the adjustment yet).
Fortunately the new driver seems to have solved my performance issues, which allowed me to get my ass kicked in the second tutorial mission. I need to get a better handle on setting up ambushes.
Tgb, what vid card are you running? I have an older rig and I get some heavy frame drop in some of the cut scene transitions. My biggest issue is that the game periodically kicks me to my desktop and I have to alt tab back into the game to keep playing. Never had the issue before.
The game itself is fun. No issue with timers or Sectiods. Did get my ranger hit once with a blown setup when a civ popped up around a corner and blew the concealment right out of the gate on the opening move.
More fun on tap today.
If mine "unpacked," I didn't notice it.
The download finished around 11:30 last night, Pacific time. I started the game up and it ran just fine. I didn't actually begin playing because it was bedtime, and I am at work now, but I plan to tie in to it tonight.
Quote from: undercovergeek on February 05, 2016, 05:41:15 AM
gaming pc = my house
girlfriend = her house
when i suggested i might stay at mine to kill aliens............... theres a look that probably comes across Gus' dogs face when he sees his balls in a jar on the mantlepiece
It's called sorry baby I don't feel well and have the shits. I'm just going to go home and get some rest.
Went through the tutorial and started a game. My only complaint so far is, only six custom faces??? Why can't we change more of the facial details?
What's up with the turn limit? ::)
PE
Quote from: PanzersEast on February 05, 2016, 02:21:22 PM
What's up with the turn limit? ::)
There's a turn limit? :(
PE, don't get me started on that or probability, or OP sectoids in the first missions. LOL ::) So much whining on the Steam forums on this stuff. Kills me that not being good at a game or learning a game is somehow the Dev's fault for making a crappy game. So sad. :'(
Quote from: undercovergeek on February 05, 2016, 02:43:24 PM
Quote from: Huw the Poo on February 05, 2016, 02:30:51 PM
Quote from: PanzersEast on February 05, 2016, 02:21:22 PM
What's up with the turn limit? ::)
There's a turn limit? :(
a few turns are timed - theres a lot of bleating
Whatever Geek. Perhaps you can lament over some tea and crumpets with the lady friend this evening but kids complaining about turn limits instead of actually playing the game. :P
lol - they were there in the first ones, theyre nothing new - you have 10 turns to disarm the bomb, stuff like that
Quote from: Capn Darwin on February 05, 2016, 10:23:46 AM
Tgb, what vid card are you running?
Geforce 650TI Supercharged. But I posted prematurely - I started having crashes again. Finally I tried verifying files, and that turned up two missing. Once restored I've had no problems (other than my own incompetence) so far.
Quote from: bbmike on February 05, 2016, 02:15:12 PM
Went through the tutorial and started a game. My only complaint so far is, only six custom faces??? Why can't we change more of the facial details?
It will be DLC.
Just wait & see. :P
Zipped by the house at (late) lunch to turn on the computer to finish downloading and unpacking or whatever by this afternoon.
This afternoon, after work, I hop up to the room and... the computer had, for the first time I think maybe ever, stopped booting up shortly after getting to the desktop.
:tickedoff: :tickedoff: :tickedoff: :tickedoff: :tickedoff: :tickedoff: :tickedoff: :tickedoff:
27 minutes to finish the dl, who knows how long to unpack.
11 minutes 41 seconds + unpack... :crazy2: :buck2:
I know nothing about the specific scenarios in question, but as a gamer, I find arbitrary time limits as the primary driver of victory conditions in every game a trifle boring.
That said, when it has a reasonable place within the story, I don't mind it, especially if it's something that only rears its head occasionally. As a guerrilla leader, I'm fond of a more leisurely approach to my own hit and run raids... 8)
Can I get a hallelujah!? I find time-sensitive scenarios a poor game mechanic, but I'm so used to them now (I'm looking at you, Combat Mission) it doesn't worry me too much. However, I have found the first few missions in this game pretty challenging even without factoring in the time limit. Clearly I need to polish up my X-Com skillz.
Quote from: Nefaro on February 05, 2016, 04:49:28 PM
Quote from: bbmike on February 05, 2016, 02:15:12 PM
Went through the tutorial and started a game. My only complaint so far is, only six custom faces??? Why can't we change more of the facial details?
It will be DLC.
Just wait & see. :P
I suspect you are correct, sir.
Quote from: bbmike on February 05, 2016, 05:37:44 PM
Quote from: Nefaro on February 05, 2016, 04:49:28 PM
Quote from: bbmike on February 05, 2016, 02:15:12 PM
Went through the tutorial and started a game. My only complaint so far is, only six custom faces??? Why can't we change more of the facial details?
It will be DLC.
Just wait & see. :P
I suspect you are correct, sir.
Check out the mods from Long War Studios, I know there are 3 of them.
My current dog still has his balls and is currently playing through the last mission of the original XCOM. Unmodded.
Quote from: Gusington on February 05, 2016, 06:08:34 PM
My current dog still has his balls and is currently playing through the last mission of the original XCOM. Unmodded.
Sooo the balls on your mantle are the ones you wife neuterd off you?
What exactly is a "timed" mission? Is it when it says something like "you have 4 turns to get to the landing zone"?
Quote from: bbmike on February 05, 2016, 07:24:12 PM
What exactly is a "timed" mission? Is it when it says something like "you have 4 turns to get to the landing zone"?
Pretty much, although it's often disarming something within several turns.
A number of missions are a secure this item, destroy this item, or rescue and extract a vip. You have 8 to 12 turns to get in and get out. It's a covert strike into highly controlled enemy territory. I think for those who hate the timer should get a mod that removes them, but once detected the enemy drops reinforcements every three turns with hard hitters showing up over time. That's realistic and would do the same thing. :tickedoff:
Balls are from my first dog, RIP.
I'm still early on in the game, but so far I'm not overly loving it. I was concerned from the get go about being in a position of leading a ragtag group of rebels on the run. That whole plot line never appealed to me. I want to lead a professional military force...not a bunch of guys with ponytails and a hodgepodge of uniforms who have to scrounge for gear.
I'm also thinking that the game is not very well optimized. It runs well enough, but some of the animations seem a bit jumpy...not really sure how to describe it. The graphics are in some ways better, but in some ways, not as appealing to me. Everything is much brighter and much sharper, but that somehow makes it feel like it has a little less "soul"? I also wasn't entirely thrilled with the opening cinematic...just felt a little silly and a little last generation. Again, it's hard to put my finger on exactly what is bothering me, but I'm not 100% sold yet.
Like I said, very early on and it obviously has not opened up really at all. I have no doubt the experience will improve, but it just hasn't blown my doors off, or made me feel like it's a tremendous advance over the original...in fact, I'm definitely going to keep the original on my HD.
Having played the first couple of missions, it is definitely more of the same so far. Things haven't opened up yet, of course. But I can carry EITHER one (1) grenade OR (1) one med kit.
Which is the kind of ridiculousness the first game was rightly critted for.
But I already knew that going in, and dealt with it (teeth gnashing) in the previous game. I am not yet unhappy, all things considered.
Can I say it's worth paying opening night price for, when Enemy Within can be picked up on sale (plus Long War for nothing), and even The Bureau: XCOM Declassified (which I liked a lot more than I was expecting, although I wish they had kept the 50s G-man look much longer in the game?) No, i couldn't in good conscience say that yet. But it's early.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on February 05, 2016, 08:09:24 PM
I'm also thinking that the game is not very well optimized. It runs well enough, but some of the animations seem a bit jumpy...not really sure how to describe it. The graphics are in some ways better, but in some ways, not as appealing to me. Everything is much brighter and much sharper, but that somehow makes it feel like it has a little less "soul"? I also wasn't entirely thrilled with the opening cinematic...just felt a little silly and a little last generation. Again, it's hard to put my finger on exactly what is bothering me, but I'm not 100% sold yet.
Well, it
is last gen: it's still Unreal 4, right? ;)
Note to self: remember to disable to dirty camera lens filter, which I hate on anything I see with the passion of a thousand burning lens flares. (Example: the production team which makes Arrow/Flash/Supergirl/Legends. The simulated lens dirt is, at best, distracting, especially once I realized it wasn't even randomized but exactly the same
across all four shows, every time it's used. Sometimes, especially in dark sfx scenes, it outright obscures whatever the heck it is I'm supposed to be watching. They might as well not even bother animating the Firestorm fx in a night shot, just shoot reaction shots from other characters and light them with flashy glows. :buck2: ) At least they make it optional. Although I somewhat suspect it'll still be on the transition/plot shots.
The gameplay feels a lot like a console port which forgot to fully add console controller functionality. I played the original XCOM remake (including EW) on my PS3, and got used to the console controls pretty fast. Technically my controller works on this, but I can never be sure what command I'm fixing to give (perhaps irretrievably), and I can't figure out how to make some things work at all. Even the mouse/keyboard controls assume you're making intuitive correct guesses sometimes, such as for canceling or backing out of some windows. The designers need to beef up the UI substantially. Take some cues from Mordheim, or better yet from the console versions of the previous game. :P
Quote from: IronX on February 05, 2016, 07:46:03 PM
Quote from: bbmike on February 05, 2016, 07:24:12 PM
What exactly is a "timed" mission? Is it when it says something like "you have 4 turns to get to the landing zone"?
Pretty much, although it's often disarming something within several turns.
I didn't like those in the original game either; and I like them less here. They completely screw with proper approach tactics, which
kind of works when they start appearing mid-campaign, when you're using a seasoned team that might be able to handle risky gun-running. The first few missions have been 2/3 timer missions (all the first missions I've played so far except the scripted tutorial prologue), and while the first one wasn't too horrible, since the game gives you time to rush a long distance safely and then set up for ambushing, the second mission was designed to fail the player semi-randomly on any attempt (not even counting whether troops get killed, which is a normal risk for games like this).
I
am enjoying it, despite my gripes; I'm about to go back in, soon, after checking on the folks (and griping here ;) ). But I can see why other people might be pissy. The early missions (at least) amount to a limited variance skin-and-map pack, designed to teach players bad habits in a schizophrenic fashion (while tutoring good habits).
I would praise the new Concealment system, but I'm unsure so far what it really brings to the table other than making it clearer under what circumstances the enemy will detect you. That would be, and is, helpful by itself; but the designers seem to be making it out to be more important than that, like maybe you get first strike bonuses if you use it to set up and trigger an overwatch ambush on the enemy. Which would be good, but I can't really see that that's happening for sure. (I mean the bonuses; I've triggered an overwatch ambush each turn just fine so far.)
Well, the first attempt is always bit exploratory. Lesson learned : play fast and loose and you will get royally worked over. :-[
Preparing Operation 'Start Over'. ;D
One thing I wished the game had (unless I am missing it) is some kind of skirmish/individual missions and random battle generator, without having to play the campaign. I really love the tactical battles, but not as big of a fan in playing the campaign because I suck at knowing what to research, build, investigate, etc. Would rather just play a bunch of battles without having to worry about the rest.
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on February 06, 2016, 05:28:23 AM
One thing I wished the game had (unless I am missing it) is some kind of skirmish/individual missions and random battle generator, without having to play the campaign. I really love the tactical battles, but not as big of a fan in playing the campaign because I suck at knowing what to research, build, investigate, etc. Would rather just play a bunch of battles without having to worry about the rest.
You're not missing it-that's never been part of XCOM (or X-Com)
Quote from: tgb on February 06, 2016, 05:36:16 AM
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on February 06, 2016, 05:28:23 AM
One thing I wished the game had (unless I am missing it) is some kind of skirmish/individual missions and random battle generator, without having to play the campaign. I really love the tactical battles, but not as big of a fan in playing the campaign because I suck at knowing what to research, build, investigate, etc. Would rather just play a bunch of battles without having to worry about the rest.
You're not missing it-that's never been part of XCOM (or X-Com)
That's what I thought......it would really add a lot of shelf-life for me if it did.
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on February 06, 2016, 05:58:43 AM
Quote from: tgb on February 06, 2016, 05:36:16 AM
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on February 06, 2016, 05:28:23 AM
One thing I wished the game had (unless I am missing it) is some kind of skirmish/individual missions and random battle generator, without having to play the campaign. I really love the tactical battles, but not as big of a fan in playing the campaign because I suck at knowing what to research, build, investigate, etc. Would rather just play a bunch of battles without having to worry about the rest.
You're not missing it-that's never been part of XCOM (or X-Com)
That's what I thought......it would really add a lot of shelf-life for me if it did.
Totally agree with that. Cant think why they haven't added it. Though it seems they have done next to nothing with the multiplayer aspect in any case. Like the game. Hate the timed missions. Geoscape is a bit confusing as yet to what I am meant to be doing exactly.
Grim, that's exactly how I feel about the first game. I'm pretty good at the tactical battles and love doing them, but I can't stand the strategic layer. Too much stuff to juggle, I always end up losing too many countries no matter what I do.
Quote from: Huw the Poo on February 06, 2016, 06:44:29 AM
Grim, that's exactly how I feel about the first game. I'm pretty good at the tactical battles and love doing them, but I can't stand the strategic layer. Too much stuff to juggle, I always end up losing too many countries no matter what I do.
Yep, I stink at that stuff too...I understand it is an important part of the game, but still would love the option to just generate random battles...heck, I would even purchase a DLC/Add-On to get it:)
Just had my first disaster with timed missions...had my most experienced crew on the ground conducting a mission. Completed the actual objective of the mission but couldn't find the stupid extraction zone. When I finally did, I was on the other end of the map and could not make it to the zone before the timer ended.....lost my entire skilled crew:( ......that sucks!
Certainly my fault for not figuring out how to get out of there, but a very high price to pay....
Hmm...that doesn't sound like fun.
I was planning to buy this when (if) I ever finish the first game, but the more I hear about it, the less I want it.
Quote from: Huw the Poo on February 06, 2016, 07:30:23 AM
Hmm...that doesn't sound like fun.
I was planning to buy this when (if) I ever finish the first game, but the more I hear about it, the less I want it.
To be fair...my fault for not figuring out where to go in time....but if I had a choice, would prefer optional time constraints, especially when playing on the EASY level. Still having fun though playing the actual battles, really enjoy those....
theres a big piece on the .ini files over at RPS today, lots of scripts effecting AI and game components - however, theyve confirmed the timers are in the mission scripts that isnt open - yet
Thanks for the comments and insights guys.
At this point I am inclined to have a go at the original with the Long War mod, which will keep me occupied until XCOM2 appears in a Steam sale.
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on February 06, 2016, 07:51:41 AM
Quote from: Huw the Poo on February 06, 2016, 07:30:23 AM
Hmm...that doesn't sound like fun.
I was planning to buy this when (if) I ever finish the first game, but the more I hear about it, the less I want it.
To be fair...my fault for not figuring out where to go in time....but if I had a choice, would prefer optional time constraints, especially when playing on the EASY level. Still having fun though playing the actual battles, really enjoy those....
You did finally figure out there's a little icon at the top of the screen that shows you where to go? ::)
Quote from: bbmike on February 06, 2016, 08:28:30 AM
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on February 06, 2016, 07:51:41 AM
Quote from: Huw the Poo on February 06, 2016, 07:30:23 AM
Hmm...that doesn't sound like fun.
I was planning to buy this when (if) I ever finish the first game, but the more I hear about it, the less I want it.
To be fair...my fault for not figuring out where to go in time....but if I had a choice, would prefer optional time constraints, especially when playing on the EASY level. Still having fun though playing the actual battles, really enjoy those....
You did finally figure out there's a little icon at the top of the screen that shows you where to go? ::)
It wasn't originally visible on my screen until I moved the view around...once I did that, I then saw it but by that time it was too late.
That happened to me on my first 'timed' mission. I had the guy I broke out of prison on the other side of the screen and had one turn left when I noticed the icon. ;D
I know the mission y'all are talking about. I made sure to keep in mind where the extraction point was from the first turn, and STILL only got everyone out on the last turn. Losing a guy in the process (but they were all rookies I was seasoning up in the early missions). The last couple of turns I wasn't even fighting, just rushing people past the final blocking force and into the extraction zone, and praying the RNG would dodge and miss enough. The last guy ran facefirst into opportunity fire from at least two enemies no more than three squares away, and literally one square away in one case -- managed to dodge everything.
There's a mod on Steam Workshop already which eliminates the timer from every mission but the story ones; and while I don't know how well that one works, there's another mod (actually rated by users) which adds a couple of turns or removes a few rescue requirements. But neither mod can affect main missions.
I kind of understand the point in-story: we're the scrappy underdogs and have got to get things done before the ADVENT and/or ELDER forces hammer down on us. But it's a royal pain because, as AB put it:
Quote from: Arctic Blast on February 06, 2016, 01:44:13 AM
Lesson learned : play fast and loose and you will get royally worked over. :-[
BUT THE TIMER REQUIRES YOU TO PLAY FAST AND LOOSE OR LOSE!!
Argh.
I'm going back in, but my previous recommendation remains: spend your money on EW (maybe with the Long War mod, maybe not) and even on The Bureau, and you'll have plenty of money left over to buy something else (like maybe Xenowar. ;) )
Oh, and be warned that modders are having a hard time getting XC2 to properly mod without breaking game saves and other fatal oddities. Even the three initial mods from the Long War guys are having problems (or one of them is, the Leader type of soldier.)
I was thinking of trying a few, until I saw this. I'm leaving mods alone for now.
"There's 2 mods up in the workshop now; one that increases the turn limit by 4 for most turn-limited missions (2 for UFO missions), and one that eliminates them as much as possible. I'm glad they're up for people who really want them."
Just played my first sort-of-timer mission (aliens semi-randomly shoot at an item, which they happened to quit doing eventually), and my first completely non-timer mission (securing a wrecked supply train). Both were a lot more like regular XCOM, so that was nice -- I nearly died hard in the second mission anyway, but it was still nice to be able to move securely as much as feasibly possible.
In the second mission, I finally pulled out an acceptable win by having my Grenadier (who carries the heavy weapons but who looks like a hot librarian :smitten: ) lob her one maximum distance grenade (normally she'd have 2, but I got tired of being psionic attacked and have given everyone shields against that) into a square where it could not only damage the sectoid and reptilian standing nearby, but also detonated something in range of hitting them again. "Surprise!" indeed! -- not only did that instakill them with two explosive hits, but it consequently killed an ADVENT soldier the sectoid was reanimating.
It was still a close match. Whew.
Quote from: Gusington on February 05, 2016, 06:08:34 PM
My current dog still has his balls and is currently playing through the last mission of the original XCOM. Unmodded.
And is Clyde winning? ;)
Regardless of timers and other things.....I find the game brutal even on the EASY setting...likely just me sucking!
In most missions, I either get most of my team killed or gravely injured while trying to complete the objectives....I try and be tactical and sneak around the map, but as soon as the enemy spots you, all heck breaks loose. The enemy becomes very aggressive and really forces the issue, forcing you into a firefight with little option to sacrifice some of your crew since they really come at you. Although I may kill the enemy, they typically get a number of shots in to wound me.
With me being killed all the time, I wonder why even bother customizing soldiers...they don't last long enough to warrant anytime customizing. So its great they have an awesome editor, but can't see wasting my team using it with such short term rewards.
Question about concealment....I like the idea, but not sure doing it right. Is there any way to attack an enemy without every enemy being alerted? I can usually sneak up on the first enemy, but after taking them down, everyone knows I am there....any way to stealth kill them and stay concealed?
I find the mind control aliens the worst. The worst! They either have your team shooting at each other, running away in panic or resurrect the dead to increase the odds against you.
Quote from: IronX on February 06, 2016, 07:08:47 PM
I find the mind control aliens the worst. The worst! They either have your team shooting at each other, running away in panic or resurrect the dead to increase the odds against you.
Agreed! Haven't found a good way to prevent that yet....plus, the snake people are no picnic either where they reach across the map and grab you....then your team has to make the decision of trying to kill the snake to free your team member...and if they do that, then another enemy takes advantage by trying to killing the other person...a no win situation:)
Every time one of my squaddies panicked, they ended up blasting some alien to hell and back. So take that, suckas.
As to surviving a mission, somebody on another board gave me a piece of advice that made all the difference - half-cover sucks. Always go for full cover, even if it means a change in approach. Half-cover is no better than no cover.
Quote from: tgb on February 06, 2016, 09:32:00 PM
Every time one of my squaddies panicked, they ended up blasting some alien to hell and back. So take that, suckas.
As to surviving a mission, somebody on another board gave me a piece of advice that made all the difference - half-cover sucks. Always go for full cover, even if it means a change in approach. Half-cover is no better than no cover.
I have had my panicked people also sometimes do some damage to the enemy, although not every time.....
I may have to watch some videos to figure out what I am doing wrong...although I typically complete the mission, too many casualties...I am constantly replacing my soldiers and never see them level up much before they die. Even if they don't die, they always seem to get injured, not even sure I have made it through a mission without an injury too:( And this is on EASY level, can't imagine playing anything higher at the moment....but even with this craziness, still enjoying it immensely....its nothing ground breaking and feels much like the old version, but fun nonetheless......although I am glad I got it pretty cheap, not sure I would feel the same if I paid $60:)
Here are a couple things to read and watch to help those having some issues with the learning curve or you just want to get better with the game. This PC Gamer article is written by John "Beagle" Teasdale or Beaglerush as he is known on Twitch. He is a Jedi master of XCOM. Read the article below and then check out his XCOM2 streams on twitch to see him work the aliens over on Legendary like most of us do on Easy.
PC Gamer Article: http://www.pcgamer.com/xcom-2-guide/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pcgfb
Twitch Channel - his 11hr stream with the release: http://www.twitch.tv/beagsandjam/v/39308766
I got much better at Long War after watching a number of his streams. He is very good and his lady "Jam" is pretty good as well.
Good Hunting Commanders! O0
Full cover should definitely be preferred unless there is a compelling tactical reason to trade for half-cover. However, if you have a sniper or someone else deep in your backfield, full cover is less important (and in some cases can impede your support ability).
I've been playing normal, and I've lost only three soldiers at most (beyond the tutorial scripted casualties). But I also save scum. But the game only keeps a rolling save of the past three turns, and if you activate the farthest back and play only one turn, you lose it! -- which has left me in a poorer position than before. (I save scum, but I tend to forget to save manually and thus permanently before really important advances on the board.)
I don't bother customizing troops until they level up at least once.
Psionic attacks are so common and debilitating, that I made the choice as early as I could (which is pretty early) to make psionic blockers and sacrifice my one grenade for that. I have occasionally wished I had my one grenade instead (and cursed the game engine for being silly about this, although I know it's for balance purposes), but I have much more often been glad the sects are relegated to wasting a turn raising their comrades from the dead. Although, come to think of it, I don't know whether I'm getting credit for the extra kill when I take the sect out afterward.
I tend to focus on the snakes anyway, as long as they're alive, so if it succeeds in a grab, that doesn't change my plans, I was already gunning for it anyway: even a dodged nick of a shot will make her drop her victim, and then that soldier gets a close-range shot at her! -- after moving nearby to cover properly, if possible. I worry more about the poison.
I don't think it's technically possible to sneak-attack an enemy without breaking general concealment; but as in the previous game, clusters of enemies will often stay parked until spotted anyway. And if you suspect where they are (they can be seen in the shadows of the fog sometimes), you can set up a similar ambush.
One of the assault class' early skill picks, though, is "phantom" which allows that soldier to stay concealed until an actual attack on, or spot by, the enemy. So that can be handy.
Thanks for the information everyone...watched some of the videos and read the article, some good information....will continue trying things out. This is where I really think a quick battle/skirmish type mode could be useful to get better at the battles before trying to take on the strategic layer as well.
Considering that a multiplayer setup exists -- and works tolerably well -- I'm very surprised there's no such thing as a skirmish function. Especially since in this version, you can create your own soldiers from scratch even before you start or load a campaign!
Meanwhile, I was going to start the day with a talk about how much more I like the new Geoscape compared to last time -- it doesn't work at all like the original original Geoscape of course, but that's because the game design itself is so different from the first X-com (in a way I'd frankly prefer a return to someday, but I guess that's why other X-com remakes exist). And then segue into how one thousand percent insane it was to design the thing so that it's constantly rotating out from under the player aaaaAARRRGGGHGHHHH!!!!
But then on a hunch I unplugged my console controller and my stick/thruster. And the Geoscape doesn't constantly rotate anymore.
Still a bug (I think? -- those things don't do that with other games). But avoidable. Phew.
...so I guess I'm left with wishing the Geoscape had a zoom-out function so we could see more of the globe at a time instead of having to scroll around so much. I understand the zoomed-in feature, I'm not really complaining about that, but for goodness' sake why even bother with showing the standard 3D traditional Geoscape at all if you're only going to zoom into a flat version when arriving in control?? THE BACKGROUND NON-CHARACTERS HAVE A GAME FUNCTIONALITY WE NO LONGER HAVE! That may not be a thousand percent insane, but it's at least, what, a hundred and fifty percent?
I say that however only because I otherwise love the new Geoscape design. :smitten: :smitten:
(And hopefully someone who isn't only trolling will pop up saying, "Yeah, they don't talk about it during the tutorial, or anywhere else obvious, but if you do 'this' you can zoom out and walk around the globe just like always." ::) )
Likely dumb questions inbound......
When you start a new game, you can start with the tutorial or you can start without it. Obviously the tutorial mode is there to ease you into gameplay and teach you the basics. But it also has cut scenes and missions that are different then if you start the game without the tutorial.....therefore my question. Should you always start with the tutorial so you don't miss things? Or does somehow things even itself out even if you don't start with the tutorial and get the experience and such? Just trying to determine what is the downside of skipping the tutorial besides the obvious of learning how to play?
aah, right so dont stand next to vehicles for too long!!
second part of tutorial, grab the convertor, 8 turns, 3 turns out and everyone is hiding next to a truck, jane runs out, hacks an advent guy right down the middle and then the truck blows up - team wipe out - bits of jane all over the map :-[
10/10
The tutorial mainly contains plot that the game assumes you've already covered if you uncheck the tutorial. So for the story the tutorial is important. But the tutorial is scripted (at least on the first mission) to end with two dead soldiers.
I decided this afternoon I had made bad strategic choices and didn't have any way to win, so I deleted all my saves and restarted. This time I didn't choose the tutorial, and so the "Commander" (the player character) was rescued and reactivated offscreen (I suppose). I haven't gotten far enough yet to see if the non-tutorial still requires recovering the power supply to the Avenger; which come to think of it wasn't a scripted mission.
Instead the first mission involves blowing up an Elder statue. All four of my crew survived but in various stages of badly wounded. I was going to send rookies out next time anyway to level up.
My thoughts on strategic mistakes last time:
1.) I wasted my 'contact trail' (for want of a better word) on opening regions which didn't lead to alien sub-bases. Consequently, the Avatar research got too far ahead. I was literally going to lose the whole game in less than a month by the time I quit: no less than three notches of research would happen that month, and I only had a slight hope of nixing maybe two of them -- no hope on the third.
2.) I don't know if the tutorial made me do it, but I decided I had handicapped myself by not getting the guerrilla lab up and running first thing, so that I could buy an extra slot and an extra xp boost asap. Relatedly, I'm now sure I spent too much early construction time cleaning up rooms instead of building new ones. (I don't know of this is random -- I'm pretty sure it didn't happen in the tutorial -- but my starting 'clear' room this time is in the upper right column instead of the upper middle.)
3.) I tried to build a force of four of each troop type, and that spread my xp out too much. Two of each type on the other hand seems too thin of a bench in case of death or wounds. I'll shoot for three each this time.
4.) I have a better idea now of which things are more useful to research sooner (at least in the early game).
Quote from: JasonPratt on February 07, 2016, 04:20:33 PM
The tutorial mainly contains plot that the game assumes you've already covered if you uncheck the tutorial. So for the story the tutorial is important. But the tutorial is scripted (at least on the first mission) to end with two dead soldiers.
I decided this afternoon I had made bad strategic choices and didn't have any way to win, so I deleted all my saves and restarted. This time I didn't choose the tutorial, and so the "Commander" (the player character) was rescued and reactivated offscreen (I suppose). I haven't gotten far enough yet to see if the non-tutorial still requires recovering the power supply to the Avenger; which come to think of it wasn't a scripted mission.
Instead the first mission involves blowing up an Elder statue. All four of my crew survived but in various stages of badly wounded. I was going to send rookies out next time anyway to level up.
I restarted without the tutorial as well, and got the same opening mission, so that's probably not random. I kind of felt like I was walking in on a movie after it started, but eventually adjusted.
Done 2 non tutorial missions - and im loving it - the negative waves here made me a bit nervous before i got chance to play the game, what it does for me is magnify the enjoyment i got from 1.
Im not a fan of timed missions, but it makes me play a way i wouldnt normally, and thats not a bad thing - there is no point having a 'youve got to get down there and hack the network ASAP' mission and then have an unlimited number of turns to do it in
im loving all the new animations, the 'personlaity' and individualisation of each character - makes me want to bring them home all the more. Their looks and demeanour on the ship back from a mission, how they glance at an empty seat of a fallen comrade, and then the long slow walk off the ship back to base, limping wounded and proud victors - its awesome
Binged this w/e on XCOM2. Yes, the learning curve is steep, steep, steep, but you will prevail commander. Jason mentioned he doesn't customize soldiers until they get promoted at least one level... because of soldier attrition, I don't do it until they hit Sergeant... I have very few of those.
Most important survival tip is stay in high cover if at all possible. Second is frag those bastards/remove their cover. Third, it is better to kill one alien, than it is to wound three of them. Four, skulljacking is a one hit, one kill phenomena - use it often on the appropriate aliens (officers). Research any data received for the intel. Intel is currency for both the black market and contacting the resistance.
Last, don't be like me and run a small roster.... one mission wipe and you're done.... now excuse me while I go lick my wounds.
I customize them right off the bat. Makes loosing them even more painful. >:D
I can now confirm that starting without the tutorial also skips a timed (but otherwise unscripted) mission where you secure a power supply for the Avenger.
I've played enough game months now that I'm getting three Dark Plots a month (one of them secret), and the first Advent base extension has opened up (in western Europe). Only three notches on the Doom clock.
So far I'm continuing along the guidelines I mentioned last time, no real problems yet (so long as I remember to save scum! :P )
Quote from: undercovergeek on February 08, 2016, 08:52:47 AMim loving all the new animations, the 'personlaity' and individualisation of each character - makes me want to bring them home all the more. Their looks and demeanour on the ship back from a mission, how they glance at an empty seat of a fallen comrade, and then the long slow walk off the ship back to base, limping wounded and proud victors - its awesome
Despite my several complaints, I agree the actual presentation is top notch. Clearly a lot of love went into it. And while I find the timed missions annoying, I agree they do fit the milieu. During this playthrough I've been dealt significantly less such timed missions (was there a patch I didn't notice?? -- or just the randomizer coming out more evenly this time?), and that has made a world of difference in my enjoyment of it.
One fun touch is that the game will pick a soldier from the last save on the list, and port him or her into the opening title scene when the game loads (with him or her in cover watching the enemy in the middle distance.)
The game will also create 'mug shots' of whichever soldiers you take on a mission, and display them randomly as part of public alerts in the city advertisements. :smitten:
Nice touch (the mug shots). Will have to keep an eye out for them on the next urban mission.
Finally figured out that using Flashbang grenades disorients Sectoids, meaning they can't mind control your sniper...who is in high cover...and who then lays waste to your entire team. :(
Quote from: Arctic Blast on February 08, 2016, 10:53:27 PM
Finally figured out that using Flashbang grenades disorients Sectoids, meaning they can't mind control your sniper...who is in high cover...and who then lays waste to your entire team. :(
Ha! It's funny cause it's true.
Wait till a codex clones itself, disables all your weapons on all six of you team and a berzerker or three runs into your ranks after you just make your first move.
or when you rush/slash a muton.... I cried over the results.... FU** YOU! Alien Scum Overlords.
^^ I read that "ravish a mutton".
And I don't even like mutton! But this site, who knows what you deviants get up to... :P :))
I'm far enough to, um, ravish Mutons with a sword, but not far enough to deal with codexes (codices?) and berserkers (unless you mean the ADVENT version of rangers, who run up and slash you).
In fact I only raided my first Avatar base last night (because I got into a no-win strategic situation in my first game and restarted the whole campaign). I haven't even done the first Blacksite mission, in my rush to gear up for delaying the Avatar project! -- that's next, this afternoon.
I even Shadowplay recorded it so I could take screenshots later for the Screenshot thread, and got a flawless victory (no damage to my troops). But then I learned Shadowplay hadn't activated. Nvidia, sigh. This is why for my 'official' AARs I always visually confirm there's a new file being made by Shadowplay before I continue. This time I started while still in the game, and didn't quit or risk a crash by tabbing out to check.
theres a new mod that starts the countdown of doom only after youve broken concealment - seems like a fair compromise
Quote from: JasonPratt on February 09, 2016, 01:41:26 PM
^^ I read that "ravish a mutton".
And I don't even like mutton! But this site, who knows what you deviants get up to... :P :))
I'm far enough to, um, ravish Mutons with a sword, but not far enough to deal with codexes (codices?) and berserkers (unless you mean the ADVENT version of rangers, who run up and slash you).
In fact I only raided my first Avatar base last night (because I got into a no-win strategic situation in my first game and restarted the whole campaign). I haven't even done the first Blacksite mission, in my rush to gear up for delaying the Avatar project! -- that's next, this afternoon.
I even Shadowplay recorded it so I could take screenshots later for the Screenshot thread, and got a flawless victory (no damage to my troops). But then I learned Shadowplay hadn't activated. Nvidia, sigh. This is why for my 'official' AARs I always visually confirm there's a new file being made by Shadowplay before I continue. This time I started while still in the game, and didn't quit or risk a crash by tabbing out to check.
flashbangs work on Codex too
I carry 1 flash bang, 1 mimic, 2 scanners right now and just added troop #6 to the posse so another mimic may be on tap. My specialist has the scan perk as well. I like knowing where the bad guys are. O0
I haven't tried the scan yet, but I seem to recall in XC1 scanning activated any found clusters of bad guys. Is that true for XC2? -- or true if someone on your team isn't in concealment anymore?
Because I'd rather rely on positional audio cues sometimes than to trigger a response before I'm ready to deal with them.
Perhaps relatedly, I hacked a turret in that first base mission, and it spotted two (out of three) sectoids hanging around nearby. I wasn't sure how long my possession of the turret would last so I went ahead and opened fire, but detecting them with the turret didn't trigger them. Opening fire on them did. Of course my team was still in concealment up to then (and the ranger with Phantom remained that way afterward).
So last night I went looking for the Long War Studios mods for XCOM2. No biggie right?
Whelp, I saw that they also had a feature on their front page of the Devs of XCOM2 as Soldiers and you could download them into your game. Curiosity said "maybe there is a hot girl soldier..."
Interestingly there is a soldier with a nickname Wendigo near the top of their pile, but what made me really go WTH was their Dev Soldier with a Canadian Patch... I found my doppelganger. And he is handsome XCOM soldier model.
LOL @ the character biography.
Quote from: JasonPratt on February 08, 2016, 12:49:00 PM
And while I find the timed missions annoying, I agree they do fit the milieu. During this playthrough I've been dealt significantly less such timed missions (was there a patch I didn't notice?? -- or just the randomizer coming out more evenly this time?), and that has made a world of difference in my enjoyment of it.
How frequent/irritating are timed missions? That's the one thing holding me back from buying this. (I'm of the general opinion that the "special place in Hell" that Madeleine Albright referred to recently actually should be reserved for lazy game designers who stoop to timed missions - but maybe this game could be an exception.)
My perception is that roughly 50% of the missions are timed, although it could be less. There are plenty of them, they are a PITA, and they continue throughout the campaign.
The timed missions are not that difficult - IMO they add another interesting dynamic to the game play (and sheparding your troopers through the mission trying to get a flawless win). If you are negative on timed missions drop down a level of difficulty then and you'll get more turns, or there's a mod for fine-tuning the turn clock.
I guarantee I hate timed missions more than anyone - but they fit in this game and fit perfectly
If you still can't stomach it there's a mod that adds some more time, a bit more time, lots more time, endless time, a tiny bit of time - in fact it's taking the piss to suggest there isn't a mod to suit your play style
I was really looking for an excuse to take the plunge. Thanks.
Quote from: Queeg on February 10, 2016, 04:51:38 PM
I was really looking for an excuse to take the plunge. Thanks.
Just remember ... FULL COVER and grenades are your friends
And mindebuffblockers. Those are your friends, too.
And armor plating. Because not only is defense your friend, but it allows you to carry not only a psionic blocker but also one (1) grenade. Instead of either a blocker or (1) one grenade.
Re timed missions -- my current campaign feels like less than 50% timed (I haven't kept official track but my impression is that I recall feeling more relieved than not about this); but my original campaign was definitely near 100% timed. Bad luck I guess.
Does anyone have any sound strategic advice, ie what's best to build, what missions should get priority etc? I do well enough on the tactical side, but it's my strategic game that lets me down. I've read having lots of engineers to build facilities is a good thing to have, but I never seem to have enough supplies or other resources to get anywhere.
Everything costs money, including things that make progress. Except for things that cost intelligence instead.
Therefore, given a choice, go for the money or the intelligence (with preference for money, since more things cost money than intelligence).
Also, give priority to any missions that set back the Avatar project (which sometimes includes things like the first Blacksite mission, even though it doesn't say so). Ultimately, unless you're playing ironman mode where you aren't allowed to save scum, the Avatar project is the only way to actually lose the game. ...except if they find your base and shoot it down. Which can end the game faster than the Avatar project. So if you have a choice between reducing Avatar points and protecting your base, you should usually protect your base unless you're objectively sure you can kick a base invasion in the ass.
You get money (supplies) by doing supply missions (and also trading intelligence for supplies sometimes). But over the long haul, mostly it's by opening up new regions on the map (which cost intelligence to open) and building radio towers (which cost money to build). And you need a radio booth to do that, eventually two of them (although the second one can wait for a while). Building towers reduces your intelligence cost for opening new regions, by the way.
Without a strong economy you won't have the resources to do anything else. Sure, you can free engineers and scientists on missions, at the risk of crippling your team (or killing them if you aren't save scumming like a save scumming thing.) But you can buy them safely with supplies and (from the black market) intelligence. So given a choice, I recommend going for supplies and/or intelligence over getting new engineers and scientists -- because there are ways to get those things without fighting. (And also by fighting.)
So far in my current campaign I unlocked the Training Room first, so I can buy an extra troop slot asap; and also the xp boost; and also the extra movement points on the first couple of turns. Then the resistance radio room, so I can open up paying areas and find (and reach) Avatar projects to stop. Then a power room, because after those two I needed more power to continue. Then a workshop in the center column down one (below the radio room) so I can station an engineer there (note permanently) to create 2 gremlins (which act like two engineers and can be permanently assigned to the four adjacent areas or help clear them out faster). That seems the most efficient build order, but I'm planning to get rid of the first power room once I build a new one on a shielded power core (of which there should be two randomly placed on your base grid).
Quote from: IronX on February 11, 2016, 12:46:33 PM
Does anyone have any sound strategic advice, ie what's best to build, what missions should get priority etc? I do well enough on the tactical side, but it's my strategic game that lets me down. I've read having lots of engineers to build facilities is a good thing to have, but I never seem to have enough supplies or other resources to get anywhere.
Build resistance comms, guerrilla tactics school and power facilities to start.
The resistance comms lets you start to move towards the avatar facilities, which is intergral if you don't want to lose the game.
Tactics school will get you to squad size five and six fastest, which is the best way to start keeping people alive.
After the tactics school and comms, proving grounds are probably the best bet. That will get you some of the better armor and equipment, like EXO suits and Spider suits early, and Wraith and WAR suits late.
As soon as you get a mission to build the Shadow Chamber, do it as fast as you can, as it unlocks the story goals.
The main strategic goal should be expanding your contacts and making sure you have access to assaulting Avatar facilities. If the doom ticker fills up, you'll have a month to take it down a notch, and the only way to do that for sure is to hit a facility.
Advanced Warfare center is good too, but don't build it first. It will help get your people healthy, but my policy early on was just churn through redshirts when people were hurt. The ones that lived ended up being good soldiers.
You'll be running to the wire on supplies and intel early to mid. I honestly ended up being unable to actually build things like EXO suits and Spider Suits at all, not a one, because I was running so to to the wire to stop Avatar progress and simply never had the resources. It can really push you to the limit if you're unlucky.
Great advice - thank you both. I'll try it out on my next campaign. I lost the previous one because I couldn't delay the Avatar project more than twice.
Getting the extra squad members made a huge difference tactically, although by the stage I got them I was facing waves of horrendously powerful aliens/robots. I think not opening up new regions (resistance comms) was where I mostly failed.
I skipped the Shadow Chamber, but will build that next time.
Quote from: IronX on February 11, 2016, 06:36:00 PM
Great advice - thank you both. I'll try it out on my next campaign. I lost the previous one because I couldn't delay the Avatar project more than twice.
That was exactly how I lost my first campaign.
Quote from: JasonPratt on February 11, 2016, 07:05:06 PM
Quote from: IronX on February 11, 2016, 06:36:00 PM
Great advice - thank you both. I'll try it out on my next campaign. I lost the previous one because I couldn't delay the Avatar project more than twice.
That was exactly how I lost my first campaign.
I was almost in the same boat, but realized fast that if I could expand my comms I could sort of exploit the 30 day final ticker to keep things going.
The Shadow chamber is integral to keeping you alive since it gives you more facilities to hit.
Also, without spoiling anything, use that skulljack, especially when hitting a blacksite. The results are both horrific to behold and beneficial if you keep your head about you.
I essentially took all the notches off the doom ticker after my last base assault by using the skulljack on a codex.
I used the skulljack once on a leader, but didn't try it on a codex. Next time I see that little minx, she's getting... skulljacked.
Quote from: IronX on February 11, 2016, 09:55:30 PM
I used the skulljack once on a leader, but didn't try it on a codex. Next time I see that little minx, she's getting... skulljacked.
Good luck.
In the words of Winston Zeddemore, "If someone asks if you're a god, you say yes!"
Keep your troops on overwatch and a good ranger ready to go.
I had some good missions recently with xcom2, think I might be getting a little better at the battles.....last two, no deaths, even during tough UFO and VIP extraction missions! But still many of them come away injured to some level....got to figure out how to limit the wounds. Finally really thinking about how to deploy my troops versus just charging in, using overwatch a lot more and maximizing concealment as much as possible. I do wish it was possible to get back into concealment mode after dealing with threats, kind of go back in hiding...but I guess the battlefield is pretty small where other troops would have heard the commotion.
Note: an experienced all-ranger team can in fact go back into concealment once a mission. (...or is that the snipers? Can't recall.)
Getting through a mission without damage, or with minimal, is highly dependent on being able to focus maximum team fire on minimum pockets of enemies at a time while operating in as much cover as possible -- although abusing the rules for enemy squad activation can help offset a bad defensive cover, which can make a rooftop approach important for timed missions. Cover may be sparse there, but your to-hit (and maybe damage) chances convert to fewer enemies able to even shoot back when it's their turn.
Remember, the surest way to take no damage from an enemy is to bleeping kill it first. (And the next surest way is to stun or otherwise incapacitate it for finishing off later.)
Easier said then done:) It seems as soon as enemies are spotted, they are bound to at least get you some wounds...think part of my problem as well is not paying attention to all the upgrades and fully using them....kind of using this play through as a way to learn things, will go back later and try to do things right.
When enemies spot you (which is typically mutual, unless you're concealed or using other spotting techniques like possessing machines while still concealed or using the gremlin scanner, or maybe throwing the scanner ball -- I haven't tried that yet), they will take a mini-turn of one move (not two moves, which is important) to scatter behind cover as far away from each other as possible (to minimize basic grenade damage even if thrown by the early grenade launcher).
If you trigger them with your final person after you've put everyone one else on overwatch, they may not even get a move -- I've seen numerous situations where I got a whole other free turn after triggering a batch of enemies after they scattered, as if the computer treats the scatter as their move -- but any moves they make during or after the scatter into your overwatch will result in free shots while they aren't in cover.
Another theory is that if you set up nearby while your squad is still concealed (this is harder to pull off when most or all of your squad isn't concealed), and trigger their scatter at the start of the turn, you can maneuver to pick your shots afterward despite their cover choices, since they haven't had opportunity yet to go into overwatch themselves. But the former tactic is a little easier to set up when your concealment is blown, and anyway I prefer to shoot enemies while they're still outside cover in a proper ambush; plus the computer (in this game at least) makes reasonable choices about who should be shooting which enemy. Although the computer, playing the other side, can and will take advantage of your setup to tank you with one enemy drawing all the fire and then sending five more fragile ones out to mess with you after you've taken your shots.
dear lord that first black site mission was horrendous - or at least for me, i couldnt find the right angle of attack or the right cover points, and those bastards with the cattle prods can run half way across the map to jab you
and the f******* robot!!!!!!!!!!!
and the sectoids
and the sitting up until til 3am trying to finish it and complaining to MD who swung by via steam chat to laugh at me
it is done - evac'ed right under the noses of incoming reinforcements - Jarhead makes it to sergeant first but only after a Tom Cruise like run of reloads over and over and over - the last mission ill be doing that on as it breaks RPG, but it got personal with that mission!
At the late stage of the game, the enemy rarely gets a turn.
I will typically run a setup of two Grenadiers with Salvo, a Ranger with Run and Gun, a full trained Psi Operative and a gunslinger. A specialist with combat protocol and high hacking skill is also helpful, but a second gunslinger can go here.
The Grenadiers with Salvo saturate the area with high explosives. The Psi Op can dominate one enemy, typically the strongest visible and take it out of the fight, turning it into a potential scout/tank for the group. The Ranger, with double shot and Run and Gun is almost always a guaranteed kill on a strong enemy.
The real kicker is the gunslinger. The thing is, if you have one or two of these along, you don't need to kill every enemy, just get them within three or four health. Then roll out the gunslinger so he/she can see every enemy and pop face off. They take one free shot at every baddie, and if you've got a maxed sharpshooter with Superior Perception mods equipped, you'll almost always hit. I've had one gunslinger make six kills in one salvo.
A sniper with Serial can be good too, but is hampered by movement and clip size. Serial is also a bit weak in that if you miss or fail to kill, the serial is broken. Face off lets you shoot everyone once, regardless of misses or kills.
They truly amped the short-range gunslinger skilz for the sniper class, and for that I am grateful. :smitten:
I'm finally building my Psi Room (or whatever it's called), and I've been saving three grenadiers for the Psi class (one of whom was already captain level when I found her, and so is somewhat useful.) I am assuming, perhaps wrongly, that they'll switch classes to Psi; if not, I may not bother training the three gs on that, since with their inherently lesser aiming skils (and terrible early grenading skills) I find grenadiers less useful and I haven't been using them.
As pennance, I may try a campaign some day using ONLY grenadiers so I can finally work out how to use them properly. In previous XC1 campaigns I mainly found them useful in marking targets for other people, including naturally for other grenadiers. My impression is that this ability pick comes much later now. Still, they get a tick (or two?) of early armor (as a skill option), and that's not chopped liver!
I'm also finally getting around to doing the first Skulljack mission.
Quote from: JasonPratt on February 16, 2016, 02:28:43 PM
I'm finally building my Psi Room (or whatever it's called), and I've been saving three grenadiers for the Psi class (one of whom was already captain level when I found her, and so is somewhat useful.) I am assuming, perhaps wrongly, that they'll switch classes to Psi; if not, I may not bother training the three gs on that, since with their inherently lesser aiming skils (and terrible early grenading skills) I find grenadiers less useful and I haven't been using them.
As pennance, I may try a campaign some day using ONLY grenadiers so I can finally work out how to use them properly. In previous XC1 campaigns I mainly found them useful in marking targets for other people, including naturally for other grenadiers. My impression is that this ability pick comes much later now. Still, they get a tick (or two?) of early armor (as a skill option), and that's not chopped liver!
I'm also finally getting around to doing the first Skulljack mission.
You actually need rookies for the Psi-Room. They're a class in and of themselves now and they gain XP from time in the Psi room, not in the field.
Grenadiers are actually really good as party starters. With Salvo, they take a free grenade shot to start their round, and when you unlock some of the more powerful grenades like plasma, acid and incendiary, they can do some real damage.
The most brutal thing the Grenadier can do is use Salvo on the first shot from the launcher in a WAR or EXO suit. If you can build a couple of blaster bombs or shredstorm cannons, the grenadier can open a fight with a truly devastating barrage.
The concept I use is to hit the first cluster of aliens I see with the free salvo shot, preferably a plasma grenade if I have range. Then, when they run to cover, place a precision blaster bomb with the second shot, outright killing anything but major enemies and destroying the cover they sought as a bonus. The second Grenadier can either finish them off, or hold his grenades for any other cells you might pop.
It's a useful combo, but then again so it taking two Psi-Operatives with Domination, Insanity and Void Rift at minimum.
Except on about half my missions I'd rather not be killing bystanders or destroying supplies I'm supposed to be picking up. To which the obvious solution is, don't bring grenadiers: other things can hit just as hard for damage with better aim.
Glad to learn my plan of psi-ing my spare grens is toast, though. :buck2:
Ran into the globey psi-balls that can resurrect multiple dead ... damn... just another freaking problem... I was getting cocky when I got bluescreen ammo and started one shotting Codexes.
Patch released today....
XCOM 2 Hotfix is Live
FEBRUARY 17 - HINKLE2K
We're happy to report a hotfix for XCOM 2 is now available. This update will automatically install when starting the Steam client. If it doesn't automatically, restart Steam.
This update fixes issues causing known crashes and includes some performance improvements. Saves affected by the crashes detailed below can be recovered and continued after installing the update.
XCOM 2 Patch Notes
Player is unable to progress to scan in the Geoscape after completing the Resistance Communications research via Tutorial – This will fix previously affected saves.
Unable to load saves with a Chryssalid Cocoon – This will fix the issue, and for previously affected saves.
Adjustments were made to Texture Streaming to assist with periodic frame spikes.
Using the preview voice button for a modded voice pack will no longer crash the game when in the armory.
Removed 8x MSAA from default Max settings.
Quote from: Windigo on February 17, 2016, 11:27:41 AM
Ran into the globey psi-balls that can resurrect multiple dead ... damn... just another freaking problem... I was getting cocky when I got bluescreen ammo and started one shotting Codexes.
Gatekeepers are bad news.
If you're going to kill them outright, acid grenades will do a good job stripping off that obscene armor rating, as will shredstorm cannons. A good ranger with double tap can kill one point blank, but a lot of time the armor takes a big edge off the damage you can deal.
Best way to deal with them is to mind control them and use them against the baddies yourself.
Quote from: SirAndrewD on February 17, 2016, 08:18:06 PM
Quote from: Windigo on February 17, 2016, 11:27:41 AM
Ran into the globey psi-balls that can resurrect multiple dead ... damn... just another freaking problem... I was getting cocky when I got bluescreen ammo and started one shotting Codexes.
Gatekeepers are bad news.
If you're going to kill them outright, acid grenades will do a good job stripping off that obscene armor rating, as will shredstorm cannons. A good ranger with double tap can kill one point blank, but a lot of time the armor takes a big edge off the damage you can deal.
Best way to deal with them is to mind control them and use them against the baddies yourself.
Listen Tex...
I just got my %$#@! psi room about 10 game days ago so I am not letting my psi-newbs anywhere near the outside world until they have at least two skills. As it is I have to baby some of my Sgt.s because they can't hit the broadside of a barn from the inside.
On the plus side my doomsday clock is only 4-5 bars so I can finally pickup a few supply/intel tidbits lying around the globe.
Quote from: Windigo on February 18, 2016, 01:11:00 PM
Quote from: SirAndrewD on February 17, 2016, 08:18:06 PM
Quote from: Windigo on February 17, 2016, 11:27:41 AM
Ran into the globey psi-balls that can resurrect multiple dead ... damn... just another freaking problem... I was getting cocky when I got bluescreen ammo and started one shotting Codexes.
Gatekeepers are bad news.
If you're going to kill them outright, acid grenades will do a good job stripping off that obscene armor rating, as will shredstorm cannons. A good ranger with double tap can kill one point blank, but a lot of time the armor takes a big edge off the damage you can deal.
Best way to deal with them is to mind control them and use them against the baddies yourself.
Listen Tex...
I just got my %$#@! psi room about 10 game days ago so I am not letting my psi-newbs anywhere near the outside world until they have at least two skills. As it is I have to baby some of my Sgt.s because they can't hit the broadside of a barn from the inside.
On the plus side my doomsday clock is only 4-5 bars so I can finally pickup a few supply/intel tidbits lying around the globe.
Yikes, you're getting Gatekeepers kind of early.
You're doing the right policy with the psi-operatives. Even late game they're a precious commodity.
Once you get some guys past the Sgt. threshold things will get a bit easier. It sounds like you've got a pretty good ways to go on the Avatar project so you've got plenty of breathing room.
Quote from: SirAndrewD on February 18, 2016, 01:54:28 PM
Quote from: Windigo on February 18, 2016, 01:11:00 PM
Quote from: SirAndrewD on February 17, 2016, 08:18:06 PM
Quote from: Windigo on February 17, 2016, 11:27:41 AM
Ran into the globey psi-balls that can resurrect multiple dead ... damn... just another freaking problem... I was getting cocky when I got bluescreen ammo and started one shotting Codexes.
Gatekeepers are bad news.
If you're going to kill them outright, acid grenades will do a good job stripping off that obscene armor rating, as will shredstorm cannons. A good ranger with double tap can kill one point blank, but a lot of time the armor takes a big edge off the damage you can deal.
Best way to deal with them is to mind control them and use them against the baddies yourself.
Listen Tex...
I just got my %$#@! psi room about 10 game days ago so I am not letting my psi-newbs anywhere near the outside world until they have at least two skills. As it is I have to baby some of my Sgt.s because they can't hit the broadside of a barn from the inside.
On the plus side my doomsday clock is only 4-5 bars so I can finally pickup a few supply/intel tidbits lying around the globe.
Yikes, you're getting Gatekeepers kind of early.
You're doing the right policy with the psi-operatives. Even late game they're a precious commodity.
Once you get some guys past the Sgt. threshold things will get a bit easier. It sounds like you've got a pretty good ways to go on the Avatar project so you've got plenty of breathing room.
Oh hell I got Full Birds on about 8-10 troopers.
Ha! Sounds like you have things well in hand then.
Quote from: SirAndrewD on February 18, 2016, 03:41:07 PM
Ha! Sounds like you have things well in hand then.
we'll see... this is XCOM you know
Quote from: Windigo on February 18, 2016, 06:11:44 PM
Quote from: SirAndrewD on February 18, 2016, 03:41:07 PM
Ha! Sounds like you have things well in hand then.
we'll see... this is XCOM you know
Indeed. Those aliens aren't going to kill themselves.
Quote from: SirAndrewD on February 18, 2016, 06:23:36 PM
Quote from: Windigo on February 18, 2016, 06:11:44 PM
Quote from: SirAndrewD on February 18, 2016, 03:41:07 PM
Ha! Sounds like you have things well in hand then.
we'll see... this is XCOM you know
Indeed. Those aliens aren't going to kill themselves.
I definitely know the sentiment.... But this one time I did hack into this elite robot equipped with a grenade launcher.....
I got serious wood when that happened
Hey, this game has a multiplayer function. What if we had a Groghead tournament? Might be good for site promotion on YouTube and/or for the front page if it still exists. >:D
Quote from: JasonPratt on February 20, 2016, 12:08:27 PM
Hey, this game has a multiplayer function. What if we had a Groghead tournament? Might be good for site promotion on YouTube and/or for the front page if it still exists. >:D
There's a front page?
I bet if we had a tournament, we'd find out. ^-^
Quote from: JasonPratt on February 20, 2016, 04:07:07 PM
I bet if we had a tournament, we'd find out. ^-^
i was interested ....until you mentioned the frontpage ^-^
So as not to distract from general commentary about the game, here's a thread for registration in the opponents-wanted section (http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=16245.msg426837#msg426837).
Quote from: SirAndrewD on February 20, 2016, 02:29:03 PM
Quote from: JasonPratt on February 20, 2016, 12:08:27 PM
Hey, this game has a multiplayer function. What if we had a Groghead tournament? Might be good for site promotion on YouTube and/or for the front page if it still exists. >:D
There's a front page?
I knew I liked you...
So is this on the purchase now list, or the wait until sale list....... I have been intrigued by this one as I really liked the last, especially with the Long War Mod.
PE
its all ive played since release - i personally see no reason not to buy now
Well worth full price, assuming you like the topic. The gameplay is enough like XC1 that you might consider that a reason to wait for a sale, but in many regards it's different enough to warrant both games being valid choices.
Quote from: PanzersEast on March 02, 2016, 01:51:42 PM
So is this on the purchase now list, or the wait until sale list....... I have been intrigued by this one as I really liked the last, especially with the Long War Mod.
PE
Well, only $34 here, just as good as a sale:)
http://www.cdkeys.com/pc/games/xcom-2-pc-cd-key-steam
Angry Joe likes it
From what I've been reading, I think it sounds a bit tough for me. I can get disheartened and eventually lose interest when I hit a difficulty wall in a game (much like I did the first one - at the enemy space ship I think).
So I'm still holding off...even though that link is almost half price.
I am not great at it, nor was I with the first one. But still have enjoyed it and think over time will certainly get my money worth, even if I don't finish it. I never finish most games anyway:)
Lowering the difficulty level to easy made the game enjoyable for me. It's still challenging, but reasonable. I found the difficulty on normal to be unexpectedly hard and therefore very frustrating.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on March 03, 2016, 07:33:55 AM
Lowering the difficulty level to easy made the game enjoyable for me. It's still challenging, but reasonable. I found the difficulty on normal to be unexpectedly hard and therefore very frustrating.
I think I had it on easy :P ;D
The game is definitely harder at the beginning but once your troops start getting skilled, they become crazy killers. The mod support is simply amazing and I think I'm running about a dozen very nice mods at the moment. The ability to create character pools so you can customize and name soldiers that may show up on your in-game roster is a really nice feature. I'm thinking of playing a whole new campaign just so I can play with the GI Joe roster mod.
Trey
Has anyone else found their copy of XCOM2 automatically uninstalled recently?
I haven't played it in about a week, and while I was looking around for something low-key to play while I'm sick this afternoon (not this), I suddenly noticed it was listing in my library as uninstalled.
Steam is busy "discovering existing files" for XC2 now. :idiot2:
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg00.deviantart.net%2F6224%2Fi%2F2007%2F054%2Fa%2F1%2Fwolverines_by_punkdaddy74.jpg&hash=0042fb8c29e7866ad3b8210afd31fe4d4d315ab2)
HUMAN INSURGANCY
I'm going in!
PE
Quote from: PanzersEast on March 04, 2016, 06:24:24 PM
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg00.deviantart.net%2F6224%2Fi%2F2007%2F054%2Fa%2F1%2Fwolverines_by_punkdaddy74.jpg&hash=0042fb8c29e7866ad3b8210afd31fe4d4d315ab2)
HUMAN INSURGANCY
I'm going in!
PE
Good luck Commander
I've had no problems but I'm not too compelled to play it like i was the First game. It's a mix of bad and good- half steps forwards and two steps back in some cases.
My Review
I think I have enough time in to give a decent review--although I will mention as more mods released I found myself restarting the game multiple times. Most mods as of yet are relatively simple---guns, armor, more classes, longer timers, no timers, no alien move when spotted, etc etc. The modding abilities in the game would allow complete reworks well beyond what Long War managed and all we need here is time--but as of now there's not really much in the way of reworking the game and gameplay. For this review about all I've ended up using is timer tweaks and some gun and armor mods for more customization. Cheat mods are out and availabile-but quite frankly I see little use for them because compared to EW the A.I. is rather simple --In EW when you upped the difficulty that included extra A.I. routines to both tactics and patrol, as well as aim, hitpoint and other bonus's. Here I've seen nothing A.I. wise on the most difficult level--and I'm actually pretty close to finishing the game on that difficulty and have yet suffered a squaddie death other than the two canned deaths in the tutorial.
In fact the A.I. is a disapointment in every regards. Why reviews don't mention this is beyond me. Here's an example:
In Angry Joe's review here at the 6:30 mark you see him googles over his sniper killing a snakeman---he's SOOOOOO google over it he fails to notice what a bonehead move that is for the A.I. in the first place. It can spit poison or grabble from a distance and from behind cover-and even through walls thanks to the game's broken physics- yet it's running out (for what logical reason? It's not a melee unit) happily allowing you to easily murder it. In fact-overall this is the A.I.'s tactic---run into Turkey shoots you set up.
the over the top Alien abilities can throw a curve the first time you experience them--but there's no mystery in what you need to research to counteract them. Lizardmen giving you trouble-just research a dead one--the counter is ALWAYS tied to the exact alien- then equip your troops with whatever tech you discovered.-and most times you can deal with them easily enough without it with some brains.
The two most troublsome Aliens are the Codex and the Avatar--the rest is usually just HP buffed in some way. Your first see a Codex when you use a Skulljack on an Advent Officer---this is a Story trigger so has to be done and can't be avoided--but there's no reason to ever use a Skulljack on an officer again. Doesn't matter because the Codex will be popping up in later missions.
The problem with them is they teleport every turn. And if you attack them and don't kill them they create a clone with half the hitpoints of the original. You can soon have 4 or six of these if you just graze them---which happens quite a lot because of the dodge ability. They are a pain because the Codex has an ability to cast a psionic rift that covers a large area of effect, which will disable the use of any primary weapons inside it, resulting in the weapons being emptied of ammunition and thus forcing players to reload to use them again.
However secondary weapons like swords and pistols are unaffected. And they easy enough to take out with the right tactics. the Ranger's high crit chance, or one with the Conceal and Shadowstrike skills, is ideal for this.Bluescreen Rounds (particularly if they are combined with high impact weapons such as shotguns or sniper rifles) and other abilities specialized for mechanical units are highly effective against Codex units as well. You can prevent Cloning by disorienting the codex first, Usually done via flashbang. Another ideal tactic is to first destroy the Codex's cover without damaging it by using a well-placed grenade or one of the Grenadier's abilities, and then hitting it with a single powerful shot, like the Sharpshooter's deadeye -so there's lots of options.
The Avatar appears after you Skulljack a Codex---this is a late game enemy and probably is by far the strongest enemy in the game. It has very good Mind control abilities. The Avatar can take the control of multiple units not immune to psi abilities. A single enemy Avatar can have multiple units under mind control at the same time. I've had this happen dispite everyone being equiped with mind shields. The Avatar can teleport for the cost of 1 action, which means he can use an ability or fire right after. The Avatar uses this ability as a reaction to every damage received. However, it teleports only after his movement is finished. Therefore, you can kill him with multiple Overwatch shots before he can teleport. The Avatar can target a massive area for a powerful AOE attack, damaging all units inside of the Dimensional Rift. At the end of the enemies' next turn, the Dimensional Rift will collapse, dealing additional damage to all units within. Null Lance: The Avatar fires a beam of energy in a line in any direction, dealing a large amount of damage to any units within the beam's path, bypassing any obstacles in its way. Avatars will regenerate 5 HP every turn, so, if possible, dispose of the Avatar in a single turn. It's immune to mind control , Insanity and such but not the AOE or Null lance of your own PSI soldiers.
Therefore you need to gang up on the sucker with you full squad--which should be pretty well equiped when you run across him. Killing one reduces the Avator DOOM timer by 3 as well- so there's a huge benefit in taking them out--but if you fail to THINK they can wipe you. But that's about as tough as it gets and that's a scripted ability and doesn't really tie in to A.I. at all. When the game depends on A.I. to get the job done it generally just can't. The First game had much better A.I. and with Long War that's about the only way to be challenged by these Firaxis's XCOMS.
Terror missions are replaced by Retaliation missions, and again don't really offer much challenge once you realize once the enemy spots you it ignores cilvilians 99% of the time. So the tactic for these missions is rather simple: Use a squaddie with lots of mobility-run out get exposed and lead the aliens to your turkey shoot. The only time cilvilians are lost is during the aliens first and sometimes second turn if all of them don't see you yet.
There are 2 A.I. mods in the Workshop--A.I. improvment mod 1.42 and some changes in the Longwar studio mods-though they are not called anything A.I. wise--An important thing to note is that if you have Long War Studios mods enabled, you must disable them and enabled improved A.I. first, before reenabling Long War Studio's stuff. They extend the ai.ini for their new files which will prevent improved A.I. from working properly unless theirs are enabled after.
What the mod basically does is nuke any advancment routines and makes the enemy stay back. Unfortunately it doesn't do anything to get the A.I. to flank or patrol in a logical way--it's main purpose as the discription says "The AI will entrench instead of running through your overwatches all the time, as silly as that was"
The problem of course is it's on steam workshop- so if the mod is ever taken down for an update your save game won't load---this has happened to me enough I now only use mods off of Xcom2 nexus-
The setting
By now most know this sequel's overall story starts with the Alien's win, man's agreement with/for Advent and your basically an underground resistance group. We have to assume here somewhere after the first game's completion and this game there was another wave incoming the 1st game was unaware of. I can suspend my disbelief enough to accept that basic premise but unfortunately Firaxis fails to carry this to logical conclusions. I can't expand on this without going into spoilers so be prepared for them--because this needs to be said ---as STORY is a huge part driving the game.
At first I liked the idea. XCOM was conquered, the council wanted to surrender. The aliens had total ground and air superiority. And here you are--Mr. French resistance trying to fight back, expose the real truth (Matrix style), and defeat the BIG LIE and Advent. But as the story goes on and more is learned about the Aliens real motivations you simply left scratching your head.
Dispite all the extra cutscenes there's not much story or drama at all. You get during the tutorial one cut scene where Advent complains about your terrorist actions and then it goes nowhere and is ignored the whole game. This propaganda battle could have been a whole new strategic layer.
Furthermore the basic premise has more holes than swiss cheese. Again-the tutorial introduces aliens being hidden behind specially constructed helments---but then the next mission has a snakeman strolling down main street in the wide open---and no cilvilians at all reacting to it. What was the purpose of those helmets again?
Actually-what's the purpose of advent? Seems a huge expense to go to concidering humanity is already conquered. Collect your DNA juice however you want. Which means there should have been a whole different premise here all along. Have advent actually somewhat committed to their promise while the Avatar project really does exist secretly--covertly by the Elders seperatly from the powers in advent. This way you can keep you Aliens restricted to the black sites rather than wandering around on main street for everyone to see, which would make the helments make sense and add another layer to the propaganda battle that doesn't never got put in.
Plus- the only characters that are interesting is the ones you create. Bradford looks cool but goes unused outside of the Tutorial. The scientist and Engineer are as interesting as watching pain dry. Unlike the first game-you get no interesting characters on recues. Where's Zhang and Annette? No missions at all in these regards.
The missions
Dispite the better maps mission choices suffer. The One base attack in EW at least was something. Here it's a huge letdown. It's basically a Destroy item and return--outside your base no less- like 1/3 of all missions. Or it's a capture person mission or hack/destroy. Gone are the interesting Saucer missions and the challenging Terror missions. Terror missions are replaced with retaliation missions but sadly again I say the weak A.I. wants to normally ignore the cilvilians once it spots you. Timers are hugely overused- sure-they can mask the weak A.I. for a bit- and the game gets stupidly easy if you mod them.
briefings rarely justify the timers and the overall DOOM advent timer rushes one through the game. Easily modded out but as it stands this was just a horrible idea. If you think it ADDS hard choices, your just nuts. It ADDS nothing. Timers or not all --missions are the same--with or without. It does take away quite a bit -and a lot more than simply turtling on overwatch. You lack the time to strategically move your team where you might want them to come into the target. All in all your one and only choice is to get the job done before said timer expires or stop said timer-and there's just one strategy for that. Straight out of tinkertown web gaming or The land of Concoles to use these designs in a game like this is like removing the cheese from a cheesburger. The person who thought them up can't be slapped enough, and if he goes down a couple more kicks is highly warranted.
And boy do I miss those saucer missions from EW---the sameness of all missions in this game quickly wears thin.
The Geoscape of Interruption
That's it's new name and it's perfectly fitting. First, the whole idea of having to scan everything to get something done is fine in itself--though logically it's just a gamey way for replacing scanning for alien ships in EU-and that's pretty much it--you Scan to get things done, be it make contact, get supplies, get recruits and of course get a headache---because each and every scan--be it 3 days or 6 days, will get interrupted multiple times. Research is complete, item manufactures, room buult, scientist farted, whatever--the flow of this is about as disconcerting and jolting as it can be, and even with nearly 70 hrs in I just can't get used to it. There needs to be a mod addressing the flow here so things go much more fluid and logically. Hell, illogically as long as the interruptions stop. Worse you can't get an overall view because the damn Geoscape does not zoom out to where you can see the whole globe--dispite it looking just like that in the control room.
Mighty Morphing Power Ranger Music
You hear it going into and exiting missions...and it just does not fit the XCOM universe. The original played like a horror game--with music that fit the ANTISIPATION of what might pop out next. Even EU had better. Now, once on the mission there's a nice ambient thump thump thump background music ---I like that--but any mod that does away with the Jackie Chan crap is being immediately downloaded by me.
The Bugs
A month in and no fixes. Memory leaks are the cause of uncleared variables once used and lag is caused by incorrectly calling functions from the engine. These should be easily narrowed and fixed----and should have been ages ago--which makes me wonder what type of incompetent programmers work for them?
In Need of Balancing
Swords are neat...early. They're useless later. You will find armor, weapons and soldier perks are not very well balanced at all. Mods to the rescue but in the end we need some serious A.I. fixes to bring more challenge to the game.
There are plus's of course. The random blocks on maps are superior to the canned maps in EW.
Modding is finally supported and the possabilities are large. Although having such a linear story kills quite a lot of possabilities.
Character customization along with the new character pool are great additions.
The streamlined soldier classes are better in the sense of each class is different- however the mechanics are hampered by a lack of real world physics- LOS, being seen/shot through Walls and Floors, whole team exposed when one is spotted--can move and shoot but can't shoot and move--these unrealistic and gamey additions restrict expanding classes to their full potential-not to mention killing the emersion.
Overall a bit dissapointed-but the game is still fun---but falls apart so much in so many areas I'd rate it near 70%
It's good to see ghostryder. Nice review. I agree with much of it.
That's because it's kicking your ass :P
Damn, ghost, haven't seen you around in a while! Appreciate the write-up. O0
Hi Ghosty! 8)
Frankly I think taking a fast runner around Retaliation missions to try to troll the enemies back to an ambush site, is a good way to get the runner killed. Maybe late game that might work, once the Ranger rangers up -- but even then, the maps are large enough that I couldn't see how to ensure all the clusters aggro'd sufficiently by turn 2 to ignore the civvies. I mean, if it worked for you early or even late game (and on high difficulty apparently) then it worked, I guess. I'm just hugely surprised.
Re the plot: the tutorial missions show pretty clearly that the player lost the first game due to an early base raid. XCOM didn't get far.
Re the snakemen: they're snakewomen. ;)
Re the snakewoman running instead of globbing or tonguing -- those abilities have cooldowns. I know what sequence you're talking about in the Angry Joe review, and it looks obvious to me that the snake is trying to get to cover and/or flanking before taking a high-percent shot (with her basic gun) and can see no one on overwatch, but a late game gunslinger ability messes up that plan. Presumably she'd already used her special weapons early, although I'd have to watch Joe's gamestream (rather than the review) to be sure. I have never seen a snake do anything other than tongue or glob off the bat, or both given a chance, assuming she survives reaction fire on the initial scatter.
Re giving your troops tech to counter whatever threat: here I have to credit (though I hate to do so) the ultra-silly inability to carry more than one special item, until very late in the game, and even then multiples types are very limited. One soldier holding one counter item doesn't go far countering snakemen or anything else. I made a choice early on to equip all troops with mind shields, which prevent problems from sectoids and also general morale problems (although the mindshield shouldn't really prevent those, that's just overly convenient programming.) Like you said, other problems can be handled by smart play. (And save scumming. ;) )
Re the helmets: it isn't like the people didn't know about aliens being aliens (although I agree that overt aliens like the snakewomen ought to be causing more problems with civvies.) But the Advent helmets weren't there to hide "aliens among us", they were there because the Advent troops were supposed to be humans faithfully collaborating with the Elders -- and not genetically modified half-aliens! The genetic modification of humans is being kept secret.
Personally I liked the mix of more exciting music to pump up the troops' (or audiences') morale for revengance asskicking. But I understand why that doesn't fit the mood of the original game. Neither does action-movie semi-cutscenes from this or the earlier remake, strictly speaking. But they're awesome, so I like them anyway.
Otherwise I agree with the review's criticisms. :) I think I have more appreciation for what the game does right than you do, so I'd call it more like 85%. But there are definite problems endemic to the remake engine / design, and while XC2 features enough differences to make it a valid alternative rather than a replacement for XC:EW (or even EU), I feel like EW had more things going on for options to play with so that's a big step backward (if understandable for the new setting.)
"XCOM2: as interesting as watching pain dry!" Ghostryder at Grogheads >:D
Good post.
I'll certainly have a higher score once the bugs are squashed and some meaningful mods come out--because underneath the core play remains fun. And lets not forget EU was kinda meh and then the expansion came out and really brought the game up in all better ways--so here I expect a DLC or expansion to utilize the propaganda angle I noted missing-and more to add to maps and missions and add some plot--
Quote from: ghostryder on March 07, 2016, 07:33:08 PM
Good post.
I'll certainly have a higher score once the bugs are squashed and some meaningful mods come out--because underneath the core play remains fun. And lets not forget EU was kinda meh and then the expansion came out and really brought the game up in all better ways--so here I expect a DLC or expansion to utilize the propaganda angle I noted missing-and more to add to maps and missions and add some plot--
Hey ghostie.... welcome back. Play the longwar mod for EW
Wendy!
I played it....twice. Finally won it.
Which is another reason I was disappointed in XCOM2. I can go along with the new premise--but i think to properly do that new premise you needed new designs in the game instead of practically porting over the designs of the first and rebranding them.
Take the Geoscape of interrupting or the FLYING BUILDING you fly around in as a covert operation. The later is just a stripped down version of the base in EU- and it's just plain silly logically that this is how the resistance of a successful Alien invasion should go about it. Why not go back to the original roots of XCOM or how this would happen in reality? SPIES! SPIES! SPIES!...that's how you locate the resistance. And once located you get access to THIER BASE. Or in other words-just like the original you get multiple bases across the globe so you can conduct covert operations via the Skyranger from the different bases. The Spy game could be designed as a whole new strategic layer- with risks of capture and death. To pass time, like in the original you scan when your ready--to wait for news from your spies.
And you redesign the whole geoscape thing--sense just rebranding it makes no sense in this game---as an example--you need supplies. Well, there's a supply mission available in where you raid a train..but illogically you have to scan 7 days?! If you know about the train and you know about the supplies just do the damn mission already. Then you got to scan to get recruits? It makes far more sense new recruits should come from the new resistance sector you just located. Missions involving hacking intel should be brought to you by your spies--and there DOES NEED TO BE missions as in the first where you get a special named recruit on certain missions your spies locate. You can still have the world map for the different countries but to be buzzing around in your enormous skyscraper base ship is just plain dumb. Your an underground orginazations and boy it would have been great if we had those different bases that all had the risk of being located and attacked by the enemy---but the plain truth is Firaxis just got lazy--and carried over the same designs they used in the first game- even if it totally screwed up the new premise.
And man is that base/ship attack dissapointing. Hell, there's not even a need to leave the platform and wander out into the map---when a good sniper can destroy the beacon from the platform and have it explode-leveling the forest and enemy aliens. The whole honeycomb base thing of the first that prevented those great base defense missions need to be totally scraped---not lazily reused.
We could have had a game that made logical sense. We could have got those great base defense missions that we all enjoyed in the original. We could have got a whole new strategic layer with spies, we could have got a whole new strategic layer with the propaganda war with Advent--and missions where you needed to hack into public media to expose the aliens true intent.
It really was half-axx'd--plain and simple.
My only disagreement with those critiques is that offensive supply recovery missions don't require scanning. They tend to INTERRUPT scanning, but if you try to scan or do much of anything afterward you'll lose access to them permanently as they're super-temporary.
In other words, while you were busy scanning for contacting resistance fighters or picking up scattered supplies over here, the resistance somewhere else blows a train track but for whatever reason can't secure the supplies in time so they send the lead to you. You can break off what you're doing and fly the base over to the new region to send out the Skyranger to finish the train raid, or keep doing what you're doing and let the mission pass by permanently (because obviously Advent secures the train supplies soon).
Flying the giant base around, however, gets back to your other points which are quite valid. This game needed the secret underground bases from the original UFO/X-Com 90s game.
Frankly I think taking a fast runner around Retaliation missions to try to troll the enemies back to an ambush site, is a good way to get the runner killed. Maybe late game that might work, once the Ranger rangers up -- but even then, the maps are large enough that I couldn't see how to ensure all the clusters aggro'd sufficiently by turn 2 to ignore the civvies. I mean, if it worked for you early or even late game (and on high difficulty apparently) then it worked, I guess. I'm just hugely surprised.
You advance the turkey shooters as well as the ranger. As stated-restarts included and I'm late game-I've not lost a single squadie--and I have never lost more than 2 cilvilians using this tactic on retaliation missions dispite the game always placing most aliens on the far side of the map making me run my squad to them. The idea is to get spotted--once that's done all attention is spent chasing you---so dashing back in full cover is no problem--the A.I. will chase you using no defensive thought whatsoever. In fact I am convinced the exact same A.I. routines apply to each alien dispite their different abilities--it's just coded "use special ability A, B or C. Because dispite unit type all have the same suicidal behavior to run out to be murdered by your over-watching squaddies- As mentioned-because you can comment out A.I. routines in the AI.ini file you can stop the suicides and up difficulty--but imagine what that statement is really say? The A.I. is so bad it's better to prevent it from executing than let it do it's thing. And that's exactly what the A.I. improvement mod does- it kills A.I. routines that do dumb stuff. Who programmed that crap? He actually got paid to do that--I find that amazing!
The new patch is out that addresses some of the performance issues:
The first major patch for XCOM 2 is live! This patch will automatically install when starting the Steam client. If it doesn't install automatically, restart Steam.
This patch introduces new fixes, balance tweaks, and several performance optimizations in the game that should improve framerates and in-game delays overall. Players can also opt into the new "Zip Mode" option by pausing the game at any time and activating it under gameplay options. Zip Mode will create a faster paced experience that speeds up animations and some delays in gameplay.
After installing the patch, we recommend all players to go into the graphics tab under options and select "Auto Detect Graphic Settings." Installing the patch will not rewrite your graphic settings. Players must do this manually.
The XCOM team has been working hard to improve performance, balance, and stability issues reported by our fans. A big thank you to anyone who took the time to provide feedback and submit reports. We will continue to improve the XCOM 2 experience with additional updates and patches over the coming months.
*Required User Action: If you have mods enabled after installing the patch, launch it once, close the game, and launch it again. Players will only have to do this once. After the restart, the game will have initialized the patch to work with mods. While the majority of mods will operate in harmony with the patch, some mods may conflict with patch updates and will need to be updated to take advantage of the patch improvements.
Performance
Added Zip Mode gameplay option. While Zip Mode is enabled animation (like step outs & gremlin movements) speeds are significantly increased. Normal movement animations are moderately increased
Fixed an issue where shadow rendering during glam cam shot transitions was slowing down performance
Support for nVidia SLI and AMD Crossfire
Removed MSAA options from default presets and adjusted autodetect to target 40FPS instead of 30FPS
Reworked Light Clipping Manager
Particle Vertex Buffer Reallocation
Optimization to shadows in the Avenger
Enable triple buffering to fix VSync performance
Shadowed light fade out within Avenger; Disabled Post & Pre Mission cinematic lights not being used
Disabled shadow casting from character lights w/in Avenger
Reduced High Shadow Resolution - Reduce shadow resolution when set to HIGH to 1536, instead of 2048
Reduces the impact count of the Avatar Rifle
Removed a hitch that occurs when the camera enables/disables building visualizer
Deferred profile saves to next tick. This prevents multiple calls within the same frame from creating multiple requests to save the profile
After changing graphics settings, based on the selected preset, extra crew will be capped
Character head mesh optimized
Balance
Mimic beacon rebalance: Price increased to 75
Mimic beacons can no longer take cover, and are guaranteed to be hit by enemy shots
Wet Work is no longer retroactive
Graze is no longer a chance for 100% shots. Targets being shot by a concealed attacker cannot dodge
Gameplay
Added a new recommended Steam Controller configuration with support for additional actions
Fixed an issue where VIP units would take damage when their origin location was damaged
Fixed an issue where Promotion Earned text appeared before action is seen on screen
Fixed an issue where civilians pathed to the base of ladders and blocked XCOM units
Fixed an issue where Character Pool choices like Class, Attitude, and props did not save
Fixed an issue where weapons did not keep names and customizations upon tier bump
Fixed an issue causing some scan timers to go into negative time
Engineering items that are full squad upgrades are now designated in the UI
Fixed an issue where strategy project timers reset if players started building a radio relay immediately after making contact with a region
Fixed an issue with POIs not spawning when first visiting the Geoscape if Beginner VO is turned off
Removed start-of-turn hang during certain missions where enemy units had fallen out of the world. Auto-saves (and ironman saves) made in these situations should now be playable
Minimized action camera obstructions
Minimized camera look-at hopping during AI abilities
Fixed an issue where Psi abilities did not trigger death cams
Kill Zone now respects concealment status
Fixed an issue where the Ever Vigilant AWC perk did not work for Sharpshooters
Buildings don't cut down when tabbing through units
Fixed an exploit that skips the AI turn by spamming the END/BACKSPACE button while the Player's last action is being visualized
Rapid Fire and Chain Shot visualization optimized to get the second shot to fire faster
Fixed an issue where shot HUD wings would fail to re-open after taking an action that required the wings to close
Fixed an issue where crit chance would be negatively affected by shots with a success chance greater than 100
Optimized Return Fire hits causing long delays
Optimized AI reveals causing long hangs
Optimized Wait actions causing long timeouts
Optimized falling unit visualization to timeout faster
Updated the Geoscape save description to use the localized HQ time, instead of previously used GMT game time
Fixed an issue with an invalid spawn point on a specific Retaliation mission plot
Destroyed cover does not take reduce % to-hit on enemies
Systems
New option to only use Character Pool creations until the pool is exhausted
Bulletproofing bad saves from causing main menu crashes
Fixed an issue causing hitches in strategy
Fixed an issue where armor customizations did not save
Graphics
Unit Highlighting Flash when targeting units
Multiplayer
MULTIPLAYER: Fixes slow communications with internet players resulting in delays between actions, turns, and end-of-game screen.
Added camera rotation to MP
Mimic beacons can no longer take cover, and are guaranteed to be hit by enemy shots
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh
Thank God that patch went into effect before the weekend, eh? ;)
(But multiplayer doesn't seem to involve using items anyway other than grenades... :( )
Looks like first DLC released....Anarchy's Children. Not sure I would ever use that much cusomtization:)
This rebellion-themed content pack introduces more than 100 new exotic customizations for the entire arsenal of armors available to your XCOM soldiers. These options are purely cosmetic and do not alter the stats of a soldier.