X-COM Preorders

[Grim.Reaper]

Supposedly someone was able to activate second wave by hacking the .exe file and does work, but no word on balance issues, etc.

Reaper, have you played with the tutorial on? (Not the one from the demo - that's just a small slice).  It holds you hand through several missions and takes a couple of hours.

Re defusing bombs:

Am I the only idiot who thought that because the power nodes had three arrows around them that you needed thee units in position before they could be turned off? It took two missions before I figured it out.

Not fully yet....I did the demo one though.  However, does the game tutorial also help you with the strategic part and when/how to build things?  I think that is the part of the game that I will need the most help with. 

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I think the game objectives and cutscenes do try and rush you towards the endgame and try to create a sense of urgency but I think it's better to bide your time.   I was tasked with capturing an overseer at the beginning of the game but kept failing at it as one of my guys on overwatch would always waste it (whereas now, none of them seem able to hit anything on overwatch).  There didnt seem to be any penalties for killing instead of capruring.  I'd get an earful from science lady but that's it.  The game just continued on, occasionally recycling the mission for me until I succeeded.  No panic penalties that I noticed.  As a result, I was able to pad out my squad and didn't seem to run into the difficulties a lot seem to have had with the cybersiscs.

It wasn't until I pressed straight ahead and completed all objectives right away that I started having problems.  I got to a stage where I was required to knock down a command ship but couldn't because the starting interceptors just couldn't do it, even with all the bells and whistles.  My monthly progress reports went from As to Ds and one F due solely to failed interceptions.  Lost France and Argentina and it took forever to build up the resources needed to build the new interceptor.

Lesson learned.  Don't rush things.

[W8taminute]

^Last night I tried that strategy.  In other words if a mission that came up looked to be too difficult for what my soldiers could handle I ignored it and went on.  Lost France and Brazil because of that but why send all my men to their certain deaths only to lose those countries anyway because of a failed mission.

I'm biding my time until I can get lasers and carapace armour out to my men in quantity.  What's killing me is not having satellites covering the planet.  I just don't have the real estate to expand.

[JudgeDredd]

Re defusing bombs:

Am I the only idiot who thought that because the power nodes had three arrows around them that you needed thee units in position before they could be turned off? It took two missions before I figured it out.

erm...I'm ashamed to admit it - but I can't let you stand alone - I was one of those! I did figure it out in the same mission as I thought it was going to be impossible so tried without all 3 round and saw the icon! But yeah - first couple of turns I was struggling to get 3 people round the nodes!

[tgb]

Supposedly someone was able to activate second wave by hacking the .exe file and does work, but no word on balance issues, etc.

Reaper, have you played with the tutorial on? (Not the one from the demo - that's just a small slice).  It holds you hand through several missions and takes a couple of hours.

Re defusing bombs:

Am I the only idiot who thought that because the power nodes had three arrows around them that you needed thee units in position before they could be turned off? It took two missions before I figured it out.

Not fully yet....I did the demo one though.  However, does the game tutorial also help you with the strategic part and when/how to build things?  I think that is the part of the game that I will need the most help with.

The tutorial doesn't teach the whens and hows, but the ability to access various parts of the game unlocks as you go on, so you get  a better understanding of how everything comes together.

I was one of those who thought that the research and missions labeled Prioority mean DO THIS NOW!!!, not do this if you want to move the narrative along.  In my current playthrough I'm trying to striked a balance between those and the regular research projects that give better equipment, etc.  Do be aware, though, that the aliens still continue to get stronger independent of the speed with which you go through the story missions.

[Arctic Blast]

Worst month ever in this game.

I had to flee from a mission when 3 of my 4 troops bought it. Two were shot, one was next to a truck that I hadn't noticed was smoking...soon it was exploding.

Then, I died on a mission. That always annoys me.

Finally, we successfully stopped abductions in Rio. Unfortunately, France decided to freak out. And then the UK. And then Russia. And then Mexico. Nigeria had already done so when I chose to go to Quebec over them.

This has disaster written all over it.

Isn't this why we have previous saved games?   :o

Good grief, no. You have a bad run, ya suck it up, man up and move on.


Played a bit of the multiplayer this afternoon. It's actually pretty fun. Basically, think of it as the electronic version of a table top minis skirmish game set in the XCom universe. Limited set up options (and only 5 maps), but it's pretty good.

Set up your force however you want, though you'll probably have to tweak at final set up based on what your points limit is for that game. You can use Rookies or any of the 4 classes for soldiers, and you have access to every weapon, special item, armour type and ability that appears through the entire game. Of course, the better they are, the more they cost. I had what would have been an uberbadass Heavy with Titan armour and a Heavy Plasma and some ridiculous Colonel level abilities, but he would have cost almost 7,000 points and the match was going to be for 10,000.

You can ALSO use every single species of alien in the game. And yes, you can mix and match. Take a Sectoid around and use their Mind Power ability to meld with a Sniper and try for a kill shot. Flip and run around the map with Thin Men, spitting poison to your heart's content. Floaters, Chryssalids, Mutons, Cyberdiscs...they're all there. Also a lot of other stuff that I won't mention in case people want to wait until they encounter them in the game. Actually, MP would be HORRIBLE for anyone looking to avoid spoilers.

Then you take turns moving around and firing and using abilities until somebody wins. It's actually pretty well done, and I hope to see some more maps appear for it.

[airboy]

There are a lot of things about the combat system that I do not like very much.
1] Loadout limits are absurd.  One grenade?  And if you take a grenade you cannot take a scope, or improved armor inserts?
This is just dumb.  I went hunting this morning and use guns a lot.  A couple of grenades, a scope, and some armor inserts should be a normal load along with your weapons.  Limited ammo, rational trade-offs, .... I'm all for it.  Stupid limits on weapons - huh????

2] The combat field is too small.  You really can't flank much.  It is almost always "hey diddle diddle - up the middle" into groups of aliens who immediately scatter and take cover.  The tactical combat abilities you have are very limited - especially given the absurd load out limits.

3] The number of things you can do in a turn is also limited to a stupid degree.  You reload and can do nothing else?  Only one shot per round (pistol, shotgun, rifle, anything......).  And you shoot and it is turn over. 

I'm 50 and I can reload my shotgun, hit a target, adquire and kill another target, and reload again in less than 60 seconds (I did it this morning duck hunting).  This is being stationary.  If I had to move I could not do it as fast.  But in this version of X-com I reload and buddy that is it for this turn.

The concept of total action points was dropped.  Movement points that allow you to do a limited number of things (but more than one thing) is something that X-com did well.  Jagged Alliance 2 (with aiming) did it better.   This game is a severe regression in turn based squad combat.  Lots of nice cut scenes - but I would give them up to have action point (movement point) system.

And the only way to ever, ever capture an alien weapon is to stun the alien?  The weapons "fragment" if the alien is killed?

Only one troop carrier in the game - ever - really???????

I hope that Xenonauts gets turn based squad combat better than this game does.

[LongBlade]

I'm loving this game.

Airboy, you make some great points. I have some thoughts on an article you and I could write together on it. Interested?

[W8taminute]

Airboy you make some valid points and I agree with you 100%.  Since I doubt Firaxis can fix tactical combat to level you refer to we just either cope with limited load outs and movement or drop the game.  I'm not willing to let go however because I'm having fun.

I think I've figured out combat.  Today I fought an alien abduction mission by inching and creeping my men forward engaging over watch on every soldier every turn. Together with employing the sniper's combat scanner yielded impressive results.  I killed 10 aliens including 2 mutons and took no losses.   The key is either discovering enemy positions with the scanner or patiently waiting for the enemy to reveal himself on HIS turn.  The missions take longer to complete using this method but the result is stellar.  I am playing on 'classic' difficulty.

[LongBlade]

On my last mission I had something interesting happen.

I was going to go for my first stun to nab an alien. Managed to work my way through a crash site and get the three remaining aliens sticking together.

I wounded one. My sniper has the group spotting perk so I aimed at one of the aliens and with one shot took out two.

I think it was because I took out the one that had psychically linked to the other (non-wounded) alien. It as a nice feeling. Anybody else see that?

[Arctic Blast]

On my last mission I had something interesting happen.

I was going to go for my first stun to nab an alien. Managed to work my way through a crash site and get the three remaining aliens sticking together.

I wounded one. My sniper has the group spotting perk so I aimed at one of the aliens and with one shot took out two.

I think it was because I took out the one that had psychically linked to the other (non-wounded) alien. It as a nice feeling. Anybody else see that?

Yep, if a Sectoid has used his action to mind link and you cap him, both of them die. I was re-taught that lesson harshly in a multi-player game.  :o

[Grim.Reaper]

Can you send more than one interceptor against a UFO?  I have four built and I see them able to launch, but I haven't figured out how to send more than one at a time.  Is it possible?

[LongBlade]

I just lost Russia after an abduction that was extremely hard. Lost three team members and retreated back to the LZ with my commander to abort the mission. What a nightmare. I'm thinking I should reload the scenario and try it again...

[JudgeDredd]

I also dislike the fire and turn end when you can move then fire. Seems like a ridiculous limit. I don't mind the one shot thing - but not allowing me to determine whether I want to move and shoot or shoor and moves irks me. And yeah - I'm fully aware of the perk - but it isn't available to all members and shouldn't be a perk in the first place. I should be able to choose whether I want to move then shoot or shoot then move.

And why can I not launch more than one interceptor? And why is it so on rails? Would it have been SO much work to give you a cockpit view with the ability to move up and down and left and right to avoid enemy shots and the ability to fire? It seems to me it's not even pot luck. It seems to me as the game advances your ability for your interceptor to take down an alien craft gets reduced more and more.

One other annoyance the Capn Darwin has mentioned is the crazy sensitivity when trying to place a grenade or rocket launcher round!

I still enjoy what's there...but some of the enforced limitations are getting old.

[tgb]

Control of your interceptors is gradually unlocked through the research tree.