XCOM: One Does Not Simply "Shoot" a Cryssalid...

[Hiro Protagonest]

I'm going to venture a guess that the PC version is the one everyone's playing with all these killer bugs. I have the 360 version, and so far I haven't experienced anything but a little bit of struggling with map elevation inside UFOs and the occaisional bit of lag during an alien activity phase. Definitely nothing game breaking. No crashes. All of my SHIVs have worked fine, too.

Zevox is the one with the SHIV bug, and he also experienced the Mind-link Fog-of-War bug.

[Reynard]

I've got my own bugs, and haven't encountered either the SHIV or the FoW bug. The Sniper-Pistol bug is pretty common, but the two that have an actuall effect on gameplay for me are:

> Battle Scanners will sink into the floor and reveal sweet bugger all, unless I make them land on some piece of cover or random decoration.

> Grenades like to fall through the floor and into the abyss below.

[RagingKrikkit]

Favor request: can somebody suggest a naming theme for my next playthrough?

[Cikomyr]

XCOM: Adeptus Astartes

4 men, the best of the best. No replacement. Only SHIVs can join them on mission.

[BRC]

Favor request: can somebody suggest a naming theme for my next playthrough?

Go to IMDB pages for episodes of Star Trek ToS. Look up the names of actors credited as playing Ensigns.

[Opperhapsen]

Go to IMDB pages for episodes of Star Trek ToS. Look up the names of actors credited as playing Ensigns.

Hah!

I personally just gave rookies red armor and a helmet, until they gained a nickname then they got to change color.
Psychics got to remove the helmet.

[Anarion]

Favor request: can somebody suggest a naming theme for my next playthrough?

Dwarves from all Lord of the Rings settings. You have to field them together based on which ones have the alliterative or rhyming names.

[Cespenar]

Favor request: can somebody suggest a naming theme for my next playthrough?

Republic Commando. Jagged Alliance 2. Borderlands 1-2. Shall I go on?

[Opperhapsen]

Dwarves from all Lord of the Rings settings. You have to field them together based on which ones have the alliterative or rhyming names.

This is a brilliant idea.
Anarion is amazing and you should listen to him

[Grey_Wolf_c]

The only bug I have encountered so far (PS3) is that sometimes when I insert the disc, it will start tracking like mad (i.e. I can hear the disk constantly being accessed in bursts). It is not only a very annoying sound, it heralds what will be a slower game altogether, as all loadings take much longer.

Other than that, the occasional shooting through, rather than around, walls is about it.

Grey Wolf

[Avilan the Grey]

The only bug I have encountered so far (PS3) is that sometimes when I insert the disc, it will start tracking like mad (i.e. I can hear the disk constantly being accessed in bursts). It is not only a very annoying sound, it heralds what will be a slower game altogether, as all loadings take much longer.

Other than that, the occasional shooting through, rather than around, walls is about it.

Grey Wolf

Maybe you need a new disc?

[Zevox]

Zevox is the one with the SHIV bug, and he also experienced the Mind-link Fog-of-War bug.

And just in case KillianHawkeye is unaware, I'm on the 360 version. I've seen everything from minor visual problems to the above-referenced game-breaking Sectoid mind-link bug, so yeah, the 360 version has plenty of bugs to go around.

Zevox

[KillianHawkeye]

I guess I've just been lucky so far.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Maybe you need a new disc?

Possibly. But I've no idea of how to go about it. can I take it to the shop where I bought it and switch it, no questions asked? Is there such thing as warranty for ps3 games?

GW

[Impnemo]

I've launched satellites that never reached orbit (but consumed uplink).


I've had my own troops teleport around to areas off the beaten path. Was in the battleship just past the first big pit room, at the area with the three wide sniper perches. I had my sniper immediately behind the middle perch and had her grapple up. She got flung across the room and wound up standing in air at the highest z-level between the two seperated walk ways. She could not move from or see out of her spot, except grapple allowed her to get on some otherwise non accessible wreckage and from there I was able to grapple back to the map proper.

I've downed UFOs over deep blue ocean and sent teams to fight the survivors on mountainous treeline maps. Some bugs features are more disruptive than others.

[Anarion]

As a word of warning, don't try to use flight armor to land in the inside of a train. I got a soldier stuck inside the ground by doing that on the bomb diffusion map that has the long train splitting it in half.

[turkishproverb]

Favor request: can somebody suggest a naming theme for my next playthrough?

Giantitp forum members!

[Avilan the Grey]

So... Trying to stop myself from save-scumming but not wanting to do Iron Man I am now limiting myself to one save per battle so if I decide to start over I really have to start the entire fight over.

The Random Number God can be very cruel at times... I can see the point of some of the more rabid original fans that say the RNG plays too much of a role in combat here, especially since it seems... less than random at times. This morning I was doing fine until I missed 4 80%+ shots in a row. I then reloaded, and the next time I instead hit 4 40% shots in a row.

There IS a growing suspicion on the official forums that the RNG is wonky.

[Cheesegear]

So far I have no issues with the RNG. I'm a tabletop gamer by nature and I've come to expect missing '95%' shots because that's how 'Random' works.

My issue so far is when dealing with multiple storey levels and trying to click the correct tile I want my guy to go to...Instead of Dashing down two levels and running into Muton Elites like an idiot.

[Avilan the Grey]

So far I have no issues with the RNG. I'm a tabletop gamer by nature and I've come to expect missing '95%' shots because that's how 'Random' works.

My issue so far is when dealing with multiple storey levels and trying to click the correct tile I want my guy to go to...Instead of Dashing down two levels and running into Muton Elites like an idiot.

You have to be really careful, I have noticed. In fact that is the main reason I have started over fights: The moron runs off somewhere where I didn't mean to click.

Also, satelites, FINALLY. Canada, South Africa and Egypt will be so happy.

[Anarion]

So... Trying to stop myself from save-scumming but not wanting to do Iron Man I am now limiting myself to one save per battle so if I decide to start over I really have to start the entire fight over.

The Random Number God can be very cruel at times... I can see the point of some of the more rabid original fans that say the RNG plays too much of a role in combat here, especially since it seems... less than random at times. This morning I was doing fine until I missed 4 80%+ shots in a row. I then reloaded, and the next time I instead hit 4 40% shots in a row.

There IS a growing suspicion on the official forums that the RNG is wonky.

The response to this is that there are ways to stack the RNG in your favor. Grenades do not miss. Rookies should use grenades and you should not be afraid to blow up aliens early on. When your team has plasma weapons and heavy armor, you can get as many weapon fragments as you need. In the opening couple months, it's good to bring a heavy on every mission and have a rocket ready. If you make the hit percentages, then hurray your guys killed the aliens. If you don't, you start flinging grenades and rockets with the last couple guys.

High cover with high cover on both sides of it will (almost) never have LoS to the aliens. It's usually correct if you trigger a group to move back around corners and get them to come to you, advancing slowly and carefully. Once you have squadsight snipers, there's often no reason to end your turn with any soldiers in line of fire to aliens.

My issue so far is when dealing with multiple storey levels and trying to click the correct tile I want my guy to go to...Instead of Dashing down two levels and running into Muton Elites like an idiot.

There's one ship, the abductor I believe, that is horrendous to maneuver around. Best advice is to hold the cursor steady and count 2 seconds out loud before confirming the movement, especially in the main chamber where it's easy to send your guys accidentally vaulting off the side into exposed low ground.

[Avilan the Grey]

The response to this is that there are ways to stack the RNG in your favor. Grenades do not miss. Rookies should use grenades and you should not be afraid to blow up aliens early on. When your team has plasma weapons and heavy armor, you can get as many weapon fragments as you need. In the opening couple months, it's good to bring a heavy on every mission and have a rocket ready. If you make the hit percentages, then hurray your guys killed the aliens. If you don't, you start flinging grenades and rockets with the last couple guys.

High cover with high cover on both sides of it will (almost) never have LoS to the aliens. It's usually correct if you trigger a group to move back around corners and get them to come to you, advancing slowly and carefully. Once you have squadsight snipers, there's often no reason to end your turn with any soldiers in line of fire to aliens.

Thanks for the tips.

I AM getting much better at this, and right now I am that level (early on, of course, and I know it will get worse when floaters are no longer the toughest thing I face) where I usual steamroll everything but occasionally screw up very badly (my fault).

I was already better than 50% of the let's players out there who sprint into the fog of war all the time. My problem is the opposite, I might be overly carefull instead... Which is not very helpful on Normal since the aliens won't automatically search you out before you have spotted them (unlike in Classic, I believe?). At least the "must stop the bomb" episode made me learn very quickly to advance fast.

[Avilan the Grey]

Okay, I am tempted to try my luck at Classic because of the better enemy AI.

I read a strategy someone posted (for CI, so it should be fine for just C as well) where he combined the three ones everyone online recommends:

1. Start in Africa
2. Get five satelites up before the end of month 2
3. Research the armor upgrade first!

with the following two tips, one that seems uneccesary:

4. If you can, kill all enemies on the first mission with one character and get everyone else killed. Rehiring 3 guys give them 2 bonus HP for some reason!
5. Deliberately sacrifice South America! If you cut them loose on purpose (worst bonus powers) from the start, you can quite easily manage all other countries.

...Thoughts?

[RagingKrikkit]

I remember back in the months before launch, everyone was like "Oh, I'm going to South America because it's so useful!" This statement is, in fact, bull. By the time you get around to the mid-late game, you can already to autopsies nearly instantly, and through the game, you will save perhaps 30 days of research. Europe, on the other hand, essentially gives you two labs for the price of one, reducing your research time on ALL projects by 10%. Now, THAT will save you time.

[Anarion]

Okay, I am tempted to try my luck at Classic because of the better enemy AI.

I read a strategy someone posted (for CI, so it should be fine for just C as well) where he combined the three ones everyone online recommends:

1. Start in Africa
2. Get five satelites up before the end of month 2
3. Research the armor upgrade first!

with the following two tips, one that seems uneccesary:

4. If you can, kill all enemies on the first mission with one character and get everyone else killed. Rehiring 3 guys give them 2 bonus HP for some reason!
5. Deliberately sacrifice South America! If you cut them loose on purpose (worst bonus powers) from the start, you can quite easily manage all other countries.

...Thoughts?

I don't see any reason to kill off the starter guys. You can only get one promotion per mission, so it would waste kills, and you can still hire more people for the extra hp anyway, no reason to intentionally kill people off.

And you can feel free to let South America go, but 5 satellites by the end of month 2 usually means you don't need to let any countries go. I've done it a couple times and, as long as you don't fail any missions, you should have 3 satellites and 3 or fewer panicking countries. The terror and council missions bail you out near the end, so make sure not to launch the satellites until the day before the month ends.

[KillianHawkeye]

I remember back in the months before launch, everyone was like "Oh, I'm going to South America because it's so useful!" This statement is, in fact, bull. By the time you get around to the mid-late game, you can already to autopsies nearly instantly, and through the game, you will save perhaps 30 days of research. Europe, on the other hand, essentially gives you two labs for the price of one, reducing your research time on ALL projects by 10%. Now, THAT will save you time.

I tend to agree. South America's bonus is nice if you get it in the early game, but by the time you start seeing Berserkers and Heavy Floaters, autopsies and interrogations don't take much time anymore and you've already done half of them anyway.

[Hiro Protagonest]

I remember back in the months before launch, everyone was like "Oh, I'm going to South America because it's so useful!" This statement is, in fact, bull. By the time you get around to the mid-late game, you can already to autopsies nearly instantly, and through the game, you will save perhaps 30 days of research. Europe, on the other hand, essentially gives you two labs for the price of one, reducing your research time on ALL projects by 10%. Now, THAT will save you time.

Never put your base in South America.

However, South America requires only two satellites to get its bonus. Europe requires four. And while in the long run, Europe will provide more than double the overall benefits, building two satellites and putting them over South America to get that bonus within the first month is really good.

How many aliens are there, and how many can be captured? Lessee... Sectoid, Sectoid Commander, Muton, Muton Elite, Muton Berserker, Thin Man, Floater, Heavy Floater, Cyberdisc, Drone, Chryssalid, Sectopod, Ethereal. That's thirteen (I don't know if Drone has an autopsy, though). I'm not sure if Ethereals can be stunned, but Chryssalids and the three robotic enemies can't, so that's eight or nine interrogations.

That's twenty to twenty two things that can be completed instantly from the start. Sure, they're not long in the late game, but that's still about forty days saved.

[KillianHawkeye]

Never put your base in South America.

You'll have to at least once if you want the achievement for beating the game from every continent.

[LongVin]

Possibly. But I've no idea of how to go about it. can I take it to the shop where I bought it and switch it, no questions asked? Is there such thing as warranty for ps3 games?

GW

Generally yes. Just bring your receipt say the disc doesn't load properly. They'll replace the game for you.

[Avilan the Grey]

You'll have to at least once if you want the achievement for beating the game from every continent.

I am too old to care for achievements... (seriously). For two thirds of my gaming life, they did not exist. Will never care.