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

[mistformsquirrl]

Ahh <@.@> I see; that is pretty involved!

[ObadiahtheSlim]

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It seems to me that the aliens are failures of some sort and are goign around trying to find a success. A complete package of psionic and physical strength. The mutons had phyical, but no psionic. Sectoids had psionic but no physical. So they start messing with humans, first limited in scope to test their resolve under pressure. Then they ramp it up once the natives start getting uppity. Then humans get a success. The volunteer is everything they want. The volunteer invades their temple ship and starts shooting it up. They try to reason with him to get him to surrender. They are okay with killing him because he's just the proof of concept prototype.

[RagingKrikkit]

Thank you!

I love the German scientist, she is so believable in her attitude when she cuts open aliens to coldly talks about the.. Interrogation process.

But come on woman, why give me a snark remark about soldiers aggressively shooting down cyberdisks if I cannot even capture the damn thing?!?! You know I risked 2 soldiers lives to bring the disk's life to 3 and than practically meleed the HEAVY WEAPON PLATFORM?!

Dumb broad.

Personally, I prefer Shen. While Vahlen's personality can be summed up in one word ("SCIENCE!"), Shen spends the whole game wondering about the ethical and sociological implications of the things you are doing to defeat the aliens. Plus his little snark about... computer games. Lucky for me, I'm playing the vido game version.

[Brumski]

Is this a bug, or just the RNG screwing with me.

I've psi-tested 15 or 18 soldiers to date, most of them squaddies with 49-52 Will (I have all the training school upgrades), yet I've only got one psionic soldier, which happens to be the very first one that I tested.

My first playthrough I had like 4-5 at this point, and that was without the Will upgrade, not that I'm sure if that effects the chance of psionic ability or not, or just how strong they are with it if they do.

[RagingKrikkit]

I think that soldiers get a random bonus to will at each rank, and being psi grants a flat bonus to this. I've never gotten more than 2 psi troopers in a game, so I'm thinking you were RNG blessed your first time.

[BRC]

Personally, I prefer Shen. While Vahlen's personality can be summed up in one word ("SCIENCE!"), Shen spends the whole game wondering about the ethical and sociological implications of the things you are doing to defeat the aliens. Plus his little snark about... computer games. Lucky for me, I'm playing the vido game version.

Eh, all three characters have rather subdued personalities, though I guess Shen's is the only one with a real personality outside his position in Xcom.
Which works, in my opinion. I can't say I would have minded if the cast was a little more interesting, but it keeps the game focused, and it would have been very easy for those three to get annoying if given an expanded role.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Is this a bug, or just the RNG screwing with me.

I've psi-tested 15 or 18 soldiers to date, most of them squaddies with 49-52 Will (I have all the training school upgrades), yet I've only got one psionic soldier, which happens to be the very first one that I tested.

My first playthrough I had like 4-5 at this point, and that was without the Will upgrade, not that I'm sure if that effects the chance of psionic ability or not, or just how strong they are with it if they do.

The .ini files list "Psi gift chance" as "4". It doesn't say "4 of what", but I'm assuming it's 4%. Another line sets "Psi test limit" as "5", so I'm guessing every soldier is tested up to five times, with a 4% base chance, scaled with the soldier's Will, the default of which is 40. If you test a soldier with a Will of 80, you get an 8% chance, for a total of somewhere around 40% total chance of the soldier having the gift.

Edit: I am probably completely wrong, since the Second Wave difficulty option that makes Psi more rare seems to set gift chance to 8. I've no idea what it all actually means though.

[RagingKrikkit]

I dunno, there seems to be some predetermination, namely that both times I've gone all the way through the game, one of the troops from the first mission (because I don't do the tutorial) ends up psi.

[Reynard]

Eh, all three characters have rather subdued personalities, though I guess Shen's is the only one with a real personality outside his position in Xcom.
Which works, in my opinion. I can't say I would have minded if the cast was a little more interesting, but it keeps the game focused, and it would have been very easy for those three to get annoying if given an expanded role.

I'm not sure know what exactly Military Guy does in the game that the player doesn't do for him, aside from wearing an olive green jumper.

[NEO|Phyte]

People have actually dug into the code and found how the psi stuff works. Don't recall all the details, but it's something like Will/4 chance of being psi, with an increased likelihood if you haven't found someone with the gift yet.

[Sean Mirrsen]

People have actually dug into the code and found how the psi stuff works. Don't recall all the details, but it's something like Will/4 chance of being psi, with an increased likelihood if you haven't found someone with the gift yet.

Ah. I guess that's the meaning of the 4 then. In that case, the "Test limit" means you.. can't have more than 5 Psi troopers at once?

[BRC]

I'm not sure know what exactly Military Guy does in the game that the player doesn't do for him, aside from wearing an olive green jumper.

It's basically just the Jumper and providing some chatter.

[Kudaku]

Just finished this game on Normal and enjoyed it greatly. Brought back a lot of memories from the original X-COM.

Still, I find that the game has some issues. By the time I reached endgame I was quietly hoping for it to end quickly. The actual combat gameplay is interesting if a bit simple, but I found the random missions incredibly repetitive.

Playing X-COM Enemy Unknown feels slightly like playing Total War but not having a "quick resolve" feature, so you have to play out every single minor border flare rebel battle to the bitter end - never mind that your 800 elite knights will crush his single-stack 100 strong peasant rabble. You still get to enjoy a 20-40 minute long excruciatingly slow-moving battle before you can get back to what you were doing.

If I have to clear out one more "Small UFO" filled with floaters and mutons... well, who knows.

Other than that I did actually really enjoy the game. The base layout was interesting, the science tree felt rewarding, the satellite system fun yet incredibly frustrating in that old-school "you better hope you get a cash mission reward early on or you're screwed"-way.

[MCerberus]

I'm not sure know what exactly Military Guy does in the game that the player doesn't do for him, aside from wearing an olive green jumper.

He provides much needed morale support by being Mr. Rogers.

[BRC]

He provides much needed morale support by being Mr. Rogers.

It's a beautiful day in the head-quarters...
Really, the one character that bugged me was the Shadowy Council Guy. First of all, his voice sounded ridiculous.
Secondly, why was he in shadow? Is he worried that the commander of this top-secret, internationally funded military organization might learn his identity, then start calling him during dinner saying "Hey, we need more money to build cool guns. Can you help a brother out?"

[Anarion]

[I]
Secondly, why was he in shadow? Is he worried that the commander of this top-secret, internationally funded military organization might learn his identity, then start calling him during dinner saying "Hey, we need more money to build cool guns. Can you help a brother out?"

I would totally have done that.

[Surrealistik]

Compiled a wishlist of things for future patches/DLC:

http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread...h-DLC-Wishlist

[Sean Mirrsen]

Just finished this game on Normal and enjoyed it greatly. Brought back a lot of memories from the original X-COM.

Still, I find that the game has some issues. By the time I reached endgame I was quietly hoping for it to end quickly. The actual combat gameplay is interesting if a bit simple, but I found the random missions incredibly repetitive.

Playing X-COM Enemy Unknown feels slightly like playing Total War but not having a "quick resolve" feature, so you have to play out every single minor border flare rebel battle to the bitter end - never mind that your 800 elite knights will crush his single-stack 100 strong peasant rabble. You still get to enjoy a 20-40 minute long excruciatingly slow-moving battle before you can get back to what you were doing.

If I have to clear out one more "Small UFO" filled with floaters and mutons... well, who knows.

Other than that I did actually really enjoy the game. The base layout was interesting, the science tree felt rewarding, the satellite system fun yet incredibly frustrating in that old-school "you better hope you get a cash mission reward early on or you're screwed"-way.

Yeah, that's pretty normal on... well, Normal. If you're good enough at the game, you will have a nigh-unkillable squad that rains superheated ionized death on every enemy in sight that isn't an Ethereal or a Sectopod. I had more Light Plasmas by the third month than I knew what to do with. Then I had South Africa request four of them for a bit over one thousand credits. If you're good, Normal will get a little boring towards the end.

On the other hand, Classic is ridiculous. You are pretty much guaranteed to lose one country by the end of the first month. Chances that having satellite coverage will reduce panic levels in a country are halved. You have less resources, less power, need to pay more for everything - coupled with significantly harder combat, it's quite a bit less enjoyable at the start. But in the long term, it will keep the challenge up, because you will lose your best men. And you will need to train up rookies, who can't be taken to clear out anything bigger than a Scout without their survival rates dropping too low. So you'll actually be glad to see those Small Scouts for a change. ^_^

[BRC]

I would totally have done that.

The Scene: The Council Rep sits down to dinner with his family.
Son: Dad,I got an A on my math test!
Rep: Hello, Son. We are Very Pleased with your progress. You have exceeded our expectations, and that is not something this family-
*Phone Rings*
Daughter: Dad, it's for you.
Rep: Keep Eating. I hope you can handle this matter *Points to dinner* with...digestion.
Rep: Hello Commander.
Commander: Hey Frank! Alright, listen, Dr. Shen just told me this one. How many Rookies does i take to change a lightbulb.
Rep: Commander, if you have-
Commander: Six! One to stand there twistig the air six feet away, three to panic and shoot each other, One to call for backup, and one to carry the gerbil.
Rep: ...Gerbil?
Commander: You know? because of thing on Operation Bloody Jester?
Rep:...
Commander: I guess you had to be there. Anyway, listen, so I just got word that China is being whiny.
Rep: Well, after the incident in Shanghai...
Commander: Well blame France for that. Shen had been bugging me for some more engineers, and France was like "Hey, Engineers".
Rep: Commander, this isn't the best time.
Commander: The point is, I need some cash to build a Sat so the Chinese will calm the f**k down.
Rep: We have already given you a significant-
Commander: Come OOONNNN Frank. Just a little bit more?
Rep: Good Evening, Commander.
Commander: DON'T LEAVE ME HANGING LIKE THIS FRANK!
Wife: Frank, come back to dinner. Johnny was telling us how the new substitute teacher unhinged his jaw and spit some sort of poisonous cloud.
Commander: Look Dude, I just need another hundred. Shen says he can build Robots now! ROBOTS!
Rep: *Hangs Up*

[Brumski]

People have actually dug into the code and found how the psi stuff works. Don't recall all the details, but it's something like Will/4 chance of being psi, with an increased likelihood if you haven't found someone with the gift yet.

Hmmm, so you would want to level your soldiers up, (with the will boost active) before you test them to maximize chances, since it sounds like it's not a pre-ordained kinda thing.

[MCerberus]

It's a beautiful day in the head-quarters...

An episode where King Friday learns a lesson after sending 5 rookies and a sergeant to their deaths would be appropriate.

[Anarion]

On the other hand, Classic is ridiculous. You are pretty much guaranteed to lose one country by the end of the first month.

This isn't true, at least anecdotally. I've run several classic ironman games, including my ongoing ponythread one and haven't lost a country in the first month ever. And the only reason I lost a country in the ponythread game is because I failed a terror mission, otherwise I'd still have the whole world.

Classic demands that you prioritize satellite infrastructure first and foremost, and even with very bad luck you can do one satellite the first month, followed by 3 each month subsequently and either 4 or 6 on the 4th month (depending on whether you can build a satellite nexus).

[DaedalusMkV]

Hmmm, so you would want to level your soldiers up, (with the will boost active) before you test them to maximize chances, since it sounds like it's not a pre-ordained kinda thing.

Phaugh! That's not how X-com works! Hire recruits en masse and stick them in the brain-tanks. If they're psychic, they get to stay, get some Powered Armour slapped on and told to go fry some Xenos brains. If they aren't, fire them and hire a new one, or just use them as disposable cannon-fodder on the next mission. Recruits are cheap, training is risky. No need to waste your time on a recruit without the proper potential.


Also, there's definitely not a cap of 5 psychic soldiers. I had managed to accumulate 7 using the above method on my Normal playthrough, in an effort to have a full team of Psychic Colonels in every role. I gave up before I got them all trained up (or found my Psychic Sniper), but 7 is still more than 5.

[Anarion]

Phaugh! That's not how X-com works! Hire recruits en masse and stick them in the brain-tanks. If they're psychic, they get to stay, get some Powered Armour slapped on and told to go fry some Xenos brains. If they aren't, fire them and hire a new one, or just use them as disposable cannon-fodder on the next mission. Recruits are cheap, training is risky. No need to waste your time on a recruit without the proper potential.

Yes! This is how you play X-com. Once the psychic powers are up, anyone that isn't a combat god and doesn't have the ability to mind control aliens for you is fired! In every possible context of the word fired.

Also, there's definitely not a cap of 5 psychic soldiers. I had managed to accumulate 7 using the above method on my Normal playthrough, in an effort to have a full team of Psychic Colonels in every role. I gave up before I got them all trained up (or found my Psychic Sniper), but 7 is still more than 5.

I had 6, so I agree there's no cap on total soldiers. I did notice a drop off in my testing rate though. My first three psychics were found about 1 out of 3 (got one positive in each set of tests), but after that it dropped closer to 1/9, so from anecdotal evidence I did see a reduction in rate of psychic discovery as I acquired more psychic troops.

[Beacon of Chaos]

The Scene: The Council Rep sits down to dinner with his family...
-snip-

This was hilarious!


So, I started my first classic run. Oh my Glob, you guys weren't kidding. This is HARD. I got through my first month without losing any countries, but boy did I ever leave them terrified. I've had a few casualties, mostly rookies, but sadly lost Sg. Marceline Queen during an abduction mission (flanked by floaters. What a way to go.) though luckily Sg. Simon Petrikov was there to avenge her (earning a nickname in the process: "Ice King").

Yeah, it's Adventure Time themed.

So remaining on my team are Heavy Jake The Dog (nicknamed Disco, for reasons unknown), Support Princess Bubblegum (whose nick escapes me at the moment, Snipers Simon Petrikov and Peppermint Butler, and Assault Lady Rainicorn. I've yet to find a Finn, but that's only because I haven't gotten any male assaults yet.

All of the above were wiped out in my first terror mission, which I've decided to redo, because I'm sure I can do better. I just need to try and eliminate those Crysalids quicker, before those friggin' zombies get out of control.

I'm having fun though.

[Cikomyr]

Oh yhea. My team just aced themselves.

Due to a strange set of circumstances, I never got around capturing a live Sectoid before. I got Muton, Floater, Thin Men... but no lil' buddies.

I down a small scout, and I deploy effectively. My two snipers on overwatch while my guys go forward... When I stumble a trio of Sectoids!! NEAT!

Oh damn, why, Sniper.. why did you had to be so badass?! Both of them get a reaction shot and kills a Sectoid. There is only one lone survivor who is running for his life.

I get my fastest buddy on the Capture objective; my Cnl Support. He's got 2 assault and 1 heavy deployed nearby...

However, I rush WAY too quickly, and get a sight on... Wait, what's that Red Muton..?

BERSERKER?

Said Berserker charges Mr Support and whallop him for 3/4 of his life. Damn.. Support could rush in to knock out Sectoid, but that's a BERSERKER. You won't have that much opportunities to capture one..

Ah-ha!

- Sniper 1: Heatshot. Berserker gets closer to him.
- Assault 1: Shoots at Berserker, who gets closer to him.
- Heavy: Shoot at Berserker, reducing him to 1 life. Berserker gets into close range to...
- Assault 2: Gets close and zap Berserker. Success!
- Support: Do your job, get close and zap Sectoid. Success! Wait, oh no. WHY did you had to awaken the ship's Outsider?!
- Sniper 2: Hey, you can shoot the ship's Outsider. Kill.
- Sniper 1: Ohhhh.. that's right... you have double-tap... Well, give a shot trying to bring down that last muton. You won't kill him, but that will surely hurt... oh, critical hit. Kill. That's nice.


Victory mission!! Damn I love squad tactics. It's like chess, but with machineguns and snipers!

[BRC]

Am I the only one who was never really scared of Muton Berserkers? I mean, they were damage sponges sure, but their Aggression mechanic made them easy to exploit, especially if you had an Assault with Close-Quarters Combat (The Auto-overwatch if an enemy gets within four spaces) between the 'Serker and the Shooter

[MCerberus]

Am I the only one who was never really scared of Muton Berserkers? I mean, they were damage sponges sure, but their Aggression mechanic made them easy to exploit, especially if you had an Assault with Close-Quarters Combat (The Auto-overwatch if an enemy gets within four spaces) between the 'Serker and the Shooter

Step 1. Sniper
Step 2. Oh look, angry guy has a shotgun

[Tengu_temp]

I'm not sure know what exactly Military Guy does in the game that the player doesn't do for him, aside from wearing an olive green jumper.

I'd respond with "send your soldiers to death by giving them stupid orders", but most players do that on their own too.

[Gamerlord]

Am I the only one who was never really scared of Muton Berserkers? I mean, they were damage sponges sure, but their Aggression mechanic made them easy to exploit, especially if you had an Assault with Close-Quarters Combat (The Auto-overwatch if an enemy gets within four spaces) between the 'Serker and the Shooter

I never lost a single soldier to a Berserker, and my soldiers pretty much just played Pinball whenever one of them showed up. In fact, First Contact with one of the xenos was also a live capture! However, I had a very Sniper-heavy play style on my first playthrough (Usually had three snipers, and one each of the other classes) so that usually made the job easier.