The X-COM Topic

tomatobob

2012-09-12 04:52:16 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

Congrats on getting through the bullshit difficulty, you are a much braver man than I am.

Prime Hunter

Edit history:

Prime Hunter: 2012-09-12 07:06:27 pm

2012-09-12 07:05:35 pm

Had to go through 300 soldiers to do it though... Not sure what to say about that.

The thing is, either there are a lot of people better than I am at X-COM (entirely possible since I make a lot of mistakes - I know I'm not the best ever and I don't claim to be) or else they haven't tried taking on the Cydonia mission without Psionics. After playing through Superhuman I don't know how people can ever call Superhuman easy unless you're completely overpowering the aliens all of the time. Even when I had a pretty good setup I could get completely owned by the AI and the only counters to Psionics I can think of are to screen your troops, bring some Psionics of your own, or just blow everything away with Blaster Launchers IF you get lucky enough with a shot or know where they are hiding.

tomatobob

2012-09-12 07:15:08 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

Psionics does make the game a complete cakewalk, you can mind control and disarm ever single alien on the map while only sending a tank and/or a couple rookies outside the transport. Common practice for Cydonia iirc is to make anyone with less than ~75 PSI Strength an ammo mule/spotter for the Psionics guys.

It's doable without but it doesn't sound fun.

tomatobob

2012-09-21 12:16:59 am

One shall stand, one shall ball.

A video of someone playing the game.

Want.

Prime Hunter

Edit history:

Prime Hunter: 2012-09-21 07:04:07 am

2012-09-21 07:01:45 am

The more I watch people playing the game, whether it is early singleplayer missions or random multiplayer matches, the more I'm convinced Firaxis has done the impossible by recapturing the true X-COM feeling alongside modern game mechanics. I might not agree with every decision they've made, but there's a lot I've come to love about the new one that I'm excited to try out and experience firsthand. October can't come fast enough!

Oh, and speaking of videos, I saw a multiplayer match earlier today that confirms Chryssalids don't automatically turn soldiers into zombies anymore. Their melee attack seems like it'll automatically hit though, since it had 100% chance to hit at point blank range and did a whopping 7 damage to the X-COM soldier on the receiving end. It'll still be deadly if the situation is right, and if you get multiple Chryssalids on you at once you're done for no matter who you are if they always hit you like that. I'll admit I'm a little disappointed in that regard, but I've seen them in action enough times now with these videos that my earlier fears about their effectiveness have essentially been squashed.

Although, now that I think about it that was the first time I've seen a Chryssalid attack something in multiplayer, since they've usually been killed before they get into range most of the time. I doubt they'd disable the main reason Chryssalids are so nasty in multiplayer given how expensive they seem to be compared to most units, but it's got me wondering now.

The more I watch people playing the game, whether it is early singleplayer missions or random multiplayer matches, the more I'm convinced Firaxis has done the impossible by recapturing the true X-COM feeling alongside modern game mechanics. I might not agree with every decision they've made, but there's a lot I've come to love about the new one that I'm excited to try out and experience firsthand. October can't come fast enough!

Oh, and speaking of videos, I saw a multiplayer match earlier today that confirms Chryssalids don't automatically turn soldiers into zombies anymore. Their melee attack seems like it'll automatically hit though, since it had 100% chance to hit at point blank range and did a whopping 7 damage to the X-COM soldier on the receiving end. It'll still be deadly if the situation is right, and if you get multiple Chryssalids on you at once you're done for no matter who you are if they always hit you like that. I'll admit I'm a little disappointed in that regard, but I've seen them in action enough times now with these videos that my earlier fears about their effectiveness have essentially been squashed.

Although, now that I think about it that was the first time I've seen a Chryssalid attack something in multiplayer, since they've usually been killed before they get into range most of the time. I doubt they'd disable the main reason Chryssalids are so nasty in multiplayer given how expensive they seem to be compared to most units, but it's got me wondering now.

tomatobob

2012-09-21 07:07:46 am

One shall stand, one shall ball.

Quote from Prime Hunter:

but I've seen them in action enough times now with these videos that my earlier fears about their effectiveness have essentially been squashed.

This means they do look effective right? I haven't seen too much gameplay outside of the video I just posted and a couple developer demos. Seven damage seems pretty high for this game though so that's good.

I've covered the "get a PC that can run it" step well in advance. Of course I will probably never actually get it cause buying games isn't super high priority for me but knowing I could if the opportunity arose makes me happy. playig no na console would seem incorrect.

Prime Hunter

Edit history:

Prime Hunter: 2012-09-21 07:14:38 am

2012-09-21 07:14:28 am

They're still extremely fast, and every other hit I've seen from them has turned things into zombies, but those were all in singleplayer. On the few Impossible missions I've seen (that same terror mission from the first stream I posted here but with the difficulty ramped up) they were making zombies and scrambling about the map like crazy from what I remember. Having 2-3 Chryssalids swarm the leveled up assault was an awesome sight, and they did end up zombifying him before the player aborted the mission, but I think he was already injured since there were about 6-7 aliens chasing him by that point.

But yeah, I think the first time I saw them when they were on Normal wasn't a good showcase for what the Chryssalds can do. I'll go find that Impossible video again if you want to see it for yourself.

Prime Hunter

Edit history:

Prime Hunter: 2012-09-21 08:02:47 am

Prime Hunter: 2012-09-21 08:02:13 am

Prime Hunter: 2012-09-21 08:01:44 am

Prime Hunter: 2012-09-21 08:01:33 am

Prime Hunter: 2012-09-21 08:01:27 am

Prime Hunter: 2012-09-21 07:59:24 am

Prime Hunter: 2012-09-21 07:58:37 am

Prime Hunter: 2012-09-21 07:58:21 am

Prime Hunter: 2012-09-21 07:57:58 am

2012-09-21 07:57:34 am

Gah, of course the only place I can find that mission is in the middle of 5 hours of footage from the Pax Stream. I doubt you want to look through there, but if you do the mission starts around 2:47:00. Chryssalds don't show up for another 10 minutes or so after that I think it was.

Instead, here's a screenshot of the massacre of that poor Heavy soldier. (Yes, that's NINE aliens swarming him!) After watching that segment again, there's a Chryssalid and a Zombie right next to him, plus 2 more Chryssalids on the left that hit 2 civilians right before this so there would be a total of 5 Chryssalids in that immediate area after another turn or two.

So yeah, on the higher difficulties at least Chryssalids seem to be as nasty as ever. They might need some cover from the other aliens this time, but they can still overwhelm you if you let them live long enough.

Gah, of course the only place I can find that mission is in the middle of 5 hours of footage from the [url=http://www.twitch.tv/2k/b/330728983]Pax Stream.[/url] I doubt you want to look through there, but if you do the mission starts around 2:47:00. Chryssalds don't show up for another 10 minutes or so after that I think it was.

[hidden=Doomed][img]http://m2k2.taigaforum.com/attachment/h82JRJ4lkyQxqrh03qXxn1ljmsY[/img][/hidden]
Instead, here's a screenshot of the massacre of that poor Heavy soldier. (Yes, that's NINE aliens swarming him!) After watching that segment again, there's a Chryssalid and a Zombie right next to him, plus 2 more Chryssalids on the left that hit 2 civilians right before this so there would be a total of 5 Chryssalids in that immediate area after another turn or two.

So yeah, on the higher difficulties at least Chryssalids seem to be as nasty as ever. They might need some cover from the other aliens this time, but they can still overwhelm you if you let them live long enough.

tomatobob

2012-09-21 05:27:10 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

Hahahaha Boned.png.

I guess they could do a lot worse than have Cyberdisc back up.

Prime Hunter

Edit history:

Prime Hunter: 2012-09-21 05:45:03 pm

2012-09-21 05:44:39 pm

Yeah, and who knows what other sorts of aliens they may eventually team up with in the future. If all you ever see on terror missions are the terror units themselves (Sectopods, possibly the Berserker, etc.) that equals pain no matter how you slice it. It'll be Cydonia all over again, but instead it'll happen every time you go to a terror site... yikes!

And apparently my math was off. There would be SIX Chryssalids there, not five. You know, in case that wasn't enough to begin with. laugh new

Poision Envy

2012-09-24 12:31:09 pm

Club 27 Goals

In case you guys haven't seen it already. Downloading the demo now.

attachment:

1348499841514.jpg

tomatobob

2012-09-24 05:18:04 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

Oooohhhhh shit. Bye forever guys gonna play the demo forever.

tomatobob

2012-09-24 08:01:38 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

Ok so the demo's just a couple tutorial missions but guys, it's pretty fucking X-COM, you guys.

You guys, you guys.

X-COM.

Prime Hunter

2012-09-24 10:33:31 pm

It did come out today? How did I miss that?

Poision Envy

2012-09-24 11:34:16 pm

Club 27 Goals

Available: October 9th, 2012

Demo is apparently out

Prime Hunter

Edit history:

Prime Hunter: 2012-09-25 12:21:25 am

2012-09-25 12:20:45 am

I was referring to the demo there, but I guess I wasn't really specific.

Too bad the demo only gave us two missions. I would've preferred at least one more where you would be given full reign of your soldiers from the start, maybe even something a bit later on in the game like the original's demo. (Personal Armor/Lasers vs Chryssalid terror mission at night if I remember correctly. Heck of an intro to X-COM there.) Still, it was worth the wait. Definitely X-COM.

I had to laugh at one point during the 2nd mission where my assault took out a Thin Man through a window. Just as it was falling the one next to it looked up with a startled expression on its face, as if it was confused as to what had just happened. I hope I end up getting moments like that in the full version.

tomatobob

2012-09-25 01:49:27 am

One shall stand, one shall ball.

I definitely would have liked a chance to play around with the base/geoscape and maybe run an interception but it was nice to get a feel for how a modern X-COM would play and see what new tricks Floaters have going. Actually made me nervous there for a bit, Floaters.

Also liked how the super hand hold-y first mission killed three of your four dudes, a good X-COM tutorial.

Prime Hunter

2012-09-25 02:30:22 am

Heh, Floaters making people nervous is not something you hear everyday seeing as they are arguably the easiest of the five core aliens to handle overall in the original. I'd say that's a good sign for the redesigned versions. I think I got lucky the first time around because I had my sniper back on the roof of that first building on overwatch when they first appeared. He managed to connect on what was probably a low percentage reaction shot based on the numbers I got on his next turn. Took one down while they were doing their initial movement after being discovered. Well, 55% sounds amazing when you think of the original game, but it's pretty low compared to what this game offers at times so I count it as a lucky shot.

But wow, turning up the difficulty did wonders for the safety of my squad. Someone found a way to modify one of the configuration files in order to change the difficulty of the demo, so I went back in and tried it again on what should essentially be Classic. Rather than have 1-2 of them injured for a few days like the first time I came out much worse. I lost one guy due to accidentally leaving him one tile short of cover (Crit for 9 from a Thin Man), had 2 others wounded for a few days, but my assault barely survived a shot with 1 HP left and was gravely wounded, meaning she was going to be out for 15 days!

And yet... I'm ok with this. Despite having the same map and alien setup, I took a lot more punishment from the AI as a result. That more than anything else makes me believe that Classic difficulty will be the X-COM experience I'm looking for.

Heh, Floaters making people nervous is not something you hear everyday seeing as they are arguably the easiest of the five core aliens to handle overall in the original. I'd say that's a good sign for the redesigned versions. I think I got lucky the first time around because I had my sniper back on the roof of that first building on overwatch when they first appeared. He managed to connect on what was probably a low percentage reaction shot based on the numbers I got on his next turn. Took one down while they were doing their initial movement after being discovered. Well, 55% sounds amazing when you think of the original game, but it's pretty low compared to what this game offers at times so I count it as a lucky shot.

But wow, turning up the difficulty did wonders for the safety of my squad. Someone found a way to modify one of the configuration files in order to change the difficulty of the demo, so I went back in and tried it again on what should essentially be Classic. Rather than have 1-2 of them injured for a few days like the first time I came out [i]much[/i] worse. I lost one guy due to accidentally leaving him one tile short of cover (Crit for 9 from a Thin Man), had 2 others wounded for a few days, but my assault barely survived a shot with 1 HP left and was gravely wounded, meaning she was going to be out for 15 days!

And yet... I'm ok with this. Despite having the same map and alien setup, I took a lot more punishment from the AI as a result. That more than anything else makes me believe that Classic difficulty will be the X-COM experience I'm looking for.

tomatobob

2012-09-25 02:48:30 am

One shall stand, one shall ball.

In my game one Floater immediatly flew up into the sky and landed right behind my Sniper. She was alone way back on the roof while everyone else was moving up. The hit penalty from being flanked left her with a ~47% hit rate. I was able to run a guy down to save her while she was down to 1 HP but for a moment it was looking like things were gonna go Real Bad. X-COM

Prime Hunter

2012-09-28 01:26:51 am

Classic difficulty seems like it's going to be absolutely brutal if you make even the smallest of mistakes without adapting to the situation that results from said mistakes. I saw a few videos today of people playing on Classic, one of which was played by Jake himself, and the aliens hold nothing back whatsoever. They were using their abilities and some pretty smart tactics at times and seriously testing the abilities of the players. I need to give Thin Men and Floaters more credit than I have been, because they are downright deadly in the early game based on what I've seen and experienced for myself with the demo.

In one video series I've been following the guy was playing the press build on Classic Ironman and he ended the run with two total party wipes before someone accidentally saved over his file. Cue about 2/3 of the world going into mass hysteria and four nations threatening to leave the council. Given that you automatically lose the game if 8 nations leave this time around, that's going to make any kind of failure become extremely punishing, even more than in the original game.

Classic difficulty seems like it's going to be absolutely brutal if you make even the smallest of mistakes without adapting to the situation that results from said mistakes. I saw a few videos today of people playing on Classic, one of which was played by Jake himself, and the aliens hold nothing back whatsoever. They were using their abilities and some pretty smart tactics at times and seriously testing the abilities of the players. I need to give Thin Men and Floaters more credit than I have been, because they are downright deadly in the early game based on what I've seen and experienced for myself with the demo.

In one video series I've been following the guy was playing the press build on Classic Ironman and he ended the run with two total party wipes before someone accidentally saved over his file. Cue about 2/3 of the world going into mass hysteria and four nations threatening to leave the council. Given that you automatically lose the game if 8 nations leave this time around, that's going to make any kind of failure become extremely punishing, even more than in the original game.

Prime Hunter

Edit history:

Prime Hunter: 2012-10-05 04:46:21 pm

2012-10-05 07:38:50 am

Seriously, game? You're going to have 3 different Floaters suicide bomb me at nearly point blank range with Blaster Bombs while assaulting two different bases back to back? One of which won the 1st base for me but lost a potential Commander capture, while the other took out my 2nd squad just as they were preparing to storm the 1st door leading into the command center!

So now I have no Commander, 1 of the 2 bases still active, and 3/4 of my two squads dead as a result... Hooray!

Edit: Gah! Foiled again by a suicidal Floater, but this time he only took out my tank. Only problem is I had stunned 2 other guys with Blaster Launchers up there so I could've had a Commander yet again only to lose it because all of these trigger happy Floaters I keep finding.

Prime Hunter

2012-10-05 08:42:28 am

Also, here's a launch trailer:

Prime Hunter

2012-10-09 12:44:48 pm

Not long now. Few hours at best before my copy will be arriving in the mail. aiwebs_011

Reviews seem generally positive so far, but I think out of all of the ones I've read this one might be my favorite. I hadn't heard of these guys before they started having articles on EU last month, but I've enjoyed what they've had to say about XCOM in that time.

Quote:

XCOM is more like X-COM than any game save Terror For the Deep has ever been. It unashamedly wears an enormous, pulsing heart for its predecessor and inspiration on its kevlar sleeve: the tech tree, the rogue’s gallery of alien species, the amorality, the accumulating devastation of its environments, the knuckle-chewing tension inherent in each and every gunshot fired. At the same time, it’s a wildly different game – a new take on the same essential concept rather than a straight retread. In these confusing times where nostalgia threatens to overcome the desire for new experiences, I’m entirely glad of that. XCOM is a true 2012 game, not a 1993 game awkwardly wearing 2012 clothing.

Not long now. Few hours at best before my copy will be arriving in the mail. [aiwebs_011]

Reviews seem generally positive so far, but I think out of all of the ones I've read [url=http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/10/08/xcom-review/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rockpapershotgun%2Fsteam+%28Rock%2C+Paper%2C+Shotgun%3A+Steam+RSS%29]this one[/url] might be my favorite. I hadn't heard of these guys before they started having articles on EU last month, but I've enjoyed what they've had to say about XCOM in that time.

[quote]XCOM is more like X-COM than any game save Terror For the Deep has ever been. It unashamedly wears an enormous, pulsing heart for its predecessor and inspiration on its kevlar sleeve: the tech tree, the rogue’s gallery of alien species, the amorality, the accumulating devastation of its environments, the knuckle-chewing tension inherent in each and every gunshot fired. At the same time, it’s a wildly different game – a new take on the same essential concept rather than a straight retread. In these confusing times where nostalgia threatens to overcome the desire for new experiences, I’m entirely glad of that. XCOM is a true 2012 game, not a 1993 game awkwardly wearing 2012 clothing.[/quote]

tomatobob

2012-10-09 07:02:03 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

I'm really glad the game's been so well received. X-COM's a game that can be messed up so easily.

Prime Hunter

Edit history:

Prime Hunter: 2012-10-10 02:30:31 am

Prime Hunter: 2012-10-10 02:29:33 am

2012-10-10 02:29:15 am

I can completely confirm that the X-COM spirit remains intact with EU. I got royally stomped by the game and I'm on my 2nd run already because of how bad I did the first time around. On Classic at least you can't afford to have too many mistakes in a row because I was never able to recover from two terrible missions back to back and everything spiraled out of control extremely quick from there. Practically everybody who hadn't left yet was on the verge of collapse within 3 months and the game terminated me right then and there. Probably had a few more nations pack up and leave when the month turned over seeing as I had already lost 3 or 4 of them.

And I officially hate Thin Men now. They are the worst in the early game, no question. Their poison is more deadly than you'd think, plus they're maneuverable and it feels like they are more accurate than they should be. I've had too many guys fall to them at this point already and I know it's not going to stop there.

But I feel like I'm learning despite my setbacks and stupid rookie mistakes. Already have some memories I can add to my long list of X-COM stories, such as one guy running up a road where I hadn't seen any aliens yet only to encounter about 8-9 Floaters hanging around a truck. Cue me rocketing the truck to take out at least 1/3 of them.

Oh, and you'll love this: Want to know what caused my first death? Friendly fire rocket directly at my feet because I accidentally clicked the wrong button. Was going for Overwatch but ended up clicking on the rocket because I double tapped one of the number keys and the hotkeys had shifted from where my last guy had them.

I can completely confirm that the X-COM spirit remains intact with EU. I got royally stomped by the game and I'm on my 2nd run already because of how bad I did the first time around. On Classic at least you can't afford to have too many mistakes in a row because I was never able to recover from two terrible missions back to back and everything spiraled out of control [i]extremely[/i] quick from there. Practically everybody who hadn't left yet was on the verge of collapse within 3 months and the game terminated me right then and there. Probably had a few more nations pack up and leave when the month turned over seeing as I had already lost 3 or 4 of them.

And I officially hate Thin Men now. They are the worst in the early game, no question. Their poison is more deadly than you'd think, plus they're maneuverable and it feels like they are more accurate than they should be. I've had too many guys fall to them at this point already and I know it's not going to stop there.

But I feel like I'm learning despite my setbacks and stupid rookie mistakes. Already have some memories I can add to my long list of X-COM stories, such as one guy running up a road where I hadn't seen any aliens yet only to encounter about 8-9 Floaters hanging around a truck. Cue me rocketing the truck to take out at least 1/3 of them.

Oh, and you'll love this: Want to know what caused my first death? Friendly fire rocket directly at my feet because I accidentally clicked the wrong button. Was going for Overwatch but ended up clicking on the rocket because I double tapped one of the number keys and the hotkeys had shifted from where my last guy had them.