The X-COM Topic

2013-06-13 05:30:30 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

I just haven't ever heard of something like that happening. Four Terror Missions in a month is kind of absurd, I don't think that's supposed to happen.

It's possible that it's just one of those things the aliens can do like when they launch a fleet to take a country and it's just gone no matter what you do. But still.

Prime Hunter

Edit history:

Prime Hunter: 2013-06-13 05:32:52 pm

2013-06-13 05:32:13 pm

Yeah I think the most I've ever had before that was two but they've been at the beginning and end of the month. Open XCOM seems to remove that restriction, by the way. I've had terror sites come up at almost any time, not just the ends. Makes them more unpredictable and keeps you on your toes because you can't expect them to be on a tight schedule anymore.

tomatobob

2013-06-13 05:38:15 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

I've only had the one Terror Mission so far cause I've only been playing a little, but it came up mid January which seemed a little weird. Wasn't sure if that was an OpenXCOM thing or normal. It's hard to think straight when you're trying to remember how to play without that XCOMutil setting that lets you start wit ha reasonable amount of scientists. :v

Prime Hunter

2013-06-13 05:41:40 pm

From what I remember I didn't get them in the middle of months that often but it's been happening all of the time with OpenXCOM so it seems like that's their standard now. If I end up having more months like October's 4 I'll let you know.

I didn't even realize there was an option in XCOMUtil that let you do that. I only used it for its various bug fixes and having the game remember inventories between missions. I can imagine how much of a difference that would make since I felt like research took forever in those first few months this time around.

tomatobob

2013-06-13 05:47:24 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

The first time I played Open I actually forgot to start researching anything. And then ponce I remembered forgot to hire more scientists to get those lasers researched in a reasonable time frame. Derp

Prime Hunter

Edit history:

Prime Hunter: 2013-06-14 01:59:42 am

Prime Hunter: 2013-06-14 01:58:43 am

Prime Hunter: 2013-06-14 01:58:27 am

Prime Hunter: 2013-06-14 01:57:57 am

2013-06-14 01:57:42 am

Well, it's not a recording, but this is the result of the first Blaster Bomb used against me in OpenXCOM other than me messing around in the skirmish mode. I believe I have the explosion setting at level 1. It hit on the ground floor right near those two Snakeman after one of their buddies fired it from all the way across 3 hangars stacked at the top of the base.

That used to be a Large Radar System like the one next to it. (Since they actually stack now I had 2 of them.)

tomatobob

2013-06-14 02:11:23 am

One shall stand, one shall ball.

I like those two Snakies just hanging out there like nothing happened.

Well ok the upper one might be dead it's hard to tell. But that other guy appears to give zero fucks.

Prime Hunter

2013-06-14 03:27:33 am

You want to know the best part? I'm pretty sure it was 2 vs 2 before that bomb came flying in. They bombed their own guys to take my 2 soldiers down. And somehow that one snakeman survived anyway.

What's even funnier is when the aliens throw grenades at almost point blank range to try and take out civilians or soldiers and end up taking themselves out instead. I've had that happen a few times now, one of which was in one of the two base defenses I played this last time where my hover plasma parked directly next to a snakeman in one of the hallways between two hangars. Killed itself and didn't even dent the tank.

Prime Hunter

2013-06-14 02:32:51 pm

Just had 3 more terror missions in January: 4th (Floater), 12th (Sectoid), 16th (Sectoid)

I'm beginning to think this is intentional.

tomatobob

2013-06-14 04:53:39 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

I'm scared now. All that reaction fire. Sad

Prime Hunter

2013-06-14 11:17:43 pm

Earth has been saved once again. (April 7, 2000) Aliens were completely massacred once we got to Cydonia, although I did suffer a few casualties before the end of things. Such as killing 3 of my own guys on accident when I blaster bombed a lone Chryssalid and thought the blast wouldn't hit them based on previous shots I had fired inside bases.

I'm 100% convinced that the increase in terror missions is intentional since I had 2-3 in most of the later months, which doesn't even count the terror ships I managed to intercept before they could do so. I dread what that would be like on Superhuman, especially when you factor in the FIVE times they assaulted my main base in Germany over the course of the game.

After seeing what the aliens are capable of now I can also say I would agree that the AI has definitely been improved to an extent. Other than those suicidal grenade throws I mentioned before they were pretty good at knowing which weapon would be most effective against my squad's setup. Add in all of the times they camped or flanked my position and they are certainly better than they used to be. (Or else I don't remember things as well as I thought I did.) Of course, you can still cheese them at times, especially with blaster bombs being MORE devastating thanks to the 3d explosion setting, but I feel like they did more damage across the game than I would've expected from playing on Experienced.

Only ran into a few real bugs throughout the game, so they've done a good job at cleaning up most of the ones that were there in the first place. Game crashed completely on me when I tried to have 4 interceptors take on a supply ship at the same time, and the two times I had hover plasmas die above the Skyranger ramp the game glitched out and made those tiles inaccessible. (Forcing an abort of a terror mission one time since I couldn't get anyone else out of the ship.) Pretty stable otherwise though which is good.

Earth has been saved once again. (April 7, 2000) Aliens were completely massacred once we got to Cydonia, although I did suffer a few casualties before the end of things. Such as killing 3 of my own guys on accident when I blaster bombed a lone Chryssalid and thought the blast wouldn't hit them based on previous shots I had fired inside bases.

I'm 100% convinced that the increase in terror missions is intentional since I had 2-3 in most of the later months, which doesn't even count the terror ships I managed to intercept before they could do so. I dread what that would be like on Superhuman, especially when you factor in the FIVE times they assaulted my main base in Germany over the course of the game.

After seeing what the aliens are capable of now I can also say I would agree that the AI has definitely been improved to an extent. Other than those suicidal grenade throws I mentioned before they were pretty good at knowing which weapon would be most effective against my squad's setup. Add in all of the times they camped or flanked my position and they are certainly better than they used to be. (Or else I don't remember things as well as I thought I did.) Of course, you can still cheese them at times, especially with blaster bombs being MORE devastating thanks to the 3d explosion setting, but I feel like they did more damage across the game than I would've expected from playing on Experienced.

Only ran into a few real bugs throughout the game, so they've done a good job at cleaning up most of the ones that were there in the first place. Game crashed completely on me when I tried to have 4 interceptors take on a supply ship at the same time, and the two times I had hover plasmas die above the Skyranger ramp the game glitched out and made those tiles inaccessible. (Forcing an abort of a terror mission one time since I couldn't get anyone else out of the ship.) Pretty stable otherwise though which is good.

tomatobob

2013-06-14 11:39:01 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

Haha trading three soldiers to blaster bomb a Chryssalid. X-COM: UFO Defense.

tomatobob

2013-06-14 11:41:22 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

Also holy shit five base attacks, what in the world. I don't know if I've had that many in total.

Prime Hunter

2013-06-15 12:25:43 am

Yeah, pretty sure it was five. All from Snakemen if I remember right, and all after assaulting those two alien bases back to back and capturing a Snakeman Commander from the 2nd one based on my posts over the last few days.

It seems like everything in my game changed the moment I did that, too. I took on both bases in the span of a few days at the end of September, and then I had October with the 4 terror missions and those barely let up for the rest of the game. I was almost set to go to Mars when the 5th base attack hit and I lost most of my command staff, including a guy that had survived 11 missions with 22 kills, one of the best M/K ratios I've ever had since I started keeping track of my best soldiers a few years ago. Not that it mattered for Cydonia since I had little resistance, but still disappointing since he went down pretty stupidly as my officers tend to do.

Overall this has to be one of the weirdest games of UFO Defense I've ever played. I had 40+ million in the bank by the end, earning about 12 mil a month from the council despite losing 5 nations (US, Canada, UK, France, and Nigeria I think) and then all of the weirdness with the terror missions and base assaults. Oh yeah, that doesn't count the fact that I lost I think 3 of my secondary bases since I tend to leave those only lightly defended at best most of the time I play. So in reality I had 8 battleships find bases this game!

Yeah, pretty sure it was five. All from Snakemen if I remember right, and all after assaulting those two alien bases back to back and capturing a Snakeman Commander from the 2nd one based on my posts over the last few days.

It seems like everything in my game changed the moment I did that, too. I took on both bases in the span of a few days at the end of September, and then I had October with the 4 terror missions and those barely let up for the rest of the game. I was almost set to go to Mars when the 5th base attack hit and I lost most of my command staff, including a guy that had survived 11 missions with 22 kills, one of the best M/K ratios I've ever had since I started keeping track of my best soldiers a few years ago. Not that it mattered for Cydonia since I had little resistance, but still disappointing since he went down pretty stupidly as my officers tend to do.

Overall this has to be one of the weirdest games of UFO Defense I've ever played. I had 40+ million in the bank by the end, earning about 12 mil a month from the council despite losing 5 nations (US, Canada, UK, France, and Nigeria I think) and then all of the weirdness with the terror missions and base assaults. Oh yeah, that doesn't count the fact that I lost I think 3 of my secondary bases since I tend to leave those only lightly defended at best most of the time I play. So in reality I had 8 battleships find bases this game!

tomatobob

2013-06-15 12:30:52 am

One shall stand, one shall ball.

Did you fill your bases with frogs or something? I hear that'll get ya some Snakemen. Gotta be careful about that sort of thing.

And you always gotta check the engines and wheel wells on the Skyranger before take off, case one of them Snakes crawled up in there. They like to phone home after and that's just all sorts of bad.

Prime Hunter

2013-06-19 07:54:12 pm

Haha, how did I not catch your response until now? Now I've got mental images of animated Snakemen crawling into all sorts of nooks and crannies in order to sneak into my base.

Prime Hunter

2013-08-21 03:56:49 am

Got my copy of The Bureau today. Once I get the chance to play it I'll let you know what I think.

Prime Hunter

Edit history:

Prime Hunter: 2013-08-21 04:17:13 am

Prime Hunter: 2013-08-21 04:16:35 am

2013-08-21 04:16:11 am

Also, the back of the manual has an ad for XCOM: Enemy Within, an expansion for EU coming in November. All it shows is an emblem similar to the new XCOM one but with a skull on it and the words "Bellator In Machina" written at the top. From what I can tell this more or less translates to Warrior in the Machine.

Looking quickly at the 2K XCOM forums I guess there's more news about what's in the expansion pack that's been trickling in over the last few days or so. I'll have to take a closer look later but I think I saw info on a new mech trooper class or something along that line? Cyborgs, maybe? Some people were bringing up Enforcer and it would fit with the patch's translation.

Prime Hunter

2013-08-23 10:27:26 pm

I've been able to play The Bureau for a bit now. Overall I'm having a lot of fun but it's no UFO Defense or Enemy Unknown, as expected.

Best way I can describe it is a mixture of Mass Effect and Gears of War with the XCOM setting and names thrown into the mix. Lots of cover based combat on a straight path through the missions, but divided up into smaller skirmishes. The base functions kind of like the Normandy where you walk around and talk to people and sometimes get smaller side missions to run inside the base or access to minor operations that you can go on between the big story ones.

Battle Focus, that strategy layer you can bring up in battle, is kind of cool though if you use it wisely. Getting you and your squadmates to coordinate a successful attack on a group of aliens or a lone Muton is quite satisfying. Speaking of which, Mutons are absolutely deadly and terrifying to face in this game. Always give me a ton of trouble when I face off against them. But one thing the game does right is the different weapon types. There's a clear difference between the alien laser weapons and conventional 60's gear so unlike most other XCOM games the starting equipment is still useful in certain situations later on, such as using an assault rifle with what I'd assume are armor piercing bullets on a Muton versus a laser that has trouble punching through all of the heavy armor.

If you enjoyed Mass Effect 2's combat system I think you'll be able to handle the way The Bureau handles things. Doesn't have anything like Charge, mind you, but combat and cover are generally the same and there are some interesting tools at your disposal once you and your squad level up. Having a lot more control over them helps too, since despite them not killing anywhere near as many aliens as I do their abilities are invaluable to my play style and I'd never be able to get through battle without them.

I've been able to play The Bureau for a bit now. Overall I'm having a lot of fun but it's no UFO Defense or Enemy Unknown, as expected.

Best way I can describe it is a mixture of Mass Effect and Gears of War with the XCOM setting and names thrown into the mix. Lots of cover based combat on a straight path through the missions, but divided up into smaller skirmishes. The base functions kind of like the Normandy where you walk around and talk to people and sometimes get smaller side missions to run inside the base or access to minor operations that you can go on between the big story ones.

Battle Focus, that strategy layer you can bring up in battle, is kind of cool though if you use it wisely. Getting you and your squadmates to coordinate a successful attack on a group of aliens or a lone Muton is quite satisfying. Speaking of which, Mutons are absolutely deadly and terrifying to face in this game. Always give me a ton of trouble when I face off against them. But one thing the game does right is the different weapon types. There's a clear difference between the alien laser weapons and conventional 60's gear so unlike most other XCOM games the starting equipment is still useful in certain situations later on, such as using an assault rifle with what I'd assume are armor piercing bullets on a Muton versus a laser that has trouble punching through all of the heavy armor.

If you enjoyed Mass Effect 2's combat system I think you'll be able to handle the way The Bureau handles things. Doesn't have anything like Charge, mind you, but combat and cover are generally the same and there are some interesting tools at your disposal once you and your squad level up. Having a lot more control over them helps too, since despite them not killing anywhere near as many aliens as I do their abilities are invaluable to my play style and I'd never be able to get through battle without them.

tomatobob

2013-08-23 10:38:17 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

Man you have no idea what awful things playing a Vanguard in ME2 has done to how I look at third person shooter combat, I was watching Giant Bomb's quicklook for The Bureau the other day and was all "Ohhhhh dude if you charged that guy over there you could fuck some shit up! Doitdoitdoit- Oh wait... Sad

"

How's the framerate been for you? It was chugging hard during that quicklook.

tomatobob

2013-08-23 10:40:09 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

But yeah Enemy Within sounds sort of interesting, don't know if I'll be getting it, but nice to see the game supported anyway.

Prime Hunter

2013-08-23 11:34:20 pm

If there's any issues with the framerate I haven't noticed them. Only real graphical glitch I've come across is when I came around a corner in one mission and various parts of the world started rapidly blinking in and out of existence. Fixed it by exiting out of the game completely and coming back in and haven't seen it happen since so I'm not sure what caused it.

What's more common is having a the dialogue suddenly cut out mid sentence and having complete silence for the rest of the conversation. Thank god for subtitles.

Prime Hunter

2013-08-23 11:36:23 pm

And wow, really? I would've expected you to be all over Enemy Within like I am based on how we both feel about EU. I'll certainly agree though that this is a good thing for XCOM if it means further support for the series in the future.

tomatobob

2013-08-23 11:49:29 pm

One shall stand, one shall ball.

Well as a rule I'm rarely sure if I'm ever actually going to buy a game. It's usually a thing where I stumble into a Gamestop and also happen to feel like buying something at the time. I mean I guess I can just buy shit whenever on Steam but ehhhh. Games are sort of low priority for me when it comes to spending money.

Also have to pick between buying something largely new and something that's actually kind of the same as what I've got with the limited games budget. Most things I want to play end up on my "Will probably end up buying at some point list" and get bought a few years after the fact.

Prime Hunter

2013-08-24 01:00:25 am

Well... this might be a bad time to show you this 15 minute preview of EW I just found. It's loaded with a ton of new goodies and features that should completely change the way tactical battles play out. Didn't really hear anything new about the strategic layer, unfortunately, which is where the game needs things the most. But most of what was shown here looks intriguing to me, such as the new farmland crash site that was desperately missing from EU.

One of the more minor additions that stands out to me is that new Second Wave option regarding flanking. Sounds like that alone could make combat and troop placement a bit more fluid and dynamic, which is always a plus in my mind.