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Wales Grey posted:Does Mayhem make a heavy's Blaster Bombs/Alien Grenades do more damage than their conventional counterparts? Yup
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May 16, 2013 15:43
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Wales Grey posted:Does Mayhem make a heavy's Blaster Bombs/Alien Grenades do more damage than their conventional counterparts? Blaster Bombs yes, but I don't think it adds anything to Alien Grenades.
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May 16, 2013 16:14
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Muscle Tracer posted:Is he playing with randomized council mission rewards? It's reliant on getting that Engineer-based council reward and the worskshop up in time. Nope. In fact he just found out about Second Wave options this week. Orgophlax posted:If he only has 9, he didn't build a workshop after the first abduction mission. The workshop adds 5 more. I'll ask him and make sure he did this. Thanks.
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May 16, 2013 16:16
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Elephant Ambush posted:Nope. In fact he just found out about Second Wave options this week.
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May 16, 2013 16:33
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Orgophlax posted:Also, you don't need to wait until the uplink is built to build the satellites. You can have 4 sats in progress while the uplink is being built. The uplink is only needed to actually launch them, not build them. In fact, you can't wait. The satellites take 20 days to build and the uplink takes 14, so there's no way unless you start the satellites first.
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May 16, 2013 16:43
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ulmont posted:In fact, you can't wait. The satellites take 20 days to build and the uplink takes 14, so there's no way unless you start the satellites first. Right. I'm merely mentioning it in case his friend was confused on the build order. I know when I first started playing I thought I had to wait. Once I realized they could build at the same time, it made the Geoscape much much easier.
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May 16, 2013 16:47
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Orgophlax posted:Right. I'm merely mentioning it in case his friend was confused on the build order. I know when I first started playing I thought I had to wait. Once I realized they could build at the same time, it made the Geoscape much much easier. Yeah, this is a pretty important part of the geoscape. That said, you should wait until you get your first batch of engineers from the first abduction mission before starting any satellites, because the discount is significant. Cost drops from 100 -> 77 I believe.
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May 16, 2013 16:58
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In my current game I started the satellites 20.5 days before the report. I did this before and got the council report before I got the 'satellites built' screen. Is there any way to prevent this, or anything?
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May 16, 2013 17:27
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redreader posted:In my current game I started the satellites 20.5 days before the report. I did this before and got the council report before I got the 'satellites built' screen. Is there any way to prevent this, or anything? EDIT: I don't know if the counsel report shows up at a certain time of the last day of the month, but you basically start the satellites at 21 days left so the satellites will definitely be done in time. There's no reason to push it as close as possible. The only reason you're holding off is so you don't get a random mission between launching them and the counsel report. A 1 day span is pretty safe. Orgophlax fucked around with this message at 18:08 on May 16, 2013 |
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May 16, 2013 18:05
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Playing with New Economy makes for an interesting experience. I chose to start in Europe, since I still need it for the Continental Fellow achievement, and lo and behold no country in Europe gives more than 70 credits to X-COM. Australia, on the other hand, gives 190, followed by China at 180.
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May 16, 2013 18:58
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Andre Banzai posted:I certainly agree with you and, actually, that can happen even if you win. In my headcanon the hivemind's quest to find the perfect species is continuously and tragironically thwarted by their own heavy handed and callous methods rather than any failings inherent to the species they encounter. In my hypothetical post-bad-end game, the hivemind, simultaneously frustrated and fascinated (I like to believe that the alien attitude to Xcom is equal parts "jesusdamnitfuck!" and "let's see where they're going with this...") by Xcom's ability to reliably thwart its efforts on the ground, uses its domination of the Council/Optimus Prime to find Xcom's base and destroy it/capture many of Xcom's personnel (ironically destroying their best chance to find Gifted humans on Earth in the process). While there may be survivors of this who continue to resist the hivemind's efforts, the hivemind's growing power over all Earth governments means that the efforts of these scattered survivors is ultimately doomed. Meanwhile, with no organized resistance to their efforts by the governments of Earth, the aliens can switch back to plan "abduct and conduct tests on all humans indiscriminately" without even having to do it marginally in secret. Their methods being deeply flawed however means that the hivemind never manages to unlock humanity's full potential and are "forced" to radically alter them to create another serviceable yet "flawed" servant race (like super-sectoids or something). It would all be rather sad if they weren't such massive assholes.
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May 16, 2013 19:03
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Orgophlax posted:Right. I'm merely mentioning it in case his friend was confused on the build order. I know when I first started playing I thought I had to wait. Once I realized they could build at the same time, it made the Geoscape much much easier. Yeah it turns out that his Workshop was still in the process of being built and he didn't realize that you get more engineers once it's completed. He should be good if he gets another mission before the 17th and gets enough stuff to sell. edit for question of my own: I've never played Impossible. My first game was Normal/Ironman and everythign after that has been Classic/Ironman. Despite watching and studying Beagle videos, I still lose guys more often than I think I should and I'm wondering if I need a tactical change. I try to do what Beagle does in terms of using only full cover or concealment. I regard half cover as no cover at all unless I am absolutely desperate and need to Hunker Down. I try to abuse Hunker Down as much as I can and set up overwatch traps but I find that I end up in stalemates with the aliens a lot. They'll just sit there on overwatch instead of trying to flank me. If I try to pull back to lure them out they'll just stay still and not advance. So now I'm starting to think that I should try flanking more, but Beagle's videos have also taught me to be absolutely terrified of activating more packs of aliens, so I almost never go for flanks unless I know it's 100% safe. This means that I don't flank a lot. So my question is: What do you I/I players do in situations like that? Do you risk the flank or do you have some other method of tricking the AI into making a mistake that you can exploit? Elephant Ambush fucked around with this message at 19:16 on May 16, 2013 |
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May 16, 2013 19:05
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Ernie Muppari posted:In my headcanon the hivemind's quest to find the perfect species is continuously and tragironically thwarted by their own heavy handed and callous methods rather than any failings inherent to the species they encounter. That's actually very funny and poetic.
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May 16, 2013 19:11
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Cythereal posted:Playing with New Economy makes for an interesting experience. I chose to start in Europe, since I still need it for the Continental Fellow achievement, and lo and behold no country in Europe gives more than 70 credits to X-COM. Australia, on the other hand, gives 190, followed by China at 180. This actually works out for the better for you in the end. Since you cannot lose the bonus you get for Europe (because you started there), you can focus your satellites on Asia and get that sweet, sweet monies, while not losing all that much if you lose a European country.
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May 16, 2013 19:12
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I'm actually hoping we get a full Firaxis style expansion like Beyond the Sword or Gods and Kings, which is to say it doesn't necessarily continue the story or whatever, but expands, rebalances, and refines the entire game. So lots more maps, a slightly easier start, harder late game, more aliens, general polish and tweaks, etc etc.
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May 16, 2013 19:16
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Fintilgin posted:I'm actually hoping we get a full Firaxis style expansion like Beyond the Sword or Gods and Kings, which is to say it doesn't necessarily continue the story or whatever, but expands, rebalances, and refines the entire game. So lots more maps, a slightly easier start, harder late game, more aliens, general polish and tweaks, etc etc. I'm actually hoping for a difficulty between Classic and Impossible. Impossible seems unrealistic (a sectoid surviving a grenade?!) so I just tweak my Classic Ironmans with some Second Wave options. But you know what else I'd like to see, along with more maps, tweaks and bug fixes? Cydonia. Complete with a 2-level mission in which choosing helmets is mandatory and very weird, alien vegetation is some areas of the map. Oh yeah, and you know what? I'd also love the return of post-autopsy pictures of the findings for the Ufopaedia.
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May 16, 2013 19:27
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I wish New Economy was a monthly variable. It'd be really cool even if it was a variable with the default funding values essentially being the "unmodified" amount you could get from each country before the New Economy bonus/penalty was applied. It would synergize with Results Driven and War Weariness and could make for some really interesting funding situations.
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May 16, 2013 19:29
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So I've been loving the crap out of the game even if only playing normal and savescuming. One thing I was wondering if you never research a plot trigger, can you essentially just built yourself up without worrying about the game dumping some painful, stop dicking around, ramping up of attack? I mean you still have to deal with the abductions (I forget what triggers terror missions)? If so I might give iron man a try. Honestly considering how little free time I have, perhaps iron man is a better choice than restarts due to my guys getting killed.
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May 16, 2013 19:38
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I'm really hoping for a new Terror From The Deep, myself. Say, have it open with an alien attack on X-COM HQ as the mandatory first mission. The aliens do so much damage that HQ has to be abandoned, and many of X-COM's most advanced toys - say, anything more advanced than lasers and carapace - are lost in the attack, and X-COM has to be rebuilt to fight this new adversary. For the base, invert the ant farm. X-COM's new HQ is on the bottom of the ocean, so you have to build *up*, constructing new habitation modules for facilities rather than excavating. Maybe start on the defensive, responding to alien attacks on coastal areas - ports, ships, oil rigs, beach resorts, etc. You have to conduct research to modify your equipment to work underwater, then you have to start leaving the comfortable land parts of the game and go underwater, into the aliens' environment where you're initially at a clear disadvantage until you can start reverse-engineering their tech.
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May 16, 2013 19:39
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gfanikf posted:So I've been loving the crap out of the game even if only playing normal and savescuming. One thing I was wondering if you never research a plot trigger, can you essentially just built yourself up without worrying about the game dumping some painful, stop dicking around, ramping up of attack? I mean you still have to deal with the abductions (I forget what triggers terror missions)? If so I might give iron man a try. Honestly considering how little free time I have, perhaps iron man is a better choice than restarts due to my guys getting killed. The only alien development that the story mission affects is what the ufo commanders are. You start off with outsiders and get two more variants as the story progresses.
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May 16, 2013 19:43
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FoolyCharged posted:The only alien development that the story mission affects is what the ufo commanders are. You start off with outsiders and get two more variants as the story progresses. But does the game ever try and punish you say for not wanting to assualt the alien base and just build up research and tech first?
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May 16, 2013 19:44
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gfanikf posted:But does the game ever try and punish you say for not wanting to assualt the alien base and just build up research and tech first? Panic can become unmanageable, especially on impossible. EDIT: Although once you do the base, it resets to 1.
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May 16, 2013 19:45
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gfanikf posted:But does the game ever try and punish you say for not wanting to assualt the alien base and just build up research and tech first? It doesn't "punish" you, but it will continue to ramp up soldiers at the same rate whether you delay plot points or not. If you put it off long enough, it's entirely possible to take a titan'd out squad of plasma colonels into the alien base. I'm assuming it's also possible for units like the Muton Elite and Sectopod to start showing up, although I've never put it off that long myself.
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May 16, 2013 19:48
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gfanikf posted:But does the game ever try and punish you say for not wanting to assualt the alien base and just build up research and tech first? Nothing more you would be punished for playing badly. All the Alien Base is is a checkpoint and a reset button for panic.
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May 16, 2013 19:49
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Good point, I just can't figure out what is a good base level of here is the tech, gear, and guns you should have first. I guess part of the problem is figuring out the best research patterns and coping with it being slow when not choosing Europe.
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May 16, 2013 19:52
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The aliens follow the same build up every game but, given that when abduction missions go away panic becomes a non issue, never to the point of being a problem. You can sit around long enough build a full three teams of psionics if you felt like it. That said, a lot of the mission variety comes from said abduction missions, as the larger ufo's are basically one map with different breach points because the entire map is more or less the ship.
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May 16, 2013 19:52
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Orgophlax posted:Do it with 21 days showing? yeah I only ever realise it's 20.5 days when I do it. I don't plan to do it that late.
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May 16, 2013 19:53
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The alien base is also a treasure trove of loot and signals the appearance of sectoid commanders, which in turn means psionics. So you can't tech up all the way prior to the base - you need to build a psi lab, hyperwave decoder, and gollop chamber, which are all dependent on progressing the plot. For the alien base, I consider lasers mandatory. If you can get carapace, better, but if not, live with it. On the higher difficulties, the alien base is a welcome breather for global panic.
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May 16, 2013 19:54
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gfanikf posted:Good point, I just can't figure out what is a good base level of here is the tech, gear, and guns you should have first. I guess part of the problem is figuring out the best research patterns and coping with it being slow when not choosing Europe. Lasers and carapace at least. Plasma if you want, but by then your panic is usually pretty lovely.
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May 16, 2013 19:59
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FoolyCharged posted:The aliens follow the same build up every game but, given that when abduction missions go away panic becomes a non issue, never to the point of being a problem. You can sit around long enough build a full three teams of psionics if you felt like it. That said, a lot of the mission variety comes from said abduction missions, as the larger ufo's are basically one map with different breach points because the entire map is more or less the ship. Partially why the late game is sort of boring. Not a whole lot of variation since you will be primarily assaulting battle and supply ships.
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May 16, 2013 19:59
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Brainamp posted:Lasers and carapace at least. Plasma if you want, but by then your panic is usually pretty lovely. Cool I guess I was actually decently build up enough anyway.
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May 16, 2013 20:08
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SirDrinksAlot posted:I just had the weirdest bug on a shot down supply barge. Some of my higher level people were in the sick bay so I thought I could make do with a few capts and squaddies. In the beginning I got absolutely destroyed because all of the enemies on the map spawned right ontop of me, so I had Chrissalyds, heavy floaters, muton elites, berserkers, mutons, cyber disc, and a sectopod all on me at once. One of my assaults who was ghosted panicked when my entire team got killed. When he came out of panic he was still cloaked, and remained cloaked even while attacking. So I went through the whole map and stuck an alloy cannon in the face of each one of those god drat aliens and pulled the trigger. This also happens sometimes if you load a save where a soldier is cloaked.
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May 16, 2013 21:54
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I'd like it if the next update gave you the ability to check out the autopsy'd aliens and their organs, all nice and hanging out. (Although it still irks me after researching Alien Biology that there are schematics for Thin men on the screen regardless of whether or not you encountered them by the time you triggered that cutscene)
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May 16, 2013 22:57
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Sloober posted:Partially why the late game is sort of boring. Not a whole lot of variation since you will be primarily assaulting battle and supply ships. I never have more than 5 uplinks, that way I leave one country uncovered. Yes, it's inefficient, but at that point money means nothing, and I'd rather have the option of getting some abduction missions and hopefully some Major rewards.
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May 16, 2013 23:21
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I apologize if this has already been discussed, but what do you guys think of Zemalf's Ironman/Impossible Let's Play? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-EXKoFOdtk I spent the entire last weekend watching this and I think it's helped me tremendously. This guy plays very slowly and deliberately, and explains everything he does, and he absolutely crushes it.
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May 16, 2013 23:55
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The thread generally has a collective hard-on for Beaglerush for the same reasons. He's deliberate, clearly explains things, and is pretty entertaining. Not trying to box anyone's ears over it, I am included in the hard-on brigade. I'll probably watch Zemalf too, just to see what's up.
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May 17, 2013 00:01
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Watching Beaglerush now, this is great.
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May 17, 2013 00:20
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So after playing around more with a focus on getting laser weapons quickly it feels a lot more easier to get a hold on things...killing things...and finding panic and money being managed a lot easier. I just wish I could get research faster like in the tutorial, but I figure launching more satellites will fix that.
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May 17, 2013 01:07
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gfanikf posted:So after playing around more with a focus on getting laser weapons quickly it feels a lot more easier to get a hold on things...killing things...and finding panic and money being managed a lot easier. I just wish I could get research faster like in the tutorial, but I figure launching more satellites will fix that. It'll fix it in that you'll probably get more scientists as month-end bonuses, but it's not going to make a significant difference in your research speed in the first couple of months. If you want a big boost there, you'll have to invest in some laboratories.
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May 17, 2013 01:10
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Wasn't intending to make that a speedrun, but I completed my fastest game ever in number of days. Won at an even 200 days.
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May 17, 2013 01:22
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