Pissed about an X-Com FPS? Firaxis hears ya...

[calapine]

So you enjoy watching people fail? I don't think it's hyperbole to say you're a horrible human being.

[Amaron]

I'm heavily disappointed with the interface but it doesn't get in the way.  Why can I zoom by holding down the mousewheel instead of using it for instance?  Functionally it works but it's still retarded.

[lamaros]

I'm heavily disappointed with the interface but it doesn't get in the way.  Why can I zoom by holding down the mousewheel instead of using it for instance?  Functionally it works but it's still retarded.

Can't you rebind the keys??


Also I just got told I get backfilled a Civ 5 copy, on the 12th.

Seeing how calapine was nice enough to give me a spare, I figure I should give out this spare to someone here on f13. Let me know if you're interested.

[Merusk]

There *are* key rebinds but I didn't explore them this morning to know if you can rebind zoom functions.  I've been using G & T for the in & out, which are the defaults but unintuitive.

Played through the tutorial this morning - good lord it's long.  I see others recommend restarting w/o it so I might do that tonight.  Took a bullshit loss by a thin man firing long-range into partial cover in the tutorial rescue mission, but I was only upset because it was the first soldier I'd customized.  I should know better than to do that with squaddies.   Played through the crash mission with zero losses and my HW from the tutorial and sniper both hit Sergent.   Wow are snipers OP on the outdoor maps.  Give them squad sight and their kill count just skyrockets.  

Got in to my first real mission right before I left for work.  So much fun.  

ed:   Just finished reading the ars review.  I disagree with the UI complaints, but the UI is definitely snapper than it was in the demo.  Not sure I see what they mean about "oversimplified" base building yet, either.  Seems to be pretty much the same as before, with the exception that you have to build a lift on every level.  As I noted earlier, bases were pretty set in stone in the original.  At least here there's added depth with adjacency of rooms.

Also- the 1st armor upgrade forces a choice between it or a grenade.  That's a hell of a wrenching decision, with grenades being so incredibly useful. 

[Murgos]

Baby woke up at 11:50, I thought, "Good timing".  I would rock her back to sleep and I would get to play for an hour or so until it was time to feed her at 1.  Sadly, by the time everything was unpacked I only got through the first tutorial mission before she was up again and hungry.  I hope tonight I can get a few hours in between bedtime and the 1 am feeding.

The game seemed snappier though, none of the stuttering or slowdown I had noticed with the demo on my system.

[lamaros]

There *are* key rebinds but I didn't explore them this morning to know if you can rebind zoom functions.  I've been using G & T for the in & out, which are the defaults but unintuitive.

Played through the tutorial this morning - good lord it's long.  I see others recommend restarting w/o it so I might do that tonight.  Took a bullshit loss by a thin man firing long-range into partial cover in the tutorial rescue mission, but I was only upset because it was the first soldier I'd customized.  I should know better than to do that with squaddies.   Played through the crash mission with zero losses and my HW from the tutorial and sniper both hit Sergent.   Wow are snipers OP on the outdoor maps.  Give them squad sight and their kill count just skyrockets.  

Got in to my first real mission right before I left for work.  So much fun.  

ed:   Just finished reading the ars review.  I disagree with the UI complaints, but the UI is definitely snapper than it was in the demo.  Not sure I see what they mean about "oversimplified" base building yet, either.  Seems to be pretty much the same as before, with the exception that you have to build a lift on every level.  As I noted earlier, bases were pretty set in stone in the original.  At least here there's added depth with adjacency of rooms.

Also- the 1st armor upgrade forces a choice between it or a grenade.  That's a hell of a wrenching decision, with grenades being so incredibly useful. 

I'd never take the armor upgrade over a grenade on a rookie... and still prob not take it on any others. On the harder difficulties the grenades are even more vital in my view.

Scopes however: awesome.

[Amaron]

Can't you rebind the keys??

You can apparently.  For some reason they chose to use mouseup/down for changing levels.  That's really just 1 thing out of 100's though.  The interface is functional just unpleasant.  The loadout screen for instance is a bunch of excessive clicking, instead of the simple drag and drop every PC game uses.

They did a better job than BL2 though, so it's not like they failed completely.

[Merusk]

I'd never take the armor upgrade over a grenade on a rookie... and still prob not take it on any others. On the harder difficulties the grenades are even more vital in my view.

Scopes however: awesome.

I only put it on my sniper so far.  She's kept out of the fray enough that she'll never be in grenade range if I'm doing things right.  I did debate it heavily on my Heavy Weapons guy, though. In the end I decided high explosives are the better survivability loadout.   Haven't seen scopes yet, sounds nice.   I now have visions of my Sniper w/ Squad Sight + a scope taking a headshot on a supressed alien. Buahaha.

[Zetleft]

Restarted after the tutorial and played around with ironman classic.  Was doing great after losing a rookie on each the first two missions I did the next 4 with no casualties, just a few wounded.  Makes some mistakes with base construction and not having enough engineers to make any of the things I was researching but all in all was doing ok.  Once I got to my first terror mission the wheels fell way the hell off.... half the squad got zombied and the rest were easy pickings after that.  After I get some sleep it will be time for a restart.  Maybe not ironman it afterall.

And yes sniper with scope and squad sight is amazing, guy had 15 kills before that disaster at the last mission. 

[Big Gulp]

Restarted after the tutorial and played around with ironman classic. 

Same here.  I have a bad habit of reloading when things don't go my way, so it's nice not even having the option.  I've had 3 guys killed so far, and many, many wounded.  Unfortunately my squaddie sniper got killed before he could make corporal, so I'm without a sniper and have yet to see what squad sight can do for me.  Can't fucking wait.

[Furiously]

My money problems tell me I'm doing something wrong.

[Ironwood]

Me too.  I can't afford all these fucking new games.

[Hawkbit]

If someone comes across a legit review (or has one of their own) regarding the PC vs. PS3 versions, please let me know.  This really looks like a game I want to play from the couch on my PS3, but all the reviews so far have been for PC. 

[kildorn]

I lost all my progress to a UI bug that locked me out of even the menus while insisting I reload a fully loaded gun. ><

Beyond that and the subsequent discovery that auto-save is disabled by default (buh? Not even pre/post mission save checkpoints like everyone else by default? You know, in case of crashing?!), I've really liked this remake. It's well done, and early game UFO breaches are still awesome. Shitty city maps that are 90% cars however can fuck off and die. No XCOM command, I'd really rather not fight aliens on that bridge full of improvised grenades. Or fight them at a goddamned gas station BECAUSE WHO GETS INTO A FIREFIGHT AT A GAS STATION.

[Merusk]

Gas stations were a classic part of the old X-Com and always hilarious fun.  I'm sad that it's a map itself rather than a set piece, though.

I play super-cautious, which is why I only had the one BS loss.   I'm going to do terrible in Terror Missions; but I always have.  My guys surviving is a greater priority than random Civvies who can't save the world.  We're fighting for the species here, people. A little collateral damage is to be expected.   

[Ruvaldt]

If someone comes across a legit review (or has one of their own) regarding the PC vs. PS3 versions, please let me know.  This really looks like a game I want to play from the couch on my PS3, but all the reviews so far have been for PC. 

I haven't read any that were written specifically for the ps3, but I also haven't read any negatives about the console versions in any of the reviews.  I know I'll be picking it up for my ps3 for the same reason; it looks like a fun game to play from the couch.  My concern mostly was for the multiplayer element.  I like to play with f13ers and I know most here are getting the PC version.  I ultimately came to the conclusion that I probably wouldn't play this one multiplayer much though, and it shouldn't influence my decision.

[Mrbloodworth]

If someone comes across a legit review (or has one of their own) regarding the PC vs. PS3 versions, please let me know.  This really looks like a game I want to play from the couch on my PS3, but all the reviews so far have been for PC. 

Steam big screen. ( or whatever )

[Rasix]

Well, this is a lot of fun.  This was the first game to drag me away from GW2 for an entire night.  Tutorial is a big long and hand holdy, but I've never played X-Com before.

Makes me wish I would have played the original way back when, but I'm not sure I was patient enough then for squad member death.  Dealing with death and injury adds a little something to the experience. My heavy is a giant EXP sponge, mostly because he hasn't even gotten nicked yet.  One of my guys got greased already due to a lucky long range shot.

Is classic just the game but without the tutorial?

[Merusk]

Classic difficulty?  No, it'll still start the tutorial unless you turn it off in advanced options.   In Classic the aliens are smarter, better shots and (based on comments in this thread) aren't gated in what tech they use by your own research.

[Murgos]

Is classic just the game but without the tutorial?

You can opt to skip the tutorial when starting a new game on any difficulty.

In normal the Alien AI will look at how many baddies are actively engaged against you and pull some back if it's greater than some magic number it also won't dogpile on panicked troopers.  Additionally, strategically it won't go after low morale countries unless it's out of other options.  I understand that normal also starts you out with some free base facilities.

In classic all bets are off, funding country going down the tubes?  That's the prime target.  Got a low will squaddie?  Oh, yeah time to panic him/mind control.  Impossible just ratchets that up another notch while nudging the rng in the Aliens favor.

[kildorn]

The aliens dogpile in MY normal game. :P I had six sectoids trying their hardest to murder my heavy last night.

What I think changes is that in normal the aliens won't pull new troops in (like, if there are two floaters in the back field, they'll hang out on patrol instead of rushing forward when you're engaged), but they don't pull troops out. Sectoids just naturally retreat when they start taking losses.


As for the first XCOM: awesome game, but we rose colored glasses a bit with it. I personally like the 4-6 troops thing a lot more than the clusterfuck breaching and 4 minute turns of the earlier XCOMs.

[Mrbloodworth]

Not sure why i keep reading review people nostalgic for X-COM: Apocalypse, that was the worst one in the series. Whats wrong with people?

[kildorn]

Oh god, Apocalypse. OH GOD. I mean, I get the stockholm we all suffered from TFTD terror missions. But Apoc.. dear lord.

Secretly after how well this XCOM has turned out I'm hoping they're redoing TFTD next.

[Mrbloodworth]

TFTD was my fav, and Yes, terror missions.

[Amaron]

The game itself is just awesome.  Lately I just play games for a bit here and there.  This game has me wanting to play all day long.

[Zetor]

TFTD was ok, but those 2-[3?]phase ship missions where you had to find the last diving suit dude hiding somewhere... urgh. Ditto deep sea missions (it's dark, you'll be eaten by a tentaculat)

[Shannow]

Me too.  I can't afford all these fucking new games.

Must resist the urge to buy.
Must resist the urge to buy.
Must resist the urge to buy.

[bhodi]

This game is a lot of fun. Just like the orig xcom, brutal on 'classic' difficulty. I find myself save-scumming at least once every two missions. Things definitely get easier once you get a few levels, especially the 'ignore first reaction shot' for assault class is an absolute literal life-saver.

Don't ignore sensor packs for snipers, either. They're awesome!

[Hoax]

I started on classic difficulty ironman but things went pretty far south since I didn't understand the importance of protecting the skies and rushing max satalites at all times. I think I had done about 6 missions but I actually lost 4/5 men on my first terror mission, well 3 died and one I left behind because he was a rookie who had missed every shot so far so fuck him.

I had to move down to newbie difficulty while learning how to not have countries abandon the council. Its still pretty hard? I've stabilized at four council defections and I've just about got a sat over every remaining country. I've got infinite money so now it all comes down to collecting alien salvage. I want to up the difficulty but considering that I'm still losing troopers occasionally I don't think I'm that good at the game yet. Looking forward to a second playthrough where I don't wrong foot everything to start off.

[Rasix]

Me too.  I can't afford all these fucking new games.

Must resist the urge to buy.
Must resist the urge to buy.
Must resist the urge to buy.

CAVE.
CAVE.
CAAAAAAAVE.

This season has been so brutal, but so much fun.  This game will likely push everything to the side for a good two weeks.   Hooray for no sub MMOs.

[Quinton]

I think lack of cashflow is going to be the downfall of my initial Normal mission -- I'm doing okay on troops, but still haven't been able to deploy more satellites, and panic levels are rising.  Going to keep playing it tonight and see if I can turn it around or if the world burns.  Definitely learning a lot about mechanics along the way.

[Big Gulp]

I want to up the difficulty but considering that I'm still losing troopers occasionally I don't think I'm that good at the game yet. Looking forward to a second playthrough where I don't wrong foot everything to start off.

Let me introduce you to an old Army phrase;  "Embrace the Suck".  This isn't a game where you're going to keep most of your men alive.  Getting a guy to colonel is a precious and rare thing.  If you're coming back from missions with either no one dead or at the very least a LOT of wounded troops then it's too easy for you.  Life is cheap in XCOM land.  Embrace it.

[Shannow]

Me too.  I can't afford all these fucking new games.

Must resist the urge to buy.
Must resist the urge to buy.
Must resist the urge to buy.

CAVE.
CAVE.
CAAAAAAAVE.
 

Godamnit ppl stop posting how fun this game is.

And why is there a hard hat with a light on it next to me!

[Ruvaldt]

I caved...

I managed to hold out on Borderlands 2, but this just looks too great.  Hopefully I'll still manage to get the preorder dlc.

[koro]

I actually made it to month two in Classic Ironman game #6. I've only had one total squad wipe so far, and it was on a horribly bullshit bomb disposal mission. Should've taken more rookies there, instead of a crack squad. I still have some vets left over, and I just got a Sergeant sniper in return for saving Germany in an abduction mission, but I keep taking hits every now and again from Sectoids and Thin Men from across the goddamn map, which means half my squad gets put into the sick bay for two weeks after every mission.

I'm in Quinton's boat right now though; not enough money. I'm likely going to lose India and Brazil, and I can't afford to keep building power generators and satellite uplinks in order to keep my satellite coverage up.

When I inevitably lose this game, I'm going to either start a new game on Normal Ironman or do Classic non-Ironman to try and refine my tactics to reduce casualties.