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

[lamaros]

A tip for getting one of the achievements.

[Goumindong]

A tip for getting one of the achievements.

I legitimately don't know. I never had a support with high enough will. My 100 will character was on my assault. (once you have iron will, look out for any missions that give you leveled soldiers, they get all their levels as if they level immediately when they get there, so they will have very high willpower without any risk of lowering it due to you know, having to get shot at as they climb the ranks)

He only got to 180 and had a 90% chance to MC the End Boss. Also, i think that you can get over 100 will base, but not sure how.

[lamaros]

I finished my 'Lone Wolf' achievement. One year into the game!

[Ironwood]

Ian Jones with a Nickname of Nutter.  Despite the flag, I'm going to say he's a Welsh Ex-pat and all is therefore explained.

[Tebonas]

Colonel Naomi "Omega" Turk was the only surving member of the first game I finally finished. She (as is fit for a sniper) hung back with my evolved human while the rest of the crew slaughtered each other in mindcontrolled rage (Psi Armor and Mind Shield nonwithstanding). Special thanks go to "Spitfire", the cunning assault who made it out of the room alive just to die when the Mutons finally lost patience and broke through.

Damn, that is a good game.

[Ironwood]

Squad Sight seems to be not the overpowered nonsense that people in this thread have suggested.  Did it get patched or nerfed in some way ?

Don't get me wrong, it's still great and better than the alternative, but it seems to be really hit and miss (NPI) as to when you can fire and when you can't.  My understand was 'You can fire when your squad sees an alien'.  This turns out not to be the case ?

Just me ?

[Merusk]

It won't fire around corners and through objects, so elevation matters.  It's only truly OP on the forest maps or if you can get on top of a building, which I always made a habit of.

[eldaec]

Squad Sight seems to be not the overpowered nonsense that people in this thread have suggested.  Did it get patched or nerfed in some way ?

Don't get me wrong, it's still great and better than the alternative, but it seems to be really hit and miss (NPI) as to when you can fire and when you can't.  My understand was 'You can fire when your squad sees an alien'.  This turns out not to be the case ?

Just me ?

You still need LoS, so you need to find an elevated position, and it becomes much more powerful with a grappling hook or when your sniper can fly.

Squad sight + in the zone + flight means crysallids die on the same turn they appear and cost you no actions for instance.

They dominate terror sites, OTOH, they aren't much use inside UFOs except for the very largest ones.

[Ironwood]

Ta.

I do have a Skeleton suit, but surprisingly few places to grapple.  If only it worked on trees.

[lamaros]

It gets progressively more useful, the later the game goes and the better perks and gear you get. It gets to the point that you have to deliberately feed kills to the other units or the sniper will hog them all.

I finished my second wave options c/im playthrough. The ending was amusing:


Re the second wave options: I'd recommend playing with the starting funding randomized to keep things interesting on later playthroughs, but the random stats is probably more of a one off. On impossible ironman it would be impossible unless you are really really lucky with rookie rolls - getting 20/50 rookies blows - and that just makes it more of a early game luck fest and not exactly more challenging.

[Goumindong]

You know that if you have squadsight you don't need to be in cover right? The aliens can't see you and shoot you. Stand where you get the best coverage of your assault area.

[koro]

DLC info.

Because what we really needed was another scripted one-off Council mission.

[eldaec]

I saw your post and assumed they were announcing the inevitable TFtD campaign earlier than expected. I'd pay many of your fine american dollars for pretty much any campaign changes that make a replay different.

a three-mission story arc... When Slingshot's missions are all over, you'll earn a shortcut through the tech tree that'll allow you to research the powerful Blaster Launcher and Fusion Lance technologies

I'll be surprised if the price for Slingshot is anything other than $10.

Yeah, ok, no.

[Ingmar]

You can also get the pre-order bonus stuff for $5 on Steam now apparently. Armor color customization and some other armor thingies apparently.

EDIT: And the flat-top hair.

[lamaros]

What bloody focus group are they going off that said they wanted a linear mass effect game and not a random more sandboxy tactical one? Stupid bastards.

The game is fantastic, but there is so much room for improvement, why take it in the wrong direction?

Edit: Anyone managed to get a multiplayer game going? I can't seem to find one in the ranked or public systems...

[koro]

Apparently this Slingshot DLC is being done by a different team with a different director, and Firaxis has kinda sorta obliquely hinted that it's pretty much just a cash-in.

I mean the thing lets you research Blaster Launchers and the top-tier interceptor weapon from the very beginning of the game for pete's sake.

[calapine]

Apparently this Slingshot DLC is being done by a different team with a different director, and Firaxis has kinda sorta obliquely hinted that it's pretty much just a cash-in.

I mean the thing lets you research Blaster Launchers and the top-tier interceptor weapon from the very beginning of the game for pete's sake.

Got a link? I am curious about the phrasing

[koro]

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/10/23/firaxis-talks-future-xcom-content-slingshot-dlc-announced/

At least that's the takeaway I got from it.

[Megrim]

Yea, this looks completely retarded. Single Player Storyline! Emotionally Invested Content! Choices & Consequences!

... in a strategy game about blowing up alien mans with your mans.

[Zetor]

Are they adding romances for base personnel (specifically the two doctors)? You could even give them gifts found in downed UFOs! 

[Ironwood]

Oh for fucks sake.

This Game is Great.  Releasing Content that further pushes it towards the original XCom would be well recieved and pretty much be a pipe for sucking money from geeks wallets.

What the FUCK is wrong with people

[Mrbloodworth]

Yeah, I'm a bit disappointed myself. Was really hoping for new gear, classes, and threats/mission types. TFTD would have also been a good add-on.

[Reg]

So am I hearing that the game isn't all that replayable? If so, I'm a little disappointed.

[Njal]

It's plenty re-playable. However certain missions are scripted thoroughly enough that there is little challenge. Classic Ironman is a good challenge for most players who are just playing without trying to min/max.

It would be nice if they added to the sandbox rather than a scripted set of missions. There are plenty of ways the game could be improved and stay true to its origins.

[Merusk]

I'd say it's as replayable as the original, since you're asking.  The maps may not feel as varied since it's not 100% random and the story element feels like it's shuffling you along, but neither detract from replayability.  

It's not like you can say "I've seen this map before, and this is the 100% best way to play it.  Aliens spawn, here, here and here" because it doesn't work that way even if you have seen the map before.  The story element is easily ignored (well,except the insane panic reduction from the base assault) and only there because people demand a little more directed experience these days.

[Polysorbate80]

It's not like you can say "I've seen this map before, and this is the 100% best way to play it.  Aliens spawn, here, here and here" because it doesn't work that way even if you have seen the map before.  

Some of them you sorta can, and it helps.  I'm thinking in particular the Council missions where I know that if I move the NPC past a certain area, thin men will drop at particular locations, and I can have the squad ready to murder them when they do.  It's sorta cheating, but hey, the game is cheating by dropping them in in the first place.

Speaking of council missions:  getting any variety of "bomb disposal" in the first month makes me want to smash my controller    Especially since it seems to always come up if I'm having particularly good luck with my soldiers up to that point.

[Merusk]

True, Council missions all seem to be 100% scripted in ways even the alien ships aren't.   I waited two turns on a battleship mission reload because the mutons were right next to the sectopod on that map.  Coming in later they'd moved right up to the doorway I hadn't opened so I could deal with them alone.  Kind of cheating, but fuck sectopods when you've only got laser snipers and heavy lasers.

[Ironwood]

The bomb disposal missions are easy as fuck, or am I missing something ?

[Reg]

OK, that's alright then. I played the original for literally years and didn't get bored with it.  I'd have been disappointed if the new one was less replayable. I just can't get in to paying full price for games that are like 25 hours of play and you're done.

[Ironwood]

If it makes you feel better, I've restarted twice now and it's JUST the same as the original from that aspect.  Sure, you know the tech, you know the plans, you know the story, but frankly, you don't give a fuck.

All you care about is shooting that wee grey cunt in the head.

[eldaec]

You can reasonably justify one replay if your first run is below classic. After that they'd have to expand it for me to bother.

Second time through the strategy segment is trivial to play perfectly. Base design, research order, skill selection, build order, mission selection is all immediately solvable after you've seen the results of one play through, and you don't have react to events or anything.

The tactical game breaks down a little as you'll be spotting the map and remembering the 'correct' way to proceed, things like 'oh, gas station, there is a ladder on the left, climb on top of the shop and murder everything from there' or 'bookstore, follow the zone edge around and use the rear entrance'; but aliens will vary a bit at least.

[eldaec]

And when you start out you'll be replaying that first month a lot.

The sectoids are going to fuck you up until you figure things out.

[eldaec]

The bomb disposal missions are easy as fuck, or am I missing something ?

Took me a few goes to 'get' them. Most classic missions I completed by finding the best possible ground in the map and turtling. You can't turtle a bomb disposal.

[Mrbloodworth]

Like I said, I personally hoped for some new maps, new gear, maybe new classes and aliens..and the TFTD setting. More stuff for the core game. However, I also do not mind the idea of mini-side stories. Just, not really as the first offering.

[Reg]

Don't you think people would have been pissed off at having important stuff come out so soon after the release of the base game?  I'm always kind of offended when dev shops start pushing the DLC so early that it's obvious it was all ready before the game was even released.