UFO: Enemy Unknown, remake by Firaxis

[PhilBowles]

There's a forge upgrade for the ARC thrower that lets you capture drones, but they don't open any research and you lose a drone wreck by doing it, so it's pretty pointless.

It can be useful on missions. Drones fly and are quick scouts/flankers - and most of all they attract enemy fire. First time I used drone hack, my assault trooper hacked the drone next to a Sectopod. In its turn the Sectopod shot it with its area weapon - 10 damage to the Drone, 10 to the Sectopod.

 

[Heretic_Cata]

When you do the first autopsy of the Chrysalid and/or if you click INFO before shooting it, the game tells you it's immune to stun.

 

[Disgustipated]

I really have to say that Ironman is so much more fun than normal. I'm the kind of guy who reloads and gets progressively angrier if the results don't improve or the autosave comes just at the wrong time (and the game seems to always save after a highly promoted soldier has died).
Although I screamed and cursed at no one in particular after losing my four highest ranking soldiers in a single mission, I'm learning to accept my fate.
The sole survivor of the mission is in the infirmary for the next two weeks and I'm down to three Squaddies and two Rookies.

Speaking of reloading, I'm thinking this game has some seed like in Civ games preventing you from reloading to get better combat results. I tried a couple of times, but when you miss you miss, reloading will not help with that. So I don't bother. Yeah you can try to change the combat seed by doing other actions, but it's best to just deal with it. Which is the beauty of Ironman.

I do think I'll try an ironman game eventually. I think that will definitely make the game "different" for me. But I'll probably try normal ironman, not classic. I'm just not that much of a classic, and I can see myself breaking my keyboard if too many things go wrong.

I really noticed the seed in my attempt to get the mind control etheral achievement. I kept trying over and over with 27% results, and I could not do it. 27% my ass. More like 0%. Even trying to change the seed, and waiting 2 turns later I couldn't do it with 27% odds. So next mission I had to give the mind probe to my psi guy (the other mission I had the mind probe on a guy who couldn't mind control , and for some stupid reason you can't trade inventory on missions)

 

[GoodSarmatian]

I didn't reload for a new random seed but rather to not do something stupid this time, like clustering my troops behind cover so that a muton can do maximum damage with a grenade or rushing through a closed door only to end my turn next to a chrysalid or berserker.
Ironman forces me to be more careful with my planning, and it's so mich more satisfying to pull off the perfect turn or complete a mission without a single injury.

That beign said, i lost my first Ironman game due to a veteran shortage and poor panic management.

 

[coanda]

Speaking of reloading, I'm thinking this game has some seed like in Civ games preventing you from reloading to get better combat results. I tried a couple of times, but when you miss you miss, reloading will not help with that. So I don't bother. Yeah you can try to change the combat seed by doing other actions, but it's best to just deal with it. Which is the beauty of Ironman.

I do think I'll try an ironman game eventually. I think that will definitely make the game "different" for me. But I'll probably try normal ironman, not classic. I'm just not that much of a classic, and I can see myself breaking my keyboard if too many things go wrong.

I really noticed the seed in my attempt to get the mind control etheral achievement. I kept trying over and over with 27% results, and I could not do it. 27% my ass. More like 0%. Even trying to change the seed, and waiting 2 turns later I couldn't do it with 27% odds. So next mission I had to give the mind probe to my psi guy (the other mission I had the mind probe on a guy who couldn't mind control , and for some stupid reason you can't trade inventory on missions)

It keeps your random seed in-mission. The strategic game uses a new random seed on reload, but often you don't see the impact of events until days after the RNG call decided what was going to happen (e.g., abduction missions - the three countries hit are decided when the abduction ship comes for you, which is long before the actual mission).

And all the usual caveats about a stored random seed being exploitable still apply of course. If you miss a 95% chance shot, then you know that any call to the RNG there will be a very poor result... but if you just take the same set of shots in a different order, it can change the result. Honestly, storing the seed really doesn't do anything to prevent people from save-scumming... and there's the whole Iron-Man option for people who want that restriction anyways. I'm not sure why they bothered.

 

[DaviddesJ]

Honestly, storing the seed really doesn't do anything to prevent people from save-scumming... and there's the whole Iron-Man option for people who want that restriction anyways. I'm not sure why they bothered.

It's useful if the game crashes or there's some glitch and you want to replay and get the same results.

 

[sherbz]

I hope you guys aren't advancing too much and are keeping your squad in a coherent formation. Good job keeping everyone alive though.



Yeah, Classic is far, far less forgiving of your mistakes. That's why I'm trying to play Normal with nobody taking any hits. Because those hits could very well be insta-kills on Classic.

Well, my ironman classic game just went belly up. I was doing really well i thought: conquered the alien base with no losses. Kept all of my troops alive. Got 3 soldiers up to major. Had 100% satellite coverage with only 2 withdrawals from the council. Fully kitted out my base with everything i need and got everything worth having in the officer training school. The problem? Well, I actually think it was 2 things: A lack of plasma weapons and a lack of heavy armour. I had a very bad terror mission with a shed load of chryssalids. I ended up killing 25 aliens in that mission. At one point it was like night of the living dead. I lost 4 good soldiers to that terror mission (and gravely wounded 2 others), I had 3 other high level troops in the psi labs, then the next mission was one of the large UFO landings. I couldnt take it because I only had 4 troops, and didnt feel confident in taking it on. Then, i had another UFO mission straight after, went with a load of squaddies, and got owned by a berserker (i think by the time berserker's show up, you really need to have plasma weapons). By this time I was fast approaching muton elites, but because I had missed the 2 UFO missions, despite having a shed load of cash, I didnt have the materials with which to research and produce all my upgraded plasma weapons and heavy armour. End result, I kept losing troops, including my high level troops, due to inferior weaponry and inferior armour. My mistake was a simple one - not having enough troops in the barracks. I got have turned it around, but i needed a very good/lucky UFO mission thereafter. I suppose the end picture is that classic is punishing. You can be going along just fine then WHAM, the game bites back, the aliens get on top, then its very hard to pull it back round.

I think too i suffered after beating normal iron man. I didnt build a single lab throughout the game on normal, and took cash nearly every abduction mission. I think you have to build labs and take scientists more the higher up you go in order to keep pace. Facing off against heavy floaters and muton elites with laser weapons just doesnt cut it, and even carapace armour is slightly dodgy against mutons.

Well, im going to start again and see if i do any better. I also started an impossible mission just to see how hard it is. I managed to complete the first mission with no casualties . Thats not on iron man though. So i might just save scum later my way to victory .

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

It still took too long even after interrogating a Muton?

 

[VoidTrooper2014]

I have complete two playthroughs now - one on Normal, one on Classic, but my current Classic Ironman run has me at the edge of the seat. Missions gone wrong, mistakes in the strategic layer, real fear. It's fantastic.

If there is not enough interest here to make a new section, you may consider xcomfanatics.com.

 

[coanda]

I had a very bad terror mission with a shed load of chryssalids. I ended up killing 25 aliens in that mission. At one point it was like night of the living dead. I lost 4 good soldiers to that terror mission (and gravely wounded 2 others), I had 3 other high level troops in the psi labs, then the next mission was one of the large UFO landings.

Just FYI... you can pull your troops out of the psi lab in mid-testing if you need to. Of course then you have to start the 10-day timer all over for them, but it's worth keeping in mind in case something happens like your terror mission debacle.

Also, the Terror Missions are a blast in this game. I definitely know what you mean about night of the living dead.

Regarding labs... they aren't really needed. I generally get 1-2 in month 4 on Impossible. Scientists on the other hand... you must get your scientist count up to around 10+ by mid-month-2 at the latest, and around 15+ by month 3 if you don't want a really rough ride. More is better if you get the chance.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Also, the Terror Missions are a blast in this game. I definitely know what you mean about night of the living dead.

Indeed. They can also be utterly nerve wrecking.
My best mission so far has been a second terror mission in my current game. In the first turn , after my second guy moved, I spotted two cyberdiscs and six Chrysalids. The Chrysalids of course immediately started to walk towards me.
I decided then and there to screw the civilians and just try to survive. Outright aborting the mission was not an option. I would have lost all of Asia.
To my luck the Cyberdiscs were pretty close together and a group of three Chrysalids was nearby, soI opened with a shreder rocket (killed two civies in the blast radius, but it was for the greater good) and the rest was repositioning, shooting, running away and waiting for enemies to trigger overwatch, without ever straying too far from my starting position.
Somehow I managed to complete the mission with ten surviving civilians and only lost one assault sergeant.

 

[Rubin]

2nd patch announced to be released soon...

Major Fixes

• Abductor roof visibility problems resolved
• Interception game hang issues resolved
  If two interceptors are sent after UFO
  If Skyranger is returning from combat after an Interceptor was already deployed
• SHIV inaccessible issues resolved
• AI Alien Activity Hang resolution
• Multiplayer connectivity optimization

Other Fixes

• TempleShip optimization: All Soldiers properly spawn when restarting the mission after clearing the second room of TempleShip
• Snapshot penalty should no longer apply when Overwatching without first moving.
• Easy Difficulty is now easier.

Nice fixes, but hopefully more will be in the final patch notes. Especially the wonky and sometimes broken PC interface: hotkeys not working, involuntary map scrolling, and the almost impossible struggle to navigate the movement interface when there's more than just the ground level, or the patience required to aim a rocket or grenade due to the awful interface, etc., etc. Also, soldier health on non-easy difficulties is incorrect, and the flanking mechanic and the soldier "line-of-sight" are impossible to predict. ...and no mention of the aliens teleporting all over the map.

Current verdict: Underwhelming.

Fixing bugs is probably first priority, but the game definitely could use some polish on the interface, for example an "unequip all soldiers" button. Unfortunately, Firaxis and 2K have been very quiet since release, so I got no idea where the game is heading

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Easy Difficulty is now easier.

So do the aliens kill themselves automatically then?

 

[Arakhor]

Well, I did an Easy run to pick up most of the achievements. I wouldn't even want to consider playing Classic just yet (and I played Mass Effect on Insanity).

 

[Camikaze]

the almost impossible struggle to navigate the movement interface when there's more than just the ground level

I had this problem a lot too, because the middle button of my mouse sucks. But then I realised the F & C keys do the trick.

 

[coanda]

Abductor roof visibility problems resolved

Thank you, thank you, thank you... such an infuriating bug. I got the sense they must have just... not tested that map in the final release. Because I have no idea how that incredibly irritating roof visibility issue slipped through otherwise - every time you put your camera on the level of the upper catwalk, all you get to stare at is the roof of the abductor.

 

[sherbz]

It still took too long even after interrogating a Muton?

I had researched them, its just I couldnt build them (because of a lack of special materials). You really really need all your special materials in order to build plasma weapons from every ship you encounter. Im trying to figure out whether its best to build firestorms first, and plasma weapons second. I think thats the best option. Firestorms are a late game luxury.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

What was your funniest operation codename so far ?
I just started a new game with a base in Asia, and my first abduction mission in the USA was Operation Red Dawn .

 

[Mark the Bold]

Yay! Its' here! a Zero Punctuation review of this game! And surprisingly he really liked the game, because he is a typically a brutally savage critic.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/6468-XCOM-Enemy-Unknown


I laughed my ass off at the "train up a squad of random inexperienced schlubs you picked up en masse from a nearby airport departure lounge!"

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

"Difficulty ramps up regardless of how advanced you've gotten."

Damn, he really does suck at video games. Nothing could be further from the truth in this game. Once you get Ghost Armor and Plasma Weapons, you are untouchable. At least there wasn't any significant whingeing about the RNG.