UFO: Enemy Unknown, remake by Firaxis

[Rubin]

Did they give any time frame for the patch ? I'm afraid that because it is also a console game and console patches have to go through some long validation processes it might delay the patch on PC too

No, they did not.

They do, however, hint at a 60 day DLC (DLC 2) and a 90 day DLC (DLC 3). My guess is that the 2nd patch is launching before DLC 2--that is, in about a month or less. I also get the impression that Firaxis has taken the issue, you bring up, into account, because XCOM2012 has "safe middle ground" written all over it. The title is so cautious in both presentation and gameplay, that Firaxis has to be aware of the issue, and is planning accordingly. This may also indicate that we won't be seeing any drastic changes to the game until an expansion is announced

The only problem is that I won't be attempting an impossible difficulty game due to the soldier health bug. So, I'm basically putting the game on hold until a patch fixes that particular issue.

---

I wonder if CFC could help facilitate an interview with Mr. Solomon about XCOM and where the remake is taking the series.

 

[sherbz]

I agree 100% on this. Not sure I agree with the rationale of when they panic they need to shoot their teammates. Run away if you're scared, hunker down (freeze with fear), but why kill your squad mates (is this to simulate "fear induced friendly fire" ?)

At least "dial it back a bit", may 1 in 100 chance of shooting a teammate. I've seen the cascading panic attacks you describe way too many times

Caused a few rage quits for me when I loose my best guys through no fault of my own.

Yes I agree. Its more than a little annoying when your panic stricken soldier shoots your major sniper in the face, killing him outright. That sort of nonsense can ruin your ironman run through. Id be happier if you panicked and shot aliens less, as long as you didnt shoot your teammates as often. Sometimes panic is a very good thing indeed, as they kill the enemy. Sometimes its a complete car crash. Id rather have it so its less unpredictable.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Is it me or are engineers much harder to get on classic ? I don't just mean the smaller satellite bonuses, I rarely get an abduction mission where I can get more engineers.
Couldn't even start building a satellite uplink until the second month, and even then I had to get a workshop first.

 

[coanda]

Is it me or are engineers much harder to get on classic ? I don't just mean the smaller satellite bonuses, I rarely get an abduction mission where I can get more engineers.
Couldn't even start building a satellite uplink until the second month, and even then I had to get a workshop first.

Just you, bad luck on that attempt. There are four possible abduction rewards, and each country in the abduction mission will offer a different one - so there's a 25% chance on any abduction mission of getting no engineers offered.

The exception is the first abduction mission, which never offers a veteran soldier (always scientists, engineers, $$).

 

[sherbz]

Just you, bad luck on that attempt. There are four possible abduction rewards, and each country in the abduction mission will offer a different one - so there's a 25% chance on any abduction mission of getting no engineers offered.

The exception is the first abduction mission, which never offers a veteran soldier (always scientists, engineers, $$).

Do you happen to know what the deciding factor is for the rank of the veteran you get? Is it offered based upon your current squad or game time?

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Just you, bad luck on that attempt. There are four possible abduction rewards, and each country in the abduction mission will offer a different one - so there's a 25% chance on any abduction mission of getting no engineers offered.

The exception is the first abduction mission, which never offers a veteran soldier (always scientists, engineers, $$).

Actually the frist mission offered me a scientists, money or a veteran. Maybe it's becasue I played the game with the tutorial
Engineers as a possible reward were also pretty rare in later missions, and when I had the option I usually had to pick something else to keep panic under control.

 

[May Day 10]

I got an update on PS3 yesterday for the game. Anyone else?

 

[EddyGamerLP]

I got an update on PS3 yesterday for the game. Anyone else?

Yes, the new patch is up on Steam also.
These should be the patch notes:

Here are a list of changes that will be included in the patch.

Major Fixes
• Abductor roof visibility problems resolved

• Interception game hang issues resolved
o If two interceptors are sent after UFO
o 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.

Again, thanks for all the feedback and for being super patient as we prepare each patch for release. We are always monitoring the forums for issues and will post as soon as we get official updates.

 

[Rubin]

Looks like the patch does contain undocumented fixes, so I'll have to check if any of the following has been fixed:

• Hotkeys not working [not fixed]
• Involuntary map scrolling [not fixed]
• Almost impossible struggle to navigate the movement interface when there's more than just the ground level
• Patience required to aim a rocket or grenade due to the awful interface [not fixed]
• Soldier health on non-easy difficulties is incorrect [fixed]
• Flanking mechanic and the soldier "line-of-sight" are impossible to predict [reported not fixed]
• Aliens teleporting all over the map [reported not fixed]

 

[coanda]

Flanking is still occasionally glitchy, just like before.

 

[Rubin]

Flanking is still occasionally glitchy, just like before.

Do you recall if there was a range bonus to rifles prior to the patch?

I ask because my recollection tells me that it did not matter how close I got to the alien before the patch. Hit chances were only based on cover. After the patch, it matters how close I get. This is similar to the shotgun mechanics, except that it does not go into the negative.

 

[EddyGamerLP]

Do you recall if there was a range bonus to rifles prior to the patch?

I ask because my recollection tells me that it did not matter how close I got to the alien before the patch. Hit chances were only based on cover. After the patch, it matters how close I get. This is similar to the shotgun mechanics, except that it does not go into the negative.

Yes I'm pretty sure you had a bonus because running a soldier next to an alien would always result in a 100% shot

 

[coanda]

It used to be about a 4% per tile bonus for rifles, and still is (at least within ~12 tiles of the target; I don't know how far out distance stops mattering).

Shotguns have a different range bonus which is much steeper (large penalty at distance, large bonus at short range).

 

[ImperialGuard]

Speaking of bugs ....

Sometimes if I hover the mouse over the "Red Alien" icon, it will show 1% to hit.

If you prepare to take the shot, it will tell you that the hit % is much higher (e.g. 45%, 55%)


Is that a bug? Or do I not understand what is happening in this case.

 

[Minor Annoyance]

Speaking of bugs ....

Sometimes if I hover the mouse over the "Red Alien" icon, it will show 1% to hit.

If you prepare to take the shot, it will tell you that the hit % is much higher (e.g. 45%, 55%)


Is that a bug? Or do I not understand what is happening in this case.

I think it's a bug. Although sometimes it tells me the accuracy of a different weapon or attack. Like the +30 for flush. So maybe it's choosing the wrong possibility to show you. Anyway, yes bug.

 

[EddyGamerLP]

Speaking of bugs ....

Sometimes if I hover the mouse over the "Red Alien" icon, it will show 1% to hit.

If you prepare to take the shot, it will tell you that the hit % is much higher (e.g. 45%, 55%)


Is that a bug? Or do I not understand what is happening in this case.

It's definitely a bug. The first time I noticed this I thought it simply cut of a digit (ie turning a 61% shot into a 1% by cutting the 6) but then sometimes I'd get values that had no correlation with the real number. So now I don't even look at that number and I just go into the "fire mode" to check the chance to hit.
It's a shame because it was a good idea and very practical for quickly checking your shots.

 

[vihta]

After finishing Classic/Ironman I was kinda bored, but these Impossible/Ironman vids got me playing again http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9zJE9GodMQ

Starting I/I is really brutal, you really have to adapt different tactics. Think I'm on my 20th game or something now. Most times I didn't make past first mission. First mission always has 8 sectoids who shoot better than you and most of the time one shot your 4hp rookies. Next mission has 10 or 12 sectoids On my current game I'm on first council mission atm. Sectoids also have 4hp so you can't kill them with a single grenade.

I'm having a lot of fun in some perverse way. The aliens are cold-blooded murdering bastards and I'm going to outwit them eventually

 

[Gzz]

All this talk about it makes me want to take it, but... +18 PEGI ! DAMN !

 

[coanda]

After finishing Classic/Ironman I was kinda bored, but these Impossible/Ironman vids got me playing again http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9zJE9GodMQ

Starting I/I is really brutal, you really have to adapt different tactics. Think I'm on my 20th game or something now. Most times I didn't make past first mission. First mission always has 8 sectoids who shoot better than you and most of the time one shot your 4hp rookies. Next mission has 10 or 12 sectoids On my current game I'm on first council mission atm. Sectoids also have 4hp so you can't kill them with a single grenade.

I'm having a lot of fun in some perverse way. The aliens are cold-blooded murdering bastards and I'm going to outwit them eventually

If you want to see some stupid alien behavior on display, you can abuse the overwatch bug.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_bfPuieBFk&feature=related

That said, doing so will quickly drain a lot of the fustrating fun from it. If you want to succeed without that, you're going to need to just keep playing the maps until you start to recognize where the aliens tend to spawn and patrol on each map.

 

[vihta]

If you want to see some stupid alien behavior on display, you can abuse the overwatch bug.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_bfPuieBFk&feature=related

That said, doing so will quickly drain a lot of the fustrating fun from it. If you want to succeed without that, you're going to need to just keep playing the maps until you start to recognize where the aliens tend to spawn and patrol on each map.

Ye, I know about that bug but I don't wanna abuse it because clearly that can't be working as intended.

On my I/I game I failed first council mission losing my whole squad. After that I lost couple more missions and then I got the first terror mission. I was like "I guess this is the final blow". I go in armed with 5 rookies and frag grenades all around. First I trigger 3 chrysalids. Spend three grenades taking out two of them but the last one goes to trigger few zombies and then comes back (I'm camping because screw those civilians lol). I kill last chrysalid and I'm pumping some lead into a zombie and three floaters decide to pop in. Luckily two decide to bugger off to kill civilians and one jumps behind which I can easily flank and kill. I also manage to take care of the two zombies before they turn (mind you I'm still using basic weapons). The last two floaters decide to come back to my overwatch camp and I take care of them. Then last three member floater patrol comes in but they decide to stick together and I spend my last two grenades taking them out finishing the mission without a scratch and everyone with a promotion

I'll be fighting to the bitter end which is looking like a loss pretty likely. My memorial wall has 15 members atm Gonna fight each I/I game I play to the end if I manage to get through the first two missions well. I have lot learn about maps and different tactics for each enemy type.

Thin men seem to be my bane. They pretty much hit every shot they take even when I'm behind full cover and also they crit like 90% of the time for 7-9 damage instantly killing my soldiers.... grr. I got carapace armor now but I only had credits/alloys to make one.

Jake was clearly talking about playing Impossible here lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1pyJxcETmc&t=1m43s