Xcom 2

[Grey_Wolf_c]

So, the first thread went the way of the dodo a few months ago, but we have had an influx of new, solid, information on the game, and I thought I'd give a try at sharing the excitement.

The setting: XCOM 2 is a What If? on the first game: what if the Commander never made it to the XCOM project?

Answer: XCOM failed to defend the planet, the aliens took over, and Bradford & co. had to retreat, and start a guerrilla survival war. XCOM 2 seems to start with a tutorial mission in which the Commander is rescued from the aliens. This means we are now playing the aggressors: the group trying to take over the planet, one terror/abduction/etc. mission at a time (but, as pointed out by the developers, while still having an easy time forming attachments to the invaders, since they are human).

Changes:

Informed LoS: when selecting a square to move to, you can now tell if that square has LoS to aliens (a targeting icon will appear or disappear from the alien's life bar). Words cannot express how glad I am they put this in.
Random-ish map generation: maps are made up of tiles, and the content of each tile is random, within the set of tiles that match the map. Many such tiles will be provided, and the devs are hoping that the players will add to the pool, to really ensure replayability.
Improved destructible environment: ceilings can now be destroyed, not just walls. While I suspect buildings cannot be architecturally collapsed (i.e. there is no load-bearing columns you can hit to destroy the entire building in one hit), you definitely can remove the floor from under an enemy, cause them to fall and take extra damage.
Improved destructive environment: environment objects that explode (such as gas canister but not, so far, cars) will show up as valid targets you can aim for.
Sequential Overwatches: when your soldiers start performing overwatches, they do so sequentially, so that if one kills an alien, the others move on to the next target.
Alien activities: the aliens have a plan, and they are progressing towards it. No more end-game scenarios where Earth is fully satellite-covered and you could sit back for months to finish your research projects. If you don't keep hitting the aliens, they will finish their game before you finish yours.
Stealth mechanic: At the start of every (most?) missions, you are stealthed, and can move quickly until aliens are detected, then set up a one-per-mission ambush. Hopefully this means the end of turtling for six turns through an empty forest. Instead, you can double-move, as long as you keep to cover and don't do anything too stupid. You can still be seen if you end up flanked, or wander into a previously-unseen enemies field of vision (marked as red squares on the ground), or if your previously safe position ends up in the field of vision of a patrolling enemy.
Enemy movement: not stated outright, but it seems enemies will no longer teleport if not in your field of vision - instead, they are instantiated with the map.
Enemy reinforcements: not all enemies start in the map: enemies can come in as reinforcements at a random time and place, but you do get a turn's notice, and their arrival does trigger overwatch.
Squadsight: it is now the first-level ability of snipers, not a tax feat. In the same vein, sniper sidearms are getting a lot of love (e.g. a non-action shot per turn, and free retaliation when attacked).
Weapon upgrades: scopes are now attached to the gun, not using up pocket space. But competing for that gun slot are now extra ammo, critical range increases, and even insta-death and extra action procs (5 to 15% chance).
Soldier upgrades: so far, we have seen the usual: extra movement, extra life.
Base building: fewer slots, but the slots are upgradable. Adjacency bonuses now are provided by the staff assigned to the rooms. The satellites are now radio towers that you build in each geographical area, it seems.
Cosmetic: men no longer look ridiculously beefy. A lot of customisation, and the ability to save created characters so they pop up in future games.
Voice: many European language voices (nothing east of germany, though), and also "outlooks" providing changes to the animations and lines (so a focused character and a laid back character will seem to behave and speak differently, although without game impact, I believe)
Interceptor Mini Game removed: Can't say I will miss it myself, but if you thought it could be improved, you'll have to wait for the next game.


Videos:
Several people got invited to play a random mission and a story mission (the same for all, although the random mission has random maps). There are plenty to pick from in youtube. I liked the one by Eurogamer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwHPhQXavPA).

Grey Wolf

[heronbpv]

I can't wait for this game. Even more so after watching the last batch of videos. Saw the ones from Fireaxis youtube channel, and got even more impressed with how the game flows differently, yet feels like EU/EW gameplay wise. Just hope the game comes with a good random-soldier generator (and a weapon one, as well; yes, you can custom them as well, including giving it names), else I'll waste too much time on the barracks... :p
Heck, you can even give your soldiers custom bios now. Jesus, losing a soldier right after creating his bios must be terrible...

[Knaight]

I'll probably miss the interceptor minigame (assuming that there isn't a good strategic war replacement, which there probably will be), but other than that this looks really promising. Once there's a sale in the $5 range, I'm grabbing it.

[shadow_archmagi]

I am very excited. I've been trying to stay away from gameplay videos, but everything I"ve heard has been amazing.

Only, what, 50 days or so now?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

I am very excited. I've been trying to stay away from gameplay videos, but everything I"ve heard has been amazing.

Only, what, 50 days or so now?

Comes out Feb 5th, so more like 40. The gameplay videos like the one I linked have very few spoilers, but I can appreciate the desire to stay away from all spoilers. I checked them out to make sure gameplay is still down my alley (fallout 4 having been a major disappointment). But having already bitten the bullet, if there is something on your mind I can answer spoiler-free, by all means ask.

Yours,

Grey Wolf

[Boci]

Wasn't X-Com 2 meant to be about humans proving their martial capabilities to the Ethereals, and being being forcefully recruited into their armed forces along side the insectoids, thinmen and mutoids? Needing to fight whatever great threat spurned the Ethereals into seeking new soldiers, whilst possibly trying to subvert their orders to free humanity from their overlords?

That's what I heard the second game was going to be about, so now I'm a little disappointed, because that game, to me at least, sounds more interesting than what we are getting?

[factotum]

That's what I heard the second game was going to be about, so now I'm a little disappointed, because that game, to me at least, sounds more interesting than what we are getting?

I'm not sure where, because I don't recall ever hearing that?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Wasn't X-Com 2 meant to be about humans proving their martial capabilities to the Ethereals, and being being forcefully recruited into their armed forces along side the insectoids, thinmen and mutoids? Needing to fight whatever great threat spurned the Ethereals into seeking new soldiers, whilst possibly trying to subvert their orders to free humanity from their overlords?

That's what I heard the second game was going to be about, so now I'm a little disappointed, because that game, to me at least, sounds more interesting than what we are getting?

No, I don't think that has ever been the case. The first game does have a sequel hook of whatever was menacing the Ethereals. But the developers decided not to pursue that because the tech levels at the end of the first game are too futuristic to keep progressing. Sure, they could have another set of aliens invade (or humans invading the aliens), but then humans would start out with powerful psionic soldiers armed with plasma weapons - where would you go from there? Thus, their logic goes, do a what-if-quel, not a sequel.

But even if they had gone with the sequel, they would not have had us fighting along all the aliens - that sounds more like what Advent does in XCOM 2 - but they are strictly the enemy (and it is unlikely they are still fully human, given the yellow blood).

Grey Wolf

[Boci]

No, I don't think that has ever been the case. The first game does have a sequel hook of whatever was menacing the Ethereals. But the developers decided not to pursue that because the tech levels at the end of the first game are too futuristic to keep progressing. Sure, they could have another set of aliens invade (or humans invading the aliens), but then humans would start out with powerful psionic soldiers armed with plasma weapons - where would you go from there?


More powerful abilities? Better mech suits (they can benefit from cover, self repairing), better/new genetic augs, better psionic powers, better plasma weapons.


Thus, their logic goes, do a what-if-quel, not a sequel.

Fair enough, I'd rather see humanity start out as they were at the end of X-com and progress, rather than another story of humanity being defeated and needing to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat via a plucky resistance group,but I can understand if that's not the game they wanted to make.

[Silfir]

Fair enough, I'd rather see humanity start out as they were at the end of X-com and progress, rather than another story of humanity being defeated and needing to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat via a plucky resistance group,but I can understand if that's not the game they wanted to make.

Can't really blame them for wanting to make an XCOM game, after all...

[Mr.Moron]

Can't really blame them for wanting to make an XCOM game, after all...

Yeah. I definitely wouldn't even consider buying whatever that other game would have been. I like the approach they're taking here.

[Cikomyr]

More powerful abilities? Better mech suits (they can benefit from cover, self repairing), better/new genetic augs, better psionic powers, better plasma weapons.

Thats not a sequel. Thats an expansion pack. I mean, gamestart gears would be comparatively as powerful as our mundane assault rifles. Because thats what a game start weapon should feel like. Everything else is merely window dressing, be it vanilla bullets or plasma rifles.

Instead, they decided to keep with the base tech tree, and go a.completely different direction on the game feel.

[Cespenar]

Wasn't X-Com 2 meant to be about humans proving their martial capabilities to the Ethereals, and being being forcefully recruited into their armed forces along side the insectoids, thinmen and mutoids? Needing to fight whatever great threat spurned the Ethereals into seeking new soldiers, whilst possibly trying to subvert their orders to free humanity from their overlords?

That's what I heard the second game was going to be about, so now I'm a little disappointed, because that game, to me at least, sounds more interesting than what we are getting?

That'd be pretty cool, but it's rare that developers show enough courage to drastically alter the gameplay just because the storyline leads naturally to somewhere. People still want to play the same game after all, only with minor gimmick changes.

[TheFractured]

I'm very excited for the stealth mechanic and the enemy instantion. It's going to feel so good being able to take out aliens with a few surprise sniper rounds, instead of having every alien in vision automatically dash into cover once spotted.

[huttj509]

I'm very excited for the stealth mechanic and the enemy instantion. It's going to feel so good being able to take out aliens with a few surprise sniper rounds, instead of having every alien in vision automatically dash into cover once spotted.

My favorite part was seeing a play, and with multiple people on overwatch they didn't all shot just one of the 3 foes who showed up, but instead wiped out the pack.

[Boci]

Thats not a sequel. Thats an expansion pack.

The difference between an expansion pack and a full game is basically length (and you're sort of obliged to retool the core mechanics a little for the latter). A game about humanity as reluctant soldiers for powerful aliens, trying to combat a threat to their masters whilst also trying to subvert their overlords absolutely has enough meat in it to be a full game.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

My favorite part was seeing a play, and with multiple people on overwatch they didn't all shot just one of the 3 foes who showed up, but instead wiped out the pack.

Oh, true, they added sequential overwatches, so shots are not wasted in already-dead ex-targets. I'll put it in the list. And maybe the reinforcements mechanic.

Grey Wolf

[Cikomyr]

I really cant wait to see how the overworld map is going to play out. Having the initiative, gathering supply and intel, planting agents and making contact with the resistance.

All of that has the potential of being blueprint for a whole new genre of global strategic gaming.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

I really cant wait to see how the overworld map is going to play out. Having the initiative, gathering supply and intel, planting agents and making contact with the resistance.

All of that has the potential of being blueprint for a whole new genre of global strategic gaming.

I'm reserving judgement on it - but slightly concerned that it might turn out to be a bit bland/repetitive. It is built to force choices on us - spend three days on task A, miss out on task B, C and D. Which is fine at game start, when you are weak, but I'm hoping for mid and late game improvements that allows multiple tasks at once. Obviously not combat missions, which you want Avenger nearby for extractions and support and for game design reasons, but I'd like to be able to send some soldiers off on shopping trips and to recover supply drops, similar to how you can send you troops for missions in, say, Final Fantasy Tactics, without having to move the Avenger and watch the clock spin. Maybe with a % chance of failure requiring a rescue mission, similar to the spy extraction Exalt missions. Mind you, it might be in the game and we haven't been shown, but I'd think that if it was, they would have mentioned it by now.

Grey Wolf

[Verstaka]

My first exposure to XCOM was EU but 2 looks like a great game that I can't wait to play. The 'what if we lost' scenario is quite feasible as I'm sure myself and many other newcomers to the series actually did lose on our first playthrough and if you played Iron Man/ Impossible that outcome only became more likely.

While the new gameplay features look great and I think all of the changes, especially starting the game stealthed, are a brilliant move what I'm actually most excited for is character customization. Don't get me wrong naming your troops after you friends is great for getting connected to your A and B teams but aesthetically you had your choice of 2-3 suits of armor come late game, 20ish colors, and various heads. Just from the Youtuber demos I've seen very impressive copies of other videogame characters, or even the youtubers themselves. Anyone else suspicious they'll spend as much time in character customization as in the field?

[TheFractured]

My favorite part was seeing a play, and with multiple people on overwatch they didn't all shot just one of the 3 foes who showed up, but instead wiped out the pack.

That's a feature I'm also looking forward to. Too many times I'd have two snipers and a assault class unload into one single muton while the berserker is sprinting towards the backline.

[Cikomyr]

My first exposure to XCOM was EU but 2 looks like a great game that I can't wait to play. The 'what if we lost' scenario is quite feasible as I'm sure myself and many other newcomers to the series actually did lose on our first playthrough and if you played Iron Man/ Impossible that outcome only became more likely.

While the new gameplay features look great and I think all of the changes, especially starting the game stealthed, are a brilliant move what I'm actually most excited for is character customization. Don't get me wrong naming your troops after you friends is great for getting connected to your A and B teams but aesthetically you had your choice of 2-3 suits of armor come late game, 20ish colors, and various heads. Just from the Youtuber demos I've seen very impressive copies of other videogame characters, or even the youtubers themselves. Anyone else suspicious they'll spend as much time in character customization as in the field?

I have stopped naming characters after friends the moment i realized they tended to die way more often -_-

[nightwyrm]

My first exposure to XCOM was EU but 2 looks like a great game that I can't wait to play. The 'what if we lost' scenario is quite feasible as I'm sure myself and many other newcomers to the series actually did lose on our first playthrough and if you played Iron Man/ Impossible that outcome only became more likely.

While the new gameplay features look great and I think all of the changes, especially starting the game stealthed, are a brilliant move what I'm actually most excited for is character customization. Don't get me wrong naming your troops after you friends is great for getting connected to your A and B teams but aesthetically you had your choice of 2-3 suits of armor come late game, 20ish colors, and various heads. Just from the Youtuber demos I've seen very impressive copies of other videogame characters, or even the youtubers themselves. Anyone else suspicious they'll spend as much time in character customization as in the field?

Feb 5: Installing game
Feb 6: Customizing characters
Feb 7: Still customizing characters
Feb 8: Customizing 2nd batch of characters after losing the 1st. :frown:

edit: Something that makes the death of customized characters less painful is that you can save your customized characters into a pool that gets used in subsequent games. :smile:

[Cikomyr]

Feb 5: Installing game
Feb 6: Customizing characters
Feb 7: Still customizing characters
Feb 8: Customizing 2nd batch of characters after losing the 1st. :frown:

edit: Something that makes the death of customized characters less painful is that you can save your customized characters into a pool that gets used in subsequent games. :smile:

Okay. Thats cool. Keeping your pool of preset characters

[Hiro Protagonest]

I have stopped naming characters after friends the moment i realized they tended to die way more often -_-

I am bad enough at names not to have a huge pool of them, so I reserve them for troops thaf stick out to me for one reason or another. And while I love customizing my character in a RPG or third-person shooter, strategy games are different.

[Triaxx]

First you must survive to the second or third rank, then you are allowed a custom name.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

First you must survive to the second or third rank, then you are allowed a custom name.

No, that's just a nickname. You can rename characters (without a nickname) from the moment of creation, just like you can change their looks, clothes and sex from the moment of creation. You also cannot give them an attitude until they have leveled up at least once.

Grey Wolf

[Triaxx]

No, I mean if you're not going to survive being a rookie, I'm not going to waste time on a custom name. Once you prove you're not going to be reduced to Ludicrous Gibs when a sectoid looks at you, then you earn a custom name.

[Teln]

That's a feature I'm also looking forward to. Too many times I'd have two snipers and a assault class unload into one single muton while the berserker is sprinting towards the backline.

I suppose it's a fair tradeoff for missing out on seeing a too-cocky Thin Man getting vaporized by a ludicrous amount of plasma fire.

[Flickerdart]

Fewer base slots and the ability to put personnel in slots for bonuses... I'm liking this bit of Fallout Shelter in my X-COM!

[Excession]

Lots of new information out today, as it seems the preview embargo has lifted. It seems that previewers, including press and YouTubers, got a version that would run the first couple of months of game time. YouTube, or your favourite gaming news site, will have new stuff all over the place.
The fifth class is confirmed to be the Psi Operative. Rather than training in the field, you have to spend resources to skill them up in a Psi Training Room. What powers you get is partially randomised, and there are lots of new powers. Mind Control is now permanent, but can only be used once per mission. There is a very nice passive power that clears mental status affects from nearby soldiers, so just running past your troops can clear panic and mind control. Another ability, on a short cooldown, gave another soldier an extra action at the cost of the Psi Op's action.

We've also seen many of the higher rank abilities for the other classes. Sharpshooters have an on-cooldown ability that lets them take overwatch shots on everything that moves in a cone, until they run out of ammo at least. Rangers have one that lets them move and attack again after getting a melee kill, which chains, just with reduced damage for each successive attack. Saw one video where a Ranger took out two Pectopods and an ADVENT trooper before moving to cover.
So hyped.

[Yana]

It seems that you can create your own units that can act as either rookies you recruit, promoted units you can recruit... or enemies you can encounter.

[Cikomyr]

Check out the trailers for the new series called "Colony".

Its Basically "XCOM 2: The Series"

[Hunter Noventa]

Been watching some gameplay videos myself, so I'm pretty hype for this.

Don't forget we have a 6th DLC class coming later this year makes things interesting too. Given that it's 'Shen's Last Gift' it'll be something cybernetic or robotic.

[shadow_archmagi]

Been watching some gameplay videos myself, so I'm pretty hype for this.

Don't forget we have a 6th DLC class coming later this year makes things interesting too. Given that it's 'Shen's Last Gift' it'll be something cybernetic or robotic.

Given Shen's worries about humanity messing itself up too much, maybe it's an anti-tech class.

[Hunter Noventa]

Given Shen's worries about humanity messing itself up too much, maybe it's an anti-tech class.

That's why I'm leaning towards some kind of advanced Shiv you can upgrade more like a soldier.

[Cikomyr]

An AI character that you can download and upload into various SHIVs would be sweet.

At first, it'd suck badly. But combat experience would make it ever better

[MCerberus]

So thanks to Amazon's 20% off policy, I have a preorder.

And that means I'm making a sequel to XCOMitP. That means writing a cheap cop-out to what happened to our eclectic group of meme robots, incompetent red shirts, and TOTALLY NOT MIND CONTROLLED PERSONALITY IMPRINTED CLONES.

Anyway, let's start with sign-ups for people that want to appear. Soldiers, VIPs, and DARK VILLAINS needed. We're going to need customization details too.

[Eldan]

Ooh, me. Eldan. Uh. Some European nationality. They probably don't have Swiss. My ancestors will hate me for this, but German is reasonably close. Dark hair. Don't care much otherwise.

[shadow_archmagi]

I usually don't have too much trouble with Xcom games- maybe I should do my Let's Play of this exclusively drunk. Four shots before every stream, and then another one after each mission. Five or six missions per stream. It'll be great.

[Cikomyr]

Heya! Cikomyr, French-speaking Canadian. Heavy weapon Enthusiast. If you can make it. Bald with a brown goatee and a Tiley Hat if possible. Fair skinned

[Flickerdart]

Anyway, let's start with sign-ups for people that want to appear. Soldiers, VIPs, and DARK VILLAINS needed. We're going to need customization details too.
Flickerdart, Russian nationality (not sure if you can get the right voice, if not then English is fine). Brown hair.

[Yana]

Yana, American (preferably not a southern accent), blonde, ranger, monocle.

Yes, the monocle is that important.

[Dienekes]

Dienekes, American, Chicago/Midwestern accent. Tall guy, glasses, with brown beard and hair. If you're going for accuracy scar under left cheek and hair looks like it hasn't been combed ever.

Ranger class with sword focus.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

That's why I'm leaning towards some kind of advanced Shiv you can upgrade more like a soldier.

I was so very sad when I learned SHIVs wouldn't be appearing in XCOM 2 so I really hope it's something like that. I loved the little guys in Enemy Unknown/Within. High mobility, high damage, very sturdy and able to use supression. Amazing little fellows, never left the base without one in my last playthrough. Usually took two. They let me get away with so much stupid stuff... like activating two Sectopods and the Ethereal pod in the Overseer UFO over the course of two turns and walk away with a few scratches and one scrapped SHIV (your sacrifice is not forgotten, Lopez. o7 ).


So thanks to Amazon's 20% off policy, I have a preorder.

And that means I'm making a sequel to XCOMitP. That means writing a cheap cop-out to what happened to our eclectic group of meme robots, incompetent red shirts, and TOTALLY NOT MIND CONTROLLED PERSONALITY IMPRINTED CLONES.

Anyway, let's start with sign-ups for people that want to appear. Soldiers, VIPs, and DARK VILLAINS needed. We're going to need customization details too.

Awesome! Sign me up! SlyGuyMcFly, Caucasian, British accent, fedora and cigarette. If possible, plaid pattern on the armor. Grenadier class.

We should totally get a GitP Character Pool going when the game comes out.

[MCerberus]

I'm assuming that unless otherwise specified, the head slot on all characters will be monocles and everyone wants to be a dark VIP

[Cikomyr]

...no..

Just a Heavy Weapon Guy.. Thank you very much. I love machine guns

[Flickerdart]

I'm assuming that unless otherwise specified, the head slot on all characters will be monocles and everyone wants to be a dark VIP
I don't know what a dark VIP is. Are there snipers in this one? I could go for a sniper.

[Hunter Noventa]

I don't know what a dark VIP is. Are there snipers in this one? I could go for a sniper.

Dark VIPs are targets for kidnapping or assassination.

[ryuplaneswalker]

Don't forget, you can name your guns.

[thorgrim29]

You can? Are guns unique, ie can you upgrade a rifle and give it to different soldiers? Because if so I know what I will call my very favourite gun.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

You can? Are guns unique, ie can you upgrade a rifle and give it to different soldiers? Because if so I know what I will call my very favourite gun.

Yup. Guns are unique and you can get weapon mods off dead enemies during missions that you then put on your gun for things like 2 free reloads per mission, extra bullets per clip, or 10% chance to insta-kill. These mods can't be removed* but the gun can be handed around. Which is cool because (among other things) it lets you make 'training wheels' guns covered in scopes and laser sights for you rookies.


*unless you get lucky and roll a particular continent bonus in your game. Yes, continent bonuses are randomised in XCOM 2

[Grey_Wolf_c]

You can? Are guns unique, ie can you upgrade a rifle and give it to different soldiers? Because if so I know what I will call my very favourite gun.

Absolutely. A base weapon (tier 1) can be upgraded once - we have seen scopes for better aim, expanded magazines, 5% kill chance, 5% grant free action after shooting, and more. From interviews, it sounds like one continent bonus is the ability to upgrade all weapons a second time. Higher tier weapons, it has been hinted, can be upgraded more than once. There is space in the customization for about 3 or 4 slots.

But more importantly, you don't need to do any of that. You can take a base weapon, completely vanilla, and change its colour, its pattern, and its name. For example, You can make it yellow, with smiley faces and call it "Have A Nice Day".

The downside? If the guy carrying it is dropped, you will have to bring back his body if you want to recover his stuff.

Grey Wolf

[thorgrim29]

The downside? If the guy carrying it is dropped, you will have to bring back his body if you want to recover his stuff.

Grey Wolf

That's ok. We will not loose Vera.

[Cikomyr]

I want my Machine Gun named Mirabelle.

Bonus point to those who get the reference without googling

[shadow_archmagi]

Now I want to have a legendary named grenade that gets carried into every battle and never used.

[Cikomyr]

Now I want to have a legendary named grenade that gets carried into every battle and never used.

Let me tell you one day about the Dark Heresy game where i captured a Keeper of Secret into a Monofilament Grenade, and thus dubbed it the Daemonnade.

It was a weapon that should Never. Ever. Ever be used, as using the rather broken 4d10 (roll each dice twice)+42 points of damage meant also releasing a Greater Daemon.

[thorgrim29]

Let me tell you one day about the Dark Heresy game where i captured a Keeper of Secret into a Monofilament Grenade, and thus dubbed it the Daemonnade.

It was a weapon that should Never. Ever. Ever be used, as using the rather broken 4d10 (roll each dice twice)+42 points of damage meant also releasing a Greater Daemon.

Ha that sounds awesome. Also the kind of thing that will get you killed by all but the most radical of inquisitors (actually they's probably still kill you and send it on an orc world or something) and make a certain sarcastic Hero of The Imperium! catch the first shuttle out the sector as soon as he sees it.

[Silfir]

Make me the guy with the worst aim that you still want to use. Don't really have to change anything about the looks, or gender (Silfir being vaguely unisex; you could also keep the name and rename the call sign instead) but I do want a monocle and (ideally) a top hat, and my gun shall be the "Babby's First" and use Stocks ammunition (the one where you still hit for 1 damage if you miss). I'll allow for it to be passed on to future rookies with even worse aim, of course.

If I can't get a top hat, anything properly dapper will do.

[nightwyrm]

I want my Machine Gun named Mirabelle.

Bonus point to those who get the reference without googling

Jade Empire? But it's so slow its not really a machine gun...


We need a squad decked out in 3 piece suits, top hats and monocles with high class British voice overs. Make it happen modders.

[Cikomyr]

Ha that sounds awesome. Also the kind of thing that will get you killed by all but the most radical of inquisitors (actually they's probably still kill you and send it on an orc world or something) and make a certain sarcastic Hero of The Imperium! catch the first shuttle out the sector as soon as he sees it.

My Sorcerer Adept was a closeted Radical. His plotting has probably done more harm to the Imperium than it has helped. And yet, he kept doubling down, always thinking that "this time, it will solve all the trouble i caused", but he just kept digging deeper.

Would have been an utterly depressing story if his schemes werent so awesome to begin with. I really let loose my inner power gamer, and basically ended up as the campaign's secret villain accidentally.

[thorgrim29]

Oh you went the Eisenhorn way, neat.

More on topic: The game looks really cool but I,m a bit concerned that it will be less replayable than the last one because it looks like there are a lot of set-piece missions. Am I alone in that?

[Dienekes]

Oh you went the Eisenhorn way, neat.

More on topic: The game looks really cool but I,m a bit concerned that it will be less replayable than the last one because it looks like there are a lot of set-piece missions. Am I alone in that?

My understanding is that even the set-piece missions have randomly generated maps.

Plus the effort they're putting into allowing the game to be modable means I think it should be fairly replayable.

That said, I only played through X-Com twice, and spent most my time dueling a couple friends of mine. So, I might not be the best person to answer.

[Cikomyr]

Jade Empire? But it's so slow its not really a machine gun...

Its the biggest gun of tge game either way. Don't question my logic dude, i have a machinegun.


Oh you went the Eisenhorn way, neat.

Actually, i never realized the parallels between the two until now..

[GloatingSwine]

Its the biggest gun of tge game either way. Don't question my logic dude, i have a machinegun.


Something of a technicality when it's the only gun in the game...

(Better as a name for a sniper rifle though due to it being a high damage single shot "oh what's that mister horse demon you're on fire, well I'm all the way over here so there" weapon.)

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Oh you went the Eisenhorn way, neat.

More on topic: The game looks really cool but I,m a bit concerned that it will be less replayable than the last one because it looks like there are a lot of set-piece missions. Am I alone in that?

Nah, replayability is set to be way higher than EU/EW.

First, procedurally generated maps. AFAIK, all maps are procedural, even story maps with set pieces are semi-procedural. Second, (much) greater mission variety. Third, randomised continent bonuses. Fourth, mods. Fifth, mods... Nth, mods. There's a bunch more things that can switch things up from playthrough to playthrough but I think those will shake things up the most.


Speaking of mods, there's nothing I'd like more than a Mass Effect: Tactics total conversion. It'll never happen but damn if it wouldn't be the coolest thing ever.

[Cikomyr]

Something of a technicality when it's the only gun in the game...

(Better as a name for a sniper rifle though due to it being a high damage single shot "oh what's that mister horse demon you're on fire, well I'm all the way over here so there" weapon.)

...ok.. :smallsadface:

I just dont have any idea for a fancy name/reference. And i dont want to end up with a Faux-action 80s name like the "Machinekiller"..

[GloatingSwine]

...ok.. :smallsadface:

I just dont have any idea for a fancy name/reference. And i dont want to end up with a Faux-action 80s name like the "Machinekiller"..

For a bigass machinegun?

Reason.


(Reference possibly esoteric now...)

[thorgrim29]

The correct name for a machine gun is obviously Vera. You could also got he VGHS route, have your sniper's callsign be "The Law" and name his gun "The long arm"

[Cikomyr]

Vera is more of an assault rifle than a LMG, no? :-(

[SlyGuyMcFly]

The correct name for a grenadier's main weapon is, in fact, Sasha (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHgZh4GV9G0).

[thorgrim29]

So Vera the assault rifle and Sasha the LMG? I can live with that

[Dienekes]

If we're going by Serenity, Jayne also has a mini-gun named Lux.

Though, whatever we name all our other guns can we all agree that the shotgun is called "Boomstick"?

[Cikomyr]

So i have the following choices:

Sasha

Zorg ZF-1

Defabricator

Soopa Dakka

[Grey_Wolf_c]

More on topic: The game looks really cool but I,m a bit concerned that it will be less replayable than the last one because it looks like there are a lot of set-piece missions. Am I alone in that?

To reinforce what others have said: even set pieces will only have the central piece reused. All other buildings around it will be modular. So, yes, the building in the demos from a month ago with the green liquid and all the popsicle people will be in every game, but the buildings around it will change randomly - enough that you can't assume anything, anyway.

Now, how many of those set missions there will be? Impossible to tell at this point. XCOM 1 had the alien base, the XCOM base, all of the "special" missions with the thin men, the final mission - myabe a dozen, all in all? XCOM 2 looks like it will have one special mission by geographical area? So lets say twice as many - even if you find the storyline missions repetitive, the fact that the enemies will spawn randomly, and so will at the very least the buildings on the perifery, should keep it fresher than XCOM 1.

Grey Wolf

[thorgrim29]

Alright, seems my fears were groundless. Now I just have to decide if I get the 100$ version or the 80$ version (stupid weak canadian dollar making my online purchases stupidly expensive)

[ryuplaneswalker]

Guys, you missed the obvious one

A shogun, called

The boomstick.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Guys, you missed the obvious one

A shogun, called

The boomstick.
*ahem*

If we're going by Serenity, Jayne also has a mini-gun named Lux.

Though, whatever we name all our other guns can we all agree that the shotgun is called "Boomstick"?

...Unless you actually meant a shogun.

[Cikomyr]

All right. So Heavy Weapon Guy named Cikomyr, from Canada w/ french voice, bald and goatee.

His weapon of choice is a LMG named "Da Best Dakka"

[SlyGuyMcFly]

...Unless you actually meant a shogun.

The Long War MEC class does bring a lot of boom. :smallbiggrin:

[Cute_Riolu]

How about a sniper rifle named Ahab's Crosshairs? :smallsmile:

As far as mods go... I'm hoping it'll be moddable to a similar extent to the custom games in Warcraft 3. I love things that can involve a complete overhaul -- I'd love to see a fantasy-themed mod for it, or something similar!

[Eldan]

*ahem*


...Unless you actually meant a shogun.

And now I'm tempted to suggest a time-travelling Sengoku-era warlord as the leader of XCOM.

Edit: time to see if you can mod voice clips from Total War: Shogun 2 into XCOM.

[shadow_archmagi]

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing a Fallout mod. Play as a vault, expand your underground base, fight mutants, raiders, aliens, Enclave, and choose which factions to ally with- the bureaucratic NCR? The bloodthirsty Caesar's Legion? The genocidal brotherhood?

[lord_khaine]

Anyway, let's start with sign-ups for people that want to appear. Soldiers, VIPs, and DARK VILLAINS needed. We're going to need customization details too.

Oh yeah! Sign me up as Khaine, Scandinavian psyker.
Huge man, long blond hair, a beard you could lose small birds in.

Likes comming up with zen like comments, and dedicated pacifist, refusing to harm another human being.
But killing aliens with his mind.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing a Fallout mod. Play as a vault, expand your underground base, fight mutants, raiders, aliens, Enclave, and choose which factions to ally with- the bureaucratic NCR? The bloodthirsty Caesar's Legion? The genocidal brotherhood?

Ooh, I like this idea.

[Eldan]

Not a bad idea. Missions would be for salvage. You could research pre-war tech to level up, eventually ending up with the ability to actually make new power armor and plasma weapons, which would he incredibly powerful in Fallout.

[Cikomyr]

And now I'm tempted to suggest a time-travelling Sengoku-era warlord as the leader of XCOM.

Edit: time to see if you can mod voice clips from Total War: Shogun 2 into XCOM.

Well, we now have a Ranger melee class. How about a Japanese Ranger named Myamoto Mushashi?


Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing a Fallout mod. Play as a vault, expand your underground base, fight mutants, raiders, aliens, Enclave, and choose which factions to ally with- the bureaucratic NCR? The bloodthirsty Caesar's Legion? The genocidal brotherhood?

I always thought XCOM would benefit more from a kickass Stargate SG-1 mod.

Going around the galaxy, striking against the Goa'uld, make contact with the Jaffa resistance, the To'kra, etc.. Researching advanced techs..

[TheTeaMustFlow]

So thanks to Amazon's 20% off policy, I have a preorder.

And that means I'm making a sequel to XCOMitP. That means writing a cheap cop-out to what happened to our eclectic group of meme robots, incompetent red shirts, and TOTALLY NOT MIND CONTROLLED PERSONALITY IMPRINTED CLONES.

Anyway, let's start with sign-ups for people that want to appear. Soldiers, VIPs, and DARK VILLAINS needed. We're going to need customization details too.

Ooh, ooh, pick me!

TheTeaMustflow is a bit long, so maybe just Teasman. XCOM or friendly VIP (don't mind class), either as English or as Welsh as possible. So almost certainly the former, because noone cares about Wales. Poor Wales...

[Narkis]

So thanks to Amazon's 20% off policy, I have a preorder.

And that means I'm making a sequel to XCOMitP. That means writing a cheap cop-out to what happened to our eclectic group of meme robots, incompetent red shirts, and TOTALLY NOT MIND CONTROLLED PERSONALITY IMPRINTED CLONES.

Anyway, let's start with sign-ups for people that want to appear. Soldiers, VIPs, and DARK VILLAINS needed. We're going to need customization details too.

Awesome. I doubt they have Greece as a nationality choice, so sign me up as Russian commie psyker, spreading Glorious Communism one Alien mind at a time.

[Eldan]

Actually, I think Greece was an option in XCOM 1, though without language files.

[Narkis]

Actually, I think Greece was an option in XCOM 1, though without language files.

Really? I don't remember getting a Greek soldier in any of my playthroughs.

[tonberrian]

Really? I don't remember getting a Greek soldier in any of my playthroughs.

Steam thread (http://steamcommunity.com/app/200510/discussions/0/648812305067510611) says they exist.

[Narkis]

Steam thread (http://steamcommunity.com/app/200510/discussions/0/648812305067510611) says they exist.

Indeed. Guess I was just unlucky then. But in that case, I'll go with a Greek Ranger, slicing filthy xenos up close and personal, as it was meant to be.

[Ailurus]

I always thought XCOM would benefit more from a kickass Stargate SG-1 mod.

Going around the galaxy, striking against the Goa'uld, make contact with the Jaffa resistance, the To'kra, etc.. Researching advanced techs..

This must happen. *shoves a handful of money at the computer screen*

[DemonicAngel]

Raziel, an Israeli Ranger/marksman, brown hair, trimmed beard. likes calling himself death incarnate because of his time in the I.D.F

[ryuplaneswalker]

*ahem*


...Unless you actually meant a shogun.

That is what I get for posting while under the effects of Flu and NyQuil.



So thanks to Amazon's 20% off policy, I have a preorder.

And that means I'm making a sequel to XCOMitP. That means writing a cheap cop-out to what happened to our eclectic group of meme robots, incompetent red shirts, and TOTALLY NOT MIND CONTROLLED PERSONALITY IMPRINTED CLONES.

Anyway, let's start with sign-ups for people that want to appear. Soldiers, VIPs, and DARK VILLAINS needed. We're going to need customization details too.



I will volunteer for an Assault Soldier if you want to do a sword focused dude, just give me a black trench, and be sure I have my long raven black ponytail that I would not go into battle with the Xeno Scum without.

[Artanis]

Artanis "Legacy" d'Aiur, male American Psi-trooper. Preferably wielding a bright blue weapon, yellow/gold armor, no helmet, and something to make it look like his eyes glow. :smalltongue:


Related aside: I chose him as my internet namesake when he was just a fighter pilot, but I seriously doubt his SC1:BW appearance will be possible to replicate.

[Flickerdart]

I always thought XCOM would benefit more from a kickass Stargate SG-1 mod.

Going around the galaxy, striking against the Goa'uld, make contact with the Jaffa resistance, the To'kra, etc.. Researching advanced techs..
Indeed. :smallbiggrin:

Hell, even Atlantis or Universe would work - though in these cases it's more like discovering what pieces of your base do. Research something like Ancient Weapons Systems and suddenly you have a Firing Control Room appear in your base.

[Cikomyr]

Indeed. :smallbiggrin:

Hell, even Atlantis or Universe would work - though in these cases it's more like discovering what pieces of your base do. Research something like Ancient Weapons Systems and suddenly you have a Firing Control Room appear in your base.

I will one-up the SG-1 idea:

How about Half-Life 2 mod for XCOM 2, where you play the Resistance against the Combine?

Chrysalid become Antlions. Sectoids are Vortigons. Mutons become Grunts. Advents are the Combine, etc..

There is event sectopods to take the place of the Striders

[GloatingSwine]

I will one-up the SG-1 idea:

How about Half-Life 2 mod for XCOM 2, where you play the Resistance against the Combine?

Chrysalid become Antlions. Sectoids are Vortigons. Mutons become Grunts. Advents are the Combine, etc..

There is event sectopods to take the place of the Striders

On the other hand, then every soldier you recruit is an incompetent moron who dies in a few seconds until this one guy shows up who will only ever wear orange armour but is basically unkillable and solos everything.

[Cikomyr]

On the other hand, then every soldier you recruit is an incompetent moron who dies in a few seconds until this one guy shows up who will only ever wear orange armour but is basically unkillable and solos everything.

The first proposition is 100% accurate with the game, dont you agree?

And the 2nd part is just because the commander summoned one of the Cheating Soldier and keeps scumsaving.

[Hiro Protagonest]

On the other hand, then every soldier you recruit is an incompetent moron

Is this different from XCOM?

[Cikomyr]

I returned to my The Long War game, and decided to cheat my ass off with unlimited funding. Because screw you.

Still is a fun and challenging game so far. Although the first Exalt missions proved a tad easy, i am sure it will get worse..

Still. During last game, i actually told myself "oh, that would be perfect for a melee strike by my Ranger, where is he? ... ... ... ... .. .. Oh. Wait. Wrong game"

[thorgrim29]

Somebody should dig up the guy who wrote (and inexcusably left pending) the SGXCOM fanfic and have him write the story for a stargate/X-com crossover mod. You would have stargate missions and xcom missions, with the stargate missions being easy and loot-heavy with the occasional hard one to make sure you don't always just send rookies and the x-com missions being incredibly hard but necessary for your survival.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

I returned to my The Long War game, and decided to cheat my ass off with unlimited funding. Because screw you.

Still is a fun and challenging game so far. Although the first Exalt missions proved a tad easy, i am sure it will get worse..

I've started up a fresh LW campaign too. Currently in April, looking at a landed large UFO and wishing it had waited a week or two for me to have beam lasers up and running. Taking it on with nothing but ballistic weapons is scary suicidal. On the plus side, a Canada start means I already have four SGT soldiers that'll even the odds a little. I hope.

[thorgrim29]

Yeah I usually just skip the supply barge. If you can manage it it gives you a huge leg up but it's an extremely hard mission. Taking on 4 or 5 outsiders with ballistic weapons is not fun, not to mention all the floaters and crysalids and other stuff. If you go for it bring a bunch of medpacks and ALL the explosives

[Cikomyr]

So we tried the XCOM board game yesterday with friends. Man i was stressful and awesome. I was the Head Scientist, which is basically like being the TCG specialisr where you buff the teammates permanently or whip up combos to give 1-shot boost to your teammates. Eitherway its fun.

I have to say something tho. During a turn, we had lots of things going on the map. I managed to research 3x technologies in a single turn, the Comm officer destroyed 3 UFO with 2 satellites, the Commander managed to win 3 of his 4 air battles, especially a 3v4 battle over Europe. We rolled exceptionally well.

And then the Squad Leader turn came up for Base defense. He had an Elite Assault guy (2 dice), against an alien which Assault gave an extra die. And then, he used the Run and Gun tech i just researched to further boost his dice pool to 4.

The alien was a meek Floater with 1 hit point. We needed 1 success alone. Each dice have 2/6 chances of a success. Also, everytime you roll, you have to roll the Alien die to see if you.. Die. At first, you only die on a 1. Then on 1, 2. Then on 1, 2, 3. Etc..

His first roll: 0 successes, a 3 on his Alien die. Okay.
Second roll: 0 successes, a 1 on his alien die. He used Carapace armor tech which gives him a free reroll on the Alien die.
Third roll: 0 successes, 1 on the alien die. He uses the Revive tech with a leftover Support soldier to save the soldier's life.
Fourth roll: 0 successes, 2 on the alien die. He uses the revive tech with his last leftover Support.
Fifth roll: 0 successes, 4 on the alien die. His soldier dies.

.... I calculated the odds. He had 0.000881% chance of failing. That way. Thats one chance out of 113,502!!

The board game perfectly recreate the feeling of missing a 98% his chance, point blank. Goddamnit.

[Hunter Noventa]

.... I calculated the odds. He had 0.000881% chance of failing. That way. Thats one chance out of 113,502!!

The board game perfectly recreate the feeling of missing a 98% his chance, point blank. Goddamnit.

That's XCOM!

[Cikomyr]

That's XCOM!

We screamed, cheered and cried all the way. The more it went, the greater our horror grew.

Eventually, the Squad Leader threw a little tantrum and just rolled the XCOM die non stop.

Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Success.

[GloatingSwine]

Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Failure. Success.

Dice shot for treason?

(Some dice are broken, cheap manufacture means bubbles in plastic/uneven tumbling, biases dice)

[Cikomyr]

Hehe.

The XCOM game isnt cheaply made.. Its actually pretty good quality.

Anyway.. Currently watching Quill18's lets play of XCOM2. Very fun watch, i recommend!!

I think i might be addicted. I want to play 3 games:

- X-COM 2
- X-COM Board Game
- X-COM The Long War

[SlyGuyMcFly]

That's XCOM, baby!

FTFY :smallbiggrin:

[GloatingSwine]

Hehe.

The XCOM game isnt cheaply made.. Its actually pretty good quality.

Anyway.. Currently watching Quill18's lets play of XCOM2. Very fun watch, i recommend!!

I think i might be addicted. I want to play 3 games:

- X-COM 2
- X-COM Board Game
- X-COM The Long War

You should try Xenonauts as well ;)

[Cikomyr]

Now i wonder how an all-Ranger team would fare..

I wanna try it. Giving them flashy colors, and naming them Red Ranger, Yellow Ranger, Blue Ranger, etc..

[SlyGuyMcFly]

So I did that supply barge mission in Long War I was talking about earlier. I got really lucky with my dropzone. I landed right next to the command room, cleared a Drone pod outside it and took a look inside. Figured that if the Outsiders where in there I'd just bail. The room was clear. I spent the next 45 minutes camping inside while aliens patrolled into my overwatch. Had a scary moment when 4 Thin Men and 4 Cryssalids charged me in one turn, but I was able to drop a flashbang and some smoke and mop them up relatively cleanly. After a few turns of no new contacts, I advanced to the cargo bay mopping up a couple of stragglers where I was able to ambush the Outsiders. Got some good rolls on my explosives and that was that.

-34 Xenos purged, mucho loot acquired.
-One dead: SGT "Enigma" Fanning, killed by a random Sectoid shooting her through a wall (I couldn't see the little ****head), and then hitting her when she hunkered the following turn :smallannoyed:
-Two wounded, one from Mr. Thin "I don't care about your cover and smoke" Man, another to a sneaky Seeker flank.

All in all, very successful mission. I'd be salty about the bug-induced death but the RNG smiled on me often enough during the mission that I won't complain. Much.



Now i wonder how an all-Ranger team would fare..

I wanna try it. Giving them flashy colors, and naming them Red Ranger, Yellow Ranger, Blue Ranger, etc..

Hah. That sounds awesome. I imagine it might be quite effective with the right mix of stealth and blade perks on them. High armour enemies like MECs and Andromedons might be an issue, but I suppose AP rounds for the shotguns could get around that.

[Cikomyr]

The biggest worry i have is probably the Mutons who can apparently block melee attacks. I shall have to ponder a strategy.

[TheTeaMustFlow]

The biggest worry i have is probably the Mutons who can apparently block melee attacks. I shall have to ponder a strategy.

Rangers still carry guns and explosives, right?

[SlyGuyMcFly]

The biggest worry i have is probably the Mutons who can apparently block melee attacks. I shall have to ponder a strategy.

Sectopods (https://xcom.com/news/en-the-sectopod-towers-over-all-in-xcom-2) are going to be much, much more of a problem.

[ryuplaneswalker]

Sectopods (https://xcom.com/news/en-the-sectopod-towers-over-all-in-xcom-2) are going to be much, much more of a problem.

I am going to need...a uh bigger laser sword.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Official partnership between Firaxis and the Long War peeps. (https://xcom.com/news/en-long-war-studios-preparing-xcom-2-content-for-launch) Best thing? Best thing.

[Ailurus]

I am going to need...a uh bigger laser sword.

Hardly. With it standing 20 feet tall, cutting one of it's legs should mean it topples over nicely. What you need is faster legs, so you can get out of there before the 2-story tall alien robot falls on top of you.

[ryuplaneswalker]

Hardly. With it standing 20 feet tall, cutting one of it's legs should mean it topples over nicely. What you need is faster legs, so you can get out of there before the 2-story tall alien robot falls on top of you.

Yeah but then I am in it's lightning kill radius, with a bigger sword..I can cut it from outside the insta-taze zone.

[TheTeaMustFlow]

Sectopods (https://xcom.com/news/en-the-sectopod-towers-over-all-in-xcom-2) are going to be much, much more of a problem.

Looking at the new Sectopods... Ullaaa (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfh-_05laPs), much?

[Cikomyr]

Official partnership between Firaxis and the Long War peeps. (https://xcom.com/news/en-long-war-studios-preparing-xcom-2-content-for-launch) Best thing? Best thing.

Firaxis went really all-in with engaging the community this game. They gave out multiple copies to various LPers, asking them to play as much as they want as long as they cut out the cut scenes.

And now THIS. Literally hiring their most successful fanmodders to gice us a plethora of awesome options from the get go, and probably allowing them to dig deeper into the game code than a regular modding team would.

Thus, promoting creativity and flexibility in its release. I hope to god it pays off. Best thing would make certain mods official so non-PC users can download as well.

[shadow_archmagi]

Official partnership between Firaxis and the Long War peeps. (https://xcom.com/news/en-long-war-studios-preparing-xcom-2-content-for-launch) Best thing? Best thing.

As someone who dislikes the Long War, I'm still always thrilled to see popular modders get jobs doing what they love, and I'm sure that the Firaxis team will reign in their weirdness a little bit.

[MCerberus]

Re: XcomIPT classes

So there's a waiting list for being a psi-op and also not the resources everywhere to have an army of them. I'll get the prologue written (the Avenger is going to be the battleship taken from Slingshot turned into "the party barge") and move it to a new thread to avoid clutter.

I haven't decided if ADVENT are going to be over-the-top COBRA-style villains or if we're going a more Venture Bros/Archer route.


-----------

Also, I'm wondering if crits are going to ignore armor a la Fallout

[Hiro Protagonest]

Also, I'm wondering if crits are going to ignore armor a la Fallout

Doubt it. Shotguns and rifles in XCOM were balanced well enough that there were plenty of arguments over which assault to use in high difficulties. Shotgun crit-stacking on a ranger with stealth abilities would be obviously overpowered if that were true.

Anyway, Hiro Protagonest, Sniper or Ranger, fair skin, long hair and beard like Jesus, baseball cap (with mic if they still have that option from EU/EW). American. Black armor with silver (or white if unavailable) trim/highlights/accents. Basically make it look as much like Raven Guard armor as possible.

[Olinser]

So do we have an actual release date for this yet?

[Cosi]

So do we have an actual release date for this yet?

I think about two weeks.

[Olinser]

I think about two weeks.

Excellent.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pypuuImw1U

Very, VERY glad they eliminated that stupid interceptor minigame, and most of the other changes look like they've taken some complaints about the game to heart. Hopefully the hardest mode will still be soul-crushingly hard and present a challenge.

Now the only problem is they put it on only PC instead of concurrently with consoles like Enemy Unknown.

Oh well, still will get it for PC I guess. I need my alien head exploding fix :smallamused:

[huttj509]

As someone who dislikes the Long War, I'm still always thrilled to see popular modders get jobs doing what they love, and I'm sure that the Firaxis team will reign in their weirdness a little bit.

I love options, even if they're options I'd personally never take. Especially in a game like XCom where the options can really change the feel.

[Cikomyr]

So in The Long War, I just raided an abduction ship.

Man.. 4 elite Chrysalids, 4 Floaters, 6 Drones, 4 invisible thingy, 5 Thin Men, a Muton and 3 freakkin' Outsiders, for gods sake.

And now, i have a funny Abudction mission. I see Sectoids and Thin Men. Oh good, that will be easy!

...wait a minute.. How many are there..?!

....****

[Cikomyr]

I have to say one thing about this game.

I love the Council Man. He would have every reason to be an unreasonable hardass who criticize us whenever we fail, but no. He is supportive except in the most damning of failure (before that, he emphasize that he has confidence that you can turn things around). He keeps praising your performance and even say "You have performed beyond our expectations, this is not a statement the Council makes lightly"

Talk about awesome job satisfaction.

I know its just window dressing, but its part of the little things that make the game funnier.

[nightwyrm]

I have to say one thing about this game.

I love the Council Man. He would have every reason to be an unreasonable hardass who criticize us whenever we fail, but no. He is supportive except in the most damning of failure (before that, he emphasize that he has confidence that you can turn things around). He keeps praising your performance and even say "You have performed beyond our expectations, this is not a statement the Council makes lightly"

Talk about awesome job satisfaction.

I know its just window dressing, but its part of the little things that make the game funnier.

He's also got an awesome voice!

[5ColouredWalker]

So in The Long War, I just raided an abduction ship.

Man.. 4 elite Chrysalids, 4 Floaters, 6 Drones, 4 invisible thingy, 5 Thin Men, a Muton and 3 freakkin' Outsiders, for gods sake.

And now, i have a funny Abudction mission. I see Sectoids and Thin Men. Oh good, that will be easy!

...wait a minute.. How many are there..?!

....****

I was running a Art of War/Long War run recently until I fixed the game I was really wanting to play.

You know the first big ship in Long War is one that lands almost immediately to establish the first base? I fought it.
Because of the Art of War, all my rookies had 2 grenades, 2 armor hp and low profile from gear, and that's the only way I survived despite me moving like a snail. Even then, of my squad half were dead, and the other half were barely breathing.

[Ardamellon]

Just got done Watching the lastest video And cant wait.

[shadow_archmagi]

IT COMES OUT THE FIFTH??? I THOUGHT IT WAS THE SIXTEENTH OR SOMETHING!?

Oh god that's no time at all

Oh god I don't think I get a paycheck before then am I going to be able to get the pre-order bonuses!?

[Cikomyr]

IT COMES OUT THE FIFTH??? I THOUGHT IT WAS THE SIXTEENTH OR SOMETHING!?

Oh god that's no time at all

Oh god I don't think I get a paycheck before then am I going to be able to get the pre-order bonuses!?

The preorder boni is one extra corporal soldier and decorative stuff for your characters.

Do you think its really worth it?

[ryuplaneswalker]

IT COMES OUT THE FIFTH??? I THOUGHT IT WAS THE SIXTEENTH OR SOMETHING!?

Oh god that's no time at all

Oh god I don't think I get a paycheck before then am I going to be able to get the pre-order bonuses!?

It was the fifth, but the alien overlords went back into the past and changed it to the fifth to keep you from helping defeat them.

[Hiro Protagonest]

decorative stuff for your characters.

TO THE PRE-ORDER! *runs off*

[shadow_archmagi]

The preorder boni is one extra corporal soldier and decorative stuff for your characters.



decorative stuff for your characters.



hats




then I have no choice

[Grey_Wolf_c]

IT COMES OUT THE FIFTH??? I THOUGHT IT WAS THE SIXTEENTH OR SOMETHING!?

Oh god that's no time at all

Oh god I don't think I get a paycheck before then am I going to be able to get the pre-order bonuses!?

Can you pre-order it and not pick it up until later? Doesn't gamestop allow you to pre-order with just $5 or something?

GW

[Cikomyr]

Hum..

Long War Mechtoids.

Goddamnit.

[Cute_Riolu]

Hum..

Long War Mechtoids.

Goddamnit.

Mind Fray and suppression are your friends. And shredder rockets/ammo to take them out.

[Cikomyr]

Didnt had Shredder or HEAT equipped. Down to my last 'nade.

Luckily for me, the RNG seemed to be on the "everyone misses hilariously" side. After missing 6 shots at 35-55% chance against the Sectoid next to it, i decided not focus fire on the big guy as long as there wasnt a shield.

Well, during the turn required to take him down, the (suppressed) Mechtoid hit me 0 time out of 8 shots. The Sectoid also missed me.

I will never go into battle without a Shredder again.

In other news, YES PHALANX ARMOR! LASER CANNONS!

[Hunter Noventa]

IT COMES OUT THE FIFTH??? I THOUGHT IT WAS THE SIXTEENTH OR SOMETHING!?

Oh god that's no time at all

Oh god I don't think I get a paycheck before then am I going to be able to get the pre-order bonuses!?

It's the new Fire Emblem that comes out on the 16th, i think.

[Cikomyr]

...okay. I did it.

Goddamnit. At least i will have hats

[thorgrim29]

Every time I swear I'm not pre-ordering stuff anymore something happens and I break that vow... Oh well Witcher 3 didn't dissapoint, I'm sure this won't either (I initially vowed not to preorder after The Bureau oddly enough)

[SlyGuyMcFly]

I'm not getting my paycheck till the 5th.


No hats for me :smallfrown:

[nightwyrm]

I'm not getting my paycheck till the 5th.


No hats for me :smallfrown:

Well, if you pay by credit card, you don't actually have to pay till a month later....:smile:

[Cikomyr]

I just realized something utterly evil with The Long War..

The equivalent of Rookies (PFC) are all dressed in bright Red colors. Obviously, i always bring a PFC in all missions to keep leveling him.

"So we have a dangerous murderous missions against a landed UFO. We will bring Captain " Killeye", Sergeant "Deadshot", Sergeant " Awesome", Corporal "Savior", Corporal " Big Guns", the superarmed SHIV and...

And you Mr Redshirt"


I BEHAVE LIKE THE ENTERPRISE CREW

[5ColouredWalker]

There's a mod that brings back the OTS upgrades where your new recruits come in at higher levels. I look forward to using it when I play X-com 1 next, though that maybe never. I've got to do a modded F:NV, continue screwing with modded F:4 and X-Com 2 is coming out soon.]

Anyhow, here (http://www.nexusmods.com/xcom/mods/641/?tab=2&navtag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexusmods.com%2Fxcom%2Faja x%2Fmodfiles%2F%3Fid%3D641&pUp=1) for those interested.

[Olinser]

Was wandering around and actually saw somebody with recorded gameplay footage of XCOM 2 from an event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVw-QOU06WU

So stuff that I see from the video:

Out of combat:

Completely visual customization for squad members, to include weapons, armor, faces, voices, flags, etc

Weapon customization where you change up upgrades. It looks like you can change them for each mission, which is great, it gives you flexibility internal to soldiers, while before the only real flexibility was through changing out squadmates or switching weapon types.

Mobile base that actually uses up days to travel from point to point. So now it's not just about what missions take up time, it's about planning a route around the world that uses a minimum of extraneous movement. 'Radio towers' mentioned, it seems like building them will expand your movement radius.

Only 12 spots in your base. So upgrade slots and locations will have to be carefully considered.


In combat:

Timed objectives force aggression. Even on a lower difficulty setting the timer was QUITE short.

So your first turns are concealed, as long as you don't give yourself away you can move quite far and set up ambushes.

Seems to be civilians hanging out on the map, but they don't actually affect anything. Maybe they will do things later on.

As soon as you take the first shot enemies dive for cover, BUT anybody with overwatch can shoot them as they do this. So setting up a mass overwatch ambush is definitely critical.

Instead of all firing at once, overwatch fires one at a time, presumably if you actually kill somebody further troops will save their overwatch for another target. Very good, it was really annoying to have your entire squad completely waste their overwatch on a single tiny alien.

HOLY **** VIPERS CAN YANK GUYS OUT OF COVER

Melee on the whole seems to do significantly more damage than any other weapon, even sniper rifles (in this video his melee is doing 5-7 while his sniper rifle was 4-6), and it has very high base accuracy. So big risk but big damage reward.

Enemies can potentially drop items you use for upgrades. Not really clear how many you need or how rare they are.

'Hacking' is supposed to be new this game, the only sign we saw of it was you could accept a lower chance of hacking the objective for extra bonuses out of the mission (the two that were shown was 50% reduction in tech research - damn that's a huge reduction - and a 'lead' on an alien base, presumably it would flag the location on the overland map. Supposedly there is an actual hacker class, presumably they would have a higher chance of getting bonuses if they are the one hacking the objective.

Looks like you get a 1 turn warning and location on enemy reinforcements, but no indication of how many or what types.

You can actually fire through some walls at enemies, destroying them with regular weapons.

[Hunter Noventa]

'Hacking' is supposed to be new this game, the only sign we saw of it was you could accept a lower chance of hacking the objective for extra bonuses out of the mission (the two that were shown was 50% reduction in tech research - damn that's a huge reduction - and a 'lead' on an alien base, presumably it would flag the location on the overland map. Supposedly there is an actual hacker class, presumably they would have a higher chance of getting bonuses if they are the one hacking the objective.


That's basically the gist of it, though the Specialist class is better at hacking, they have a better Tech stat, and can hack at range with the right skill for their little drone. From the footage I've seen there's basically three levels to the hacking:
1) Default result, no bonuses, no chance of failure. This is stuff like the mission objective you have to hack (of which there are some), or say, turning off a security camera or turret for a couple turns.
2) Better result, bonuses like a research boost, overloading a turret or other mechanical enemy, stuff like that.
3) Best result, hardest to get, stuff lie the leads on alien outposts, taking control of a turret or other mechanical enemy, stuff like that.
Bad stuff for failure includes Feedback, which I assume does damage tot he hacker or disables their drone, all the way to summoning enemy reinforcements.

[Cikomyr]

Have you seen images of the new Berserker?

That thing looks terrifying

[SlyGuyMcFly]

There's been a steady stream of fan-made trailers for X-COM 2. This one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaEC4Co-00g) is fantastic, but this other one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtyw3aURYCU) really tickles my fancy.



Have you seen images of the new Berserker?

That thing looks terrifying

-ly naked? :smalltongue:

Actually, it reminds me a lot of Namir, a boss near the end of Deus Ex:HR:
http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/deusex/images/4/4b/DX3_Jaron_Namir_concept_art.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110823190942&path-prefix=en

[Olinser]

Have you seen images of the new Berserker?

That thing looks terrifying

If you're talking about this:

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/xcom/images/0/03/XCOM2_Berserker_Roars.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150622140945

I'm not particularly impressed. It looks big and lumbering and doesn't really look particularly intimidating.

[Cikomyr]

If you're talking about this:

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/xcom/images/0/03/XCOM2_Berserker_Roars.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150622140945

I'm not particularly impressed. It looks big and lumbering and doesn't really look particularly intimidating.

Agree to disagree then. Ill probably be extremely scared to send rangers against that behemoth.

[Ailurus]

Agree to disagree then. Ill probably be extremely scared to send rangers against that behemoth.

Well, yeah, sending melee units against the thing the devs have stated has the game's strongest melee attack is probably not smart. On the other hand, I'm highly amused by the thought of a grenadier casually firing some ordinance into that gaping maw mid-roar.

*rrrooooooaaaaaaaaaaboooooooooom*

(while doing that exactly in-game almost certainly be possible, I'm still fairly confident that snipers and explosives will take her down pretty quickly. She really seems designed around alpha-striking, so careful setup during the stealth phase should negate most of her damage.)

[SlyGuyMcFly]

(while doing that exactly in-game almost certainly be possible, I'm still fairly confident that snipers and explosives will take her down pretty quickly. She really seems designed around alpha-striking, so careful setup during the stealth phase should negate most of her damage.)

Sure. But what happens when one patrols into your squad while you fight an ADVENT pod during a retaliation mission? I feel you underestimate the gal. Badly. Most every alien so far has at least one borderline broken bull**** ability. You need to kill the very tanky Andromedon twice. Gatekeeper has an AoE resurrect that persists after it's death. Codex has teleporting clones and a ranged AoE disable. Even the Sectoid "just" has a low percent chance to Mind Control with it's Psi Panic skill.

Now why would the Berserker be any different? :smallamused:


Edit: Oh Long War you lovable rapscallion, you:

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/358402530963819427/1553AB0950096F1271A1D8248D6E44B906B01F7A/

It's not like I'm down to 9 non-fatigued soldiers or anything! Ah-heh. Heh. *sigh*

[shadow_archmagi]

There's been a steady stream of fan-made trailers for X-COM 2. This one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaEC4Co-00g) is fantastic, but this other one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtyw3aURYCU) really tickles my fancy.


Oh my gosh that second one was NOT what I was expecting

How gorgeous!

[Slayn82]

Isn't Hacking hardest options mostly an design alternative for mind control? Instead of using psychics to dominate any enemy, you use the Tech specialist to control enemy turrets or whatever. So, it looks pretty useful to me.

Sign me up for the LP as a hacking specialist Drone operator or Scientific minion. Slayn82, Brazilian. Afro haired, glasses using, stubble/short beard, slight overweight, very light browned or light tanned Latino.

[MCerberus]

Those aliens have some really interesting sexual dimorphism going on don't they.

Female muton -> Berserker
Male Viper -> Thin man

[thorgrim29]

Wait the berserker is the female muton? Guess Solomon and Gupta are Gears of War fans.

[Volthawk]

I just realized something utterly evil with The Long War..

The equivalent of Rookies (PFC) are all dressed in bright Red colors. Obviously, i always bring a PFC in all missions to keep leveling him.

"So we have a dangerous murderous missions against a landed UFO. We will bring Captain " Killeye", Sergeant "Deadshot", Sergeant " Awesome", Corporal "Savior", Corporal " Big Guns", the superarmed SHIV and...

And you Mr Redshirt"


I BEHAVE LIKE THE ENTERPRISE CREW

Yeah Long War's automatic colour coding is great.

[Cikomyr]

There's been a steady stream of fan-made trailers for X-COM 2. This one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaEC4Co-00g) is fantastic, but this other one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtyw3aURYCU) really tickles my fancy.




-ly naked? :smalltongue:

Actually, it reminds me a lot of Namir, a boss near the end of Deus Ex:HR:
http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/deusex/images/4/4b/DX3_Jaron_Namir_concept_art.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110823190942&path-prefix=en

Speaking of trailers, have you seen the one for X-COM 2: Resurgence (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqlkHrp-FA0)?

[Cikomyr]

Gentlemen, i just learned some intel regarding the Chrysalids

They can burrow now

We are so ****ed. I want Napalm

[shadow_archmagi]

Gentlemen, i just learned some intel regarding the Chrysalids

They can burrow now

We are so ****ed. I want Napalm

Napalm won't help if they're underground!

[thorgrim29]

Game over man, game over. Seriously though I don't think we'll have many issues with the base game being too easy with this one...

[Cikomyr]

Game over man, game over. Seriously though I don't think we'll have many issues with the base game being too easy with this one...

..

They took a page from Terror From the Deep

"What? The original game is too easy? All right bud. Lets see how you handle this.."

[Rodin]

..

They took a page from Terror From the Deep

"What? The original game is too easy? All right bud. Lets see how you handle this.."

The hilarious thing? That was all caused by a bug in the original XCom which set the difficulty back to "Beginner" after the first mission.

[Cikomyr]

The hilarious thing? That was all caused by a bug in the original XCom which set the difficulty back to "Beginner" after the first mission.

I am well aware of that..

Geez. I wanted to play X2 on "classic" right off the bat, but now..

Edit: good news everyone! Apparently, Chrysalids no longer create Zombies!

Instead, when they kill a human, they put.him in a cocoon, and after a few turns, three Chrysalids emerge..

...

Thats it. I vote to capture nuclear weapons

[Dienekes]

I am well aware of that..

Geez. I wanted to play X2 on "classic" right off the bat, but now..

Edit: good news everyone! Apparently, Chrysalids no longer create Zombies!

Instead, when they kill a human, they put.him in a cocoon, and after a few turns, three Chrysalids emerge..

...

Thats it. I vote to capture nuclear weapons

The only appropriate response I have to all this Chrysalid news involves language that playground does not allow for.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Gentlemen, i just learned some intel regarding the Chrysalids

They can burrow now

We are so ****ed. I want Napalm

I'm also guessing that they have the same "move twice and then melee attack" ability that swordsmen (and melee ADVENT) have. Gone will be the XCOM:EU days in which they'd move all the way up to your soldier, and stand there, waiting to be turned into delicious XP and chitin armour with point-blank blasts. The Whale mission would go from walk in the park to terrorific with that change alone.

Grey Wolf

[Guancyto]

Not to worry men, we'll have a Diglett to cast Dig while they're burrowed! It'll be super effective?

What's that? We don't have any Digletts, and, in fact, we should start screaming in terror and flailing?

XCOM Rookie fainted.

[ryuplaneswalker]

Gentlemen, i just learned some intel regarding the Chrysalids

They can burrow now

We are so ****ed. I want Napalm

Someone Call Darvos and Kefka, the only way to be safe is complete universal cleansing.

[Dienekes]

So Green Man Gaming is selling XCOM 2 for 27% off, anyone know what GMG is and if it's worth signing up to get that money off?

[Olinser]

So Green Man Gaming is selling XCOM 2 for 27% off, anyone know what GMG is and if it's worth signing up to get that money off?

In general it is 100% not worth it to sign up for ANYTHING to get a discount on a game. Especially since with a glance at their website it looks like you only get a digital copy, and have to download it through their own client.

In other words you buy from them and they fold, you will not be able to re-download the game a couple years down the road.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

New intel on the 'lids:

http://i.imgur.com/uDRDrw5.png

But wait, there's more!

-Burrow overwatch: If your guy gets too close, a 'lid can unburrow and attack... during your turn.
-Ranger-style dash attack confirmed on stream.
-They have both Defense (making them harder to hit) and Dodge (even if you hit them, they may take reduced damage).
-The cocoon spawns a 'lid per turn for three turns.

The good news is the baby 'lids apparently have much less HP.

[Eldan]

Wow. That's terrifying.

[Hiro Protagonest]

-The cocoon spawns a 'lid per turn for three turns.

Oh, glad we cleared that up. That's much worse.

[Dienekes]

You know I will say I liked the old health bars better in rows of 5 you automatically could know how much hp an opponent has at a glance. But with the new bars I have no clue unless I sit and count the bunch which as the rectangles get smaller the more health the opponent has the more difficult it is to tell quickly. Like those lids in the picture I assumed were at 10 hp until it was pointed out they had 13.

It's really a minor complaint with everything else they've clearly improved on it just strikes me as an odd change.

[Knaight]

You know I will say I liked the old health bars better in rows of 5 you automatically could know how much hp an opponent has at a glance. But with the new bars I have no clue unless I sit and count the bunch which as the rectangles get smaller the more health the opponent has the more difficult it is to tell quickly. Like those lids in the picture I assumed were at 10 hp until it was pointed out they had 13.

It's really a minor complaint with everything else they've clearly improved on it just strikes me as an odd change.

I'm fond of good old numbers, but if you have to have a bar system the 5 system really is a better design.

[Vitruviansquid]

I always enjoy-dreaded seeing an enemy pop out in Firaxcom 1 whose health bar looks like a ****ing square.

[Olinser]

Well the company is starting to hint they may port to console, so I may hold off on buying the game for a few weeks and hope they are going to bring it to PS4.

[Narkis]

So Green Man Gaming is selling XCOM 2 for 27% off, anyone know what GMG is and if it's worth signing up to get that money off?

I've bought stuff on Green Man Gaming before, never ran into problems. They give out Steam keys so you should be safe in that regard. And if you pay with Paypal, there shouldn't be any compromising data on their system.

That said, I've never preordered something from them, so I don't know exactly how it works and can't completely vouch for them.

[Hunter Noventa]

I've bought stuff on Green Man Gaming before, never ran into problems. They give out Steam keys so you should be safe in that regard. And if you pay with Paypal, there shouldn't be any compromising data on their system.

That said, I've never preordered something from them, so I don't know exactly how it works and can't completely vouch for them.

GMG is a legit site, and they'll send you the keys as soon as they have them basically. They had a few issues in the past where they might have gotten less-than-legit keys, but in this case they're coming right from 2K Games, so they're fine.

As for only getting a digital copy...99% of boxed copies these days are just a steam code anyway. GMG offers regular discoutns and vouchers usable on new and gold games, and they don't have any kind of client that I'm aware of.

You might have confused them with GOG, which does have a client, but their client is in no way mandatory.

[Ailurus]

Well the company is starting to hint they may port to console, so I may hold off on buying the game for a few weeks and hope they are going to bring it to PS4.

I wouldn't be surprised to see it come to console some day, but you're almost certainly going to be waiting for months if not a year+. They have said that they're not opposed to the idea, but I doubt they'd start working on a port until the release and initial wave of bugfixes is done, and they have some idea of how the game is selling. Also, one of the reasons they gave for no initial console port was lack of mods there, and one of the devs is quoted as saying he's "very excited and curious to see how [FO4 xbone mods] work". And since Bethesda hasn't said any specifics about the xbone mods except "soon", much less making it available, it will be a while before we know how they do work.

[Cikomyr]

Watching Beaglerush's LPlay of XCOM Long War is a real education in tactics..

The man is really clever.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Watching Beaglerush's LPlay of XCOM Long War is a real education in tactics..

The man is really clever.

I've almost finished watching the series. Equal parts entertaining and educational. It's done wonders for my own commanding skills.


And speaking of my own Long War game, I just had one of those *fun* missions. Landed Scout in China, mid-August. I decide my C team can use some training and I grab a Specialist Sniper to tag along, get her a few kills so she can start being useful. Sure it's a landed UFO, but it's just a Scout. I've been running into a lot of Mectoids lately though, so I grab my highest-level Rocketeer and load her up with as many rockets as she can carry. Just in case. Hoo boy was I glad I did. Six Sectoids, twelve Seekers, three Commanders, three Outsiders and three Mectoids. I still can't believe the squad pulled through with no wounds. Mad props to my Infantry gal Trips for landing way more 50% shots than she had any business hitting, Nova for those pin-point rockets all over the place and my Gunner Mouse for resisting three Mind Control attempts. Crazy stuff.

[Cikomyr]

I just managed to locate a Landed Harvester. Thats cool.

Until i discovered that less than 5 squares away from the starting position, there is a 5-man Outsider Pod..

And just next to it, if i try to manoeuver, there is a 5-sectoid pod

This isnt going to be a vacation..

edit: I am sorry, I miscounted.

That's SIX Outsiders.

and also, 2x pods of 4 Chrysalids.

I haven't even finished my first month -_- my highest levelled soldier is a bloody LCPL

[thorgrim29]

I am pretty frustrated right now. I have to leave on a work trip the whole week next week so I'll only get 2 days of XCOM 2 before getting blueballed for 6. I might just not play it over the weekend

[SlyGuyMcFly]

[Snip]

Sounds like you got screwed pretty hard by pod placement. Long War can be really nasty about it.




I haven't even finished my first month -_- my highest levelled soldier is a bloody LCPL

And that's why I love Canada's Cadre starting bonus. It's far from the strongest but having 4 corporals right off the bat makes that first landed large so much easier. And that can really snowball a campaign in XCOM's favour. Plus you get the first squad size upgrade significantly earlier which further helps get an advantage in the first couple of months. More people is easier missions and also more XP going into the roster.

[Cikomyr]

Make that 3 chrysalis pods..

I am cheating my ass off with some savescumming as well. But at least i like the challenge. I want to clear the superlong map before activating the Outsiders, and then fight them in a retreating fight.

For now, after Acided on 3 squaddies i had the Chrysalids charge me (with no grenade left). Instead, i reloaded and decided to just sit and overwatch until the Lids meet me, and i can shoot them

[Volthawk]

A nice middle-ground Long War has is Bronzeman Mode, which on the whole works like Ironman but leaves a restart mission option, so you have a big '**** this' button, but savescumming individual rounds isn't a thing and there's still the permanence on the wider scale.

I kinda screwed up with my starting bonus choice. I got the SA one that gives you the salvage projects for free since I figured 'hey, getting an improved resource stream is great in the long run right?', but I forgot just how early/cheap those projects were, so a different one would probably have served me better by this point, particularly because I'm not getting enough resources anyway.

[Cikomyr]

Lets just say that i have not saved scummed 80% of the missions so far. Obly those i felt i was really unlikely to even survive.

I lost a few people along the way, tho. Beaglerush's advices really helped me play intelligently. And i got at least 5 perfect missions on my record, without savescumming.

[Hunter Noventa]

I've been playing classic EW lately (though with a couple mods like the choosing of soldier classes and being able to re-randomize talent trees, for variety) and man, I had to completely restart the base defense mission, I guess I lingered around too long because it was full of sectopods and berserkers. Heck, the second run had an Ethereal, but i'd traded out my arc thrower for a medkit so I couldn't catch him. Still insane.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

I've been playing classic EW lately (though with a couple mods like the choosing of soldier classes and being able to re-randomize talent trees, for variety) and man, I had to completely restart the base defense mission, I guess I lingered around too long because it was full of sectopods and berserkers. Heck, the second run had an Ethereal, but i'd traded out my arc thrower for a medkit so I couldn't catch him. Still insane.

I'm doing a 4-man run of EW (because it is the least accomplished accomplishment I have a chance of fulfilling) and as is my custom, I left the alien base attack until month 4... which means that my base defense featured 4 cyberdiscs as the flying wave, and 6 sectopods (2 in the map room, 2 in the mech bay, 2 through the blast doors). Still was the easiest mission so far, because I had more than 4 proper soldiers (although I felt really bad about letting the mooks out of cover so I could keep getting proper reinforcements).

Finally figured out how to use mecha soldiers, too.

GW

[MCerberus]

Initial reviews have exceeded our expectations, and that's not a statement this council takes lightly

[Hiro Protagonest]

Initial reviews have exceeded our expectations, and that's not a statement this council takes lightly

Hell yeah, I haven't even gotten to reviews, just watched some of Beagle's stuff and at one point he mentioned on stream how he talks to the devs casually and they're really excited for it. And if all else fails? MODS. Absolutely pre-ordered.

I'm hoping for some great Warhammer 40k campaign mods.

[Cikomyr]

Initial reviews have exceeded our expectations, and that's not a statement this council takes lightly

A+

Would laugh again

MCerberus gained a promotion!!

[Leon]

I was going to preorder it but sanity took over and said no, despite how much i want it its not worth paying $84 for a digital game. I'll endure and wait for either it to go on sale or the Dollar to get better (and i bet the Sale will happen sooner)

[5ColouredWalker]

I kinda screwed up with my starting bonus choice. I got the SA one that gives you the salvage projects for free since I figured 'hey, getting an improved resource stream is great in the long run right?', but I forgot just how early/cheap those projects were, so a different one would probably have served me better by this point, particularly because I'm not getting enough resources anyway.

I always grab the Nigeria starting bonus. I don't care what you have to say, Mobility is King.

[Cikomyr]

I dont know. Egypt's fast repair for Interceptors is awesome

[huttj509]

Hell yeah, I haven't even gotten to reviews, just watched some of Beagle's stuff and at one point he mentioned on stream how he talks to the devs casually and they're really excited for it. And if all else fails? MODS. Absolutely pre-ordered.

I'm hoping for some great Warhammer 40k campaign mods.

I've been really impressed with how the devs have managed the community during development. The stuff that was scripted was well called out as scripted (the demo mission from a year or so ago, for example, all the videos I saw had it pointed out that the pods were tweaked to show stuff off that could happen rather than be what you'd normally encounter, so you'd always have the snake *oh ***** moment, for example).

And then they didn't bring reviewers to a "boot camp" to show them the game in a controlled scenario, they instead sent early limited copies to a *large* variety of youtubers, and said "have at it, feel free to show it off, just cut out the story stuff please."

Even the developer demos (like the highest difficulty missions played by one of the people responsible for tweaking the difficulty) have managed to at least feel like it's legit "I don't know what's coming" instead of all the reactions scripted.

The news that they were working with the Long War modders came as no surprise in that regard. They knew it was popular (as evidenced by some of the changes they made for xcom 2), and wanted to make sure that any information those guys needed to tweak stuff for their mod options, they had.

It's like the reaction I have to Harebrained Schemes Shadowrun stuff. "Wait, you mean people can make a game, do a solid job, and not be jerks? This should not feel weird!"

[SlyGuyMcFly]

I always grab the Nigeria starting bonus. I don't care what you have to say, Mobility is King.


I dont know. Egypt's fast repair for Interceptors is awesome

Nigeria is probably the strongest tactical-level bonus and unlike other bonuses is neither early-game or late-game focused but remains uniformly strong at all times. It does come with the downside that Africa is your starting continent, so you have to work a bit harder to get the good continent bonuses. But it's a pretty small downside in comparison, I think. Egypt is also really good because screw the air game. Only reason I don't use it is because I already .ini tweaked interceptor repair times down to not-stupid levels.

An start I haven't tried is France's Quay d'Orsay. I've heard folks swear by it. I can see the appeal too, more requests -> more money, scientists and engineers -> better equipment faster and cheaper -> crush missions.



I'm hoping for some great Warhammer 40k campaign mods.

What I'm really hoping for is Mass Effect, but a full 40k campaign would be amazing too.

[The_Admiral]

I just read the Ressurection novel, wasn't amazing but I loved the fact that Advent taking over didn't change Singapore much and when he had to write conversations with locals, I could hear the voices in my head though it could just be me.

[Hunter Noventa]

And then they didn't bring reviewers to a "boot camp" to show them the game in a controlled scenario, they instead sent early limited copies to a *large* variety of youtubers, and said "have at it, feel free to show it off, just cut out the story stuff please."


They didn't just do that, they did bring several prominent youtubers into Firaxis to play the game, but they basically said 'here's what's working, capture some footage and have fun'. One guy spent so much time making characters that one of the people there actually asked if he was okay. But by all reports it was nothing like the 'boot camps' set up by other companies.

I am so hyped up for this game though. Gonna spend all weekend filling up the character pool probably.


I would absolutely love to see 40k stuff, but GW does tend to shut down that kind of thing HARD.

I want a Buster Sword and a Zankantou for my rangers, and a Sanger Zonvolt voice pack, but I don't have the skills to make that happen.

[Cikomyr]

I just read the Ressurection novel, wasn't amazing but I loved the fact that Advent taking over didn't change Singapore much and when he had to write conversations with locals, I could hear the voices in my head though it could just be me.

I am interested and would like to know more

[The_Admiral]

http://www.amazon.com/XCOM-2-Resurrection-Greg-Keyes/dp/1608877124 It's a what happened in between the loss of the last game and the start of two.

Isn't good, just, competent. Highlights of what happened include


Vahlen being a bond villain with a secret volcano fortress.
Shen leading what's left of the project trying to get a mobile base (The Avenger) up and running
XCOM working off a nuclear submarine and sending combat missions by lorry.
Singapore being the only city in/near the peninsula to get the New City treatment.

[thorgrim29]

Vahlen being a bond villain with a secret volcano fortress.

That sounds interesting.

[Cikomyr]

That sounds interesting.

100% in character

[shadow_archmagi]

I'm calling non-canon if she ever uses an explosive, though. Those weapon fragments are too precious.

[Cikomyr]

I FINALLY BEAT THOSE SIX OUTSIDERS

Goddamnit. and I had to use the cheesiest of tactic: put myself on the roof right above them, and eternal-overwatch until they dripple one at a time.

Let's just say that the first one who came with Lightning Reflex really scared me for a minute. But he seemed unique. The others fell prey.

when they were barely 2, I then decided to go a little more aggressive.

[Volthawk]

I FINALLY BEAT THOSE SIX OUTSIDERS

Goddamnit. and I had to use the cheesiest of tactic: put myself on the roof right above them, and eternal-overwatch until they dripple one at a time.

Let's just say that the first one who came with Lightning Reflex really scared me for a minute. But he seemed unique. The others fell prey.

when they were barely 2, I then decided to go a little more aggressive.

Yeah the way Long War does it is that each pod has a commander-type guy, who gets a little more than the rest. Lightning Reflexes pops up a lot on their perks. Similar thing happens for Thin Men and Chrysalids, I believe.

[MCerberus]

Re: Berserkers

I will miss playing assault class reaction shot ping-pong with shotguns, and this needs to be shared

http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/064/592/25b.jpg

[thorgrim29]

Berzerker pinball isn't a thing anymore? Wow they are going to be a bitch and a half to deal with...

[Cikomyr]

Yeah the way Long War does it is that each pod has a commander-type guy, who gets a little more than the rest. Lightning Reflexes pops up a lot on their perks. Similar thing happens for Thin Men and Chrysalids, I believe.

Yhea, i have had a Lightning Reflrx chrysalid happen to me once. Man was that scary.

Oh well. I will get Lazors in 10 days, and i now sit on sufficiently high piles of alloy to build 10 of those in a single sitting.

[Teln]

Totalbiscuit's review is up:


https://youtu.be/W1dLGihV0No

He liked it so much he's already beat the game on Normal and restarted on Classic!

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Attention Commanders: You can start preloading XCOM 2 on Steam now.

[Hunter Noventa]

Yeah I just got my key from GMG, I wish I could set it up but work is work. I also can't wait to see what TB has to say, he loved the first one and while we dont' agree on every kind of game,t his is a place where we converge.

But then, I've been watching enough gameplay and seeing enough reviews that I know it'll be amazing. Going to spend half the weekend filling the Character Pool, I know it.

[Cikomyr]

There goes my bandwith.

The hour of truth. Sadly, i think my laptop aint even going to be able to run it

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Oh goodness 27 hours 40 minutes to release.

*flails wildly*

[Yana]

Unfortunately, there was an unexpected setback during the initial stages of this invasion. A decision had to be made between funding the X-Com Project and funding a rival program, code named "Fire Emblem" . As such, The Council will have to withdraw its support for the foreseeable future. However, This Council still looks forward to your continued progress.

Good luck, Commander.

[BRC]

Watched the Totalbiscuit review. Apparently it's not optimized that well, so there can be framerate issues.
Totalbiscuit recommends turning off Anti-Aliasing and Ombient Occlusion.

[Cikomyr]

Watched the Totalbiscuit review. Apparently it's not optimized that well, so there can be framerate issues.
Totalbiscuit recommends turning off Anti-Aliasing and Ombient Occlusion.

I have a Radeon 350 card.

I think i am 4 generations behind. I cant even run the most recent DirectX

[BRC]

I have a Radeon 350 card.

I think i am 4 generations behind. I cant even run the most recent DirectX

yeah, it looks like you don't meet the minimum requirements. Sorry friend.

[Cikomyr]

Goddamn laptop.. Is it possible to change a laptop's vid card?

[Hunter Noventa]

Goddamn laptop.. Is it possible to change a laptop's vid card?

Maybe on some kind of super high-end gaming laptop.

So generally no.

[Dienekes]

Goddamn laptop.. Is it possible to change a laptop's vid card?

Possible? Yes.

Practical to anyone who has never built their own computer before and can safely take apart a motherboard and processor in a way that's cheaper than just getting a new laptop? No.

[tonberrian]

I'm more concerned with my cpu, which is clocking at 1.7 vs. 2.6 minimum. I know graphics will be terrible, I couldn't get any cutscenes to play in XCOM without all the choppiness.

Guess it's time to save up for a new computer.

[Cikomyr]

Possible? Yes.

Practical to anyone who has never built their own computer before and can safely take apart a motherboard and processor in a way that's cheaper than just getting a new laptop? No.

I can dissassemble and reassemble a desktop, done so on multiple occasion. Hardly a pro tho.

Also dissassembled and reassembled my laptop to clean it from top to bottom and changed the thermic paste.

So.. Maybe i could?

Edit: I hope this isn't seen as a sardonic/defensive comeback.

It's just that I realize changing a piece of laptop's hardware is more complicated than moving stuff around your desktop. Hence my questioning.

[king korath]

So the preload is going but now i must decide if i am going to use the dev's in my campaign.

[Silfir]

I think any informative answer on whether it will be possible to upgrade your laptop's GPU to where it can handle XCOM 2 depends on additional information, such as the laptop's make and model number. With a laptop that old, it might not even have the necessary slots to accomodate a modern laptop GPU, even supposing they're being sold separately for a not too outrageous price, and even if the slot fits there's no guarantee that the laptop can handle the extra power requirements.

I can't even find more than a couple of laptop GPUs being separately sold on amazon at the moment; maybe I'm looking in the wrong spot. You'd definitely end up paying quite a lot for the part itself, with no guarantee it will work at all - that's cash that's probably more sensibly spent (relatively speaking) on a new machine, be it a gaming desktop (far better value for money) or a new laptop.

Mind you, I'm not sure what a Radeon 350 even is. This (http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php) is a searchable list of video cards that seems pretty exhaustive, and I can't find it.

[GloatingSwine]

In the majority of cases a laptop GPU is going to be soldered onto the board anyway, because they're never intended to be replaced.

On the other hand, the minimum requirement for Xcom 2 for graphics cards is pretty low, they're saying a Radeon 5770 will work and that's a five and a half year old chip.

[Cikomyr]

Oh well.. Worse comes to worst, i am.having fun with The Long War.

I AM having fun.

I swear.

I totally wouldn't mind not playing Xcom2

[thorgrim29]

Ah you've entered the "abusive relationship" phase of Long War. Good times

[Cikomyr]

Ah you've entered the "abusive relationship" phase of Long War. Good times

I swear she loves me, she just needs a bit of change. I am following Beaglerush's advice, he can make Long War less abusive..

..maybe

[MCerberus]

meanwhile playing in my head on a loop from now until after work tomorrow

https://youtu.be/PJ1rL8Ts7Ro

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Meanwhile I'm listening to this one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrlgyNcEufk).

[Hunter Noventa]

I'm just thinking of who to add to my character pool tomorrow night before I actually start playing.

[Cikomyr]

All of us!!

[MCerberus]

I'll probably export the character roster for my playthrough, but note that the VIP list is going to be full of X-Men

[SlyGuyMcFly]

I've already failed my first Classic campaign! Huzzah!

The tutorial mission went as scripted and the second mission went flawlessly. Third mission? Perfect ambush on the first 2x Trooper pod. Move up towards objective, activate Sectoid and Trooper with my last move. Whoops. A turn later the 2-HP flashbanged Sectoid crits my Ranger (Kelly, the Tutorial survivor), killing her and causing my Grenadier to panic. My sniper and Specialist fail to kill it. Enemy turn, second Sectoid and trooper patrol into me. My remaining two soldiers fail to kill anything. Again. The new Sectoid crits the Grenadier, the old one panics the Sniper. The Specialist calls evac and bugs out. Critical Mission failure, campaign over.

XCOM, bay-bee! :smallbiggrin:

Lessons learnt:

-Half-cover is still no cover. Both crits landed on half-cover troops. My fault entirely, I should have approached the objective from an angle that offered better positions.
-One tile of Fog reveal is still deadly. My Grenadier revealed the second pod when he dashed next to my ranger.
-Grenades are great, but can still fail to destroy cover. The first Sectoid was alive because the grenade didn't blow up the large gravestone it was hiding behind. The flashbang was my plan B. Shoulda had a plan C.
-Sectoids are hella scary now. The raise zombie skill puts pressure on you to focus it down, the high HP and psi panic stops you from being able to focus fire effectively and the wrist-mounted plasma pistol is clearly modelled after the Thin Men's Carbines.
-ADVENT Troopers are dumb. Ignore-the-person-you-just-flanked dumb. Take-cover-next-to-a-burning-car dumb.

[Drasius]

- I don't like all the timed missions, I was fine with overwatch spamming.
- There seems to be far more approaches, making flanking (and getting flanked) easier
- Either they reduced movement range or cover is further apart
- Grenades still own face
- I like the idea behind the new support class, but the checks seem a bit off as mine only ever succeed on the 100% checks
- assaultRangers are deadly with that machete, we'll see how long it lasts before they're not one shoting stuff with it
- The new grenade launcher looks silly
- Still lots of fun

[Hiro Protagonest]

...Bradford is a controllable unit and is on the list of importable characters.

Yusss.

[Dienekes]

I've already failed my first Classic campaign! Huzzah!

The tutorial mission went as scripted and the second mission went flawlessly. Third mission? Perfect ambush on the first 2x Trooper pod. Move up towards objective, activate Sectoid and Trooper with my last move. Whoops. A turn later the 2-HP flashbanged Sectoid crits my Ranger (Kelly, the Tutorial survivor), killing her and causing my Grenadier to panic. My sniper and Specialist fail to kill it. Enemy turn, second Sectoid and trooper patrol into me. My remaining two soldiers fail to kill anything. Again. The new Sectoid crits the Grenadier, the old one panics the Sniper. The Specialist calls evac and bugs out. Critical Mission failure, campaign over.

XCOM, bay-bee! :smallbiggrin:

Lessons learnt:

-Half-cover is still no cover. Both crits landed on half-cover troops. My fault entirely, I should have approached the objective from an angle that offered better positions.
-One tile of Fog reveal is still deadly. My Grenadier revealed the second pod when he dashed next to my ranger.
-Grenades are great, but can still fail to destroy cover. The first Sectoid was alive because the grenade didn't blow up the large gravestone it was hiding behind. The flashbang was my plan B. Shoulda had a plan C.
-Sectoids are hella scary now. The raise zombie skill puts pressure on you to focus it down, the high HP and psi panic stops you from being able to focus fire effectively and the wrist-mounted plasma pistol is clearly modelled after the Thin Men's Carbines.
-ADVENT Troopers are dumb. Ignore-the-person-you-just-flanked dumb. Take-cover-next-to-a-burning-car dumb.

Crimany, it's not even available to play yet in my area and you've already lost the game once. Well done.

[5ColouredWalker]

Lessons learnt:

-Half-cover is still no cover. Both crits landed on half-cover troops. My fault entirely, I should have approached the objective from an angle that offered better positions.
-One tile of Fog reveal is still deadly. My Grenadier revealed the second pod when he dashed next to my ranger.
-Grenades are great, but can still fail to destroy cover. The first Sectoid was alive because the grenade didn't blow up the large gravestone it was hiding behind. The flashbang was my plan B. Shoulda had a plan C.
-Sectoids are hella scary now. The raise zombie skill puts pressure on you to focus it down, the high HP and psi panic stops you from being able to focus fire effectively and the wrist-mounted plasma pistol is clearly modelled after the Thin Men's Carbines.
-ADVENT Troopers are dumb. Ignore-the-person-you-just-flanked dumb. Take-cover-next-to-a-burning-car dumb.

1: That's always the case.
2: Again, always been the case.
3: F***... They must have gotten that from the long war guys.
4: Weren't we told that by the developers earlier?
5: ... Damn, so they're just as dumb as Exalt used to be as well as being as stupid as Sectiods. (Yes, run through that thinman acid cloud! Thanks.)

[RagingKrikkit]

2 hours until it hits NA...

[huttj509]

2 hours until it hits NA...

Oh good, I was wondering if I had missed something.