Gahlo
Active Member
You forgot token generic soldier that all the ladies are after, but is secretly gay.
X-COM THINK TANK (Out of Character Discussion about X-COM and the Series)
- Thread starter ChristopherOdd
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Dragonivon
Active Member
I think that's season 2 after the psionic has his spine ripped out by a Bezerker in the season 1 finale. I think I'll see if we can get Uwe Boll to direct on this so it gets the quality such cinema deserves.
Taxor_the_First
Well-Known Member
Would pay life savings to see, such gud plot, many feels, many plot twists.
MrPegasus
New Member
XCOM hates me. Earlier today, I played the mission to get zhang. He was in full cover, thin man snipes him and he dies. Just now, i was playing Newfoundland mission, and it was bad. I had only concentional weapons, and right after hitting the button to start the timer, EVERYBODY EXCEPT MY MEC DIED!!!! My assault got pinned in a corner, my support was gangbanged, sniper tried running but died, and a rookie was bait. XCOM, y u hatenz on me?
Dragonivon
Active Member
Welcome to XCom. Sometimes the RNG truly hates you. Sounds like you started slow, you should at least have laser weapons when you get to Newfoundland. Though it's a shame about Zhang, typically I keep anyone I need to escort WAY back until things are very clear. But your experience is why sometimes I just can't bring myself to do ironman missions, sometimes things just go SO wrong and it's SO unfair I try again with an earlier save. Yes, it's easy to scavescum too much to make the whole game almost too easy but I try to keep that to a minimum.
Live and learn, better luck next time.
Taxor_the_First
Well-Known Member
Actually, funny story about that mission:
I had Zhang in cover behind the group, and my support was in cover ahead of him. Zhang, however, found it necessary to ignore what I wanted him to do and ran straight through a poison cloud. He panicked, and ran straight back. I spent the next turn moving my support back to heal him and killing thin men. My turn after that, Zhang takes damage from poison, panics again and hunkers down - my support panics because Zhang's panicking, turns around... and shoots Zhang right in the head.
XCOM, y u b so maddening?
UnevenRanger
New Member
Yeah, it's XCOM, there'll be immature soldiers making pretend forts out of the filled body bags before the end of the second episode... first episode if the Chrysaliids are in a bad mood.
UnevenRanger
New Member
Actually speaking of which, I'm interested to get you guys opinion on something. Sorry if it's already been discussed haha
Despite being in a Game Design Course, I'm somehow the only person I know whose actually played both the original X-COM's and the remake, so what did you guys think of the transition between the originals 14 person team, members of which you lost on such a regular basis until they hit Sergeant I used to put stars next to their nickname to label them as cannon fodder... where it felt more like an actual war, taking losses, trying to rationalise numbers ("I lost 12 soldiers, but it was worth it to capture that damn ethereal") to the remakes more ... Special Forces Unit style, where you get slightly more connected to the individual soldiers, can personalise them to be more then just a number.
Personally, I admit I prefer the original, but I love the way that the remake makes you focus on individual units. Like the Sniper/Support/Heavy/Assault system really makes team matching a important part of tactical game play; however I do miss the early-game battles of attrition, and some late-game ones as well ("Damn. Blaster. Bombs.") where you were on the edge of your seat, watching your men get picked off one by one, knowing there is nothing you can do to save them but ignoring the losses and pushing the survivors to complete the objective. Then again I am a little biased towards the original. I'd love to get you guy's opinions though
Despite being in a Game Design Course, I'm somehow the only person I know whose actually played both the original X-COM's and the remake, so what did you guys think of the transition between the originals 14 person team, members of which you lost on such a regular basis until they hit Sergeant I used to put stars next to their nickname to label them as cannon fodder... where it felt more like an actual war, taking losses, trying to rationalise numbers ("I lost 12 soldiers, but it was worth it to capture that damn ethereal") to the remakes more ... Special Forces Unit style, where you get slightly more connected to the individual soldiers, can personalise them to be more then just a number.
Personally, I admit I prefer the original, but I love the way that the remake makes you focus on individual units. Like the Sniper/Support/Heavy/Assault system really makes team matching a important part of tactical game play; however I do miss the early-game battles of attrition, and some late-game ones as well ("Damn. Blaster. Bombs.") where you were on the edge of your seat, watching your men get picked off one by one, knowing there is nothing you can do to save them but ignoring the losses and pushing the survivors to complete the objective. Then again I am a little biased towards the original. I'd love to get you guy's opinions though
BMPixy
Well-Known Member
To be honest, I liked the switch from 14 to 4-6 troops per squad, though I do have a couple gripes with it, mainly for gameplay-story integration reasons. During the time I played UFO Defense (only a couple meat-space months), I tended to get attached to my soldiers. Very attached. So, when a mission would come back with 75% or higher casualties, I felt like a massive douchebag. But partially, I believe, that was due to the fact that I played Enemy Unknown first, and learned getting attached to your few men meant you took care of them and put them above your mission (a sentiment I think Odd shares, given a look at any Terror Mission). UFO Defense, as you said, was not about saving your troops, but winning the battle at any cost.
One of my biggest praises for the change is that, because you can't overwhelm your enemy in sheer numbers, it allowed the devs to make your troops feel like the Special Forces Operators that game canon claims they are. The only reason they didn't hit that Sectoid is because of the statue between it and you. (Though the case can be made that in UFO Defense your troops are the best of the best when compared to humans, it is just that the aliens are that much better, but missing a Muton that is standing right in front of your face while firing full-auto casts doubt onto that statement.)
But, I am as biased toward Enemy Unknown as you are towards UFO Defense, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Adrammalech
Well-Known Member
No video yet, he's been too busy with holiday stuff. Soon, hopefully.
Rocketbottle
New Member
No its not up but join the hype train for when it happens it will be great
Riqe
New Member
I find it curious how he has been able to keep up with both of his Let's Plays for the past two weeks in which he said he had no time to record the results. *sharpens pitchfork* Then the video must be filled to brim with awesomeness for Odd to take this much time to make it.
Dragonivon
Active Member
I find it curious how he has been able to keep up with both of his Let's Plays for the past two weeks in which he said he had no time to record the results. *sharpens pitchfork* Then the video must be filled to brim with awesomeness for Odd to take this much time to make it.
Or he had a bunch of XCOM episodes recorded before the holidays and set them to be released on a schedule. Though he's usually very good about mentioning previous comments in recent episodes, still there's some room to create a buffer. And that's fine, lots of Youtubers create content then release it in measured doses.
Of course, I'm SURE that ChristopherOdd's roster video will be well received whenever it comes out. Granted, sooner might be better received than later. And good luck to all the candidates.
Sanctume
New Member
Zhang was sporting a MEC-2 with 1 turn left in New Foundland. He checks his distance, nice walking to the evac zone. Oh yeah, this new Overdrive should give one more parting shot on that chryssalid... Boo yah, dead lid! Oh crap, that Overdrive lessened his remaining dash by a few yards. I see Zhang's grimace as the skyranger took off moments before the air strike.
Dragonivon
Active Member
It's a good topic for discussion. My view is kindof like BMPixy but I think the reason they made the change is how tense the game makes you feel now as opposed to then. In the days of UFO Defense you did care for your soldiers but rather with the same attachment as you would pieces on a chessboard. Some were distinctly expendable, some were considered very valuable, but they lacked much definition or identity. Still good for a strategy game but it may have robbed some of the tension and anguish another setup might instill.
The Enemy Unknown model uses a much more manageable number from a coding standpoint but also from an emotional standpoint. 4-6 regulars is much easier to get invested in than a rotating group of 14. You can personalize them but you distinctly feel the investment in each one, a point driven home when they die and the number of missions/kills is right on the epitaph further illuminating how much time you the player had given them before you the player LET THEM DIE.
In UFO Defense there was no avoiding some death, it was only a question of how much. In Enemy Unknown while the RNG can be cruel sometimes, in the end you know there WAS a way to keep them alive. If you just thought it out a bit more, if you just moved a bit more carefully. In the end, it just seems that the smaller number makes them feel like individual protagonists instead of a valuable collection of pieces on a battlefield. Both are good but I have to give the edge to Enemy Unknown for hooking a player to try more playthroughts than UFO Defense did. And replayability is one of the more important parts of game design that too many just forget.
Stekkmen
New Member
I have to use my imagination when close quarter misses happen. Maybe the Muton grappled with the soldier for the gun and that's why he missed? The reason my guy missed that 2 tile overwatch shot is because that sectoid was sprinting way too fast. Ye. Stuff like that.
Stekkmen
New Member
Although, I have one major gripe with the new X-COM. On most missions, the Aliens only exist if they see you. Sure, sometimes they walk in on you, but rarely. One thing that happened alot in the old X-COM was sending your redshirt out of the Skyranger and watch as a pinpoint plasma shot wacks him right in the head. Or, you walk into a building or around a corner and- "pew pew!"- your guy is dead. Now there's whole strategies on how to move across the map without "discovering" any aliens. The fear of walking into an alien squad with snap shot (now called Overwatch) was something that added to the suspense. Now it's pretty rare for you to die on your turn because you usually have a way to take care of that Overwatch without getting shot.
Dragonivon
Active Member
There IS an option in Second Wave that lets the aliens shoot immediately on discovery if you REALLY want to get hardcore on it.
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