X-COM THINK TANK (Out of Character Discussion about X-COM and the Series)

[ZombieSplitter53]

Copy pasta from the original mod's description:
This mod changes a great many vanilla X-Com features and settings to create a far longer and more intense conflict with the aliens, and provide as much of a "sandbox" experience as possible. It creates a more interesting and rewarding strategic game, and battles will be challenging while still rewarding smart tactical play. You will see many more UFOs in the sky, and your squaddies will fight in a dozen or more combat missions per month. You will need to develop more than six troopers to succeed, and you will also have to carefully balance investments in research, construction, and interception capability.

Sounds thrilling. And hard. 'Course, Odd's a lot better at this game then I am, so I'm sure he can handle it. Still, sounds like we're gonna lose a lot of soldiers. Almost makes me want to go for a doctor character, but I'll probably stick with scientist.

So, when do you guys think he'll announce the new season. The way he's been focusing on Vampire: The Masquerade without starting anything else leads me to believe he's preparing for the next season, and if I know Odd, he'd be eager to get back into the game after that loss, and put those aliens in their place.

 

[Dahlexpert]

Sounds thrilling. And hard. 'Course, Odd's a lot better at this game then I am, so I'm sure he can handle it. Still, sounds like we're gonna lose a lot of soldiers. Almost makes me want to go for a doctor character, but I'll probably stick with scientist.

So, when do you guys think he'll announce the new season. The way he's been focusing on Vampire: The Masquerade without starting anything else leads me to believe he's preparing for the next season, and if I know Odd, he'd be eager to get back into the game after that loss, and put those aliens in their place.

I expect odd to start the new season probable in another week or two,But I would love to see odd add some modes to X-COM like the long war mod,and that's the only mod I no of But I would like to see odd go back to X-COM and kick some alien but.

 

[Zain Shah]

If he is playing the long war mod, he should either brush up on the new features and go for classsic or go in blind at normal. The long war presents new strategies such as the fact that you have to share more promotions around because each class is downgraded.

 

[Suryce]

I'm currently torn between soldier and scientist. Really it'll depend on how many positions are open, how many people are applying for those positions and the difficulty Odd will play on. I mention difficulty because the Long War page specifically states that people and battles will be lost, and I don't want to get my one chance as a soldier only to be killed to a boss Thin Man. I myself have never played Long War, but it sounds hard.
Being a scientist means that you are immortal. Kind of an oxymoron, but there you go. Apart from the attack on XCOM, there is no risk of Mr Reaper showing up at the base of your bed one morning and beckoning you forward, and even then it isn't even a risk. Just a part where your person squeals quite a lot (or, if you feel like it, gets their direct control assumed and is one of the people responsible for the sabotage). I'm kinda leaning towards scientist for that safety it brings.
On the other hand, soldier's fun.
Based on merit alone, I can't make up my mind. That's why I'm going to wait until I see other people's applications before I make my choice.

One of the main feature of Long War is that it prevents the player from using the same leading squad over and over, while providing much more missions. As long as your soldier is in the barracks (which starts with twice as much soldiers as vanilla), they would have to get killed by basic Sectoids to not see plenty of action. Plus, the curve of difficulty makes more sense in Long War, the enemies are numerous but the player also starts with a six men squad, and they also have a lot of free and immediately-available items to keep the soldiers alive like smoke and flash grenades.
In the end, I would say that your character has less chance to die in the beginning of a Long War playthrough than in a vanilla one.

 

[Taxor_the_First]

We'll see. I still fear the boss Thin Man.

Also just noticed that Gahlo said "copy pasta". I approve.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

If he is playing the long war mod, he should either brush up on the new features and go for classsic or go in blind at normal. The long war presents new strategies such as the fact that you have to share more promotions around because each class is downgraded.

That sounds like the best option.

One of the main feature of Long War is that it prevents the player from using the same leading squad over and over, while providing much more missions.

Why can't you use the same squad? Does the game factor in fatigue for soldiers that hit the field too often without rest?

 

[Gahlo]

That sounds like the best option.


Why can't you use the same squad? Does the game factor in fatigue for soldiers that hit the field too often without rest?

Looking at it really quickly, missions happen too often to be able to have people get injured and then out of medbay before the next missions.

 

[Zain Shah]

I remember that soldiers were tired for 5 days in eu but they could still go out with degraded stats. You do get double the number of soldiers which helps you at least not have to put out tired soldiers.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Interesting. All sounds like fun. Just makes me all the more eager to get started. And all the extra soldiers mean more people get in.

 

[Vlakvark]

I agree, the addition of the mod sounds like a really cool factor. Although, that being said, the constant stream of missions could be both a boon and a negative from both a gameplay and RP standpoint. Gameplay wise, the fact you do need to get as many soldiers out as possible could be good for RP, but if the RNG is feeling unkind with its stat-giving (assuming Odd is gonna do second wave) a lot of those soldiers could get overwhelmed pretty fast, even though there's double the amount to start with. As for the RP, having more missions means a lot more people will get to write about what they actively did, over just writing about hanging out in the base, which is a definite plus. But, it will require some heavy moderation to ensure that no cluttering or inconsistency between posts occurs.

 

[Suryce]

Long War randomizes the soldiers' stats automatically I think, but it adds two subtleties to make this aspect better:
1) Mobility and hit points are also randomized. So aim is not the only important thing, a soldier with bad aim may have better mobility or endurance than others.
2) A lot of options are given to the players to play with the strong points of a soldier (each of the four classes is divided into two different choose-able categories that involves different strong points) and to compensate for the bad ones (you have more items that allow you to boost a soldier will, aim, mobility, etc...)

Really, the point of Long War is that everybody got to play a part in the battle, it's really well-thought (even the experience is distributed much more equally, it's about teamwork and everybody coming home alive rather than kill count)

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Hell, either way works for me. I have no trouble writing logs during down time.

 

[Vlakvark]

Long War randomizes the soldiers' stats automatically I think, but it adds two subtleties to make this aspect better:
1) Mobility and hit points are also randomized. So aim is not the only important thing, a soldier with bad aim may have better mobility or endurance than others.
2) A lot of options are given to the players to play with the strong points of a soldier (each of the four classes is divided into two different choose-able categories that involves different strong points) and to compensate for the bad ones (you have more items that allow you to boost a soldier will, aim, mobility, etc...)

Really, the point of Long War is that everybody got to play a part in the battle, it's really well-thought (even the experience is distributed much more equally, it's about teamwork and everybody coming home alive rather than kill count)

Well in that case I definitely support Odd's use of this in the RP whole heartedly.

 

[Taxor_the_First]

Why can't you use the same squad? Does the game factor in fatigue for soldiers that hit the field too often without rest?

Long story short - yes. A soldier going out into a mission has a period of time whilst they are "fatigued". They can still be sent out during this time, but they have degraded stats for that mission and on return they are placed into the medbay and have to recover at the same rate as a medium injury (don't quote me on that. It's a decent amount of time, anyway). It's a good system to prevent the whole "One Squad Army" situation that most players end up with.

In respect to the RNG and the spectacular amount of bullshit it tends to come up with, I have two questions for people: using the Randomized Training Second Wave option, what is;
1. The most powerful ability (or set of abilities) you've had for any soldier? For example, a Bulletstorm Assault who also has Rapid Fire and Close and Personal.
2. The most ridiculous ability (or set of abilities) you've had for any soldier? For example, I once had a Sniper who was given the option to learn Suppression.

 

[ZombieSplitter53]

Long story short - yes. A soldier going out into a mission has a period of time whilst they are "fatigued". They can still be sent out during this time, but they have degraded stats for that mission and on return they are placed into the medbay and have to recover at the same rate as a medium injury (don't quote me on that. It's a decent amount of time, anyway). It's a good system to prevent the whole "One Squad Army" situation that most players end up with.

In respect to the RNG and the spectacular amount of bullshit it tends to come up with, I have two questions for people: using the Randomized Training Second Wave option, what is;
1. The most powerful ability (or set of abilities) you've had for any soldier? For example, a Bulletstorm Assault who also has Rapid Fire and Close and Personal.
2. The most ridiculous ability (or set of abilities) you've had for any soldier? For example, I once had a Sniper who was given the option to learn Suppression.

I've had a few ones that have worked well, such as sprinting snipers and non-heavies with bullet-storm. A lot of times, though, I get some useless things. I've had a whole session with no supports with triple medpacks. Some times it pays off when you get late abilities early, like the later sniper abilities on the second or third promotion, but there is always risks involved, and you need a good memory to remember who has what, since they don't follow any rules, and that's where I struggled the most.

 

[Quazer Flame]

So, Christopher Odd inspired me to make my own gaming videos. My channel is MrQuazerGames for anyone who wants to see it.

And now, so that my post isn't only an ad for my channel: I'm liking the idea of a Long War mod game. Is it compatible with the Enemy Within stuff yet?

 

[Gahlo]

So, Christopher Odd inspired me to make my own gaming videos. My channel is MrQuazerGames for anyone who wants to see it.

And now, so that my post isn't only an ad for my channel: I'm liking the idea of a Long War mod game. Is it compatible with the Enemy Within stuff yet?

The beta for it is out, last I heard.

 

[BMPixy]

In respect to the RNG and the spectacular amount of bullshit it tends to come up with, I have two questions for people: using the Randomized Training Second Wave option, what is;
1. The most powerful ability (or set of abilities) you've had for any soldier? For example, a Bulletstorm Assault who also has Rapid Fire and Close and Personal.
2. The most ridiculous ability (or set of abilities) you've had for any soldier? For example, I once had a Sniper who was given the option to learn Suppression.

Oh boy, have I got a story to tell on both those points, being combined in one soldier, a Support specifically, in my Roulette, Not Created Equally, and Hidden potential play-through on Normal. Chen "Combo" Cheng was his name, and he, at Rookie rank, had 50 aim and 55 will, so the only reason I took him was the fact that he had got a Smoke on the first mission, which nobody else had. Apparently he took his role to heart, and his training tree essentially went from Corporal on: Grenadier, Smoke and Mirrors, Deep Pockets, Dense Smoke, Battle Scanner, and HEAT Ammo. Once I got Tactical Rigging, this gave me 6 grenades (went with 3 needle and 3 alien/frag), 3 smoke grenades, and 2 battle scanners, plus the 50% extra damage on mechs. His aim was still crap (71 at Colonel), but he really lucked out with Will, topping out at 105. Naturally, I decided that if he wanted to be a Support, he would do so with his brain as well, giving him Psi Inspiration and Telekinetic Field. Essentially at this point he was walking cover, and as long as he had 'nades he could wreck, hitting up to 9 damage on mechanical targets, guaranteed. One of the few stand-out soldiers in that play-through. If only he had been a Heavy.

 

[Vlakvark]

Long story short - yes. A soldier going out into a mission has a period of time whilst they are "fatigued". They can still be sent out during this time, but they have degraded stats for that mission and on return they are placed into the medbay and have to recover at the same rate as a medium injury (don't quote me on that. It's a decent amount of time, anyway). It's a good system to prevent the whole "One Squad Army" situation that most players end up with.

In respect to the RNG and the spectacular amount of bullshit it tends to come up with, I have two questions for people: using the Randomized Training Second Wave option, what is;
1. The most powerful ability (or set of abilities) you've had for any soldier? For example, a Bulletstorm Assault who also has Rapid Fire and Close and Personal.
2. The most ridiculous ability (or set of abilities) you've had for any soldier? For example, I once had a Sniper who was given the option to learn Suppression.

I think my most powerful is the guy I mentioned in one of my previous posts, Shaun 'Odin' Gardner the psychic sniper heavy

While his abilities aren't too zany as far as training roulette goes, it made him pretty well rounded, since he has executioner, opportunist, suppression, danger zone, revive (a wasted Major slot, sadly, as I never give him a medkit), and mayhem. Again, not that crazy but it made him useful in nearly every situation as he could lay down very accurate high damage fire from close to mid range, while suppressing any enemy that threatened his team or blowing away their cover with his huge explosive blast radius.

It's his stats where he really shines.

He has 7 natural health, and by Colonel rank has gotten up to 94 aim and 100 will which I bolstered to 150 through the use of mindshield and psy-armor. I have been able to mind control Etherals with frightening consistency, and any psychic enemy who tries to attack him invariably gets killed by his neural feedback, which does 15 damage, with him usually no worse for wear.

My next runner up would probably be from the same save, An 'Zero' Zhao, has been one of my best snipers in any game. While she has pathetic will for a Colonel (53 or something like that) she has ludicrous aim (129) and has both sprinter, HEAT ammo, and field medic, which made me very glad that I gave her snapshot. A double-tapping, long-running, robot-killing, sniper medic is probably one of the most fun soldiers I've ever had.

Edit: same save also gave me a sniper with suppression, this one I gave squad-sight as his first real promotion, which has led to some very silly circumstances.

 

[Zain Shah]

I once had an assault who had bullet storm, close and personal, rapid fire and HEAT ammo yet he was only at Major and he never got to Colonel and he was still in my squad for the final mission.