What are you playing?

[Moose]

Yikes! It's funny how XCOM is about the only game (including the originals) where I genuinely feel proud when a character does well, and sadness when they die. For a game where you control so many faceless recruits, you really manage to form a bond with them.

I also noticed that the more panic in an area, the harder the mission they give you if/when that nation is selected. Off to save Birmingham. (And if I don't, I lose Europe, lock, stock and barrel.)

[Fazor]

I'm jealous you have time to play! I'm stuck at work, daydreaming about flanking aliens and commanding an elite anti-ET fighting force.

Here's a question for you: Are you renaming your soldiers? And if so, are you naming them after anything? I've been using an age-old tip from the first games, and that's to name soldiers based on their particular ability/strengths. E.g., "Sniper" for someone with high accuracy.

With the stats streamlined and the UI designed wonderfully to make it easier to identify what soldiers are best at what, that's unnecessary. I just can't think of anything cool/fun to name them after, and Twitter has yielded very little help for suggestion.

[Moose]

I'm jealous you have time to play! I'm stuck at work, daydreaming about flanking aliens and commanding an elite anti-ET fighting force.

I'm almost certainly about to lose South America in the immediate future. I'm only barely hanging onto Asia. Tip: The sniper has an ability called "snapshot" (move and shoot/overwatch) that looks like it would synergize well with a later ability (removes penalty for overwatch/reaction shots). Don't do it. Snapshot's counterpart, which lets you shoot at anything any ally can see is worth far, far more than the ability to move. I had a rescue/escort mission on the underpass map. My snipers stood in full cover nearest the extraction zone and absolutely lorded it over the battlefield, getting all but one kills, most of them on overwatch. My assault and support went into the lower highway alone to conduct the rescue. Nobody really got near them. Easy peasy.

The range of a snapshot sniper is too depressing to contemplate. They're useless on the ground. They're useless on rooftops. May as well give them an assault rifle.

Here's a question for you: Are you renaming your soldiers? And if so, are you naming them after anything? I've been using an age-old tip from the first games, and that's to name soldiers based on their particular ability/strengths. E.g., "Sniper" for someone with high accuracy.

No real reason to. Stats are pretty much set by rank/job. Nobody's disposable over anybody else. Nobody's outstanding either. (Except for will. Will can permanently lower on characters who are critically wounded but survive.)

With the stats streamlined and the UI designed wonderfully to make it easier to identify what soldiers are best at what, that's unnecessary. I just can't think of anything cool/fun to name them after, and Twitter has yielded very little help for suggestion.

As you say. I go with the default unless there's a real reason to change it.

[Fazor]

I didn't get to play last night. My Xbox has been dieing slowly for the last 18 months. It's an original Xbox, so not surprising. The disk drive was wearing out. Some games read fine / mostly fine. Others do not. Xcom is one of those others.

Tuesday when I bought the game, I spent 40 minutes just trying to get it to read the disc. It finally did. Last night, it refused to work.

This afternoon, I bought a new Xbox.

That's how important this game is, dang'it! At least now I have two wireless controllers and a headset, and it came with Forza 4 (which I don't own) and Skyrim, which I do. If it's a physical copy of the game, I may do a giveaway through my website. It might be digitally pre-installed or something though. I didn't open the box since I'm still at work anyway.

[Moose]

Forza 4! Awesome! Let me know if you want a racing buddy some evening or weekend.

[Fazor]

Apparently it's some "Essentials" edition or something stupid. Limited to 320 cars. How can a man race with only 320 cars?

[Moose]

I know, right?

Forza Horizons is coming out soon, too. If I understand it correctly, they're doing a Test Drive Unlimited 1/2ish thing with Forza physics on Colorado Roads. Something I'm keeping a close eye on, although when the website said "greatest driving roads", and given their history with Top Gear cross promotion, I had been hoping they'd mapped out the Stelvio Pass and that made-with-explosives-and-crazy dictator's Highway in Romania.

/ BTW, 4 has the Top Gear test track, and a whole menu full of Clarkson reviews and car close-ups (Autovista mode.)

[M311]

Recently bought and listened to Pink Floyds Dark Side of the Moon SACD on appropriate hardware ... It does not get much better than that.

[captain swoop]

not much game content in Dark Side of the Moon though.

[Solfe]

If there was a game that used The Dark Side of the Moon, I would play it all the time... no mater how much therapy I needed afterwards.

[Fazor]

@Moose - I responded to my first "terror" mission last night (I know, I'm way behind due to the technical difficulties.) Holy heck! When a mission brief says, "Mission Difficulty: VERY hard" listen to it!

Those aliens tore me to shreds. Literally -- as it was our first encounter with those aliens that rip you apart and turn your soldiers to zombies. Ouch

[Moose]

Heh, I had a tense-but-fun dustup with cryssalids and floaters during a terror mission that was tense, but we got out of it having saved [thinks] eleven civvies (for a good rating) and nobody took so much as a scratch. My assault earned the nickname 'Loco' on that mission for staying just out of reach of two cryssalids and a zombie (being in melee range... twice...) while the snipers did their thing.

All using ballistic weapons and normal armor.

Heh, but as nasty as cryssalids are, they're not the scariest thing out there by any stretch. Don't... ah... wait too long before developing better weapons. Holy moly.

[Fazor]

Heh, but as nasty as cryssalids are, they're not the scariest thing out there by any stretch. Don't... ah... wait too long before developing better weapons. Holy moly.

I've got a set of laser rifles, unfortunately my best Assault soldiers are recovering from wounds. I have laser sniper-rifle and scatter-gun researched, but need more funding before I can manufacture a few.

I can't believe how far those cryssalids can run before attacking. They can come from out of visual range and munch on your face in a single turn, in many cases.

[Moose]

I'll tell you, my usual general strategy of extreme range + extreme close-up is working well. A little hard on my assaults, though, when I screw something up. Worse, my supports are all still squaddies, 'cause they can never get kills anymore. Hasn't been much point in my using them so far. At least this game. Well, maybe with the new laser weapons.

[Fazor]

I'll tell you, my usual general strategy of extreme range + extreme close-up is working well. A little hard on my assaults, though, when I screw something up. Worse, my supports are all still squaddies, 'cause they can never get kills anymore. Hasn't been much point in my using them so far. At least this game. Well, maybe with the new laser weapons.

I think I spread my squad out too far -- but I'm trying to cover all lines-of-sight. My support + med-kit can't ever get to anybody to treat them if they go down. Maybe I need to think more compact. Always worried about being flanked. Always worried about something sneaking up behind me. Always worried about -- well, everything. That's what's so brilliant about the game.

[Moose]

Always worried about -- well, everything. That's what's so brilliant about the game.

That's XCOM, Baby.

Seriously, the only cure for paranoia is more battles. The more experience you get with getting er... messed over... by the AI and back luck, the better you'll get at knowing what you can (probably) get away with, and playing on that razor's edge.

[Fazor]

... and back luck ...

That hasn't helped. My most veteran soldier is the heavy from the tutorial. Yes, he's still alive. But in the last three missions he's been on, he's missed every single shot except two that were point-blank range. I don't know what happened to him -- maybe he's just mad at me since I've researched laser weapons for everyone except him -- but he's just not performing.

[Moose]

My three highest ranked people are snipers. That said, now that I've built the foundry and am about to launch six satellites (to complete Europe and Asia), I'm going to be researching the experience and will upgrades, and concentrating on raising a whole mass of new shooters. Darwinian, but very needed for what I know is still out there...

I don't know if high-ability good-gear snipers are enough to deal with mind control, if I also make sure my shooters have the highest will I can train them to have. (Gah, I want _8_ team members. Why can't we have 8 team members? Waaa!)

[Fazor]

I *think* if you train a Psy-soldier or two you can combat the mind control. I haven't really read ahead about gear / abilities because I'd rather come across it in the course of play.

[Moose]

Yeah, but I have to _capture_ a live Septoid Commander in order to research it (I think). Or at least kill one (maybe). I haven't encountered one yet. I'm ready to assault the first enemy base, though, which I'll be doing after supper. Just Egypt and South Africa left to satellite, btw, and I managed to not lose any countries to panic, either.

You know, the timing of all this is working out nicely. I got Europe just as I'm more or less done building workshops and labs. I got Asia (same time) just _before_ I'm ready to do the foundry and OCS upgrades. I got South America just before I was ready to concentrate on the autopsies and interrogations (and saved maybe three weeks of research time there), which is going to make it much quicker to research some of the key later techs.

[Moose]

Having just done a terror mission where everything was cryssalids (I shot at least eight of them, although I was too busy to count) or zombie victims of cryssalids (three made it as far as my troops), and having done so without actually taking any damage (although I had soldiers in melee range waaaaay too often), and still got a "good" rating from it, I figured I was as ready as I'd ever be to take on the base assault mission.

The first counter-fire critically injured the only guy who could operate a medikit and stabilize himself. He was, however, the second death on my squad. That was first contact. I lost the third member of my squad in the very next room.

I know you don't want specifics, Fazor, so I'll say only this, on behalf of my three surviving commandos:
1) The base assault mission is officially scary. Triply so on Ironman.
2) Muton Berzerkers are scarier.
3) Objects in the fog of war are closer than you think.
4) Your tried and true early-game tactics won't work. At least mine didn't.
5) I took a level in Sun Tzu tonight.
6) My snipers are all getting raises. And are first in line for plasma weapons and upgraded armor.
7) Battlefield sensors are worth _my_ weight in gold.
8) Heavies are starting to grow on me.

When you start thinking: "Oh boy! A terror mission! Now that continent will settle down some!", you're still not ready for the base assault mission.

/ I think I may have developed Helsinki Syndrome.
// Oh! I've got it! A SHIV for tease scouting, two heavies with arc throwers (repairs the SHIV), two snipers, and a support.

[Fazor]

Gah. Well, when my old Xbox's drive went bad, it not only meant I needed a new system, but it also wobbled the CD creating a "perfect circle" scratch making the disk unusable. Got a new one. Played for a few hours this morning, then the game froze the system up in the middle of a mission. Not sure when the last time I saved was.

Too many directions my research needs to go in, and too little funding! Trying to get more satellites up for more funding, but they're expensive. Also need those heavy laser rifles, as my heavy's standard machine guns are quickly becoming obsolete. Got some Carapace Armor, but only have two since it's expensive to produce. Have some Interceptor improvements, but can't afford to actually manufacture them. Argh! (I love it.)

Last mission was an abduction reaction mission. First time I came across the (Bezerkers?) Suppression is a nice ability, but the three sectoids and two floaters that accompanied the two bezerkers were putting pressure on to actually take the shots. Had just had my lead heavy go down in critical, with a support close enough to at least stabilize him, but that's when it froze.

[pzkpfw]

Far Cry 2 has some "features" that still really really annoy me *, but I tried to stick with it, and have to admit it's growing on me.

(* Mostly:
That stupid Malaria-I-need-pills stuff.
Guardposts that infinitely re-spawn soldiers (if it were next day (in game time) I'd be less annoyed).
Weapons (bought ones, not picked up off the ground from defeated enemies) that start jamming after a couple of missions. (My eyes can't detect the visual cues for degeneration).
Too much travel required, and hard to avoid repetitive between-mission encounters.
)

Main things I've changed (so far) about how I play:
Just do a mission or two per gaming session. Trying to play for hours at a time makes the tedious stuff more obvious. I'm definitley not "immersed".
Currently using an Uzi as sidearm (an auto, for close-in defence) and sniper rifle as primary weapon. Sneak up to mission and try to pick off enemies if possible. I can see why they added the crossbow with explosive head in the expansion pack (as "special" weapon) - makes some missions way more doable.
Missions seem to have no time limit. e.g. weapon convoys just drive around and around until you blow them up. So I've relaxed a bit about the travel to the mission location, e.g. get less stressed about stopping to grab a diamond I've stumbled on as I drive past (these are still a daft game mechanic).

I'll slowly chip-away at it. (For now).

[Fazor]

Had my first "Bomb disposal" mission last night. Holy crap, talk about nerve wracking. Send in rookies, and they may not be able to get the job done in time. Send in vets, and you may lose them all if the bomb goes off. Can't take time to flank - gotta push the power generators and bomb. This particular mission had three separate buildings for aliens to hide in, on, and around.

Have I mentioned how stressful this game is? Or how awesome it makes you feel when you do something like defuse a bomb and take out all the aliens in the area without losing a squad member?

[Paul Beardsley]

Or how awesome it makes you feel when you do something like defuse a bomb and take out all the aliens in the area without losing a squad member?

Now this cuts to the heart of why I am resisting buying X-COM for the time being.

1. I remember what an incredible amount of time I squandered playing it. Yeah yeah, time wasted enjoying yourself is not time wasted, but even so...

2. There must be a limit on how awesome I can allow myself to be. In the original game, I was really quite awesome at times. In an earlier Julian Gollop game (Rebelstar 2) the game even told me off for cheating because my score was suspiciously high.

[Moose]

Had my first "Bomb disposal" mission last night. Holy crap, talk about nerve wracking. Send in rookies, and they may not be able to get the job done in time. Send in vets, and you may lose them all if the bomb goes off. Can't take time to flank - gotta push the power generators and bomb. This particular mission had three separate buildings for aliens to hide in, on, and around.

Heh, it's a dog who's bark is much worse than its bite. You don't even need to dash. Just keep in mind that the power generators are indestructible half-cover. If you make sure to have people getting all of them while the others provide security, you have twelve-to-fifteen turns before the bomb goes off.

[Solfe]

Not to throw out X-Com, but has anyone here played Unreal Live? I used to be really good at Unreal, but just got my butt handed to me 10 times over. Sure, its been years since I played but...

After going nuts for an hour or two, finally someone said "DUDE! What is wrong with you? Did you have a stroke or are you playing on wi-fi?" (Of course, it wasn't that clean, but that was gist of what he said.)

A quick glance at my wife's computer revealed the problem. Yes, I am on wi-fi with a wireless keyboard and mouse. For some reason my wife has a network cable plugged but it isn't connected to anything on the other end. I think I can blame my kids for that one.

I need to go find my corded mouse and keyboard.

[pzkpfw]

Just finished Far Cry 2. I won't go into detail, just to say - the annoying/tedious aspects of the game remain annoying and tedious right up until pretty much the end. But in the end I managed to "get used" to them enough to just keep bashing on. The ending was a bit "meh"; I can see what they were trying to do with the story, but it just didn't really "work". Glad I played it, but also glad I only paid $20 for it.

Next up is "Crysis Maximum Edition" which I picked up cheap at the same time as Far Cry 2.

One day I might "catch up" to what everyone is playing!

(Skyrim was on a one-day sale yesterday, but I missed buying it. Son is mad at me ...)

[Moose]

(Skyrim was on a one-day sale yesterday, but I missed buying it. Son is mad at me ...)

As well he should be.

Back to playing X3:Terran Conflict. Most difficult to balance mod set I've set up yet. I've been working on it and testing it (and breaking something else that has to be fixed) for close to a week now, and I'm finally ready, I think, to play. Rolled a good start, too, from the ship salvaging mod. (A particularly useful TL - a very large freighter - spawned not two sectors away. In a safe area of the galaxy. And the marines to repair it can be hired only a few systems away.)

[captain swoop]

Just finished Far Cry 2. I won't go into detail, just to say - the annoying/tedious aspects of the game remain annoying and tedious right up until pretty much the end. But in the end I managed to "get used" to them enough to just keep bashing on. The ending was a bit "meh"; I can see what they were trying to do with the story, but it just didn't really "work". Glad I played it, but also glad I only paid $20 for it.

Next up is "Crysis Maximum Edition" which I picked up cheap at the same time as Far Cry 2.

One day I might "catch up" to what everyone is playing!

(Skyrim was on a one-day sale yesterday, but I missed buying it. Son is mad at me ...)

Crysis i smore like Far Cry than Far Cry 2 is.

FC2 is aimed at multi player.