Thoughts & Lessons from X-COM: Enemy Unknown (by Firaxis)

[HWP]

Made them very slightly more capable in exchange for losing a turn and easy double kill.

But yes, I usually found the very first mission to be the most difficult in the whole game.

Untrained soldiers, poor weapons, poor loadouts, no choice about either.

Missions only start approaching the first one in difficulty when sectopods appear. Though I never actually lost a soldier to a sectopod (compared to the many lost in first missions). But that may be because there are so few of these and you can be careful.

Talk about quality work balancing the difficulty curve.

[Tacobandit]

Made them very slightly more capable in exchange for losing a turn and easy double kill.

But yes, I usually found the very first mission to be the most difficult in the whole game.

Untrained soldiers, poor weapons, poor loadouts, no choice about either.

Missions only start approaching the first one in difficulty when sectopods appear. Though I never actually lost a soldier to a sectopod (compared to the many lost in first missions). But that may be because there are so few of these and you can be careful.

Talk about quality work balancing the difficulty curve.

Sectopods aren't that dangerous mainly because you'd have to be retarded to stand in front of one, even behind cover. Also heavies make short work of them. I don't know what you mean by a few of them, as they can easily reach 4-5 in a mission.

I'd say that heavy mutons make the game substantially harder regardless of your soldiers abilities. They're just extremely hard to hit, have good aim, and do significant damage. Even your sniper will be hard pressed to hit one in full cover.

Oh you want to talk about difficulty curve? How about the fact that the aliens could raid your base in the first month in the OG/TFTD? Good luck with those lobstermen!

Oh I almost forgot, the old UI was also its own difficulty mode. I still don't know what some of those buttons do even after all these years.

[Betuor]

Heavy Mutons are easily mind controlled. At the end of turn 4, eat nade.

[Tacobandit]

Heavy Mutons are easily mind controlled. At the end of turn 4, eat nade.

Once you get high level psi colonels, you're really just having fun with the aliens at that point. I'd say that was a bad thing, but they stayed true to the original in that respect.

[HWP]

Once you get high level psi colonels, you're really just having fun with the aliens at that point. I'd say that was a bad thing, but they stayed true to the original in that respect.

The original game had an infamous difficulty bug. It wasn't intended that way.

I also recall that it took some time to get an all-colonel squad, while in EU12 you have to be speedrunning not to.

Are you really determined to use every single bug in UD to justify design flaws in the new game?

I don't know what you mean by a few of them, as they can easily reach 4-5 in a mission.

Now imagine 15 sectopods.

Unless you've been slowrolling, though, you should be ready to win the game by the time sectopods show up in any significant numbers, so their actual impact is minimal. Difficulty is mostly just downhill all the way with only occasional bumps.

Oh I almost forgot, the old UI was also its own difficulty mode. I still don't know what some of those buttons do even after all these years.

Strange. I think I got them all pretty quickly - and first time I played, I was just a kid with a damaged copy with no manual continuing someone else's game from the middle. Which one aren't you clear about?

Oh you want to talk about difficulty curve? How about the fact that the aliens could raid your base in the first month in the OG/TFTD? Good luck with those lobstermen!

So they could. What of it? In EU12 you can win every single air fight and every single ground mission - and still lose the game. Through no fault of your own, no mismanagement, simply poor dice rolls on the strategic level. Yes, have to be probably 2 SD below the mean, but it has happened.

[Tacobandit]

The original game had an infamous difficulty bug. It wasn't intended that way.

I also recall that it took some time to get an all-colonel squad, while in EU12 you have to be speedrunning not to.

Are you really determined to use every single bug in UD to justify design flaws in the new game?

Now imagine 15 sectopods.

Unless you've been slowrolling, though, you should be ready to win the game by the time sectopods show up in any significant numbers, so their actual impact is minimal. Difficulty is mostly just downhill all the way with only occasional bumps.

Strange. I think I got them all pretty quickly - and first time I played, I was just a kid with a damaged copy with no manual continuing someone else's game from the middle. Which one aren't you clear about?

So they could. What of it? In EU12 you can win every single air fight and every single ground mission - and still lose the game. Through no fault of your own, no mismanagement, simply poor dice rolls on the strategic level. Yes, have to be probably 2 SD below the mean, but it has happened.

In OG rank meant nothing. I was referring to colonels in EU. In the OG, none of my men lived long enough to be considered "super soldiers". I just psi screen the rooks and the good ones are who I just MC/panic use. They don't go into combat. You can actually win every game without taking more than 2 steps out of the skyranger once you get enough of them.

Also that's not a bug. Totally legit. You use the aliens to spot other aliens, and then you MC them. Then you line them up against the UFO walls and have an ol fashioned execution.

Yeah it was the same way with the OG. Once you got those hyperwave decoder bases up, you would be rolling in points from the sheer number of UFOs that you'd be able to spot. Just plop some plasma beams on an interceptor and you're good to go. In EU, it's about spending a few minutes thinking, having your sat strategy planned, and then thinking through your abduction choices, and formulating a plan. The key is to have about 7 sats by month 3. That will curb the panic significantly. In my experience I've never lost EU because of the strat layer, only because I got into some bad situations in the tactical layer.

And you want to talk about the strat layer being hard here? In the OG, once an infiltration mission started, you couldn't stop it. No matter how many UFOs you shot down, no matter how fast, they succeeded 100%. Now if it had a system where you lost once you lost a bunch of countries, that would suck. Unfortunately X-COM becomes a rogue foundation or something once everyone leaves. Now that I think back on it, it's almost impossible to lose X-COM as long as you take down those small UFOs. The research isn't even that long either. TFTD is a different story.

Well I do know. I was referring to those little icon buttons in the bottom left corner, the ones in red. Apparently they save TUs for actions. Couldn't tell that from the button itself though. Also the empty gun button in the top right. And I still don't know what that View UFO button is supposed to do. Does it let you tell the interceptor where to shoot? What the UFO looks like?

[GizmoGomez]

I always used the "view UFO" button to see what I was up against. So, if it was a dinky little scout then I had nothing to worry about, but if it were larger then I knew to prepare myself for a more rigorous land battle.

[djlogue]

I always used the "view UFO" button to see what I was up against. So, if it was a dinky little scout then I had nothing to worry about, but if it were larger then I knew to prepare myself for a more rigorous land battle.

I used to press it so I could catch a glimpse of the friendly sectoid waving from the windows.

[Gorlom]

I used to press it so I could catch a glimpse of the friendly sectoid waving from the windows.

Thats not a sectoid. That is the farmer they kidnapped for "invasive medical studies".

[djlogue]

My mistake, he kinda looked like a Toid.

[Tacobandit]

I don't know about you guys, but I was searching for Stuff on EU, and I found this.

http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/1/31/3928710/making-of-xcoms-jake-solomon-firaxis-sid-meier#ooid=Z4OHZ1ODrWk-qoWFIbIzKX61SVWD3yc5

Scroll down to the third video (Combat Pre-Visualization) and watch it. I don't know if it's like an alpha build of EU or whatever, but it looks like 10x better than EU. So pissed that they didn't make that game. That clip alone makes me feel like they half assed EU now.

[Gorlom]

I don't know about you guys, but I was searching for Stuff on EU, and I found this.

http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/1/31/3928710/making-of-xcoms-jake-solomon-firaxis-sid-meier#ooid=Z4OHZ1ODrWk-qoWFIbIzKX61SVWD3yc5

Scroll down to the third video (Combat Pre-Visualization) and watch it. I don't know if it's like an alpha build of EU or whatever, but it looks like 10x better than EU. So pissed that they didn't make that game. That clip alone makes me feel like they half assed EU now.

I don't think it is an alpha build, it is likely an artists visualisation. (kind of suggested by the title)

They had another vid of "what gameplay might look like" that they used to pitch the concept. It was just a video emulating gameplay without anything actually programmed. It was just a bunch of 3D modles acting out a scen of a first encounter at a farm.

I think this is the same thing. It might even be a continuation of that vid.

[Tacobandit]

I don't think it is an alpha build, it is likely an artists visualisation. (kind of suggested by the title)

They had another vid of "what gameplay might look like" that they used to pitch the concept. It was just a video emulating gameplay without anything actually programmed. It was just a bunch of 3D modles acting out a scen of a first encounter at a farm.

I think this is the same thing. It might even be a continuation of that vid.

I would've paid double if this is what they released as X-COM: Enemy Unknown.

[a333]

That music in the end almost made me cry.

Firaxis might as well just made some videos like this and sell instead of finished product.

[djlogue]

lol if only

[HWP]

In OG rank meant nothing. I was referring to colonels in EU. In the OG, none of my men lived long enough to be considered "super soldiers".

And why would that be?

Because the EU game gives every weapon so little damage that it's like shooting paintballs, no one ever dies.

In EU, it's about spending a few minutes thinking, having your sat strategy planned, and then thinking through your abduction choices, and formulating a plan.

A few seconds, not minutes. There is no plan to formulate. The strategy is "build as many satellites as possible minus one". It's not even about fighting aliens, it's a game about building satellites.

In my experience I've never lost EU because of the strat layer, only because I got into some bad situations in the tactical layer.

What difficulty have you been playing on, though? I know some people play on Classic.

The probability of loss with perfect game is small, but it has been reported.

Now that I think back on it, it's almost impossible to lose X-COM as long as you take down those small UFOs.

Whatever difficulty you picked, it's most likely that you've been playing on the lowest of 5 difficulties. It's the Difficulty Bug. The game wasn't meant that way.

Also the empty gun button in the top right. And I still don't know what that View UFO button is supposed to do. Does it let you tell the interceptor where to shoot? What the UFO looks like?

Empty gun button? Don't remember one. Which screen?

View UFO shows the UFO, obviously.

[djlogue]

Empty gun button on the loadout screen, if you clicked on a gun and clicked the gun on the button, the ammo would pop out.

[thothkins]

That was such a polished article, the furniture behind my monitor now has a lovely lustre and a fresh pine fragrance.

After my second insulin injection I even managed to fine the Meier/Solomon bromance or lost father/son relationship almost bearable.

It was worth persevering because it was a rather good look into the starts/ false starts and pressures of remaking the game.

[Tacobandit]

That was such a polished article, the furniture behind my monitor now has a lovely lustre and a fresh pine fragrance.

After my second insulin injection I even managed to fine the Meier/Solomon bromance or lost father/son relationship almost bearable.

It was worth persevering because it was a rather good look into the starts/ false starts and pressures of remaking the game.

I know right? And they did seriously consider making a game like you guys were doing with xenonauts. Except they would've lost a lot of money. On the scale that they did with this game, I'm glad they didn't make that game, because not a lot of people would've enjoyed it except the hardcore X-COM fans who knew how to play an X-COM game.

Oh and to HWP. The guns are weak in EU. Right. Actually wrong. They actually average the same amount of damage as they did in the OG if you think about it. The rifle in the OG did 30 points of damage. The rifle in EU does 3 damage on average. The Heavy Cannon did around 52 damage on average. The shotgun (my equivalent) does around 5 damage on average. If you notice, everything has been scaled down by 10. That's it. The only difference is that in the OG, damage had a huge variance (0-200%). This can be had with the Random Damage SW option. Hell even the aliens have roughly the same HP. Sectoid had ~30HP (3 EU), Floater had ~ 40 HP (4 EU), Muton had 125 HP (10 EU), and the ethereals are actually tougher than in the OG Defense/Health wise (except there aren't as many of them, and they can't MC and shoot at the same time).

It's a game about building satellites. Right. Alright, here's a challenge. Ignore every abduction and just build satellites. I want to see if you win.

What do you consider a "perfect game"? Going to every abduction? Not getting hit ever? Not losing a single country? I seriously doubt that. Unless you sell everything that you have, have all your troops, never gotten hit, responded to every abduction, have a perfect sat strategy, and still lose, I seriously doubt it.

XcomUtil baby. I'm not some idiot who's played X-COM UD for 3 days.

I don't remember seeing "view UFO" on the button. For all I know, it could have meant to mark the UFO or to shoot it in a specific area to increase my chance of destroying it.

[TMP]

I doubt it's possible to lose the game simply due to bad luck on the strategic layer, unless you play with impossible, marathon and diminishing returns - simply because you can't really built any satellites. (300+$ for the second one, 1000+$ for the fourth...).

Just impossible without second wave? Nope, you can't lose that solely on the strategic layer, especially because you can always do the alien base to reduce panic levels if necessary.

Let's just do some quick calculation:

You can get one satellite in the two months, two every month after that (assuming you go for the quarantine) - you can do the alien base during the third month at the latest. With 2 abductions per month, you lose one country in the first, and one in the second months, the third you won't lose any with the alien base. After that, you have enough satellites to guarantee that you won't lose a country due to an abduction, because you can just launch a satellite there.

So, at the most you are guarenteed to lose a maximum of two countries, claiming to be able to lose the game due to bad luck at the strategic layer is bullshit and impossible, even on the highest difficulty setting. Only marathon and diminishing returns changes that.

Seriously, after reading some of the comments about the game, I get the feeling that people who are complaing are just really bad at it...

Apart from that, I agree with the most (though not all) of the criticism in the first post. I'm sure Xenonauts will have some weaknesses as well. I'd call it weaknesses and not flaws, because sometimes a strength and a weakness comes a combined package. For example complexity and accessability.

[Tacobandit]

You can get 3 sats every month if you place the sat uplinks together. Unless you were implying that you wouldn't have enough money to afford 3 sats a month.

[TMP]

Money, and it's not guaranteed that you get engineers in the first abduction to build a second uplink in the first month. Sure, if things go well you can get even more satellites up (during 1 game on classic I had complete coverage and no country lost after 4 months).

[Tacobandit]

Money, and it's not guaranteed that you get engineers in the first abduction to build a second uplink in the first month. Sure, if things go well you can get even more satellites up (during 1 game on classic I had complete coverage and no country lost after 4 months).

That's what workshops are for. In my short experiences with Impossible difficulty, I've never had a problem with the strat layer. It's the tac layer that kills me. You get so many corpses that money never becomes a problem. Unless you guys like hoard all those UFO components, I never run out of money. I run out of good soldiers.

[Gorlom]

You guys do realize you are wildly offtopic?

[djlogue]

You guys do realize you are wildly offtopic?

It has been of topic for days now, since then it's been attack attack attack