XCOM SG Signup and Rule discussion?

[antisocialmunky]

Since no one with any power seems to object. I'm making this thread. We will probably do the first X-COM: UFO Defense AKA Enemy Unknown.

X-COM: How to Get
http://store.steampowered.com/sub/964/
Patch it with this:
http://xcomutil.scotttjones.com/

X-COM: Background
(from Wiki)
X-COM is a series of video games, started by Mythos Games and MicroProse in 1993. The first three titles in the franchise were tactical games while the fourth was an action-based space combat/strategy game. All titles were developed for the PC, with a few ports to the Amiga and PlayStation. The first three games were originally developed to run under DOS, and have subsequently been ported to run under Microsoft Windows.

The first installment, UFO: Enemy Unknown in Europe (also known as X-COM: UFO Defense in North America) was written by a team led by Julian Gollop. MicroProse quickly had an internal team create the sequel X-COM: Terror from the Deep. Subsequently, the Gollop brothers went straight to work on X-COM: Apocalypse, which would end up being the third in the series when released in 1997. Soon after Apocalypse, MicroProse was bought by Hasbro Interactive, which released two more X-COM games.

In 2010 2K Marin announced the official reboot of the series, entitled simply XCOM.

The premise for the original series is that hostile extraterrestrials have begun invading the planet Earth. A clandestine, international military organization Extraterrestrial Combat Unit (variably abbreviated X-COM or X-Com through the series) is set up in 1999 to counter the UFOs, capture and research the alien technology, unveil the mystery behind the attacks, and ultimately stop the threat. Inspiration for this setting was drawn from the TV series UFO, and Timothy Good's book Alien Liaison.[1]

X-COM: Gameplay
X-Com is somewhat like 4X where you must procur funding for your organization, create, customize, and specialize bases to control area, research new technologies, and fight enemies. There are also RPG elements related to training your men.

The most memorable aspect and meat of X-Com however is the horrendously unforgiving Turn Based combat mode. Even the basic enemies one or rarely two shot your men. Later on you combat increasingly ridiculous and overpowered enemies. There is a creature that can run across 1/2 the map, one hit kill melee, take insane amounts of damage, and create more of itself is just the 3rd or 4th enemy you encounter out eight or so.

Even your most highly leveled and skilled characters will still drop like flies if you aren't careful. To succeed at this game, you must play carefully, and strategically especially in the early stages.

So, who is up for the challenge
Don't be too intimidated, it is a fun game and you can quickly learn how to play well. Who wants to play?

Player List
antisocialmunky
uberfish
Ug the Barbarian
haphazard1
dazedroyalty

Rules
No Offensive Psionics
No Laser Pistol Training

Index
Mission 1
Mission 2
Mission 3
Mission 4
Mission 5
Mission 6

[uberfish]

I'm in, but what is "laser pistol training?"

[antisocialmunky]

It is a form of experience training that involves using laser pistols (low damage, infinite ammo) and an unarmed alien (one of the green ones because they have lots of armor) to do reaction/accuracy training.

http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title...e_Training

[seifer_md]

I'd be up for playing. I have the X-COM Total Pack v1.05 that plays via DosBox (don't know where I got it) and I played a save sent to me by The Archduke, although I don't know what version he has... Maybe you can create a save and post it so people can check for compatibility problems? I would need to also look into whether the XcomUtil works with my version.

I'm by no means pro at X-COM, I've finished the game once and that was probably on an easy setting. I had trouble with psionic attacks to the point where I would need to make all my vulnerable soldiers drop their guns at the end of each turn otherwise they'd be taken over and kill my entire team. Without using psionic attacks yourself, is there a way to combat this effectively?


Edit: For those using 64bit Windows here's the latest XcomUtil beta which is compatible:

http://www.bladefirelight.com/index.php?...3&Itemid=6

[antisocialmunky]

Judging by the Civ5 thread, it seemed like lots of people wanted to do it. It is a busy time of year I guess.

[Ug the Barbarian]

Ok count me in - haven't played XCOM for at least ten to fifteen years but I think I can remember the basics. Definitely agree about using original XCOM - whilst TFTD had some good bits, the rest of the games all went downhill from there.

[haphazard1]

This looks like fun. But antisocialmunky is correct -- it is a busy time of year. I will be on vacation away from my computer for about 3 of the next 8 weeks. So I will just plan to lurk and comment, if that is OK.

I played through a full game of UFO Defense about 6 months ago, although I have never used the utility mentioned. So presumably I have always been playing on the easiest level, even though I did not intend to. Should be interesting to see how much the game changes at harder difficulties -- I assume the tougher aliens will appear a lot sooner, for one thing.

What exactly is limited by "no psionics"? All psionics -- don't even research the techs? Or only offensive use of the psi-amp? It would be nice to at least be able to run soldiers through the psi lab mill and find out who is worthless, etc. Not that this does not quickly become obvious in battle...often with painful results. I have often had to follow the same tactics seifer_md described. Rule of thumb: any soldier with even halfway decent accuracy will have a psi strength below 15.

Looking forward to seeing how this game develops.

[antisocialmunky]

I was thinking about Mind Control. That just breaks the game. I think this would be something nice to do during everyone's winter vacation if that works better for people.

[antisocialmunky]

Is there anyone still up for this?

I've been playing Terror from the Deep myself, its been pretty reasonably unfair until now. I had my first run in with Tentaculats...

For those who haven't had the joy of playing the sequel... they are basically Chryssalids except they are a giant brain that can fly. Repeat: A CHRYSSALID THAT CAN FLIPPING FLY.

For those haven't actually played the first X-Com... The Chryssalid is a special unit that appears in base missions and alien terror attacks:


(Its the crab thing on the left)

It is melee alien so it can only attack you if you are next to it.
... except it has super speed and can run across 1/2 the map to hit you
... and it has super high armor so it can survive running across the 1/2 the map to hit you
... also it has a 1 hit KO attack
... except the 1 hit KO attack doesn't kill
... because it turns the target into a zombie
... a zombie that it lays its eggs in
... so when you kill the zombie a new chryssalid pops out
... oh yeah, there are civilians in the alien terror attacks
... so by the time you find them there are 3 times as many as actually spawned
... they are also black and many terror attacks are at night...

[Amelia]

Hint: Anytime you know you're fighting Chryssalids, there's a button there called "lift-off". Bye bye!