XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Strategy Game - Developed by Firaxis

BlackSabre wrote:

Ok... so what's a hero unlock?

From FAQ:

Specific combinations of first and last name will prompt you to summon an XCOM hero unit, each of which comes with very powerful stats and gear. Summoning a hero disables achievements for the remainder of the playthrough, so just use them for fun or if you're having trouble.

All heroes start at Colonel rank. The heroes cannot be tested for psionic potential normally. However, if the soldier you rename to that of a hero character's was a Psionic, the newly made hero will also adopt that Psi rank. You can make multiples of a specific hero as well.

And the previous ones were:
Sid Meier: Support + Psi Operative
Joe Kelly: Heavy
Ken Levine: Sniper
Otto Zander: Assault

Ah yeah, I remember those now. Didn't bother with them since they disabled achievements.

So what are your thoughts on Second Wave? Not sure if the changes interest me enough to do another campaign.

Tamren wrote:

So what are your thoughts on Second Wave? Not sure if the changes interest me enough to do another campaign.

They seem like just neat programming bits and pieces. Maybe fun to mess around with on a partial playthrough. Probably not a major gameplay insentive.

Tamren wrote:

So what are your thoughts on Second Wave? Not sure if the changes interest me enough to do another campaign.

I haven't dove back into XCOM, but these options make me want to do so, plus I will eventually get around to playing the new DLC. All of the love from Giant Bomb and others declaring XCOM their GOTY makes me want to start a new campaign, however the pile beckons.

BlackSabre wrote:

Ah yeah, I remember those now. Didn't bother with them since they disabled achievements.

That's my boy:)

I'll probably end up doing a marathon ironman with randomised stats and funding. Sounds interesting!

So, what is the mechanic around psi testing? Is it a random check based on the soldiers will? What is the minimum will you are willing to have in a new trooper?

Last night I drew the line at 50 once I completed the OTS Upgrades of Iron Will and New Guy.

RE: Second Wave DLC
I like some of the customizations. Could make things interesting.

RE: ToolBoks
Still very happy with it. Wonder if it works with the current patch.

So, am I the only one hoping for Firaxis' take on Terror From the Deep?

maverickz wrote:

So, am I the only one hoping for Firaxis' take on Terror From the Deep?

I am conflicted on this one. I remember Terror being somewhat "grindy" with lots of base assaults and other underwater shenanigans.

What I miss most was the aliens invading the XCOM base. Bring that aspect back along with damage and repair to facilities, reinforcements from the barracks, etc.

AI teleport bug fix
Minimizes the bug where aliens teleport into the middle of a player’s squad

Defeat screen when beating the game
Minimizes a bug that displays a Defeat screen after winning the game

Amazing, is it really that hard for them to avoid it, they seem unsure as to if what they did to fix it actually works...

anyone wrote:
AI teleport bug fix
Minimizes the bug where aliens teleport into the middle of a player’s squad

Defeat screen when beating the game
Minimizes a bug that displays a Defeat screen after winning the game

Amazing, is it really that hard for them to avoid it, they seem unsure as to if what they did to fix it actually works...

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Programming is hard.

SallyNasty wrote:
BlackSabre wrote:

Ah yeah, I remember those now. Didn't bother with them since they disabled achievements.

That's my boy:)

Yeah, well, can't escape it. I just switched from Xbox achievements to Steam Achievements. Must. Have. Them!

Yeah I'm kicking myself on the achievement front. I figured my first Easy game would be a good time to farm stuff. I think I missed the "all research" thing though because I didn't capture and interrogate a Floater early enough. Now that I'm just killing time at end game, building up weapons and stuff, Floaters don't appear anymore, but the upgraded ones do.

Anyway I'm ready to go with my A-Team up to Col. ranks and everything: all plasma weapons, all psi/ghost/titan armor, and all upgraded grenades/medkits. The only thing I need is updated Rocket Launchers, which I finally researched and now just need some extra Elerium to craft.

Anyway, I guess I'll have to try that one achievement on another run or something.

I think I'll still try to mind control a boss achievement. Will be too dangerous on higher skill levels.

Make sure you have a mind shield and psi armour for that one.

Tkyl wrote:

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Programming is hard. :(

Maaan, programmers always come up with excuses.

Oh... wait.... Crap!

Spent the last two days banging my head against COM, fonts, Word, and PCL. Gah.

Programming is hard.

If it was easy, then we couldn't complain now could we?

I'd think about second wave, but I uninstalled already.

CEJ wrote:

So, what is the mechanic around psi testing? Is it a random check based on the soldiers will?

Yeah. I haven't trie making them wear psi armor before testing, but I know that effects whether you can use the device later on.

wordsmythe wrote:

Yeah. I haven't trie making them wear psi armor before testing, but I know that effects whether you can use the device later on.

This wouldn't work; the armor won't equip for non-psi operatives. The mind shield should work though.

I'm pretty sure going in for testing removes all your equipment.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

I'm pretty sure going in for testing removes all your equipment.

Nope they keep their equipment, I was down a few sets I'd Titan armor for awhile because of it

Yeah being injured removes equip, but not testing. I had to take my good stuff off my guys once I realized that, and send them back in.

Amazon offering XCOM for PC for $25
http://www.amazon.com/2K-Games-41071...

Hope you guys don't mind me asking for a trade.

I've stuck myself with $20 of Steam Wallet funds after the sale, and the big game I want now is XCOM yet its on Amazon. Feel free to add me to Steam and we can work out a fair exchange here for us both. I've got some TF2 stuff if that is your thing or I could just throw $5 of Paypal into the deal. We'll see.

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/7...

wordsmythe wrote:

I'd think about second wave, but I uninstalled already.

CEJ wrote:

So, what is the mechanic around psi testing? Is it a random check based on the soldiers will?

Yeah. I haven't trie making them wear psi armor before testing, but I know that effects whether you can use the device later on.

The test pass or fail is based on a numerical modifier in the code. I could not find any attachment to any character attribute. It seems to be just a base percentage chance.

I started a new game with a bunch of the second wave options turned on, it seems good so far. More randomness means there's not necessarily a best choice quite as often: e.g. certain soldiers were a lot better or worse based on more than just their rank & class.

So, adds a bit of replayability without changing anything radically.

Is their any good, trustworthy mod sites out there? I saw an above mod that looked cool, but doesn't work with my version of the game, it's too new I guess.

I'm trying to decide if I go back to normal or play in classic again just for those achievements.

*sigh* Even as I type that, I know I'm going to put it on classic.

Bah, looks like since my version of XCom is up to date, I'm screwed on modding. Darn

Does anyone else have trouble leveling their snipers? I've implemented a policy where I send out the bottom six of my 30 man roster into any particular mission. In the hopes that the platoon will rise and maintain about equal rank for all the people in it. But I've noticed that my snipers have slowly marched and bunched up towards the bottom. Leading to believe that they rank up slower than the rest of the platoon. I generally send out one sniper per mission. Any thoughts or ideas on how to fix this situation?

Oh, though on the other hand, one of my two Colonels is a sniper. So it's a real weird situation.