XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Strategy Game - Developed by Firaxis

See and i cut my Xcom teeth on Apocalypse and had a blast with it, constantly freezing and unfreezing time clearing buildings shooting down the Kaiju alien as it terrorized the city, the funky 50's post apoc art style. It wasn't until years later i learned of UFO and TFTD and tried to play them only to be stonewalled by the lack of explanation and tough controls for many an hour till i finally punched through.

I'll say it again though the Warspace extension mod has really added some replay-ability for me on this game. My only concern is that i tried to do the slingshot mission failed... then when it popped up again as an option i turned it down because i didn't have any good high level troopers ready and i haven't seen it since. I still wanna play the DLC on this play through.

Played UFO Defense, TFTD, Apocalypse, and now Enemy Unknown, and in that order. Left TFTD with a bad taste in my mouth and never wanting to return. I actually hold a special spot in my heart for Apocalypse. I know it just not the same game as the others, and that's what makes it enjoyable to me.

This is an excellent, recent panel discussion by the original X-Com designer about the X-Com 'franchise' history: (be forwarned it a bit lengthy, but so very interesting!)

http://www.gamespot.com/events/gdc-2...

I've been eyeing XCom for a while, and actually just managed to win a copy. I'm pretty much going in blind, starting tonight. Anything a super noob should know so I don't screw myself over, or should I just turn on "hardcore" and go for broke?

Zudz wrote:

I've been eyeing XCom for a while, and actually just managed to win a copy. I'm pretty much going in blind, starting tonight. Anything a super noob should know so I don't screw myself over, or should I just turn on "hardcore" and go for broke?

I highly recommend "ironman" mode. Also, while I recommend running through the tutorial, it can get a little long in the hand-holding. I'd recommend going through a couple missions with the tutorial turned on and then start over with it turned off.

In term of strategy, don't neglect putting up satellites. That is how you make money and is the main method of keeping countries from panicking.

So was there ever a final consensus on 360 pad vs. k/m for PC?

I picked up XCOM for 360 at launch and cut my teeth with the 360 pad. I double-dipped on a recent Steam sale and am thus far finding the keyboard/mouse option a little less than intuitive compared to the gamepad.

Any PC'ers opt for the 360 controller outright or should I just suck it up and acclimate myself to k/m for a superior experience in the long run?

Zudz wrote:

I've been eyeing XCom for a while, and actually just managed to win a copy. I'm pretty much going in blind, starting tonight. Anything a super noob should know so I don't screw myself over, or should I just turn on "hardcore" and go for broke?

To begin with, along with the advice above about restarting after the tutorial, I'd suggest not using 2 moves unless you are absolutely certain that there isn't some nasty alien dude nearby. i.e. if you have other soldiers covering visuals in the surrounding area, you should be pretty safe. Also keep in mind that aliens don't 'spawn' until they are uncovered, so avoid running far into unknown territory with your last guy of the turn.

Aaron D. wrote:

So was there ever a final consensus on 360 pad vs. k/m for PC?

I picked up XCOM for 360 at launch and cut my teeth with the 360 pad. I double-dipped on a recent Steam sale and am thus far finding the keyboard/mouse option a little less than intuitive compared to the gamepad.

Any PC'ers opt for the 360 controller outright or should I just suck it up and acclimate myself to k/m for a superior experience in the long run?

First play-through I was mouse+keyboard. I found it ok. Second run through and on, I used the controller. There isn't any keyboard interactiion required unless you're renaming soldiers, and I found it as easy/easier to control, but definitely more comfortable.

Aaron D. wrote:

Any PC'ers opt for the 360 controller outright or should I just suck it up and acclimate myself to k/m for a superior experience in the long run?

The experience is a bit better if you make use of the hotkeys. Annoyingly, the hotkeys vary depending on what character abilities are available, but generally the number keys will save you having to mouse over every button all the time. Hit the hotkey once to select and again to activate. Use Tab and Shift-Tab to switch between characters.

A lot of the soldier actions have a letter hotkey as well which does not vary, which is nice.

Huge thanks to Hubbins for gifting this to me! It's been awesome. Quick newb question, the suppression skill of the Heavy says: Can fire a special shot that grants reaction fire at a single target. What is reaction fire? Is it like automatic Overwatch for units that have already fired?

Mixolyde wrote:

Huge thanks to Hubbins for gifting this to me! It's been awesome. Quick newb question, the suppression skill of the Heavy says: Can fire a special shot that grants reaction fire at a single target. What is reaction fire? Is it like automatic Overwatch for units that have already fired?

Suppression lowers the accuracy of the target unit. So if they fire, they have a -20% (I think) chance to hit. Also if that unit decides to move, the heavy gets a free shot at the unit (like overwatch).

Decided I felt like playing again so I picked up the slingshot DLC over at GMG with the 20% code. So far it's lots of fun again. Just went with normal and non-ironman mode as I've already beaten classic-ironman and didn't feel like the headache again.

It's like putting on a favourite t-shirt. It just works. Really enjoying my time with the game again. The new DLC is adding a bit of flavour too which helps. Just wish I could get more snipers. I believe I have 2 snipers, 2 support, 1 assault and 10 heavies. Feel like it's a little off balance their with the heavy distribution, but whatever, I'm sure I'll use them all somehow

Is there a particular reason to start over after the tutorial? I put a couple hours into the game, and it's been great. It's actually been way more creepy than I anticipated. I'm not so far along that I can't start over, but I'm not sure why I would want to.

Did anyone catch the announcement by the designer/Firaxes that they are working on an Ipad version. Forgot when exactly due, but I want to say end of April (but don't hold me to that. I'll look for the link).

Donan wrote:

Did anyone catch the announcement by the designer/Firaxes that they are working on an Ipad version. Forgot when exactly due, but I want to say end of April (but don't hold me to that. I'll look for the link).

Skim.
Mer.

Zudz wrote:

Is there a particular reason to start over after the tutorial? I put a couple hours into the game, and it's been great. It's actually been way more creepy than I anticipated. I'm not so far along that I can't start over, but I'm not sure why I would want to.

You certainly don't have to. However if the tutorial is enabled, the game will force your hand quite a bit in decisions to make in the base. If you are ok with that, then by all means, continue. However, I found it to be a little too much when I had initially tried the tutorial.

Zudz wrote:

Is there a particular reason to start over after the tutorial? I put a couple hours into the game, and it's been great. It's actually been way more creepy than I anticipated. I'm not so far along that I can't start over, but I'm not sure why I would want to.

I saw no reason to start over, but that is just me.

LeapingGnome wrote:
Zudz wrote:

Is there a particular reason to start over after the tutorial? I put a couple hours into the game, and it's been great. It's actually been way more creepy than I anticipated. I'm not so far along that I can't start over, but I'm not sure why I would want to.

I saw no reason to start over, but that is just me.

If you are actually past the tutorial and are happy with the decisions that have been made, there's no reason to start over. Now, if every nation withdraws support, your entire active force is in the hospital, terror missions are raining down on the planet, and you can't afford to buy new guns...then you might want to restart. But if it's going OK there's no reason not to continue.

Tkyl wrote:
Zudz wrote:

Is there a particular reason to start over after the tutorial? I put a couple hours into the game, and it's been great. It's actually been way more creepy than I anticipated. I'm not so far along that I can't start over, but I'm not sure why I would want to.

You certainly don't have to. However if the tutorial is enabled, the game will force your hand quite a bit in decisions to make in the base. If you are ok with that, then by all means, continue. However, I found it to be a little too much when I had initially tried the tutorial.

Yeah, I didn't like a couple of the things the tutorial made me prioritize so I started over.

How do you know when the "tutorial" is over? I still have a base goal of capturing a specific species alive (and I forgot to bring along arc wielders on my last ufo crash mission).

Mixolyde wrote:

How do you know when the "tutorial" is over? I still have a base goal of capturing a specific species alive (and I forgot to bring along arc wielders on my last ufo crash mission).

The tutorial is, I believe, only the first two or three missions. It seamlessly transitions into the normal progression objectives.

Mixolyde wrote:

How do you know when the "tutorial" is over? I still have a base goal of capturing a specific species alive (and I forgot to bring along arc wielders on my last ufo crash mission).

I'm pretty sure you're past the tutorial. There should have been a message that popped up telling you that the tutorial was over.

That is a great interview - thanks.

drdoak, thank you! I don't follow Adam Sessler stuff so otherwise would have missed that.

For anyone reading this and wondering "should I watch that video?"...it's Jake Solomon (XCOM) meeting Julian Gollop (X-Com) for the first time and talking about their development process and other topics.

Thanks for the heads-up, that was a good watch.

Ended up starting a new game, and I'm pretty much just going hard for satellites. Seems to be working out a little better for me, but I'm not as well geared because I spend all my money on the base and satellites. I'm about to assault my first alien base in basic armor(>_<*). Still, as long as I'm careful it isn't a huge issue. On my second time around I'm actually making use of the Support class. It's not actually a total game changer, but it has helped in a few tight spots.

Squad based tactics aren't always my thing, but this has been an excellent experience so far. I'm playing on my PC using an X-Box controller. It's sometimes cumbersome trying to pick the specific unit I want, but overall it seems like a perfectly suitable way to get things done.

Definitely sucked back in. I completed all the Slingshot DLC missions and they were ok. Just having fun playing it again and leveling up my soldiers. Just wish I didn't have so many frakkin' heavies though. Only 1 assault. 1. *sigh*

Get the OTS upgrade to automatically rank up your soldiers then hire a bunch then fire the undesirables.

This game really was enjoyable. I put 35 hours or so into it. The ending and the fairly limited research path has kept me from replaying. That and my enormous backlog of games.