XCOM 2 Catch-All

Was thinking I needed to tick Enemy Unknown off the pile, after I failed it get into it on 360 and it's sitting on my Steam pile. Guess I've got a deadline to get it done by now!

Wink_and_the_Gun wrote:
Redwing wrote:
Thin_J wrote:

IMAGE(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/Thin_J/AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.gif)

Yep, this about sums it up for me. :D

Yup, that should cover it...

I'm on board.

Especially if they bring Civ-level modding to it. Which they may not, that's pretty extensive. But PC-first suggests that they may be able to allow more modding than otherwise.

This made my morning!

Dyni wrote:

Cool. I would definitely play some more XCOM. I had a lot of bugs with the PC version of XCOM:EU that sucked out some of the fun, but I still had a good time with it. Hopefully the PC focus can help them polish it more effectively this time around.

Sadly, I'm pretty sure the PC focus means the PS4 version will be totally unplayable at launch.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
Dyni wrote:

Cool. I would definitely play some more XCOM. I had a lot of bugs with the PC version of XCOM:EU that sucked out some of the fun, but I still had a good time with it. Hopefully the PC focus can help them polish it more effectively this time around.

Sadly, I'm pretty sure the PC focus means the PS4 version will be totally unplayable at launch.

You're probably right. I'd be willing to bet that you won't even be able to purchase it on PSN when it launches, even with a PS+ membership.

Point of shame, I never finished XCOM:EU. I got about 3/4 through and got a bit burnt out. I'll have to make sure to rectify that as I'm really looking forward to 2

Gremlin wrote:
Wink_and_the_Gun wrote:
Redwing wrote:
Thin_J wrote:

IMAGE(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v282/Thin_J/AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.gif)

Yep, this about sums it up for me. :D

Yup, that should cover it...

I'm on board.

Especially if they bring Civ-level modding to it. Which they may not, that's pretty extensive. But PC-first suggests that they may be able to allow more modding than otherwise.

Dito.

CptDomano wrote:
Chumpy_McChump wrote:

Gee, maybe I should try the first one again.

Yup, already reinstalling the first one over here :D

Clusks wrote:

Was thinking I needed to tick Enemy Unknown off the pile, after I failed it get into it on 360 and it's sitting on my Steam pile. Guess I've got a deadline to get it done by now!

I bought XCOM EU (Complete Edition) during a Steam Sale when my PC was not quite powerful enough to handle it.

Now I've upgraded my PC, and XCOM is still staring at me from my Inventory, shaking its head sadly.

I know what I'll be doing this summer, now.

I don't think they'll go with PS4 or XBox, since both of those are essentially 2 year old pc platforms with relatively low-end graphics, and no moddability. Doesn't seem to fit with the goals they've made public...

Tkyl, it must have been driving you batty sitting on this and not being able to say anything.

I didn't even think there was a real chance for this so it wasn't on my list of E3 wishes, but hot damn! This is going to be a day one purchase, you guys did a bang up job on X-Com, and I am super stoked for whatever's been cooked up for this one!

mwdowns wrote:

This made my morning!

Yeah, pretty much this. So excited for this. I've got well over 250 hours with Xcom and I'm looking forward to what Xcom 2 brings. PC exclusive also makes me very excited. Means we aren't getting a port. We get the actual game as it was designed.

Not underwater?! No Lobster men?! what's the world coming to, huh??!!

IMAGE(http://ufopedia.csignal.org/usopedia/076.png)

Can't wait for this! Great job Tk

I have this weird feeling that Certis is trying to get Tykl on the Conference Call to get him to spill details.

So any thoughts on the minor EU DLC, Slingshot Pack and Elite Soldier Pack? They're 67% off for the next day or so.

kexx wrote:

as someone who's logged in more than 1200hrs into the game,

take that, you Europa-Universalis playing mongrels!

If you like customizing your soldiers in how they look, the Elite soldier pack will feel essential. It's a graphic pack, nothing more, but worth a dollar, IMO. You can really give distinctive looks to armor to make them distinguishable on the field, choosing really bulky armor for Carapace and really slim for Skeleton.

Slingshot is nice. Cute story the first go-around, gets you a nice soldier, and still a good power-up option once you know the story.

So because your bases is on some mobile command ship, does that mean we don't get the base building side of things again?

I think it means we won't get the multiple bases building thing again. That sort of thing makes sense with a Civ strategic overmap and play, but it never made much design sense in XCOM. It's one of those things made to simulate realism that was ultimately broken because it allowed you to farm aliens for cash, turning XCOM into Alien Hunting Simulator.

I'm not sure that an indefensible or difficult to defend base design handed down perforce would go over well, either. Getting screwed once over is exciting and provides a nice turn point for an XCOM campaign. Getting screwed over and over is just going to be a PITA.

On the website it mentions you can customise and add rooms to the Avenger much like base building. Calling the big ship the Avenger is a nice touch as well.

...and I just bought & installed Enemy Within this weekend.

Redwing wrote:

On the website it mentions you can customise and add rooms to the Avenger much like base building. Calling the big ship the Avenger is a nice touch as well. :)

Ah, alright then. Bring on the gameplay videos.

Also, I'm really happy that it's a November release date. I can wait 5 months (I hope). If it was another 12+ months away, I'd probably cry.

Enemy Within was my first foray into XCOM so I'm interested in finding out the origins of the Snakeman.

LarryC wrote:

I think it means we won't get the multiple bases building thing again. That sort of thing makes sense with a Civ strategic overmap and play, but it never made much design sense in XCOM. It's one of those things made to simulate realism that was ultimately broken because it allowed you to farm aliens for cash, turning XCOM into Alien Hunting Simulator.

Well it's a combination of a couple things. In the original multiple bases were required because they extended X-Com's global coverage. Skyrangers could fly anywhere in the world, but interceptors only had the fuel to cover a continent or two. In XCOM you have the one base and interceptors on other continents are stored in unseen airbases. There was a bit of a missed opportunity there in that defending XCOM airbases scattered around the world could have provided some mission variety. The interceptor based there escapes before the fight unless it is under repairs, but if you fail to defend the base in time you lose access to that "hangar" until it is rebuilt. That would have provided another opportunity for XCOM base security to have a cameo.

The farming for cash problem resulted because the original X-Com didn't have enough "wear and tear", something Long War addresses. There was no real downside to fighting aliens once you gained parity with them. Sure you might lose a soldier or two, but salvage a single heavy plasma and you can buy 5 soldiers to replace him. You always had way more missions than you needed for materials, but you could do them for fun and profit if you wanted to. A single squad could take out a dozen UFOs in a day, limited only by attrition and the time it took to refuel the skyranger. Missing a UFO here and there didn't matter because all that would happen is 1 in 20 funding nations dropped their contribution a couple thousand bucks. Long War by comparison is about cutting your losses, you can't possibly deal with everything because troops get tired and equipment gets worn out. The latter can be replaced but the former is almost priceless. The game is all about completing missions in a way that makes you a profit in material and experience, because if you don't have those things you can't win the late game. In X-Com you can shove 26 average shlub soldiers into power armour, hand them all heavy plasma and have them burn down Cydonia. (which is not to say that wasn't fun too)

XCOM is more than capable of having an interesting and well balanced strategic geoscape. The problem is that having one would effectively require Firaxis to build a complete other game, and all the time and cost that entails. I'm hoping that we may see some of that in XCOM2, the Avenger can't carry everything on board and it clearly has hidden bases it can land at. These scattered facilities would have to remain secret and be defended if attacked, providing the opportunity for base missions without having The One Base.

LarryC wrote:

I'm not sure that an indefensible or difficult to defend base design handed down perforce would go over well, either. Getting screwed once over is exciting and provides a nice turn point for an XCOM campaign. Getting screwed over and over is just going to be a PITA.

I think the biggest flaw with that mission is that it breaks one of the basic game mechanics. You ALWAYS have the ability to pick your squad loadout before a mission. But in the same expansion that included a handy-dandy "return all unused equipment to the armoury" button, they also throw you into a mission that just picks the 4 most skilled soldiers off the top of the roster regardless of what equipment they have. It's just a dumb GOTCHA moment (especially for hardcore players) that doesn't play by the same rules as the rest of the game.

Either they should have allowed you to arm your soldiers, OR they should have balanced the mission in such a way that you can complete it with basic weapons and armour only.

Redwing wrote:

On the website it mentions you can customise and add rooms to the Avenger much like base building. Calling the big ship the Avenger is a nice touch as well. :)

"If we can't protect the Earth, then you can damn well be sure we'll avenge it."

I think Avenger is a callback to the ultimate vessel in X-com: UFO Defense which was needed to go to Cydonia. The fact that it's a vessel in XCOM2 housing a resistance movement is a very nice dovetail.

I'm kind of down on the whole procedurally generated maps thing. Having the same map over and over wasn't fun in XCOM, but on a normal EW play through, they didn't repeat until after you got enough to finish the game easily. That made each map in EW feel truly unique with its own story to tell. Procedurally generated maps are uninspiring and samey. I don't recall a single Diablo map, ever. They're not essential to Diablo gameplay so the fact that they're procedurally generated creates a feeling of variety on what is ultimately background detail.

XCOM maps are not like that. They need character and individuality because they're an essential part of the game. It's one thing to have random encounter tables spice up an evening. It's quite another to have random encounters instead of an actual campaign.

On the Geoscape and the Future of XCOM:

I think Sid Meier was right when he advised Solomon to basically cut the strategic overmap game. What we have in the XCOM Geoscape feels very basic, and it's an insult to games to call the interception mechanic a game. However, I could very easily see what it could have been and how it could have ruined a brilliant tactical game. The Master knows when to stop. If it ain't coming together, junk it and ship what you have that's great.

Sid Meier's latest personal project is Starships - a Firaxis game programmed and developed personally by Sid. It's a very Sid game - very much like Pirates!, Civ Rev, Civ 1, and Ace Patrol. Everything is distilled into simple and elemental concepts, but the depth is there. Starships offers a tantalizing look into what a future Firaxis XCOM might be, with an involved tactical layer, and a simple but functional strategic overmap.

I imagine that XCOM2 might employ a similar mechanic, in which continued operations in a specific area might be necessary, but that each consecutive mission raises "alien intelligence" about your group until it becomes suicidal to launch any further missions and you have to move on. For instance, mission difficulty might be related to alert level and information. The more you operate, the harder missions become, with hard targets starting off difficult already. Ultimately, once alien info level goes past the critical level, the aliens launch an assault on the Avenger and you have to defend your base while you flee, gathering no spoils - the perfect success in this mission is zero casualties and material losses.

On the overmap, you have to zoom from place to place to gather intel against alien forces to enable specific story missions, and to acquire recruits and hardware. So in each area, you have to weigh whether you need information, men, or hardware more as each mission compromises the Avenger's location in some way. A rare "anti-intel" mission series might allow you to infiltrate an alien intelligence center and wipe all XCOM data, to reset intel in all areas globally.

LarryC wrote:

I'm kind of down on the whole procedurally generated maps thing. Having the same map over and over wasn't fun in XCOM, but on a normal EW play through, they didn't repeat until after you got enough to finish the game easily.

Depends on how big the blocks are really.

The size of the maps in Apocalypse varies dramatically on where the battle is set and how many soldiers you bring with you. I always rolled with the full 6 squads of 6 soldiers each, so I only saw big battlefields. A lot of the locations in Apoc were quite modular, warehouses for instance are mostly rooms with boxes. Hospitals and apartments can also be divided into discrete blocks. But some of the buildings only a had a single example in the entire city and the chances of receiving a mission there were slim. Most of the maps in XCOM except for the biggest of UFOs are dwarfed by Apoc maps. I can still remember fighting aliens in massive movie theaters with hundreds of seats, or giant cavernous aircraft factory hangars. The terrain destruction was incredible too. On one occasion I was fighting in a theater and overly enthusiastic use of incendiary rockets caused the entire second floor to collapse in a rolling wave of destruction. Half of my soldiers were running for their lives and the aliens just behind them were crushed by falling debris.

Most of that probably wouldn't work in XCOM2 because of the cover mechanics. You can't have huge wide open spaces without any cover, even if they would be realistic. You also can't have tight claustrophobic spaces that don't allow for flanking. It will be interesting to see just how big the randomized blocks are and how they plan to fit them together.

LarryC wrote:

I don't recall a single Diablo map, ever. They're not essential to Diablo gameplay so the fact that they're procedurally generated creates a feeling of variety on what is ultimately background detail.

I don't remember D1 at all, but D2 did have a bunch of setpiece locations. The areas between the setpiece boss maps were always random and they served their purpose well enough. When I used to play D2 a lot I spent most of my time in those random zones. Some people farm bosses to collect loot, but what I would do is find champion and semi-boss monsters and use my barbarian's Find Item ability to double their loot. Watching a guy drop 6 items and immediately force him to drop another 6 was pretty fun.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/JYAVWj7.gif)

My only XCOM experience is with the first Firaxis game and the Enemy Within expansion, both of which I loved.

There is so much hype and excitement for XCOM2 after this trailer, but I don't get it. There is nothing in that trailer that excites me at all. I loved the style and setting of Enemy Unknown and Enemy Within but this one feels like a weird mix and confuses me, somehow previously all the classes and mechs made sense to me and the aliens races seemed consistent but this one doesn't appeal. May just be me though?
Reading more the idea of the moving base ship and what that could bring to the game seems cool, but that's the only thing that I like.
It's just a trailer I guess, and if they focus on the core strategy game stuff from the previous games I'll probably be onboard. Just feels so weird to have had such a different reaction to everyone else.

I'm trying to focus on DA: Inquisition, with an eye for a play through of Deus Ex: HR. Now all I want to do is start up a fresh game of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and get a look at this Enemy Within DLC that has been waiting patiently for some attention.

And now a sequel! PC only! I'm already thrown by the choice of upgrading to Windows 10 (from Windows 7), should I, shouldn't I, and the fact that my GTX 460 SE is likely the most underpowered card to be mentioned on this site. Processor? I forgot about that. XCOM 2 has just made it a whole lot harder to ignore the PC so to avoid such decisions, and spending. Low to medium settings be my saviour!

Is Michael McCann doing the music again? I hope so, he's my favorite video game composer.